thedrifter
05-23-09, 08:02 AM
Filmmakers aim to tell the Chosin story of Korean War
efletcher@sacbee.com
Published Saturday, May. 23, 2009
It's not often you get to sit down and chat with your heroes.
So imagine how Marines-turned-filmmakers Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler feel as they meet new ones every day.
The two Iraq War veterans are hopscotching the nation, videotaping first-hand accounts of the Chosin Reservoir campaign – a major turning point of the Korean War.
The filmmakers aim to produce a feature-length documentary about the battle they studied as cadets.
"This battle was legendary," said Sattler, one of the producers. "It set the standard for combat readiness."
But on their way to finishing the film, the pair have found similarities between the Korean conflict and the ongoing action in Iraq.
Iglesias said that in both Iraq and Korea, military men and women fought unpopular wars, against unexpected foes.
"Our stories are almost the same," Iglesias said, "except they were on a frozen mountain and we were in a desert city."
The filmmakers were reminded of those similarities when they spent a recent Friday at the Fair Oaks VFW Hall, talking with old Marines.
Among them: Donald Munnut, of Rancho Cordova. The 80-year-old Munnut put in 30 years as a Marine, and earned five battle stars for combat in Korea and Vietnam.
"I was just a working Marine; doing what I was told, when I was told," Munnut said.
Sandwiched between World War II and the Vietnam War, the Korean War – technically a police action – is often referred to as the "Forgotten War."
The battle of Chosin Reservoir – its real Korean name is Changjin – marked the first direct American encounter with communist Chinese forces in the war.
About 20,000 U.S. and allied troops were forced into a fighting pullback after being surrounded by 120,000 Chinese troops, who had slipped into North Korea to stop the allied advance. Fighting in the bitter cold of winter, soldiers – Munnut among them – fought hill-by-hill over 13 days to extract their dead, their wounded and their gear.
Don Gee, business manager for the Chosin Few service organization, said military historians rank it among the greatest battles of American history.
"It ranks up there with Iwo Jima," Gee said.
Military records indicate 2,500 allied personnel died, while Chinese deaths totaled 28,000.
Munnut said the Chosin episode began with a march to finish off the North Korean forces. The advance was halted when American troops were surprised by the Chinese.
"They just came out of nowhere," Munnut said. At the time he was a 22-year-old sergeant in the motor transport division. "We were surrounded and stopped."
Munnut, who retired as a chief warrant officer 4, describes escaping into the tree line after his unit was cut off from others in a caravan moving along a dirt road. After escaping, they regrouped and embarked on the 13-day slog to safety.
"It was slow going because you fight foot by foot, hill by hill," Munnut said.
Gee said Marines bristle at the suggestion that they "retreated." Marine Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, is credited with saying: "Retreat, hell! We're just attacking in another direction."
Military historian Doug Sterner said that while the battle showed the mettle of our fighting men and women, from a tactical standpoint it showed not to "bite off more than you can chew."
"We got out of there by virtue of Marine training," Munnut said, attributing his surviving gunbattles and the brutal cold to that training.
It is this drama – retold by men like Munnut – that Iglesias and Anton hope to capture on screen. The project doesn't yet have a distribution deal, but Iglesias said they're in talks.
Both filmmakers have worked on other projects. But this one is theirs. They're cobbling together a budget with grant money, personal savings, and donations collected from their Web site, www.frozenchosin.com.
And, after going from town to town meeting Chosin veterans, Iglesias and Anton are more driven to seeing the project to fruition.
It's the similarities between the Iraq and Korean wars, said Iglesias, who recently retired as a captain after 13 years in the Marines.
"The more things change, the more war stays the same," Iglesias said.
Ellie
efletcher@sacbee.com
Published Saturday, May. 23, 2009
It's not often you get to sit down and chat with your heroes.
So imagine how Marines-turned-filmmakers Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler feel as they meet new ones every day.
The two Iraq War veterans are hopscotching the nation, videotaping first-hand accounts of the Chosin Reservoir campaign – a major turning point of the Korean War.
The filmmakers aim to produce a feature-length documentary about the battle they studied as cadets.
"This battle was legendary," said Sattler, one of the producers. "It set the standard for combat readiness."
But on their way to finishing the film, the pair have found similarities between the Korean conflict and the ongoing action in Iraq.
Iglesias said that in both Iraq and Korea, military men and women fought unpopular wars, against unexpected foes.
"Our stories are almost the same," Iglesias said, "except they were on a frozen mountain and we were in a desert city."
The filmmakers were reminded of those similarities when they spent a recent Friday at the Fair Oaks VFW Hall, talking with old Marines.
Among them: Donald Munnut, of Rancho Cordova. The 80-year-old Munnut put in 30 years as a Marine, and earned five battle stars for combat in Korea and Vietnam.
"I was just a working Marine; doing what I was told, when I was told," Munnut said.
Sandwiched between World War II and the Vietnam War, the Korean War – technically a police action – is often referred to as the "Forgotten War."
The battle of Chosin Reservoir – its real Korean name is Changjin – marked the first direct American encounter with communist Chinese forces in the war.
About 20,000 U.S. and allied troops were forced into a fighting pullback after being surrounded by 120,000 Chinese troops, who had slipped into North Korea to stop the allied advance. Fighting in the bitter cold of winter, soldiers – Munnut among them – fought hill-by-hill over 13 days to extract their dead, their wounded and their gear.
Don Gee, business manager for the Chosin Few service organization, said military historians rank it among the greatest battles of American history.
"It ranks up there with Iwo Jima," Gee said.
Military records indicate 2,500 allied personnel died, while Chinese deaths totaled 28,000.
Munnut said the Chosin episode began with a march to finish off the North Korean forces. The advance was halted when American troops were surprised by the Chinese.
"They just came out of nowhere," Munnut said. At the time he was a 22-year-old sergeant in the motor transport division. "We were surrounded and stopped."
Munnut, who retired as a chief warrant officer 4, describes escaping into the tree line after his unit was cut off from others in a caravan moving along a dirt road. After escaping, they regrouped and embarked on the 13-day slog to safety.
"It was slow going because you fight foot by foot, hill by hill," Munnut said.
Gee said Marines bristle at the suggestion that they "retreated." Marine Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, is credited with saying: "Retreat, hell! We're just attacking in another direction."
Military historian Doug Sterner said that while the battle showed the mettle of our fighting men and women, from a tactical standpoint it showed not to "bite off more than you can chew."
"We got out of there by virtue of Marine training," Munnut said, attributing his surviving gunbattles and the brutal cold to that training.
It is this drama – retold by men like Munnut – that Iglesias and Anton hope to capture on screen. The project doesn't yet have a distribution deal, but Iglesias said they're in talks.
Both filmmakers have worked on other projects. But this one is theirs. They're cobbling together a budget with grant money, personal savings, and donations collected from their Web site, www.frozenchosin.com.
And, after going from town to town meeting Chosin veterans, Iglesias and Anton are more driven to seeing the project to fruition.
It's the similarities between the Iraq and Korean wars, said Iglesias, who recently retired as a captain after 13 years in the Marines.
"The more things change, the more war stays the same," Iglesias said.
Ellie