The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
Page 93
“What a damned travesty”: Russ, Martin, Breakout, pp. 196–197; Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, pp. 462–464.
“an arrogant, blind march to disaster”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 464.
easy prey for the Chinese: Heefner, Wilson, Patton’s Bulldog, p. 295.
CHAPTER 31
“were running in all directions”: Paul Freeman oral history, U.S. Army War College Library.
was blocked by the Chinese: Ibid.; Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 478.
might well have seen Chinese: Marshall, S. L. A., The River and the Gauntlet, p. 264.
“or just barrel through”: author interview with Alan Jones.
He had never heard of it before: author interview with Malcolm MacDonald; MacDonald family memoir.
“Well, come out my way”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 477.
always bad, became even worse: author interview with Larry Farnum.
“we lost because of it”: author interview with Harold G. Moore.
and with disabled vehicles: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, pp. 478–81.
“so I guess I can run another one”: author interview with Jim Hinton.
Lucky Charley, he had thought: author interviews with Sam Mace and Charley Heath.
to die on that road trying: author interview with Alan Jones.
“on the road to Sunchon, would you?”: Ibid., author interview with Bill Wood.
CHAPTER 32
“I’ve lost my whole battalion”: author interview with Malcolm MacDonald.
“Can’t any of you do anything?” Marshall, S. L. A., The River and the Gauntlet, p. 319.
an epitaph for the day: Ibid., p. 320.
“in this godawful country”: Spurr, Russell, Enter the Dragon, p. 193.
“More fucking Chinese!”: author interview with Paul O’Dowd.
CHAPTER 33
“some kind of officer’s club”: author interview with Gino Piazza.
they were stuck with all that: Ibid.
“commitment to his men made things harder”: Ibid., author interviews with Larry Farnum and Alarich Zacherle.
bore him no animus: author interview with Alarich Zacherle.
“very few of them made it back”: author interview with Bob Nehrling.
just how close the Chinese were: author interview with Hank Emerson.
a kind of death for him as well: author interview with Charley Heath.
CHAPTER 34
Had their communications been more modern: Alpha Bowser oral history, U.S. Marine Corps History Division.
“non-battle injuries, mostly frostbite”: Hoffman, Jon T., Chesty, p. 410.
“preferably one with yellow skin”: Russ, Martin, Breakout, p. 6.
“simply attacking in another direction”: Alpha Bowser oral history, U.S. Marine Corps History Division.
“overly cautious executing any order”: Simmons, Edwin H., Frozen Chosin, p. 35.
“I was never more satisfied”: D. Clayton James interview with Oliver P. Smith, MacArthur Memorial Library.
“You tell General Walker to”: Marshall, S. L. A., Bringing Up the Rear, pp. 181–183.
“Never serve under Tenth Corps”: Hoffman, Jon T., Chesty, p. 417.
CHAPTER 35
in the previous six weeks: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 468.
“as if the madness were in the room”: author interview with Matthew B. Ridgway.
“he could not bear to end his career in checkmate”: Manchester, William, American Caesar, p. 617.
“omissions of the more unpalatable facts”: Hastings, Max, The Korean War, p. 178.
prematurely triggered the Chinese attack: James, D. Clayton, Refighting the Last War, p. 45.
and thus redeem himself: Bradley, Omar, with Blair, Clay, A General’s Life, p. 626.
victories of his adversaries not really victories: author interview with Matthew B. Ridgway.
“Whom the gods destroy”: Acheson, Dean, Present at the Creation, p. 518.
“Someone is crazy”: author interview with Joe Fromm.
“It was disgraceful”: Bradley, Omar, with Blair, Clay, A General’s Life, p. 603.
why couldn’t we?: Ibid.
“thereby to unite the forces of Eighth Army and Tenth Corps”: Ibid.
“one promising front in the war to liberate”: Herzstein, Robert, Henry Luce and the American Crusade in Asia, p. 139.
“Luce wants the Big War”: Ibid., p. 147.
