Re: "The Secrets of Inchon: The Untold Story of the Most Daring Covert Mission of the Korean War"

["Young Kim" <ysk@kimsoft.com>]

Hi, Mike -

What a coincidence - I have finished reading the book a few hours prior to
your post.  It is remarkable how Commander Clerk had managed to remember all
those minutia!   I must state that, some minor factual errors on Korean
customs and history, his account differs somewhat from Col. Geh In-ju's
account (see http://www.kimsoft.com/2002/gehinje.htm)

Col. Geh states that a KLO unit of 30 or so joined the group in Japan and
that later Choe Gyu-bong and other KLOs joined Clerk and company.  Choe,
still alive, claims that he was responsible for lighting up the light house.

Col. Geh was fired from his HID command weeks before the war broke out over
his accusation that Rhee's defense minister, Shin Sung-mo, was an NK agent.
Clerk states that Geh was fired because of his failure to predict the war.
After Chai Byong-duk, Rhee's top general and Geh's protector, was demoted by
Sin Sung-mo and was shot dead later,  Shin Sung-mo ordered Geh rubbed out.
But the 8th Army G-2 snatched him from Shin's goons and took him to Tokyo.


Young Kim

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Yared" <mikeyared@yahoo.com>
To: <KOREAN-WAR-L@listproc.cc.ku.edu>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 11:39 AM
Subject: "The Secrets of Inchon: The Untold Story of the Most Daring Covert
Mission of the Korean War"


> The Secrets of Inchon: The Untold Story of the Most
> Daring Covert Mission of the Korean War
> Michael A Ross.
> Armor.
> Nov/Dec 2002. Vol. 111, Iss. 6;  pg. 53
>
> Abstract (Article Summary)
> Ross reviews "The Secrets of Inchon: The Untold Story
> of the Most Daring Covert Mission of the Korean War"
> by Eugene Franklin Clark.
>
> The Secrets of Inchon: The Untold Story of the Most
> Daring Covert Mission of the Korean War by Commander
> Eugene Franklin Clark, U.S. Navy (Retired), G.P.
> Putnam's Sons, New York, 2002, 325 pages, $26.95.
>
> This book, a remarkable narrative by a true hero of
> the "Forgotten War," details an operation conducted by
> the author, Commander Eugene Franklin Clark, prior to
> the amphibious landing at Inchon. Working in concert
> with two Korean officers, Clark spent 2 weeks, prior
> to the decisive battle of the Korean War, conducting
> invaluable amphibious reconnaissance and leading
> untrained villagers in commando raids on local
> communist forces. In a manuscript written for his
> family and published after his death, Clark weaves a
> readable tale that if presented as fiction would be
> hardly believable, yet describes a mission as daring,
> heroic, and strategically important as any in the
> history of the first major armed conflict of the Cold
> War. The author, a World War II mustang, describes his
> mission in gripping detail, from planning and
> preparation, to his team's extraction shortly before
> the start of the invasion. While Clark is extreme in
> his modesty and effacement, his unspoken bravery and
> unwavering devotion to accomplishing his mission is
> clear. As the days go by after his team's insertion,
> Clark expertly enlists local villagers to aid in
> accomplishing his mission. Retaliatory communist
> incursions into the village grow in size and intensity
> for the duration of his mission, ending only with the
> arrival of the extraction force. From clandestine
> reconnaissance, to organizing indigenous forces, to
> wartime governance of occupied territory, Clark's work
> could be read as a guerrilla warfare how-to manual. An
> invaluable addition to every warrior's library, this
> memoir should be a must read for anyone seeking
> insight into unconventional warfare, and the ability
> to overcome extreme adversity and personal hardship to
> accomplish the mission.
>
>
>
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