Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story -- The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company

I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio in the early 50s when as a schoolboy growing up on the Westside of the area known to all Clevelanders as West Park when I became aware of a brutal war being fought in Korea I became intrigued with this war and read about it in great detail. I read the memoirs of Matthew Ridgeway and the exploits of what General MacArthur and Harry S. Truman in determining the strategies of the Korean War. Along the way I learned of the exploits of the Marines on the Eastside of Northern Korea of X Corps and their heroic stand in the battle of the Chosin Reservoir. The term of the Chosen Frozen lingers on in terms of heroic American military history. Enter the writings of Patrick K. O'Donnell in telling the story of George Company fighting as a rather ragtag unit of the Marine Corps under the auspices of the 1st Marine Division. Many of these raw recruits didn't even have basic training! O'Donnell tells us that the US was not prepared to fight this war. In fact he states that Truman and his administration never were prepared for this attack. His observations to me seem to be very accusatory. As a student of history I take umbrage to these accusations. Truman at this time was trying to settle the problems of the Cold War in Europe using his resources with the Truman Plan and the implementation of the Marshall Plan to prevent the spread of Communism in Europe. Hence Stalin in his infinite wisdom created the plan to use China to persuade North Korea to create a massive diversion in invading South Korea to distract the US to combat the forces of evil in South Asia. Hence this ragtag organization under the command of General MacArthur tried to hold the attack with Task Force Smith on the Pusan Perimeter. It was at this point where the 1st Marine Division and our heroes of George Company enter the picture. With the Pusan Perimeter hanging by a thread, MacArthur displays his last great strategic maneuver in having the Marines land on the Inchon harbor which cut off all the logistical supplies to the troops fighting in the Pusan area. George Company was there dying and fighting to gain the advantage. Once this was accomplished George Company and the 1st Marines were shipped North in Korea where as part of X Corps they proceeded North in an attempt to destroy all remnants of the North Korean Army. Due to MacArthur's hubris and lack of true intelligence George Company was confronted with Chinese troops attacking them as they traversed the hazardous trip down the road to Hagaru-ri which represented a hell beyond imagine in the arctic winter landscape, which presented a deathtrap not only of combat but of physical endurance in a severe winter scenario. In Haguru-ri we see George Company stave off the massive herds of Chinese Army attacks with the sounds of bugles and whistles in human wave attacks in which the Chinese held a 20 to 1 superiority in numbers. As incredible as it sounds to the members of George Company holds on and proceeds south in its attack to retreat to Hungnam. From the battle of East Hill in Hagaru-ri onto their travels south George Company suffered massive casualties along with heroic acts which gained multiple Medals of Honor and the proud accomplishment of succeeding in a mission of a unit which later continued to fight the fight. This fight would continue until the end of hostilities in 1953!! Great book, although awkward at times in its prose, I loved the story and the perseverance of these Marines!! Being an old army Vietnam Veteran I raise my glass high in toast to these combat veterans!!!!

GREAT READ ON UNTOLD STORIES

This is an exciting, engaging story of great bravery and courage in the face of overwhelming odds and the likelihood of savage defeat. Fortunately, the heroic stand of George Company, Third Battalion, First Marines during the Chosin Resevoir campaign overwhelms some significant flaws in the work. There is, for example, considerable hyperbole. It is very unlikely that "The outcome of the war hung in the balance" at Hagaru-ri as the author states. And as important as the actions of the Marines were at Chosin, there is no need to airbrush out the accomplishments of other units entirely. For example, the map on page 22 purporting to show the "Limit of UN Advance" disregards the entire movements of the 7th U.S. Division which reached the Yalu River at Hyesanjin, and the ROK I Corps led by the South Korean Capital Division which nearly made it all the way to the Soviet border, capturing the city of Ch'ongjin and the ROK 3rd Division which itself occupied Hapsu. That said, O'Donnell does capture the truly heroic stand of the Marine George Company which anchored the 1st Marine Division stand at Hagaru-ri allowing the rest of the division, as well as remnants of the 7th Army Division and the British Royal Marine Commandos, to coalesce at Hagaru and fight their way out of the Chinese trap at the Chosin Reservoir to Koto-ri and back down the long Main Supply Route (MSR) they had just recently traveled north in the other direction; a truly amazing modern Anabasis. George Company even formed part of the rear guard at the critical Funchilin Pass as the column moved toward the port of Hungnam. Marine discipline, devotion to their comrades and the mission enabled them to succeed where lesser units would have been overcome and wiped out. Less well known than George Company's actions during the Chosin campaign is the fact that over two years later, at the very end of the hostilities, the Chinese again threatened to destroy George Company, this time at the battle of Boulder City during the last days of the war which ended on July 27, 1953. Again, George Company held firm, but at a huge price, losing over three quarters its men. The "last full measure" of George Company and the U.S. 1st Marine Division had been given - for that war at least.

In recent times, being a history lover, I started reading books about the Korean War and I have come to believe that the men who fought in that war are as great as the men who fought in WW2, maybe even better. The Korean War is called the "Forgotten War" because it happened in a time when people only wanted to forget about WW2, but what those men went through should be shouted from the roof tops. This is especially true of the Marines. In many ways, the Marines are the men who saved Korea.

Combat in any war is horrific, but the US military, Marines and Army, were sent into the combat of the Korean war in terrible conditions. They were outnumbered by around 9 to 1 by the Chinese and North Koreans, the Marines (and army) had old weapons, old uniforms that were not designed for use in the ultra cold 20 to 30 below zero weather (ice and snow), the military intelligence was horrible...they had no idea that vast numbers of Chinese were moving into positions around them at night, their supply lines were too long, too unprotected, and many of the men were sent into combat without evey the benefit of basic combat training! Thankfully there were some strong NCOs and officers, thankfully these were men who believed in country first, and thankfully there were a few things going in the favor of the United Nations troops. This is a great book, and sheds light on the Korean war combat, something I never heard much about from vets while I was growing up, though I knew scores of WWII veterans, I can remember only one Korean war veteran I knew that would talk about the war. This book fills voids, and shows how much these young men gave up, for me, for you and for the rest of the country. All gave some, some gave all.

I think that few people today know much about the war in Korea, not even Americans, who contributed the most number of soldiers and resources to the UN led force that fought the N Korean and Chinese attack on S Korea. This is a hearth wrenching eye witness account of the sufferings, but also bravery, as seen through the eyes of an American marine commando soldier. I visited S Korea recently, and realised I didn't know much about this war, and through this book I now have a new perspective on this. And it helps me understan, at least to try and understand, the tension that is still there, today, between North and South Korea.