On Desperate Ground
Page 36
“My first impression”: Ibid.
“no organized enemy”: Ibid.
“fantastically unrealistic”: Ibid., 111.
“formidable physical difficulties”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 145.
“purely mechanical”: Heinl, Victory at High Tide, 44.
“stuff of legends”: Halberstam, Coldest Winter, 307.
“administrative maelstrom”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 129.
“puffs of smoke”: Thompson, Cry Korea, 51.
“under a yellow pall”: Thompson, Ibid., 61.
“The quake and roar”: Higgins, War in Korea, 142.
“the crimson haze”: Ibid., 145.
“white rabbit out of a hat”: Pearlman, Truman and MacArthur, 105.
“Napoleonic pose”: James, Years of MacArthur, 478.
“the happiest moment”: Pearlman, Truman and MacArthur, 107.
“Our losses are light”: Knox, Korean War, 251.
“shone more brightly”: Sloan, Darkest Summer, 234.
“professionals were doing it”: Heinl, Victory at High Tide, 120.
2 TRAITOR’S HOUSE
Looking after them was their cousin: All descriptions, quotations, and details in this chapter are based entirely on my personal interviews with Dr. Lee Bae-suk at his home in Cincinnati, OH, in September 2016.
“awkward bedfellow of ‘democracy’ ”: Thompson, Cry Korea, 109.
“the sun of mankind”: Harden, Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, 2.
“imperialists and their stooges”: Ibid., 4.
3 ACROSS THE HAN
“organizational genius of the Americans”: Thompson, Cry Korea, 60.
“a burned-out husk”: Ibid., 82.
“General Almond had a habit”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 151.
“no dearth of advice”: Ibid., 157.
“a ‘hard charger’ ”: Bowser is quoted in Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 10.
“could evoke the thunders”: Fehrenbach, This Kind of War, 163.
“precipitate a crisis”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 156.
“the most reckless man”: Haig, Inner Circles, 44.
“Ned was aggressive”: Blair, Forgotten War, 32.
“plenty of enemy fire”: Smith to Esther Smith, September 20, 1950, Box 2, General Oliver Smith Collection.
“Women carried huge bundles”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 63.
“hardly a brick out of place”: Alpha Bowser, Oral History, 229–30, Marine Corps History Division.
“the gallant commander”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 152.
“meant for gallantry in action”: Smith to Esther Smith, September 22, 1950, Box 2, General Oliver Smith Collection.
4 BENEATH THE LIGHTHOUSE
Even from the depths: As with chapter 2, all scenes, details, recollections, and descriptions in this chapter are drawn from my personal interviews with Dr. Lee Bae-suk.
5 THE BATTLE OF THE BARRICADES
“Slowly and inexorably”: Thompson, Cry Korea, 94.
“town shot to hell”: Alexander, Battle of the Barricades, 36.
“so terrible a liberation”: Ibid., 24.
“crack of bullets overhead”: Duncan, This Is War! 84.
“deployed his men like ferrets”: Thompson, Cry Korea, 87.
“a dirty, frustrating fight”: Alexander, Battle of the Barricades, 38.
“clots” of enemy corpses: Ibid., 33.
“whittled us pretty keen”: Ibid., 29.
“That was for thank you”: Higgins, War in Korea, 153.
“hysterically babbling words”: Duncan, This Is War! 84.
“withered walnut faces” Thompson, Cry Korea, 98.
“wasn’t in the speed of mind”: Almond, Oral History, p. 52, General Edward Almond Collection, Army Military History Institute.
“always had excuses”: Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 2.
“exasperatingly deliberate: Alexander, Battle of the Barricades, 19.
“experienced to be believed”: Haig, Inner Circles, 42.
“Curtness was his hallmark”: Ibid., 41.
“frosty blue eyes”: Ibid., 42.
“Being from the South”: Atkinson, Day of Battle, 383.
“characteristics of the Negro”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 153.
