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thedrifter
02-01-09, 08:24 AM
'The Last Stand of Fox Company' by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
Forgotten heroes get their due in story of Korean war's fiercest battle
Sunday, February 01, 2009
By Roger K. Miller

If there is anything that angers and saddens the aging veterans of Korea it is that theirs is a forgotten war -- "orphaned by history," in the late David Halberstam's phrase.

Sometimes, it's not even called a war, but a "police action."

But, a brutal war it was, particularly in 1950, the first of its three years. Within its overall savagery, nothing was worse than the harrowing effort by the 1st Marine Division (and some Army elements) to break out of Chinese encirclement near the Chosin Reservoir in late November and early December 1950.





"THE LAST STAND OF FOX COMPANY; A TRUE STORY OF MARINES IN COMBAT"

By Bob Drury
And Tom Clavin
Atlantic Monthly Press ($25)





The story has been told several times. In the latest installment, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, authors of "Halsey's Typhoon," focus on one sustained struggle of that breakout, the stand of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division against overwhelming Chinese forces at a place called Fox Hill west of the reservoir from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, 1950.

This was six months after North Korea invaded South Korea June 25 when massive numbers of Chinese troops attacked the U.S. forces under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who infamously ignored warnings that the Chinese were in the war.

It was a terrible fight in a terrible place. Temperatures, worsened by screaming winds, reached 30 below zero. Men were laid low by frostbite and by digestive problems and weapons refused to function properly in the extreme cold.

The Marines, however, functioned as they always had, with esprit, cohesiveness and comradeship.

They fought against overwhelming odds -- a company against a Chinese regiment, a battalion against a division.

They fought themselves out of an impossible situation. The famous (and often derided) statement attributed to Marine Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, "Retreat, hell -- we're attacking in another direction!" has more than a touch of truth to it.

With Fox Company guarding the rear, they "attacked" down a miles-long icy gauntlet of withering fire bringing out their wounded and their dead until they reached the safety of Hagaru-ri Dec. 4.

At roll call Dec. 5, out of the original 192 officers and enlisted men of Fox Company, 60 were still able to fight. Of the 131 Medals of Honor earned in Korea, two went to members of Fox Company.

The authors tell a terrific story thrillingly, occasionally borrowing the rough colloquial language of the Marines. Maps are excellent. The book is, like many good military narratives, in large part a series of individual stories. This brings some humanity to the savagery and helps the reader comprehend the bewildering, swiftly changing combat.

Roger K. Miller is a freelance writer and editor and author of "Invisible Hero," a novel of the Korean War.

"THE LAST STAND OF FOX COMPANY: A TRUE STORY OF U.S. MARINES IN COMBAT"

By Bob Drury

and Tom Clavin

Atlantic Monthly Press ($25)

First published on February 1, 2009 at 12:00 am

Ellie