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This is the story of Nick A. Flores who was captured during the first battle at Hell Fire Valley, a few miles from Chosin Reservoir. He served 36 months as a POW at Camp One in Chong-sung, Korea. While a POW, Nick attempted three escapes with the last one resulting in being captured by the Russians, after being gone twelve days from Camp One. While at Camp One, Nick nursed nineteen POWs brought in by the North Korean Army, and saved thirteen by spoon-feeding, bathing, listening to and comforting them. He gave his food to fellow POWs and hand-made moccasins for those soldiers with frostbitten feet. During repatriation at Freedom Village, General McCall Pate, commander of the 1st Marine Division, was so impressed by words spoken about Nick that he summoned Nick over to sit next to him. It was at this time General Pate told Nick, "I know that our country will give you the highest honor that you could receive for your heroism while a POW." After returning home, Nick began yet another battle that lasted for forty years. He was driven with determination to write a book about his life, events, and the often times painful memories he endured while in the hands of the Chinese People's Army and his homeland tragedies. Order Information:
Chopper: A history of American military helicopter operations from World War II to the War on Terror.By Robert F. Dorr
"Chopper" is a beautiful, new hardbound book (100,000 words and 100 photos) that covers U.S. helicopter pilots and crews in combat from the very beginning straight up to today's headlines. The cover price is $24.95. Bookstores and amazon.com are offering "Chopper" at discounted prices. What's different about this history of rotary wing combat is that the story is told in the first-person, in the words of the men (and one woman) who were there --- from the first, primitive Air Commando R-4 combat rescue in 1944 to a battle between Marine AH-1W Cobras and Iraqi tanks in 2003. There's a new and different look at the battle of Ia Drang Valley in the words of men who flew UH-1D Hueys, and it covers events This is a story of helicopter pilots and crews in rescues, in covert operations, and in straightforward, point-blank fighting. There are extended segments on Medal of Honor missions. We encounter Marine Corps UH-34D and UH-1E crews. The first-person memoirs in this book cover all military service branches. About the book's price: The cover price is $24.95. The lowest price for the book is available from amazon.com. Currently, it's $16.45. You can also get a personally inscribed copy by contacting Bob. Send him a check for $29.06 (that's the undiscounted cover price plus priority mail postage plus a few cents). If you're planning to do that, send Bob an e-mail message first:
[Posted 12/24/2005]
Christmas in JulyTwenty co-authors have published Christmas in July, a tale of a forgotten battle in Korea, told a half century later by 20 of the young men who fought it. They left the good ole USA for war as boys from all parts of our country. They returned home as men, changed forever. The telling of this story has released these 20 former soldiers from nightmares that plagued them whenever they recalled and relived their youth. The reader goes back with them on patrols in pitch black nights, listening to every sound, and is with them in their trenches as they fight a critically important, though forgotten, battle -- to beat back hordes of advancing Chinese troops. Christmas in July is a moving story of fear and courage, related by those who had to live through those challenges, day by day. Order Information: [Posted 6/18/06]
Cold Ground's Been My BedAuthored by Daniel Wolfe "Cold Ground’s Been My Bed: A Memoir of the Korean War" by Daniel Wolfe is the no-holds barred story of a nice kid from the Bronx who grew up fast on the battlefields of Korea. The title, from a blues song sung by his first bunker buddy, speaks to the conditions experienced by soldiers when suddenly faced with the reality of war. Bronze Star recipient Wolfe tells his story with boyish innocence gone awry, injecting gallows humor into the heart-breaking pathos of daily life in reserve and in combat. In recounting his story, he never pretends to be more than he was, a young man shocked and shaped by the brutality of war. Now 55 years later, on the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, he recalls the earsplitting silence as his Company L, 15 Regt, 3 Division walked warily along a ridge above the Imjin River. Over his left shoulder, the glow of lights from the fruitless Panmunjom peace talks mocked the operation as his company was soon to be ambushed by the Chinese. “The ambush was perfect. We walked into a crescent of blue flashes from the Chinese burp guns,” says Wolfe. He was the last man out once the withdrawal began. He crawled over a fire-swept terrain to retrieve the body of Sgt. Massengale then dragged him down a 60-foot cliff and waded into the Imjin River while overhead fire tried to stop him from reaching the safety of his outpost. It was for such bravery and selflessness that the modest Wolfe received the Bronze Star with a “V” for Valor, presented by Congressman David Price 46 years later in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where the Wolfes lived briefly. Wolfe had never spoken about his war experience before he began writing about it in a creative writing class at Duke University in North Carolina and at the Hudson Valley Writers Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY where he