Posts Tagged ‘1st Marine Division’
The Only Woman at Red Beach
As Marines climbed aboard their landing craft at Inchon, one woman, a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune, went with them. She was the only female to land at Red Beach on September 15, 1950. She covered the invasion with up-close, graphic, and oftentimes tragic stories of courage and self-sacrifice. From Inchon to Seoul…
Read MoreThere Was an Angel on Her Back
On March 26, 1953, nearly four months to the day that the Korean War armistice was signed, one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history began: The Battle for Outpost Vegas. Located in the strategically important “Iron Triangle,” a bitterly contested area along the DMZ, or MLR, Main Line of Resistance, Outpost Vegas was…
Read MoreHe Promised Me He Wouldn’t Do Anything Heroic
On April 9, 1949, 2nd Lieutenant Robert “Bob” Reem and Donna Zimmerli, both 24, were married at the US Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Maryland. Bob, a prior enlisted Marine and graduate of the Naval Academy, and Donna, the daughter of a US Navy Captain and an alumna of the University of North Carolina, had…
Read MoreFrom a PT Boat to the Streets of Seoul, William H. Shaw’s Life of Character and Conscience
Should I Stay Or Should I Go? For Bill Shaw, a 28-year-old husband, father of two, and first-year doctoral student at Harvard, the answer was clear. He told his wife, two young sons, parents, and professors he’d be back soon. His studies could wait, he explained. Three months later, on September 22, 1950, US Navy…
Read MoreFollow Me! The Life and Legacy of a Medal of Honor Recipient
In one of the most iconic images of the Korean War, a Marine lieutenant climbs out of a landing craft, his right foot on a rocky seawall, his right hand gripping a rifle. Smoke fills the sky. Ladders, with ominous-looking hooks, jut upwards. His body, lunging forward, gives the impression of a man with confidence…
Read MoreShe Eats, Sleeps, and Fights Like the Rest of Us
In a few weeks the 67th publication anniversary of a little-known Korean War book will quietly come and go. The non-fiction work won’t make headlines, and its author won’t be remembered in editorials or magazines. But things were different in 1951. The book, War in Korea, and its author, the award-winning Marguerite Higgins, were hugely…
Read MoreHungnam Evacuation – A Christmas Miracle
In December 1950, dramatic events unfolding in the rugged mountains of North Korea captivated the world’s attention. The Battle of Chosin, one of the fiercest engagements in U.S. history, was taking place in sub-zero temperatures and knee-deep snow. After days of horrific fighting, U.N. troops, surrounded by overwhelming Chinese forces and suffering heavy casualties, began an…
Read MorePhysically and Emotionally Frozen
Sixty-seven years ago, on November 27, 1950, one of the most monumental battles in US history began in the desolate, unforgiving mountains of North Korea. What occurred over the next two weeks was nothing short of a terrifying, grisly, and frozen nightmare. Chosin, as the savage fight between US and Chinese forces is now called,…
Read MoreRemembering Chosin
It’s a pivotal event of the 20th century. An experience so monumental that it has come to represent, even encapsulate, the ongoing struggle between the forces of oppression, tyranny, and authoritarianism and those who believe in freedom, justice, and democracy. The Chosin Campaign, correctly called “Changjin” in Korea, was a defining moment in history. The two-week…
Read MoreA Famous Landing and an Infamous Missile Launch
Yesterday, the 67th anniversary of the Inchon Landing, was a particularly memorable Friday. For South Koreans, the commemoration of one of the boldest, most successful amphibious operations in military history began with a typical early-morning commute and “Americano” – the coffee drink of choice for millions of Koreans. But, as has been the case all…
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