“poisonous” country: Salmon, Scorched Earth, Black Snow, 321.
“a joint-by-joint advance”: Leckie, March to Glory, 104.
“no soft options”: S. L. A. Marshall, “CCF in the Attack: Part II,” Box 4, S. L. A. Marshall Collection, Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle Barracks, PA.
“Press on at all costs”: Russ, Breakout, 234.
“we’ll give them a show”: S. L. A. Marshall, “CCF in the Attack: Part II.”
“a lot of Chinese bastards”: Russ, Breakout, 233.
“The firing was coming in”: Author interview with former Royal Marine Gordon Payne in San Diego, CA, on August 21, 2016.
“41 Commando, present for duty”: Russ, Breakout, 235.
Chapman was a scrappy kid: The biographical details and battlefield reminiscences concerning Jack Chapman are drawn almost entirely from my personal interviews with him in Santa Fe, NM, in March 2017. I also relied on Chapman’s war memoir, Cherokee Warrior, available at Korean War Educator (http://www.koreanwar-educator.org).
“Protect us, O Lord”: Author interview with Chapman.
“we will kill you all”: Details concerning McLaughlin’s negotiations and surrender come from Hammel, Chosin, 205–7; Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 68–70; Leckie, March to Glory, 111–12, and Russ, Breakout, 241–42.
31 ONE-MAN ARMY
“eyes that bored into you”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 28.
“The Chinese think we’re roadbound”: Leckie, March to Glory, 129.
“Some fellow Marines”: Russ, Breakout, 287; Drury and Clavin, Last Stand of Fox Company, 242–43.
a “bold dash”: Davis, Story of Ray Davis, 111.
“destroy” them: Ibid.
“not well developed”: Russ, Breakout, 13.
“hardly a congenial companion”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 54.
“I tell you, it works”: This quote is from a videotaped oral history with Lee, recorded on August 24, 2000, on file at the Marine Corps Historical Center.
“willingly follow me into hell”: Ibid.
“I’m not the enemy!”: Ibid.
“Hey, that’s mine!”: Ibid.
“I wasn’t yet convinced”: Russ, Breakout, 54.
“prepared to meet my Maker”: Videotaped oral history with Lee.
“all the clichés apply”: Russ, Breakout, 293.
“almost a mission impossible”: Videotaped oral history with Lee.
32 EVERY WEAPON THAT WE HAVE
“Recent developments in Korea”: The entire transcript of President Truman’s November 30, 1950, press conference, including his opening statement, from which I quote here, is available at the American Presidency Project (www.presidency.ucsb.edu).
33 THE RIDGERUNNERS
“just over those ridges”: Drury and Clavin, Last Stand of Fox Company, 251.
“I wanted my men”: Russ, Breakout, 288.
a “long wavering line”: Leckie, March to Glory, 135.
like a mortar shell: Russ, Breakout, 295.
“Time had no meaning”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 234.
“Ching du ma?”: Drury and Clavin, Last Stand of Fox Company, 263.
“The voices had an adrenaline effect”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 242.
“must have had a crystal ball”: Videotaped oral history with Lee, recorded on August 24, 2000, Marine Corps Historical Center.
“too cold for government work”: Davis, Story of Ray Davis, 114.
“seductive, mindless mist”: Leckie, March to Glory, 137.
“The night was against them”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 235.
“No shoot, no shoot!”: Ibid., 236.
“a chain gang of zombies”: Russ, Breakout, 295.
“Exhaustion was telling on us”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 233.
“like pillars of lead”: Russ, Breakout, 300.
34 THIS PLACE OF SUFFERING
“all seemed relatively well”: Davis, Story of Ray Davis, 114.
“Not going any farther”: Russ, Breakout, 299.
“The spirit had gone out”: Ibid.
“pretty trigger-happy”: Wilson, Retreat, Hell! 206.
“a patrol to guide you in”: Russ, Breakout, 302.