currently attends. Wolfe’s daughter, Sharon, of Toronto, Ontario, recalls that neither she nor her brother Marc, nor their late brother David, knew of their father’s brave deeds until he was awarded the Bronze Star. “He is an unassuming man,” she reflects. “I’m very proud. It’s in keeping with his morality and loyalty to his friends and family.” Upon discharge from the service, with the aid of the GI Bill, Wolfe attended the City College of New York, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree. He taught biology for 35 years at a high school in the South Bronx, New York. His stories have been read on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and published in “The Urban Hiker,” a literary magazine in Durham, North Carolina. He is currently working on a book about his childhood in the Bronx and coming of age in the Great Depression. Wolfe also keeps track of the survivors of Company L and publishes a newsletter for them, full of reminiscences, corny GI humor, and reports of knee replacements, by-pass surgeries, and visits to VA hospitals. Whether recounting the antics of the hapless young GI’s or paying witness to the tragedy of their untimely deaths, Cold Ground’s Been My Bed leaves an indelible impression of the toll of war on soldiers and their families. As the threat of nuclear build-up in North Korea and Iran looms large, now, more than ever "Cold Ground’s Been My Bed" has an important story to tell. Order Information: Published by iUniverse, Inc. Ordered by calling 1-800-AUTHORS or on-line from www.Barnes&Noble.com or www.Amazon.com. Contact: Daniel Wolfe at Pitcha96@aol.com or phone 914-961-5709. [Posted 10/18/06]
"Fightin' 'George' Light Infantry"Authored by Glenn M. Justice
Fightin’ "George" Light Infantry was chosen as the title because the Great White Polar Bear is the mascot symbol of the 31st Infantry. Sometime several years ago the bear was named "George." The veterans of the 31st do not believe it was named for "G" or George Company, but for the Regiment as a whole. The author’s serving in George Company did help decide the name of the title. The standing bear on the dust jacket with wounds of many wars depicts the durability of the Regiment and speaks loudly of service to our country. [ more info ] Order Information:
Fire For Effect! : Artillery Forward Observers in KoreaAuthored by Anthony J. Sobieski About the Book
About the Author Tony Sobieski wears a number of ‘hats’ working for the U. S. Air Force. As a civilian he is the Information Security Manager for McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, and as a reservist he is a Senior Master Sergeant assigned to the HQ Air Force Security Forces at the Pentagon where he serves as the Assistant for Nuclear Security and Integrated Base Defense Policy. Tony also is still actively involved as a U.S. Air Force Phoenix Raven, force protection and anti-terrorism specialists who protect U.S. aircrew and aircraft around the world. After the success of his first book FIRE MISSION! concerning the history of his Father’s unit in Korea, Tony has become an avid and recognized Korean War artillery historian. Tony’s love and respect for his Dad, a Korean War Veteran, and others like him, is the continuing motivation for his interest in the ‘Forgotten War’. Combining his military background and using a unique ‘matter of fact’ interviewing style are becoming Tony’s trademark, enabling him to shed light on how American artillerymen lived and died in the wasteland known as Korea. This is his second book. Order Information Paperback, 8.5 x 11". ISBN: 1420838369. Price = $19.95 http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~29980.aspx AuthorHouseTM
Fire Mission! : The Story of the 213th Field Artillery Battalion in Korea 1951-1954Authored by Anthony J. Sobieski About the Book
With the motto ‘Confidence in Calibre’, the 213th set the standard for artillery in Korea, firing over 10,986 Tons of artillery shells at the enemy in 893 days of combat. From when the 213th was a National Guard unit in 1950 to the final climactic battles of June and July 1953, the record of the 213th stands heads above the rest. This unit history is written not only from a large scale, unit type perspective, but it also shows the personal side of the war from the perspective of the everyday life and hazards of the artilleryman. Read how the 213th played a major role in such battles as The Kapyong Perimeter, White Horse Mountain, and Outpost Harry, and many smaller incidents that occurred weekly that history and time have almost forgotten. About the Author Tony Sobieski is a Master Sergeant with the U.S. Air Force Phoenix Ravens, force protection and anti-terrorism specialists who protect U.S. aircrew and aircraft around the world. Tony’s love for his Dad, a Korean War Veteran, and the respect he has for his Dad’s service to our country became an odyssey of discovery and knowledge about the Korean War and the artillerymen who served there. Using his military background to better understand the life of an artilleryman in Korea, Tony has been able to bridge the gap of fifty years between what happened to U.S. Servicemen in Korea and now to present a work giving the reader an excellent ‘what was it like?’ feeling for those reading it. This is his first book. Order Information http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~14192.aspx AuthorHouseTM
Freedom is Not FreeAuthored by Ralph Hockley
