Posts Tagged ‘Battle of Chosin’
Fighting and Dying in a Frozen Hell
It’s a pivotal event of the 20th century. The Battle of Chosin, or “Changjin” as it’s called in Korea, a two-week-long bloodbath pitting 30,000 US, ROK, and British troops against 120,000 Chinese soldiers, was a defining moment of the Korean War. Fighting in the winter of 1950 in bitter cold and brutal terrain, men endured…
Read MoreA Marine for All Time
John Stevens, the steely-eyed, tireless Marine who fought in World War II and Korea and played a major role in establishing the Korean War Memorial Foundation’s memorial to Korean War veterans at the Presidio, passed away on May 25, 2021, just four weeks after celebrating his 100th birthday. During his 23 years as a Marine,…
Read MoreA Lifetime of Waiting
You Are Not Forgotten Their stories are heartbreaking. For decades, thousands of families – over 7,700 – have wondered when and if their son, husband, brother, or uncle will return from the Korean War. They’ve spent a lifetime waiting for a letter, a phone call, or a visit from a government official. But there’s been…
Read MoreThe 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 MoreOn the East Side of Chosin
As the helicopter took off and disappeared over the North Korean mountains, Lt. Col. Don Faith, watching from his desolate, wind-swept command post at Chosin Reservoir, threw his newly awarded Silver Star into the snow. After enduring a horrific night of fighting against overwhelming Chinese forces, his commanding officer had just ordered him and his…
Read MoreBrothers in Arms: A Story of Sacrifice and Survival
For 19-year-old Pat Finn, a Minnesota Marine with Item Co, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, the night seemed colder and darker than any of the others he’d experienced since landing in Korea. His battalion had just arrived at a desolate, frozen lake he would remember for the rest of his life: the Chosin Reservoir. Home by…
Read MoreOn a Hill Far Away
We’ll never know the terror 18-year-old Marine PFC Edward “Eddie” Thorn experienced in the final minutes of his life, but we do know that what he and hundreds of other Marines went through at the Chosin, or “Changjin,” Reservoir was unimaginable. Shivering on a wind-swept, snow-covered hill on the night of November 28, 1950, PFC Thorn…
Read MoreGreat Sacrifice Can Produce Great Results
This weekend as Americans enjoy cookouts, beach reading, shopping sprees, blockbuster movie openings, and good times with family and friends, many of us will also take time to remember America’s military men and women who died in defense of our freedom. It is, after all, Memorial Day Weekend. But there’s another group of Americans, far from home…
Read MoreMen of the Merchant Marine: Unsung Heroes of the Korean War
As the elderly American, surrounded by cameras, microphones, and reporters, walked towards the memorial, two Korean men stepped forward from the crowd. As if on cue, the sea of people suddenly parted, and the three men shook hands, their warm smiles and contagious laughs drawing everyone’s attention. It was a magical moment, one that words and pictures…
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…
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