Average Bufph Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
2018-11-20
"The authors of the bestselling Halsey's Typhoon do a fine job recounting one brutal, small-unit action during the Korean War's darkest moment." — Publishers Weekly
November 1950, the Korean Peninsula. After General MacArthur ignores Mao's warnings and pushes his UN forces deeper into North Korea, his 10,000 First Division Marines find themselves surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by 100,000 Chinese soldiers near the Chosin Reservoir. Their only chance for survival is to fight their way south through the Toktong Pass, a narrow gorge that will need to be held open at all costs. The mission is handed to Captain William Barber and the 234 Marines of Fox Company, a courageous but undermanned unit of the First Marines. Barber and his men climb seven miles of frozen terrain to a rocky promontory overlooking the pass, where they will endure four days and five nights of nearly continuous Chinese attempts to take Fox Hill. Amid the relentless violence, three-quarters of Fox's Marines are killed, wounded, or captured. Just when it looks like they will be overrun, Lt. Colonel Raymond Davis, a fearless Marine officer who is fighting south from Chosin, volunteers to lead a daring mission that will seek to cut a hole in the Chinese lines and relieve the men of Fox. This is a fast-paced and gripping account of heroism in the face of impossible odds.
This book really took me back to the days of grit and grind in the military. Drury and Clavin did a bang-up job of capturing the raw reality of the battlefield. It's not just about the tactics and the firefights; it's about the brotherhood and the sheer will to survive. Reading about Fox Company, I felt like I was right there with them, facing the same dangers and making the same tough calls. It's a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by our Marines.