Details from well-kept journal entries bring home the reality of Korean War battles. Colonel Ralph Hockley...presents a keen insight and analysis of the causes, conduct and effects of that military adventure, writes Brigadier General Robert D. Upp - JAGC-Ret. My family and I met him at the Quaker office in Marseille, France, as a 14-year-old youngster. He was gifted with open eyes, ears and mind and the knowledge of three languages (German, French and English).... Fred Buch, Engineer, former internee at Les Milles Internment Camp, France, born 1900. Ralph Hockley was one of the five or six outstanding intelligence officers of my experience in 25 years of the ‘Great Game’... Colonel Thomas F. McCord, Ret., former Chief, US Military Liaison Mission to Group Soviet Forces Germany. A life story of an extraordinary man of many talents who always put service to his country ahead of personal interest and whose expert counsel was sought by our highest political and military leaders. The moving account of multiple and turbulent lifetimes packed into one reads like a novel. Edward Rybak, European Security Affairs Advisor, USAINSCOM
Upon his return to the US, he earned his BA in Political Science/Russian Area Studies from Syracuse University on the GI Bill; while there he was commissioned a 2nd Lt in Military Intelligence Reserve. In August 1950, 2nd Lt Hockley landed in Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division and participated in seven campaigns as an Artillery Officer. After the Korean War, and for most of the next 25 years, (joined by his late wife, Eva) he held various military and civilian Intelligence assignments in Germany (in beleaguered Berlin, then in Frankfurt, Bonn and Munich). Simultaneously, he served in the Army Reserve and rose to the rank of Colonel, Military Intelligence. In 1969, Ralph received a MS degree in Education from the University of Southern California. He retired in 1981 to the San Francisco area. In 1985 he and his wife, Carolyn, moved across the Golden Gate Bridge to Tiburon. Since 1997, he and Carolyn have resided in Houston, Texas. Order Information:
Heroes Among Us
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The compelling story of the men of Dog Company, 10th Infantry Battalion, USMCR, and the 182 men who bravely served in the Korean "police action".
This is an historical account of Dog Company, 10th Infantry Battalion, United States Marine Corps Reserve, and the experiences of the 182 men from Savannah, GA who came from all walks of life to serve together in the life-changing and world-changing Korean Conflict from 1950 to 1953.
Reviewed by The Leatherneck magazine in January, 2004, the reviewer stated "James Edward McAleer has done a superb job in capturing the experiences of these Korean veterans. Considering that he was writing about a war that took place more than a half-century ago, it is a truly extraordinary achievement."
"...their frostbitten fighting withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir would be an unforgiving experience. McAleer writes, 'Dante made no mistake in The Inferno when he made the lowest levels of hell ice, not fire.'
Besides being a good read, the value of McAleer's book lies in its singular look at that bitter conflict, and chronicles the experiences of 56 of these Reserve Marines. Rarely does a reader of military history enjoy such an opportunity to examine a complex campaign from so many different personal perspectives."
The author served in World War II as well as the Korean Conflict and retired from the practice of law in 2003 after 50 years.
Order Information:
412 pages, with photographs and maps, soft cover. $25.00 per book, plus $5.00 shipping, handling, and taxes.
Order through
marinemcaleer@bellsouth.net
Authored by Jack R. Siewert
I am writing to inform you of a
new book-- Outpost Kelly : A Tanker’s Story --that is about a personal Korean War experience. I think it would
be of interest to your members.
My 82 year old father, Jack R. Siewert, wrote the book that was published recently by the University of Alabama Press. The memoir tells of his life altering experience in an outpost battle in Korea during 1952. While the book was undergoing the expert review process Dr. Paul Edwards, Executive Director of the Center for Study of the Korean War, was so impressed by this work that he offered to write the book’s forward.
I think this book is important to the memory of the Korean War veterans. I am including a copy of the press release and a picture of the book’s cover. If you need any further information please let me know. Thank you for your consideration! Cathy Gibney
 Front Cover (Click picture for a larger view) |
 Back Cover (Click picture for a larger view) |
 Press Release (Click picture for a larger view) |
In Outpost Kelly, Jack R. Siewert describes his experiences as a first lieutenant in command of the 2nd Platoon, C Company, 64th Armored Battalion, during the Korean War. His weapon, the M-46 Patton tank, was a development of the M-26 Pershing. Entering service at the end of World War II, the M-26 was better than the Soviet T-34/85 and German King Tiger, but it--and the M-46--were still inferior to the formidable Josef Stalin JS-3 heavy tank. In Korea, however, tanks seldom engaged each other.
In July 1952, Siewert's 2nd Tank Platoon was ordered to reinforce the 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, to relieve disabled tanks of the unit's integral 7th Tank Company. That routine operation brought him to Hill 199 and nearby Outpost Kelly, from which his tanks bombarded Hill 317, then occupied by the 348th Regiment, 116th Division, 39th Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army.