“Negro soldiers learn slowly”: Atkinson, Day of Battle, 383.
“He was not a believer”: Haig, Inner Circles, 43.
“probably more trouble”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 146.
“coordination of fires”: Smith is quoted in La Bree, Gentle Warrior, 126.
“hit the ceiling”: Heinl, Victory at High Tide, 212–13.
“If you’ll give your orders”: Alexander, Battle of the Barricades, 19.
“propensity to relieve subordinates”: La Bree, Gentle Warrior, 126.
“Three months to the day”: Alexander, Battle of the Barricades, 36.
“If the city had been liberated”: Ibid.
“retreating enemy”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 160.
“on impulse without serious consideration”: Ibid., 161.
“I can’t pursue anybody”: La Bree, Gentle Warrior, 130.
“I understand your problem”: Ibid.
6 THE SAVIOR OF OUR RACE
“fearless example”: Stanton, America’s Tenth Legion, 112.
“grace of a merciful Providence”: Alexander, Battle of the Barricades, 46.
“discharge of the civil responsibility”: Thompson, Cry Korea, 110.
“We admire you”: Manchester, American Caesar, 583.
“Let the sons of our sons”: Passages from Rhee’s speech are quoted in Thompson, Cry Korea, 110.
“must and will be torn down”: Haig, Inner Circles, 49.
“a superhuman effort”: Halberstam, Coldest Winter, 331.
“someone ready to give it a try”: Ibid., 332.
“the sorcerer of Inchon”: Pearlman, Truman and MacArthur, 105.
“no stopping MacArthur now”: Ibid., 104.
“We want you to feel unhampered”: Manchester, American Caesar, 584.
“I regard all of North Korea”: Ibid.
“everything that moved”: Harden, Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, 6.
“The complete destruction”: Manchester, American Caesar, 586.
“too depressing”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 166.
fresh bouquet for the table: Ibid.
“close to lethal”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 103.
“As to how long we will stay”: Smith to Esther Smith, January 24, 1951, Box 2, General Oliver Smith Collection.
“I hope we do not have to operate”: Smith to Esther Smith, October 1, 1950, Box 2, General Oliver Smith Collection, Marine Corps History Division.
7 GOD’S RIGHT-HAND MAN
“Only God or the Government”: Gunther, Riddle of MacArthur, 13.
“sly political ambush”: Whitney, MacArthur, 395.
“I’ve a whale of a job”: McCullough, Truman, 801.
“queer accident of democracy”: Time, March 8, 1943.
Underneath the brass: Hersey, Aspects of the Presidency, 3.
“Mr. President!”: Manchester, American Caesar, 590.
a “picture orgy”: Truman, Memoirs, 364.
“I have been worried”: McCullough, Truman, 802.
“stimulating and interesting”: Manchester, American Caesar, 590.
“nothing but courtesy”: MacArthur, Reminiscences, 361.
“Do you mind if I smoke?”: Ibid.
“a forlorn hope”: James, Years of MacArthur, 507.
“But they are obstinate”: Weintraub, MacArthur’s War, 189.
“What will be the attitude of China?”: Ibid., 190.
“the greatest slaughter”: Manchester, American Caesar, 592. See also Truman, Memoirs, 366.
“the most persuasive fellow”: McCullough, Truman, 804.
“his indomitable will”: Manchester, American Caesar, 595.
“and happy landing”: McCullough, Truman, 808.
8 THE TIGER WANTS HUMAN BEINGS
“Another nation is in a crisis”: Peng, Memoirs of a Chinese Marshal, 472.
“No concession could stop it”: Ibid., 473.
“increasing the arrogance of the enemy”: Ibid., 476.
“We all have black hair”: Harden, Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, 57.
China had already issued a fair warning: See Halberstam, Coldest Winter, 334–37.
imbibe the spirit: For more details on Mao’s obsession with river swims, see Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao, 157–68.
To ward off impotency: Li, Private Life of Chairman Mao, 104.