“quiet oaths of disbelief”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 237.
“frozen in spasms of pain”: Ibid., 236.
“a Hollywood battle set”: Berry, Hey Mac, Where Ya Been? 158.
“speed that seemed to mock”: Leckie, March to Glory, 139.
“Men hobbled about”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 237.
“saviors would gaze upon the saved”: Leckie, March to Glory, 140.
“It was exhilarating”: Videotaped oral history with Lee, recorded on August 24, 2000, Marine Corps Historical Center.
“We never claimed that we saved Fox”: Ibid.
“We were stunned”: Russ, Breakout, 303.
“A single bullet pierced”: Hammel, Chosin, 271.
“docile little fellows”: Russ, Breakout, 303.
“the usual boring Communist propaganda”: Ibid., 304.
“threat to the motherland”: Videotaped oral history with Lee.
“It’s out of our control”: Russ, Breakout, 304.
BOOK FIVE: TO THE SEA
35 ATTACKING IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION
starting to look “like LaGuardia”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 210.
“You constantly felt the presence”: Author interview with Dr. James Stewart, in Vero Beach, FL, on March 27, 2015.
“They had the dazed air”: Higgins, War in Korea, 182.
“drunk with fatigue”: Ibid., 190.
“snap like a pretzel”: Author interview with David Douglas Duncan in Provence, France, August 29, 2015.
Peking Radio announced: Higgins, War in Korea, 181.
“If you have a father”: Winchell is quoted in Shisler, For Country and Corps, 228.
“Retreat, hell!”: Smith’s remarks are detailed in Leckie, March to Glory, 169, and Shisler, For Country and Corps, 217.
“Luckily, no control cables”: Author interview with Robert Himmerich y Valencia in Lone Butte, NM, on January 27, 2018.
“It was like a shooting gallery”: Author interview with Robert Harbula, in Tampa, FL, February 29, 2016.
“Tootsie Rolls”: See “How Tootsie Rolls Accidentally Saved Marines During War,” at the Marine Corps Community Services website (www.usmc-mccs.org). At reunions of the Chosin Few, a national organization of Chosin Reservoir veterans, the Chicago-based Tootsie Roll Industries has long been a sponsor, offering prodigious supplies of the candy that sustained the men all those years ago.
“Our parkas were all stained”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 245.
“never did stand a chance”: This anecdote is found in Shisler, For Country and Corps, 223.
Here’s health to you: The full lyrics of “The Marines’ Hymn” are available at the official website of the United States Marine Corps (www.marineband.marines.mil).
“those magnificent bastards”: See Frank Kerr, “At the Reservoir: Through the Eyes of a Combat Photographer,” Leatherneck, December 1990.
36 IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE
In Korea, he’d found both: My account of Ed Reeves’s harrowing survival story east of Chosin is drawn primarily from his published war memoir, Beautiful Feet & Real Peace. Unless otherwise noted, all details, including remembered dialogue, come from his own recollections in this book. I also relied upon a lengthy oral history Reeves videotaped for the Veterans History Project in 2003, available at the website of the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center (https://www.loc.gov/folklife). See also Patricia Brennan, “The ‘Forgotten’ Conflict,” Washington Post,
May 28, 2000.
A nightmare unfolded: The napalm incident is described in Hammel, Chosin, 231, and in Russ, Breakout, 275. My description here is also drawn from my interview with Army veteran Robert Ayala, an eyewitness to the incident, and a survivor of the east-of-Chosin ordeal. I interviewed Ayala in Dallas on June 24, 2016.
“It was so hot out there”: Author interview with Robert Ayala.
“The smell was awful”: Author interview with Harrison Ager in San Diego, CA, on August 20, 2016.
Colonel Allan MacLean, was gone: MacLean’s wounding and disappearance is depicted in Hammel, Chosin, 196.
“a struggling organism”: Appleman, East of Chosin, 306.