Siewert got to know the United Nations troops fighting alongside the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division: the Greek Expeditionary Force and the 1st Division of the British Commonwealth. He explains how Korea's mountainous terrain dictated the tank's primary role as mobile artillery. Engines froze in the Korean winter, and the monsoon season meant that tanks were bogged down in mud, both factors that the U.S. Army staff should have taken into consideration when it studied World War II battles on the Eastern Front.
Amid the monsoons, the U.S. Army's I Corps replaced the 7th Regiment with the 15th, while Siewert's 2nd Tank Platoon was ordered to remain in position on Hill 199. Meanwhile the Chinese, who had already learned of the change in regiments, took advantage of the muddy terrain to launch an infantry assault that occupied Outpost Kelly. In spite of artillery preparation by Siewart's 90mm guns, the first American counterattack failed. At that point, it became a point of honor for the I Corps to retake Outpost Kelly.
The second American assault, on July 31, was better organized and resulted in the occupation of both Outpost Kelly and Hill 164. With one of his tanks out of action, Siewert supported that attack with his remaining 21. To increase the rate of fire, he developed a new, faster method of reloading the cannons that he called the "bucket brigade." For his courage and dedication, the 3rd Division put him in for the Bronze Star, which he received in December 1952. By then, however, the Chinese had retaken Outpost Kelly.
Siewert rightly observes that the U.S. Army in Korea seemed more reminiscent of 1918 than of 1952. Behind his writing I detected an underlying sorrow, not only for the loss of so many lives for an outpost but also as a reflection on the entire execution of the Korean War. Outpost Kelly is an excellent book on a forgotten aspect of the "Forgotten War" that could be particularly informative to young officer candidates training to be future commanders.
Unfortunately, Korean War books are few and far between--and combat memoirs by soldiers who fought there are almost nonexistent. Why is that? I don't really know. But what I do know is that when a new Korean War book comes my way, I always give it an especially close look. Too many American soldiers died in that war, and it's a crime that it's still rightfully called the "forgotten war." When I received Outpost Kelly from Fire Ant Books, I got my hopes up--and I'm happy to report that I wasn't disappointed. To be honest, it exceeded my expectations.
When you begin reading the story of Jack Siewert, commander of a platoon of M-46 tanks, you won't stop. Siewart's descriptions of combat are so dead-on, it's as if you're there in the morass with him. The focus of this outstanding memoir is four days of intense fighting between Siewert's unit and Chinese forces. The objective: a seemingly unimportant hill named Outpost Kelly. But Siewert had his orders, and he was going to fight for the hill, come hell or high water. The fight was surely hellish itself and when the high water came in the form of monsoon rains, Siewart and his men found themselves fighting in a foot-deep field of mud.
Outpost Kelly doesn't only fill a gap in the history of American wars. It takes you on a mind-blowing trip into the heart of the Korean War. B/w photos. 176 pages.
Authored by Ben Hardy and Duane Hall
Fifty years after the Korean War, Ben Hardy and Duane Hall, photo interpreters in that conflict, could proudly say, "We were the first to know." Photo interpreters contributed volumes of intelligence information for many of the Korean air missions--including the Inchon landing and the Sukchon/Sunchon paratroop campaigns--in support of combat forces. "Never before in the history of warfare," the authors state, "were ground forces so rapidly supplied with photo intelligence as they were in the Korean conflict.
Admittedly caught off guard by the "unanticipated explosion on Korea's 38th Parallel," the Far East military establishment rushed American troops to South Korea from Japan, outlying areas of the Far East, and the United States, as well as from America's UN allies. Combat forces and the supporting intelligence community were pressed into immediate front-line support.
Ben Hardy and Duane Hall were part of this early support personnel, suddenly on alert status: U.S. Air Force photo interpreters with a new and awesome responsibility.
Aerial intelligence reports from photo reconnaissance missions, flown by pilots in unarmed planes, were critical to front-line operations. The photo interpreters were charged with preparing these reports, monitoring all enemy activity in the whole of North Korea and surrounding territory, gleaning all the information possible from a study of the aerial photos. Interpreters provided daily reports on the enemy to Commanders, from quickly processed film: reports on the enemy order of battle, the status of their airfields, their transportation lines and industries, and their artillery and antiaircraft installations--everything the U.S. Air Force could target and destroy that might adversely affect the enemy. Yet the Photo Intelligence people--and the photo interpreters--have been frequently overlooked in accounts of the Korean War.
Hardy and Hall have put together a record of their very personal experiences while stationed with the Far East Air Forces during the early stages of the war, with well over 100 photographic and documentary illustrations. Their purpose, they state, "has been to preserve some of the documents, photos, and memories." As part of the 548th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan, and then the 67th RTS at Taegu and Kimpo Air Bases, Korea, the authors contribute to the historical record of the men on the ground, the often unsung support people who "enable the front-line troops to continue their task of defeating the enemy."