“to Manhattan’s Upper West Side”: Ibid., p. 136.
“so often been right when everyone else”: Ridgway, Matthew B., The Korean War, p. 61.
“I never afterward had occasion to discuss this”: Ibid.; author interview with Matthew B. Ridgway.
“the British at Singapore in 1942”: Hastings, Max, The Korean War, p. 170.
“ill-armed and on their feet”: Ibid., p. 167.
“complete disgrace and of shame”: author interview with Sam Mace.
CHAPTER 36
“a lot sooner in the game”: author interview with Jack Murphy.
“the last great battle between East and West”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 69.
“we risk disaster”: Ibid.
“was the same as that on it”: author interview with Ken Hamburger; Blair, Clay, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, pp. 138–141.
“not before the Japanese people”: Matthew B. Ridgway interview, Toland papers, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
“very little in the way of blood”: Ridgway, Matthew B., The Korean War, p. 110.
greatest American soldier: Ridgway, Matthew B., The Korean War, dedication.
“stuck to the bone”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 569.
“Do what you think best”: Ridgway, Matthew B., The Korean War, p. 83.
“the most underrated”: Allen, George, None So Blind, p. 96.
“like no other general’s in our”: Bradley, Omar, with Blair, Clay, A General’s Life, p. 608.
“seldom took advantage of it”: Ridgway, Matthew B., The Korean War, pp. 88–89.
“not in retreat, but in flight”: Harold Johnson oral history, U.S. Army War College Library.
“You must be ruthless”: Toland, John, In Mortal Combat, p. 378.
“Fight them! Finish them!”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 37
“He wanted to go to war with China”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, pp. 566–567.
“We are fighting the second team”: Hastings, Max, The Korean War, p. 186.
“of what many might call ‘appeasement’”: Ibid., p. 569.
“under which we were fighting”: Bradley, Omar with Blair, Clay, A General’s Life, p. 646.
“Even with his penis he was defiant”: Blair, Clay, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, p. 111.
wings were going to be partially clipped: Coleman, J. D., Wonju, p. 59.
no longer going to play games: author interview with Bill McCaffrey.
Jeter was gone, and word: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 574.
the smallest details right: author interview with George Allen.
the beginning of the turnaround: interview with Mike Michaelis, Clay Blair papers, U.S. Army War College Library.
CHAPTER 38
might prove a crisis in itself: Xiaobing Li, et al., Mao’s Generals Remember Korea, p. 11.
becoming drunk with success: Spurr, Russell, Enter the Dragon, p. 252.
“if they weren’t ours”: author interview with Walter Killilae, Killilae private memoir.
always treated them: Spurr, Russell, Enter the Dragon, pp. 41–42.
he intended to savor it: Ibid., p. 167.
“will be a battle of supply,” Ibid., pp. 80–81.
“who see the conduct of war in dogmatic”: Ibid.
“and one bite [of] snow”: Xiaobing Li, et al., Mao’s Generals Remember Korea, p. 54.
met only a quarter of the army’s: Ibid., p. 18.
weaker than the Chinese Nationalist: Ibid.
“goals defined by Mao tended to go beyond”: Ibid.
“had thrown their rifles and pistols away”: Ridgway, Matthew B., The Korean War, pp. 93–94.
CHAPTER 39
“most of us hated them”: author interview with John Carley.
more bravado than he felt: Spurr, Russell, Enter the Dragon, p. 285.
everyone hit the ground: Paul Freeman oral history, U.S. Army War College Library; Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, pp. 92–93.
“and a basin of water”: Paul Freeman oral history, U.S. Army War College Library.
CHAPTER 40
five hundred meters each surrounded it: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, p. 98.
and been lucky as well: author interview with Maurice Fenderson.
of little value for much of the morning: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, pp. 99–100.