“It was heartrending”: Author interview with Sam Folsom, in Santa Monica, CA, on January 24, 2016.
“like Odysseus escaping”: Russ, Breakout, 279.
he shot them both: This incident is described in Appleman, East of Chosin, 240, and Russ, Breakout, 279.
Faith was mortally wounded: Faith’s death is detailed in Hammel, Chosin, 239; Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 77; and Appleman, East of Chosin, 276–77.
“rather like El Cid”: Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 77.
37 I’LL GET YOU A GODDAMN BRIDGE
“My personal, private reaction”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 224.
“damned serious situation”: Russ, Breakout, 357.
“When a cat is at the rat hole”: Hopkins, One Bugle, No Drums, 143.
“most difficult defile”: Russ, Breakout, 394.
“Never heard of it, General”: Ibid., 358.
“Dammit sir!”: Leckie, March to Glory, 180.
“On such slender threads”: Brady, Marines of Autumn, 223.
38 BLOOD ON THE ICE
Ed Reeves didn’t understand: As with the previous chapter, the Reeves narrative comes mainly from his war memoir, Beautiful Feet & Real Peace, and from the oral history Reeves videotaped for the Library of Congress’s American Folklife Center.
Private First Class Ralph Milton: This part of Reeves’s narrative is drawn substantially from my interview with Chosin veteran Ralph Milton in Twin Falls, ID, in July 2015.
“We developed a technique”: Author interview with Linus Chism on August 21, 2016, in San Diego, CA.
39 TAKING DEPARTURE
On the afternoon of December 4: My narrative of aviators Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner is drawn primarily from two excellent written sources: Devotion, by Adam Makos, and The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown, by Theodore Taylor. I also relied on my own conversation with Tom Hudner and his family at his home in Concord, MA, on December 13, 2015. Another helpful source was Such Men As These, by David Sears.
“Make mine a gin and tonic”: Makos, Devotion, 160.
“the cabin shook”: Ibid., 30.
“cain’t see to cain’t see”: Taylor, Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown, 27.
“If Negroes can’t ride”: Makos, Devotion, 28.
“movie star handsome”: Taylor, Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown, 200.
a painting he’d seen in his youth: Makos, Devotion, 334.
“looks like you’re bleeding fuel!”: Ibid., 9.
“You’ve got a streamer”: Ibid.
“I have to put it down”: Sears, Such Men As These, 119.
“Taking departure”: Makos, Devotion, 337.
My own dear sweet Angel: Brown’s entire letter to his wife is found in Taylor, The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown, 268–71.
40 THE BRIDGE OF LONG LIFE
Later that same week: All the details in this chapter are drawn from my interviews with Dr. Lee Bae-suk at his home in Cincinnati.
41 DOWN TO EARTH
“destroy the plane”: Makos, Devotion, 340.
“I’m going in”: Sears, Such Men As These, 121.
“curled his fingers into claws”: Makos, Devotion, 344.
“I’m pinned in here”: Sears, Such Men As These, 122.
“We gotta do something”: Ibid.
“Jesse’s pinned inside”: Ibid., 276.
“Tell Daisy how much I love her”: Sears, Such Men As These, 123.
“That Jesse over there?”: Makos, Devotion, 353.
“Hey Mississippi”: Ibid., 354.
Brown...“half smiled”: Jacobs, Korea’s Heroes, 75.
“He ain’t moving”: Makos, Devotion, 354.
If only my heart could talk: Jesse Brown to Daisy Brown, December 3, 1950, reprinted in Taylor, Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown, 268–71.
42 THE MOST HARROWING HOUR
“we had to get them out of there”: Russ, Breakout, 414.
“They were sick”: Leckie, March to Glory, 205.
“the most harrowing hour”: Russ, Breakout, 414.
43 THE CROSSING
“Seeing that star”: Author interview with Manert Kennedy in Monte Vista, CO, on April 14, 2016.