Order Information:
124 pp., illus., index, softcover; ISBN 0-89745-275-5 ; US$25.95. - Available from Sunflower University
Press, P.O. Box 1009, Manhattan, KS 66505-1009. Ph. 785-539-1888. Orders: 800-258-1231.
Written & Illustrated by Robert Allen Carpenter, Sr.,
United States Army Sergeant, 185th Engineer Battalion Combat Korean War
In this book the author writes about his experiences in the Korean War and after. Sadly, he died before the book was completed, so his wife, who also acted as editor, saw the project through to its completion. This is a used 8-1/2" x 11" hardcover with a pictorial cover, apparently issued without a jacket, that contains ink illustrations by the author as well as some black-and-white photographs. 109 pages. The author's wife (who also edited the book) signed the copyright page. Someone wrote on the inside of the front cover the words: "In loving memory of Robert Allen Carpenter, Sr." and dated it "September 2003". The pages have no creases or tears. The cover is scuffed along the edges and the corners turn inward. Black ink is smeared near the spine on the front cover (see photo). The entire book is detached from the spine beginning at the top and going down about 2" and, as a result, the top half of the book leans to the left (this could be corrected if the the 2-inch gap is re-attached with fresh glue). I am happy to say that no pages appear to be in danger of completely detaching. In fact, the binding is cracked only between two blank pages near the end and remains tight throughout the rest of the book.
Order Information: $30.00 plus $3.00 shipping/handling. Click here to order: http://tinyurl.com/57afc. This book is being offered for sale by a private individual.
Authored by Frances Omori, Commander, US Navy
Quiet Heroes tells the personal stories of the Navy nurses
stationed at the Naval Hospital Yokosuka and aboard the hospital ships, USS Consolation (AH-15), USS Repose
(AH-16) and USS Haven (AH-12). For fifty years the US Marines who were their patients held a deep desire to
thank the nurses who saved their lives. Their efforts to find these nurses were thwarted as they never knew
their names. Quiet Heroes tells of the Marines’ heroes as seen through their stories.
Order Information:
$18.95, 7x10, 256 pages, 120 photos, ways to order:
- Mail 2700 Rice St., St. Paul, MN 55114 (check or credit card) - Call toll free phone 1-888-220-5402 9 a.m.-5
p.m. CT Mon-Fri; fax 651-490-1450; - E-mail smithhseprs@aol.com
Authored by Lloyd W. Pate
Reactionary was the tag the Chinese put on Lloyd W. Pate when he was captured during the Korean War. It was a badge of honor for the young soldier. Placed with others in a Reactionary Squad, he did his best to torment the enemy, as was his duty. Looking back from a half-century afterward, 1SG Lloyd W. Pate, Ret. Inf., tells his story of combat and his term as a POW in frank, honest language. Torture and attempted brainwashing were the rule of the day and he depicts this in unflinching detail. Sabotage, misery, and the pain of seeing one's own countrymen collaborate with the enemy all had their part to play. Reactionary-Revised 2000 is a griping and important work. 1SG Lloyd W. Pate, Ret. Inf., served as an Infantryman for twenty-three years. In addition to his Korean service, Pate pulled two tours in Vietnam in the Second Battalion, Twelfth Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (1965-66) and in the Reconnaissance Platoon, First Battalion, 505th, Eight-second Airborne (1968-69). Now retired, Pate enjoys coin collecting and metal detecting. He is a resident of Georgia.
Order Information:
$15.00 Paperback, 200 pages. , autographed, postage included. Order through Lloyd W. Pate, 5720 Broad Oak Drive,
Grovetown, GA 30813. Georgia residents add appropriate sales tax.
Authored by Jake Miller, retired Navy veteran of multiple wars
The book affords the reader an opportunity to explore the little details of the lives of over fifty people who served their country in the military during the twentieth century from cultural and social perspectives, emphasizing the human and personal dimensions shouldered by them. The primary thrust of this book is to provide an honest look into those remarkable young people born in the 20th century who helped stave off the yoke of tyranny and save democracy in the United States until the 21st century. [ more info ]
Order Information:
$22.94. 599 pages, soft cover. ISBN 0-7388-6903-1. Also available in e-book format at ISBN 1-4010-0635-3.
Available through the publisher telephone 1-888-795-4274. On line:
www.xlibris.com/JakeMiller.html. By mail:
Xlibris Corporation, 436 Walnut St., 11th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106.
