On Desperate Ground: The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle,
Hampton Sides, author, David Pittu, narrator
There are few books I would like to award more than 5 stars, but this is one of them. Not only is it researched thoroughly and written logically, with the clear lens of the backward glance, the audio has a pitch perfect narrator, imparting the story with the clarity and structure the author intended. He plants the reader right in the thick of every scene with descriptions and prose that transcend the time and place without his ever usurping or going beyond the purpose for which he was chosen. He brings the story to life and engages the reader completely. Although history can be dry to some, this is not, and I think there will be few who will not read it through, experiencing what the soldiers did in each battle. Not a single reader will fail to understand the need to have toxic masculinity when fighting this war, or any, for that matter. War is evil, no doubt about it, but when engaged in it, one must be totally absorbed in it.
Although the book covers the reason America was in Korea, the infighting between the Marines and the Navy, and the incompetence of some of the commanding officers who designed and implemented the tactics of the Korean War, it dwells mostly on the courage and stamina of the brave soldiers who fought against all odds, to overcome the enemy, in a strange place, in an unkind climate. They bravely fought the Chinese soldiers who were instructed to defy and ignore every rule of the Geneva Conventions, by their leader, Mao Tse-tung.
It was 1950, the American soldiers were young, they were devoted to the cause and they were a brotherhood of men. Although these marines, who came from many backgrounds to fight the battle of the Chosin Reservoir, were eventually forced to retreat, they can only be described as displaying what today would be called something akin to male toxicity, yet without these kinds of soldiers, we Americans, not by our own choice, might all be speaking a different language than our own English. The Commanding officer, of the First Marine Division, General Oliver Smith, is an unsung hero of the war. He saved more men then was thought possible, against odds also thought impossible. Another unsung hero, in this historic, but little known battle, was Lieutenant Colonel John Partridge. He never gave up, which is a huge quality of toxic masculinity. It is the idea of maintaining perseverance in the face of extreme danger and impossible odds and of then accomplishing the impossible in just that way.
Truman, led down the garden path by Douglas MacArthur, who was beginning to be ruled by his arrogance more than careful thought and planning, approved the war strategies he proposed. Unfortunately, they led to unnecessary loss of life and the eventual stalemate decision of the war, with no clear winner, as the odds were stacked against them by an arrogant General. Still, though outnumbered, the soldiers did perform valiantly. Many of the commanding officers, like General Ned Almond, were political, and their carriage and behavior belied the reality and casualties of war. More concerned with their image and future, they made decisions founded on their own fantasies and not the intelligence with which they were provided, but ignored. Some blamed their failures on others, putting innocents in harm’s way to justify their actions. MacArthur wanted the spectacle of war, the photo ops and the praise and began to lose sight of the danger of failure. Almond, who supported MacArthur was a racist until he died and he blamed the black soldiers for failures. Racism was alive and well as the Korean War raged, but there were examples of heroism and brotherhood in spite of it. The soldiers were cut from a different cloth than many Americans today with the idea of nationalism and love of flag and country being so widely disparaged.
The story is told in five parts beginning with start of the war in Seoul, and ending with the evacuation by sea to the United States for the soldiers of General Smith’s valiant regiment. Two of the generals, MacArthur and Smith, who were involved in the battle plans, one laying them out and the other carrying the orders out, were as different as they could be. While MacArthur never met a spotlight he did not like, Smith preferred his privacy. He did not need medals or cameras as MacArthur fed upon those needs. Smith’s concern was for the safety of his men and winning the battle. MacArthur’s concern was pretty much for his own image and success, which is what led to his ultimate failure.
There were so many unsung heroes who did not claim the center of attention and yet fought and/or died with incredible valor. Their respect for their commanding officers and their country was beyond admirable. The marines were duty bound and they performed their duties with gallantry and honor whenever possible. They were a brotherhood of men, devoted to each other and their country. They devised ways to defeat the enemy in the face of the most dreadful odds. They did not give up. How many of us retain such strong convictions, today, convictions that would spur us on beyond what is thought humanly possible? Today, such qualities are often mocked, especially in men, and not given the praise they deserve.
Sometimes men and women are called upon to do things they do not like, but for the sake of the greater good, they perform their duties with bravado and spirit. Their daring should be respected. Perhaps we need to reinstate the draft, or a draft of some kind, like the Peace Corps, that is not voluntary, so that all young people give some time to the service of their country and do not expect their country to serve them. I cannot write more without giving the heart of the book away, but if every high school student read and analyzed this book, male and female, in a genderless society some think is utopia, they would begin to understand far more about their country than they do now, as they think only of their technical devices, their idealism and self-serving needs. As President John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. America may have lost its way, but it can find its way back if we start educating our young to love it once again.