“A normal bowel movement”: Ibid., 107.
“chilled through broken lips”: Ibid., 117.
“like licking a rock”: This detail comes from Li, They Came in Waves, 104.
“do not use good metal for nails”: Coggins, Soldiers and Warriors, 312.
“Growing up, I had no dreams”: Author interview with Huang Zhi in Taipei, Taiwan, January 2018.
“I didn’t have any idea about Americans”: Ibid.
“The imperialist criminals were at our door”: Author interview with Yang Wang-Fu in Taipei, Taiwan, December 2017.
“China, though weak”: Li, They Came in Waves, 94.
“Weapons are an important factor”: Ibid., 11.
“I will find the enemy’s weakness”: Ibid., 41.
BOOK TWO: TO THE MOUNTAINS
9 MANY, MANY
“It took a curious sort of mind”: Brady, Marines of Autumn, 62.
“ordeal of misery and sickness”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 104.
“Never did time”: Russ, Breakout, 11.
“literally blown to pieces”: Ibid., 15.
“a surrealistic scene”: Haig, Inner Circles, 54.
“dissipated to a point of ineffectiveness”: Intelligence report quoted in Brady, Marines of Autumn, 70.
the so-called dragon’s back: Salmon, Scorched Earth, Black Snow, 320.
“I don’t have much confidence”: Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 22.
“I got troops scattered”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 172.
“I questioned his judgment”: Bowser is quoted in Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 10.
“was overly cautious of executing”: Almond is quoted in Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 35.
“He was the cock of the roost”: Author interview with Sam Folsom in Santa Monica, CA, on January 24, 2016.
“many, many”: Russ, Breakout, 24.
“This information has not been confirmed”: Stanton, America’s Tenth Legion, 161.
“There is no positive evidence”: McGovern, To the Yalu, 54.
10 KING’S ENVOY TO HAMHUNG
a nineteen-year-old medical student: Details of this chapter, unless otherwise noted, are drawn primarily from my own extensive interviews with Dr. Lee Bae-suk.
“king’s envoy to Hamhung”: See Choe and Torchia, How Koreans Talk, 94.
“entrepreneurial king of the peninsula”: See Harden, Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, 21.
“the black umbrella”: For an insightful account of Korean life under Japanese colonial rule, see Kang, Under the Black Umbrella.
Thousands of young Korean women: A first-rate narrative about Japan’s wartime program of enforced prostitution is Hicks, Comfort Women.
a sadistic medical experimentation program: For more on Unit 731, see Barenblatt, Plague Upon Humanity.
women began disguising themselves: Harden, Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, 27.
a decadent bourgeois sport: Ibid., 5.
Then followed the parades: An excellent account of the early days of Communist rule in North Korea is Cha, Impossible State.
11 HEROIC REMEDIES
120 steps a minute: Hersey, Aspects of the Presidency, 37.
get “your circulation up”: Ibid., 48.
It was “clearly established”: Walter B. Smith, CIA director, “Memorandum for the President: Chinese Communist Intervention in Korea,” November 1, 1950, President’s Secretary’s Files, Truman Presidential Library.
“committing themselves to full-scale intervention”: Ibid.
“staying up there from force of habit”: Klara, Hidden White House, 51.
“Heroic remedies”: Ibid., 68.
clutching a German Luger: My account of the assassination attempt is drawn primarily from Hunter and Bainbridge’s excellent work on the subject, American Gunfight. See also Donovan, The Assassins.
“An attempt has been made to assassinate”: Acheson, Present at the Creation, 459.
“a bad scare”: Ibid.
“A president has to expect”: McCullough, Truman, 812.
“I could organize a better program”: Truman to Acheson, November 2, 1950, President’s Secretary’s Files, Truman Presidential Library.
12 WILL O’ THE WISP
“like a phony war”: Leckie, March to Glory, 22.
“great energy in the ranks”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 113.
“stories of Japanese ferocity”: Ibid.