Authored by John Kronenberger
This is a compilation of short stories about the many
happenings and strange occurrences in the life of John Kronenberger, who grew up in a poor family in the
southern part of Belleville, Illinois. John says, "Quite often we tend to blot out some of the more unpleasant
things that happen to us. I find it easier to write about them than to hold them within." Pages 165 to 239
are devoted to John's military experience, including his time while stationed in Korea during the war. Comments
from readers of John's Short Stories: "This is John's way of paying tribute to his many associates while in the
military and with others. A celebration of his spirit in his way through life." "John, I will be passing this
and other books by veterans on to my grandson who is in the Marine Corps. Semper Fi. Well done." "I enjoyed
reading your book. The part I enjoyed most was your military time because I could relate to that. Your personal
life was very interesting." "When I started reading the book I said to my wife, 'My goodness, these stories
bring back some nice memories of the early years in my own life. These stories could have well been about my
childhood years in Pennsylvania during the 1930's. You see John, I too grew up during the great depression when
everybody had nothing but their families and friends and shared everything with everybody including their joys
and miseries. I truly believe that the similarity of our backgrounds, the time of our growing up followed by our
military service during the Korean War era is what made your book of short stories so enjoyable for me."
Order Information:
$15.00 plus $2.50 shipping & handling. Soft-cover Book. Send check or money order to: John Kronenberger, 102
Williamsburg Dr., Belleville, IL 62221-3157. Ph. 618-277-2311. E-mail:
skronen266@aol.com. Website:
www.johnkronenberger.com
Authored by Raymond B. Maurstad
BOOK REVIEW BY RICHARD C. KAGAN, PH.D., HAMLINE UNIVERSITY
Local writer recalls first days of Korean War
SOS. Korea 1950
They were There Then . . . & Write About it Now. Eyewitness Accounts of Americans in South Korea when the North Attacked.
Author Raymond B. Maurstad
Illustrated.
Beaver's Pond Press: Edina, MN.A review from Richard C. Kagan, Ph.D., Hamline University
"The embassy security people asked those of us who were healthy and young to volunteer to be on the last plane out." This quotation is not from the fall of Saigon in 1975, or the retreat from Mogadishu, or from Haiti. It is a quotation from Robert J. Rudolph who was ordered to leave Kimpo Airport in Seoul, Korea on June 27, 1950. The Korean War had begun just two days earlier on June 25th.
Raymond Maurstad has compiled dozens of autobiographies, diaries, biographies, and photographs to narrate the lives of Americans, civilian and military, living in South Korea from 1947 until their evacuation in 1950. These stories are very folksy tales which provide detailed descriptions of daily life: traveling to Korea on small ships; setting up a household, using uni-sex bathrooms, watching executions; surviving a train wreck; shopping and cooking; and learning about Korean customs and history.
Mr. Maurstad was born in Minnesota in 1928 and served in the U.S. Maritime Service. He served in pre-War Korea where he became friends with the small company of Americans who dedicated themselves to working for the American government and for the Korean people. The conditions then were very chaotic and rudimentary. The Americans overcame tremendous obstacles to develop and maintain an effort to rebuild Korea after the degradation of Japanese rule and World War 2. Mr. Maurstad's book provides us with a little known history of the American experience in Korea before the Korean War. He now lives in retirement in Coon Rapids, MN.
Mr. Maurstad's compilation of first-hand materials, photographs, letters, government documents, helps to remind us of the sacrifices and achievements of Americans in this "Forgotten War." On the positive side, this material is unique. It provides a thicker description of the lives and attitudes of Americans and Koreans during a time of severe crisis. There is a wonderful amount of information of how Americans "discovered" Korea and how they were treated on a day-by-day basis. Compared to the anti-American feelings today in both North and South Korea, this historical memory is refreshing. It reminds us that in the beginning, we were well-liked.
On the negative side, this work exposes the limits of eye-witness accounts. There is no recognition at all of the larger political, colonial, economic, and intellectual issues. If one only read this book of the lives of about 100 individuals, one would never expect that Koreans would have been hostile then, and now, to American interference in their lives. Many contemporary critics were jailed, tortured, and even executed. Today, we see rampant anti-American feelings. These are expressed through novels, movies, and demonstrations.
Many of the youth in South Korea today are not aware of the sacrifices of the late 40's. Many blame America for their current problems. Mr. Maurstad's narration of the goodwill and effort of American advisors would give these folk a little balance and perhaps a moment of tolerance for a past that was complex and unclear to many who lived through it.
(end of review)
Order Information:
414 pages, over 140 photos, ISBN#1931646910. For those interested in purchasing this book, send a check, money
order or cash for $20 to R.B. Maurstad, 12082 Goldenrod St NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55448. The author will send you
an autographed copy immediately. Makes a great gift. (The book is available in all the book stores but it would
cost you more, be slower to ship, and no autograph.)
