INDOPACOM Battle Knowledge Centers

A fascinating and informative analysis by a distinguished military historian of the 100 most influential battles in American history, presented in an accessible, ready-reference format.

Halberstam gives us a full narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides, charting the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides vivid portraits of all the major figures--Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway. He also provides us with his trademark narrative journalism, chronicling the crucial battles with reportage of the highest order. Nonetheless, at the heart of this book are the stories of the soldiers on the front lines who were left to deal with the consequences of the dangerous misjudgments and competing agendas of powerful men.

By early 1951, American forces and their UN allies had been driven more than 100 miles down the Korean peninsula by the Chinese. The situation was bleak when Gen. Matthew Ridgway ordered a last stand at the village of Chipyong-ni. There a single regiment (the 23rd Infantry) of fewer than 5,000 U.S. soldiers defeated a Chinese division of 25,000 men in what has been called the Gettysburg of the Korean War. Page-turning history of one of the most important battles of the Korean War From-the-foxhole account of a do-or-die defense Draws from memoirs, interviews, unit reports, intelligence summaries, and personal research in South Korea

In "The Line: Combat in Korea, January--February 1951," retired Army colonel William T. Bowers uses firsthand, eyewitness accounts of the Korean War to offer readers an intimate look at the heroism and horror of the battlefront. These interviews of soldiers on the ground are particularly telling because they were conducted by Army historians immediately following combat.

In this third volume of Roy E. Appleman's operational histories of the Korean War from November 1950 to July 1951, the author follows the UN forces as they about-face and maneuver the Chinese and North Korean armies back to the 38th Parallel. It covers the Chinese so-called 3rd, 4th, and 5th Phase offensives, during the course of which the UN army was initially forced 50 miles south of the Han River and then rebounded north toward Seoul, which changed hands twice during this period.