“bit of a bully”: Russ, Breakout, 66.
“built all of rectangles”: Hammel, Chosin, 23.
“important that we win:” Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 13.
“The results will reverberate”: Russ, Breakout, 25.
“like flocks of blackbirds”: Ibid., 30.
“quite a fight”: Ibid., 47.
“a tiny fellow who smiled”: Ibid., 58.
“we are fighting a sizeable unit”: Smith to Esther Smith, November 6, 1950, Box 2, General Oliver Smith Collection.
“ought to make noise”: Brady, Marines of Autumn, 124.
“like a will o’ the wisp”: Smith, Aide-Mémoire, 745, Box 34, General Oliver Smith Collection, Marine Corps History Division.
merely a “bother”: Almond to Margaret Almond, November 18, 1950, General Edward Almond Collection, Army Military History Institute.
“my pet fascist”: Gordon, Modern History of Japan, 237.
“Anything MacArthur wanted”: Halberstam, Coldest Winter, 378.
“He has no wife”: Lt. Col. James Polk to his wife, Josephine Polk, October 12, 1950.
“We had the dope”: Lt. Col. James Polk, personal letter to his wife, Josephine Polk, December 6, 1950.
“too obdurate for them”: Haig, Inner Circles, 59.
“every trick in the book”: Russ, Breakout, 52.
“joked and laughed as we marched”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 167.
“Shadow and shade”: Brady, Marines of Autumn, 98.
“Beyond each hill”: Russ, Breakout, 27.
“Even Genghis Khan”: Ibid., 64.
“bandit country”: Brady, The Marines of Autumn, 116.
“mysterious Oriental kingdom”: Russ, Breakout, 50.
13 BROKEN ARROWS
“The son of a bitch”: Rovere, Senator Joe McCarthy, 12.
“Korean death trap”: McCarthy is quoted in Donovan, Tumultuous Years, 295.
A U.S. Navy fighter pilot: See Sears, Such Men As These, 95.
an even weightier event: For a good account of the Rivière-du-Loup B-50 incident, see Mowat, Eastern Passage, and also Septer, Lost Nuke.
“broken a
rrow”: See Oskins and Maggelet, Broken Arrow.
14 A POWERFUL INSTRUMENT
the first recruits of the Continental Marines: See Heinl, Soldiers of the Sea, 4.
“your present gallant and heroic exploits”: La Bree, Gentle Warrior, 142.
“a ferocious little confraternity”: Brady, Marines of Autumn, 128.
“It was not because they were braver”: Russ, Breakout, 5.
“a propaganda machine”: Truman to Congressman Gordon McDonough, August 29, 1950, Public Papers of Harry S Truman, 1945–1953, Truman Presidential Library.
“a howling beast”: Leckie, March to Glory, 24.
“numb the spirit”: Simmons, Frozen Chosin, 24.
“a disappointing crackle”: Brady, Marines of Autumn, 118.
“The cold was a physical force”: Author interview with Frank Borowiec in Chicopee, Massachusetts, July 22, 2016.
“no breath to boast in”: Leckie, March to Glory, 24.
“blaspheme the goddamn fools”: Owen, Colder Than Hell, 188.
“If I’d known what the temperature was”: Author interview with Harrison Ager in San Diego, CA, on August 20, 2016.
“stimulants were required”: La Bree, Gentle Warrior, 142.
When the temperature dropped: On Smith’s aversion to extreme cold, see Shisler, For Country and Corps, 178.
“It seemed with each step”: Olmstead, Coldest Night, 103.
“General Winter”: Russ, Breakout, 63.
“barreling up that road”: Ibid., 71.
“We’re not going anywhere”: Ibid.
“all of that blood and sacrifice”: Shisler, For Country and Corps, 88.
his letter proved to be profoundly prescient: Portions of Smith’s correspondence to Cates have been published in numerous sources, but the letter is quoted in its entirety in La Bree, The Gentle Warrior, 145–50.