Authored by John Charles Cheek
(Click to enlarge) Promised that he won't have to fight in combat, instead of being drafted for 2-years, 19-year old John Lefter enlists for a 3-year hitch in the Army Security Agency and ends up in the Korean War.
At first, Lefter has a "candy ass" assignment 30 miles behind the fighting area. He spends a lot of time drinking beer, laughing and partying. Then he is forced to face his own mortality after being assigned bunker duty in the fighting area.
He breaks down after his foul mouth buddy is hit with burp gun fire while saving Lefter's life. In a hospital psychiatry ward, his recovery is aided dramatically by an innovative doctor and the only man he has ever hated.
Back on the front line and atop the bunker celebrating just after the cease-fire, Lefter is again confronted with a shocking incident that takes him over fifty years to find closure.
Fiction. This soft-bound book has 298 pages. The ISBN is 159286631X. A signed copy may be ordered by sending a check for $20 (U.S. delivery) to: John C. Cheek, 17401 SE 39th Street, #104, Vancouver, WA 98683. The book is also available from the publisher at www.publishamerica.com, www.Amazon.com and most other online book sellers. With shipping, it typically costs around $25 from them.
Authored by John W. Harper
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The most dramatic events of the Korean War all took place during the year following the June 25, 1950, invasion of South Korea by the North Korean Peoples Army. This has led too many people to believe the second and third years of the war involved no real fighting but only public relations battles and quibbling about repatriation of prisoners of war. In fact, thousands of military personnel on both sides were killed or wounded during this so-called quiet period.
It is the reality of this fierce fighting that 1st Lieutenant John Harper recalls and recreates in this well-crafted memoir. His portraits are drawn from the generally untold portion of the Korean War narrative. They deal not with grand strategy and politics, but with the lives, deaths and psychological stresses of the junior officers and enlisted men who were in the foxholes and fighting to hold the lines in that "forgotten war."
The author shares a Marine heritage with his father and brother, and various ancestors joined in battles ranging from the Civil and Revo
ISBN: 0-7414-1443-0 ©2003
(New York: Berkeley Caliber Books, 2005)
FIRE FOR
EFFECT! is more than just a book about the Korean War. It is the untold history of the Korean War Artillery
Forward Observer, told by the men themselves. From the earliest days of the war in 1950 through the harrowing
battles of 1951 and on into the so-called ‘stalemate’ period of the hill battles of 1952 and 1953, into the
final climactic battles before the cease fire, the Forward Observer, or FO, was there. Korea was and is known as
the ‘Artillery War’ because more rounds were fired in Korea than in all of WWII, and it was the job of the FO to
direct these rounds onto their targets. FOs are the eyes of the artillery, and the importance of their job in
Korea has been largely overlooked until now. Serving as infantrymen, but not being considered one, Forward
Observers lived, ate and slept on the front lines, ever ready to respond to an attack, or defend friendly troops
and positions, and sometimes losing their lives doing it. The awesome responsibility and firepower that was
placed on a 22 or 23 year-old lieutenant or sergeant was staggering, and after reading these first hand
accounts, one can easily imagine what these young men faced on a daily basis. With over 100 interviews of
Forward Observers, from all time periods and from all locations and battles of the war, the grittiness and
reality of what these servicemen went through in the ‘Forgotten War’ is brought to life so that their deeds may
be remembered for future generations, so the battlefield known as Korea and it’s veterans will not be forgotten
any more.
FIRE MISSION!
is a historical record and personal insight of the 213th Field Artillery Battalion during the Korean War. With
over sixty interviews from former members, the pages come alive with personal memories about a unique time in
our history. The number of allied lives saved, and the amount of enemy destruction wrought by this unit is
almost incalculable.
This well documented book begins with a down-to-earth
account of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. Mr. Hockley traces 20th Century events as he experienced them,
first as a child in Germany and in pre-war and Nazi-occupied France; later as a US soldier in Germany, a combat
officer in the Korean War, and an intelligence officer in Germany during the Cold War. But it is the personal
relationships, the acts of dedication to the many causes of the century, anti-Nazism, Quaker humanitarian, and
the fight against Communism in Korea and Berlin, that make this book a valuable tool for those who want a better
understanding of the background and the events of WWII, the Korean War and the Cold War. Mr. Hockley highlights
the fate of countries that fail to provide for an adequate national security. 
Ralph M. Hockley was born in Karlsruhe, Germany in 1925. His
family left Nazi Germany and moved to Marseille, France when he was nine years old. At age 14 after the fall of
France, he worked as a volunteer interpreter (speaking French, German and English) and office boy for the
American Quakers in Marseille. In May 1941, the Quakers assisted his family in getting US immigration visas and
thereby the release of Ralph’s father from the Gurs Concentration Camp. 1945 found Ralph back in Germany as a US
soldier in Counter Intelligence.