“high-wire acrobatics”: Brady, Marines of Autumn, 223.
technical sergeant named Wilfred Prosser: The story of Prosser’s assuming command of the stricken bulldozer is detailed in Leckie, March to Glory, 213.
“Just for the hell of it”: Russ, Breakout, 416.
“There seemed to be a glow”: Partridge is quoted in Montross and Canzona, Chosin Reservoir Campaign, 323.
“Those poor folks”: Author interview with Manert Kennedy in Monte Vista, CO, on April 14, 2016.
44 WE WILL SEE YOU AGAIN IN THE SOUTH
Lee Bae-suk found it surreal: All the details in this chapter are drawn from my interviews with Dr. Lee Bae-suk at his home in Cincinnati.
45 WE WALK IN THE HAND OF GOD
“Seen from the air”: AP reporter Hal Boyle is quoted in Weintraub, Christmas Far from Home, 219.
Bless ’em all!: The chant is quoted in Leckie, March to Glory, 217.
“They had been there and back”: Ibid.
“beat of a tragic rhythm”: Duncan, This Is War!, 201.
“Give me tomorrow”: Ibid.
“When we hit the valley”: Russ, Breakout, 429.
“a sullen, brown river”: Hopkins, One Bugle, No Drums, 200.
“I’d follow him to hell”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 232.
“Retreat, you say?”: Russ, Breakout, 433.
“committed the unforgivable sin”: Brady, Marines of Autumn, 264.
“The running fight of the Marines”: Time, December 18, 1950.
“one of the greatest fighting retreats”: Hersey, “Mr. President.”
“the most efficient and courageous”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 238.
“there was a plan”: La Bree, Gentle Warrior, 184.
“I knew what we had to do”: Smith to Esther Smith, December 26, 1950, Box 2, General Oliver Smith Collection.
“I have never commanded”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 230.
“walked in the hand of God”: Ibid.
“out of great faith can come a miracle”: S. L. A. Marshall is quoted in Shisler, For Country and Corps, 232.
“To say that I am proud”: Esther Smith to Smith, December 10, 1950, Box 2, General Oliver Smith Collection.
“My admiration for your calmness”: Esther Smith to Smith, January 10, 1951, Box 2, General Oliver Smith Collection.
“I never felt better”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 240.
“still full of fight”: La Bree, Gentle Warrior, 183.
“No more gallant men”: Russ, Breakout, 434.
swirling down the drains: Ibid., 431.
“When I dried off”: Knox, The Korean War, 614.
“They cut our boots off”: Ibid., 615.
“May hate cease”: Weintraub, Christmas Far from Home, 238.
“On an occasion
like this”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 238.
“with our spirit unbroken”: Smith speech, Box 29, General Oliver Smith Collection.
EPILOGUE: IN THE PANTHEON
“They have gone”: Spurr, Enter the Dragon, 269.
“I’m not a hero”: Author interview with Hector Cafferata.
“I wasn’t planning on biting”: Author interview with Stuart Yancey, John Yancey’s son, on May 27, 2017, in St. Louis, MO.
“I am forever grateful”: Hopkins, One Bugle, No Drums, 230.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARCHIVES
Douglas MacArthur Memorial Library and Archives, Norfolk, VA.
George C. Marshall Research Library, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA.
Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, Independence, MO.
Marine Corps History Division, Archives Branch, Quantico, VA.
National Archives, Washington, DC, and College Park, MD.
U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, PA.
MUSEUMS AND MONUMENTS
Chosin Few Battle Monument, Quantico, VA.
George C. Marshall Museum, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA.
Harry S. Truman Museum and Home, Independence, MO.
Korean War National Museum, Springfield, IL.
Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington, DC.
MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, Little Rock, AR.
Marine Corps Mechanized Museum, Camp Pendleton, CA.
National Museum of the Marine Corps, Triangle, VA.
On Desperate Ground Page 38