“This is our only chance”: Ibid., p. 100; Appleman, Roy, Ridgway Duels for Korea, pp. 202–203; Gugeler, Russell, Combat Operations in Korea, pp. 85–87; author interviews with survivors, including Laron Wilson and Richard Fockler.
made him feel he had a lot: author interview with Laron Wilson.
an American captain in a jeep spotted him: author interview with Richard Fockler.
it was Private William Stratton: Gugeler, Russell, Combat Operations in Korea, pp. 87–90.
for the fourth time and died: author interview with Laron Wilson; Gugeler, Russell, Combat Operations in Korea, pp. 80–90.
“will be with you shortly”: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, p. 103.
“small-unit actions in the Korean”: Freeman, Paul, Wonju to Chipyongni, U.S. Army War College Library.
CHAPTER 41
“to demonstrate his superiority”: Coleman, J. D., Wonju, p. 91.
was not trusted by his superior: Ibid., p. 58.
“who often commanded by instilling fear”: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, pp. 89–90.
“murder my regiment”: Stewart, George, private memoir.
the wisdom of the ages: Knox, Donald, The Korean War, Vol. II, p. 25.
“enemy is close enough to kill”: Martin, Harold, Saturday Evening Post, May 19, 1951.
then returned to Freeman’s headquarters: Stewart, George, private memoir.
pointless rounds into the air: author interview with Kenneth Hamburger, who had interviewed George Stewart at length.
Then, still in a rage, he drove off in his jeep: author interview with Sherman Pratt; Pratt, Sherman, Decisive Battles of the Korean War, p. 154.
“at the tunnels is doubtful”: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, p. 111.
and soon the French fires: Paul Freeman oral history, U.S. Army War College Library.
“Let’s kill as many Chinese”: Stewart, George, private memoir.
“bit the stems off three pipes”: Ibid.
“Like a Hollywood battle”: Freeman, Paul, Wonju to Chipyongni, U.S. Army War College Library.
CHAPTER 42
as they preferred to do: author interview with Sherman Pratt.
“By order of Scotch”: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, p. 154.
“we are going to stay and fight it out”: Ibid., p. 176.
“relay answer to me as soon as possible”: Appleman, Roy, Ridgway Duels for Korea, p. 258.
“we can fight well where we are now”: author interview with Sherman Pratt.
CHAPTER 43
“evoking memories of Almond’s operations”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 685.
separate black units: Coleman, J. D., Wonju, pp. 93–94.
Walker relieved of his company command: Ibid., p. 94.
like a betrayal by a member of his family: author interview with Bill McCaffrey.
“His racism tainted”: author interview with J. D. Coleman.
to absorb the heaviest punishment: Paik, Sun Yup, From Pusan to Panmunjon, pp. 125–26.
“and drawn them up himself”: Coleman, J. D., Wonju, p. 95.
who was only a captain would know so much: Ibid., pp. 103–104.
“had created a gauntlet”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 689.
“NICE GOING HARRY”: Ibid., p. 740.
“you have to risk the lives of your men”: author interview with Kenneth Hamburger.
“BUT THE DECISION IS YOURS”: Stewart, George, private memoir.
“until the gun barrels melt”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 44
the most vulnerable part of Paul Freeman’s regimental defense: author interview with Paul McGee.
“you should have stayed back home”: Ibid.
they were going to pull Freeman: author interview with Dr. Robert Hall.
“stay out of my way”: Paul Freeman oral history, U.S. Army War College Library.
CHAPTER 45
“and I know you’ll do it”: Blumenson, Martin, Army Magazine, August 2002; author interview with Martin Blumenson.
“in any event, reach us”: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, p. 205.
“trains or no trains”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 700.
hell for leather to Chipyongni: author interview with Martin Blumenson.
were not lined up properly: author interview with Tom Mellen.
“the last strong company gone to hell”: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, p. 200.
“I refuse the order too!”: Ibid., pp. 200–201.
when it was all over: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 707.
the state of the other men: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, pp. 206–207, 213–214.