A couple of old ex-Marines stand up for GI's accused of murder
at Nogun-Ri, the Naktong River, and elsewhere. Through them (when younger), the story of the war is told in
flashbacks, from start to finish, though the bulk of action occurs in the months after the Chosin Reservoir,
when the PLA was driven back and the MLR was established. Some new insights about the conduct of the war are
revealed in just 284 tightly packed pages, and they challenge some basic tenets of the historical record. The
book is dedicated to that selfless generation which fought the war, and it tells their story, no phony poetic
lyricism. The author is one of them. At age 19, he was a platoon sergeant with the 1st Marine Division, later
becoming an award-winning journalist and criminal investigator. Of Honor Clean, one reviewer said: "This is must
reading...for anyone who wants to know what really happened during the Korean War...a brutal and unforgettable
lesson about war itself..." 
A gripping story about the coming of age of an 18 year old
Marine fighting in Korea during the last half of that bloody war. There is no Hollywood hokum in this book. It
is a riveting, eye-opening account of the Forgotten War from the grunt's perspective--how they lived, how they
talked and how they died. Much of the book is based on the author's experiences during the Korean War.
Campbell, a former Marine sergeant, has drawn on his experiences as a Marine infantryman to craft a masterful
depiction of men at war. R. B. Campbell spent three years in the Marines, including a year fighting in
Korea. He was discharged with the rank of sergeant. He then attended the Cleveland Institute of Art for four
years before going to work for American Greetings Corp. where he spent 37 years as a cartoonist, art director
and humor writer. Campbell resides in Medina, Ohio with his wife Judy. He began writing novels after his
retirement in 1996.
A man can live several lifetimes in only thirteen
months when he is fighting enemy fire in bitter cold and waist deep snow, or torrential rains and slick,
ankle-sucking mud. Boris Spiroff spent just such a year in combat against North Korean forces as a sergeant in
the United States Army, Company G, Seventh Calvary Regiment in 1950 and 1951. Spiroff's journal account of his
experiences provides a written testimony to the horrors and tragedies endured by so many gallant American
soldiers. Having been discharged from the army in 1945 with eight years of service in Panama and Germany
behind him, Spiroff was called again to serve in Korea in 1950, after only five months of marriage. Threaded
throughout his journal entries are letters written to and from his beloved Cassie, revealing the fear and pain
of a combat soldier's heart and the uneasy patience of a combat soldier's wife. The journal and the letters
present a snapshot of one soldier's experience warmed by love, strength, and unyielding faith. Boris
Spiroff, ISG-E8 USA retired from the U.S. Army in 1962 after twenty-five years of service having received the
Korea Victory Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, a pendant from the South Korean government, the Combat
Infantry Badge with Wreath, and the Parachute Combat Badge. In 1990 Catherine, his wife of forty years, died of
cancer. It is the letters that were written to her during his time in Korea that were the foundation for "Korea:
Frozen Hell on Earth." Spiroff resides in Severna Park, MD.
This is a history of the Korean War from
the perspective of rural America. Compiled by a museum volunteer for their Korean War exhibit, this is a
complete local history of the Stevens County Korean War Veterans. Serving in the Army, Air Force, Navy and
Marines, ninety-four men from a rural farming community lived, fought, were injured, went missing and died on
Korean soil. This is their version of the Korean War story. It includes photos, brief service records, the names
of their parents and their experiences.
I have written a book about my uncle,
General James A. Van Fleet. I did not attempt to give a play by play account of all the battles, which were:
Mexico and Pancho Villa, World War I, World War II landing on D-Day at Utah beach at the beginning, the
Communistic terrorists of Greece who were trying to take over the country (he did not lose one American but won
the war), and the one you know so well, Korea. This was like the Greek war in that they were fighting
terrorists. He trained the Koreans through setting up a Korean "West Point", helping the ROKs and starting the
Korean Service Corps. Later after retiring, he was appointed roving ambassador of Asia. He was on the boards of
20th Century Fox and Reynolds Aluminum and others. Uncle Jim said encyclopedias could report the battles.
In the Fall of 1999 the world was shocked when the Associated
Press revealed what appeared to be an account of a mass killing of defenseless civilians over a three-day period
in the opening days of the Korean War at a place called Nogun-ri, Korea. According to the sources in the AP
story, as many as 400 innocent civilians were wantonly gunned down for no reason by American soldiers who
"played with our lives like little boys playing with flies," (as one of the Korean claimants put it) during a
three day slaughter lasting from 26-29 July 1950. The unit accused of this crime was the 7th Cavalry regiment of
the 1st Cavalry Division.
A firsthand account of secret operations during the Korean
War. Operation Aviary consisted of a series of airborne special operations conducted by US and Korean partisans
behind the lines. 
