The Last Stand of Fox Company: a grueling picture of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir

The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of US Marines in Combat by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin is a detailed account of one of the coldest battles on record. In November 1950, General MacArthur ignored Mao’s warnings and pushed his UN forces deeper into North Korea. The 10,000 First Division Marines find themselves surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by the 100,000 Chinese soldiers near the Chosin Reservoir. Fighting their way south through the Toktong Pass, a narrow gorge, is their only chance for survival. Led by Captain William Barber and the 234 Marines of Fox Company, the courageous but undermanned unit of the First Marines. They climb seven miles of frozen terrain to a rocky point overlooking the pass where they will endure four days and five nights of unrelenting Chinese attempts to take Fox Hill. Three-quarters of Fox Company are killed, wounded, or captured. Only a daring and impossible mission to cut through the Chinese lines may be their only chance for survival. 

I have been fascinated with learning more about the Korean War since learning that my late father-in-law fought in the war. The Last Stand of Fox Company is an in depth, no-holds-bar account of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir (November 26 - December 13, 1950) which is often referred as Frozen Chosin as it was the coldest winter on record in 30 years. I know that Marines have a reputation for being tough as nails with a lot of bravado. However, reading about the courageous and determined men of Fox Company, they have certainly earned that bravado. Drury and Clavin do a nice job spotlighting the many men who played an important part in the battle from the leadership to the enlisted men in the foxholes. They also do not shy away from the horrors of battle and the aftermath that these men went through. I highly recommend The Last Stand of Fox Company. It has opened my eyes to the Korean War than just dates and important battles. 

The Last Stand of Fox Company is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook. 

Daughters of the Dragon: forgotten and silenced for too long

Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews is a story about a part of history I have never heard. It is a heart wrenching story about one woman’s survival during a time when the world was in turmoil. The story opens with Anna, a Korean woman who was adopted by an American couple as a baby who is now trying to meet her birth mother. At the agency, Anna is told her mother has passed away. As she leaves the agency, heartbroken, she is approached by an elderly woman with a note and package. The note reads with an address and inside is a beautiful comb with a two-headed dragon. Against the advice of those around her, Anna decides to go to the address. There she meets, Hong Jae-kee, her birth grandmother and she wants to tell Anna the story of her family. There her grandmother begins to tell her story. She begins in September 1943 in North P’yonygan Province, North Korea where she lived on the family farm. Jae-kee and her older sister, Soo-hee, are ordered to work in a boot factory. Before they leave, their mother gives Soo-hee the dragon comb, in hopes that it will protect her. Along the way, Soo-hee gives the comb Jae-kee. The girls are shipped by truck with other girls to China where they arrive at a comfort station. There the girls are required to be “comfort women” to the Japanese soldiers as they come through the area. For two years, Jae-kee and the other girls are raped by the soldiers and treated for horrible sexually diseases as well as quick abortions. Soon rumor begins to fly that the Japanese are losing the war. Soon Jae-kee finds herself free but without a home and without family. As she makes her way home, she must live with the stigma of a comfort woman and finds herself on the edge of society. How does Jae-kee survive? What is the significance of the dragon comb?

In many ways, Daughters of the Dragon reminds me of The Joy Luck Club as both feature strong women who survive horrific conditions of war and societal rules which make them inferior. It was eye-opening to see the events portrayed in Korea as the world is at war and what the Korean War was like for those who lived there. It is a beautiful and heartbreaking story of one woman’s journey. Jae-kee’s story is an example of a hidden piece of history which shouldn’t be hidden anymore. The numbers vary as to how many young girls who forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army. The atrocities of war, the innocent lives shattered by the powerful. But the strength of these woman to make their voices heard and the crimes committed against them be brought to light. Daughters of the Dragon is an excellent book about an area of history that has been forgotten and silenced for too long. I highly recommend Daughters of the Dragon!

Daughters of the Dragon

is available on Amazon

in paperback $14.95

and Kindle $4.99

The Reluctant Soldier: letters from war

The Reluctant Solider by Marine Mellblom is a memoir of the Korean War, the Forgotten War. It is told through the letters from her husband, Neil Mellblom.

The book starts as Neil is shipping out. Through his words, Neil describes an Army which was not prepared for the action which were taking place in Korea. Neil becomes a writer for the Pacific Stars and Stripes in which he was writing stories about the front lines. Although he was writing it from the wire report and not from the thick of battle. Throughout the book, the reader sees Neil’s disappointment with the Army as well as himself. He wants to be a better solider. He struggles that he is not on the frontlines but at the same time he is glad that he isn’t. He is frustrated with the extra treatment the officers get over the non-officers, even in acknowledgement of heroism in battle.

I enjoyed reading this book although I had anticipated a different type of book. However, as I read Neil’s own words as he writes about his experiences during the Korea War opened the war in a new light. To the quick paced but ultimately unpreparedness of the Army, to the worry about his friends who are throughout his country, to his struggles with his own role in the war. The book is also the love story between Neil and Marnie as their letters are exchanged across the miles. Sadly, her letters do not survive today due to a flood that destroyed Neil’s barracks before he came home. The Reluctant Soldier is a great look into the personal side of war rather than the political/strategic side. 

The Reluctant Soldier

is available on Amazon

in paperback for $16.95

Today in history: Armistice signed ending the Korean War

Today is the 62nd anniversary of the signing of the armistice which signaled the end of the Korean War. The Korean War was the first major conflict of the Cold War. In North Korea, this day is known as the Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War. In the United States, the Korean War is referred to as the Forgotten War. On this day in 1995, the Korean War Veterans Memorial dedicated in Washington, D.C. The war which ended in a stalemate and is a war that is technically still being fought by North Korea and South Korea.

The Korean Demilitarized Zone is the buffer zone between North and South Korea. It is the de factor border which runs the vicinity of the 38^th parallel and roughly cuts the Korean peninsula in half. It is 250 km (160 miles) long and approximately 4 km (2.5 miles) wide. Despite its name, it is the most heavily militarized border in the world. Since its establishment, there have been numerous incidents and incursions by the North Koreans which the North Korean government denies. In 1968, there was a failed attempt to assassinate President Park Chung Hee. Between the years of 1974-1990, a series of infiltration tunnels were discovered. A total of 17 tunnels were discovered. The most recent incident was June 15, 2015 when a teenage North Korean solider walked across the DMZ and defected at a South Korean guard post. 

Today, I would like to remember the Forgotten War. To remember the men who fought a war that no one really cared about not like they did for World War II or the Vietnam War. The men who came home to no fanfare, no tinker tape parades. To the men who quietly came home and began to build their lives, their families and their careers. Approximately 40,000 American soldiers died in the Korean War, more than 100,000 were wounded and more than 32,000 are missing in action. In total, 5 million people were killed in this conflict and 10% of the causalities were Korean civilians. 416 Korean War unknown soldiers are buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Oahu, Hawaii.  

Today the North Koreans proudly claim they won the Korean War, we remember the men and women who served and those who died in service of their country during the Korean War, a war that officially wasn’t a “war” but it was for those who experienced it. To all the Korean War veterans, thank you for your service. I may not know your names but you are not forgotten.