CHAPTER 46
to try to save Inmon’s life: author interviews with Cletis Inmon and Paul McGee.
give him a shot to sedate him: author interview with Dr. Robert Hall.
doing a giant jigsaw puzzle: Knox, Donald, The Korean War, Vol. II, p. 73.
“I will court-martial him”: Hamburger, Kenneth, Leadership in the Crucible, p. 215.
CHAPTER 47
“starting with the victories up along the”: author interview with Chen Jian.
“can’t wait for him to wake up”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 48
“it is a free Asia”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 659.
would use it as an excuse for an intervention: Truman, Harry S., Memoirs, Vol. II, p. 420.
the Russians would send in by train: Ibid., p. 416.
“did not consider it beyond his own powers”: Hastings, Max, The Korean War, pp. 192–193.
“igniting World War III, and a nuclear”: Bradley, Omar with Blair, Clay, A General’s Life, p. 616.
plan a major offensive: Weintraub, Sidney, MacArthur’s War, p. 305.
“but had almost forgotten”: Ibid., p. 616.
“the contingency of ‘success’”: Manchester, William, American Caesar, p. 625.
“in Manchuria are contained by”: Paul Freeman oral history, U.S. Army War College Library.
had nothing to lose by ignoring: Weintraub, Sidney, MacArthur’s War, p. 307.
“the most gross indifference”: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, pp. 767–768.
“combined disbelief with controlled fury”: Acheson, Dean, Present at the Creation, p. 519
“I wanted to kick him into the North China Sea”: Truman, Margaret, Harry S. Truman, p. 513.
CHAPTER 49
“This is outright treachery ”: Goulden, Joseph, Korea, pp. 477–478.
“but it does not get me anywhere”: Truman, Harry S., Memoirs, Vol. II, pp. 446–447.
Lincoln as “the original gorilla”: Goodwin, Doris Kearns, Team of Rivals, p. 383.
“and my decision alone”: author interview with George Elsey; George Elsey interview, Harry S. Truman Library.
“We’ll let them think so”: Donovan, Robert, Tumultuous Years, p. 355.
“the Emperor of the Far East”: Truman interviews, Harry S. Truman Library.
That was abs
urd, Almond insisted: Blair, Clay, The Forgotten War, p. 788.
“His soldierly qualities were never”: Goldman, Eric, The Crucial Decade, pp. 201–202.
CHAPTER 50
“almost a professional little man”: Swanberg, W. A., Luce and His Empire, p. 312.
“to be a fit commander in such a war”: Hastings, Max, The Korean War, p. 207.
“nothing to match it since the Civil”: Rovere, Richard and Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr., The General and the President, p. 5.
“the adoring crowd that thronged”: Caro, Robert, Master of the Senate, pp. 369–370.
“Would you like me to get out”: Halberstam, David, The Fifties, p. 114.
“into the persona of a great General”: Goulden, Joseph, Korea, p. 507.
“a damn bunch of bullshit”: Halberstam, David, The Fifties, p. 115.
“Thank God that’s over”: Acheson, Dean, Present at the Creation, p. 524.
for one last try: Goulden, Joseph, Korea, p. 498.
was a dubious honor: Caro, Robert, Master of the Senate, p. 372.
“with parochial interests and knowledge”: Goulden, Joseph, Korea, p. 527.
“the wrong war at the wrong place”: Bradley, Omar with Blair, Clay, A General’s Life, p. 640.
“that were run off China in the first place”: Goulden, Joseph, Korea, pp. 534–535.
“destroyed the Truman Administration”: Acheson, Dean, Among Friends, p. 103.
CHAPTER 51
“the more he damaged himself”: author interview with Bill McCaffrey.
“he just did not understand”: Walters, Vernon A., Silent Missions, pp. 209–210.
“in purple splendor”: Eisenhower, Dwight D., At Ease, p. 227.
CHAPTER 52
“Why don’t you get a red flag?”: Smith, Richard Norton, Thomas Dewey and His Times, p. 591.