LM#34--On Desperate Ground--The Forgotten War of the Korean Conflict & It's 70th Year Anniversary

Listen. Those are the drums of liberty. On July 27th 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, ending the fighting that started the Korean War. 70 years have passed since that agreement was signed. Let's take a look back on this Liberty.

Minute. Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, David Kaiser.

Hello everybody, I am David and welcome back to this Liberty Minute episode. Today's show we will dive in to one story of many about the Korean War. Hope you will join me as I share a personal journey of discovering the hidden depths of this historic conflict. Now, growing up, I knew very little about the Korean War and sadly, like so many other young persons growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, the Korean War was largely looked at as the war between other wars. After all, it came after the Great World War II, which the United States won with great fanfare, and it was before the Vietnam War which, when I grew up, hung over the military like a fog for years and years. Despite my father joining the army in 1959, all his leaders having fought and been in the military during that time, they all came along through the anguish of Vietnam. So, learning about the Korean War and feeling a little bit guilty of not knowing that much about it, we're going to take a deep dive into the war today out of respect for the men and women who did serve. We still have over one million Korean War veterans still living with us, so it's an important part of our history and we need to learn about this conflict. As for me, everything changed when I stumbled upon this captivating book titled On Desperate Ground, the Marines at the Reservoir the Korean War's Greatest Battle by Hampton Sides. Now, hampton Sides masterfully brings the Choson Reservoir campaign to life. He weaves together vivid character sketches that encompass the universal themes of brotherhood and unlikely heroism. He takes us along with Major General Oliver Smith, who's torn between following MacArthur's orders and his own moral compass. Against all odds, major General Smith commands the extraordinary feats of engineering and daring rescues that ultimately unfold within the treacherous and icy landscape of North Korea. We explore the sacrifices made by this band of brothers. We actually go into the book. We'll witness the brutal clash with the Chinese forces. Outnumbered in facing waves of relentless enemy soldiers, these Marines at Choson found themselves in extraordinary battles. Beneath the armor, they grappled with the harsh reality of young lives that were being lost, facing adversaries who were ill-equipped and ill-prepared for the bitter cold. Yet the Choson Reservoir was born out of MacArthur's Flawed strategy. Now it was executed with brilliance and determination by General Major General Smith and his division. But general Douglas MacArthur's decision to press north of the 30th parallel is Widely regarded as a strategic blunder in the annals of military history. Now MacArthur was buoyed by earlier successes and he was a fervent anti-communist and he was probably representing most of the American public with their anti-communist sentiments. In the 1950s, most the executive branch disregarded key intelligence reports warning that the Chinese were going to intervene. Yet MacArthur's strategy was based on an overconfident assumption that Chinese would not dare to confront the United States military might. We just come off World War two. Our overconfidence was Much, much higher. This led MacArthur not only to Inadequately prepare us forces for drastic weather conditions and the possibility of a massive enemy counter offensive, but when the Chinese forces did intervene, the US forces were taken by surprise, leading to one of the most Hard-fought and desperate campaigns of the Korean War. Their blatant disregard for ground realities exposed a critical flaw and MacArthur's strategic planning turning a quick Potential victory into a protracted, costly conflict. So with that quick backstory and plot of how the book Comes about, we will go to Hampton sides. Wonderful work for our poll. First poll quote War. He said, quoting John Stuart Mill, was an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he is cares more about Then he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature with no chance of being free. And that man that was just quoted was first lieutenant John Yancey. And we will learn a little bit more about Mr Yancey very quickly here. But I want to share this quote with you because it displays Hampton Sides as an author, his wonderful writing about such an important conflict. Let's go back to the book. Anchoring the center of Hill 1282, facing toward the Northeast, was Easy's second platoon, led by the legendary Marine from Arkansas named John Yancey. First Lieutenant Yancey, 32 years old, was a World War II veteran who had won a Navy Cross at Guadalcanal and had also fought at Saipan. His ready face was roped with scars On Guadalcanal. He lived behind enemy lines for a month, subsisting on nothing but rice, as was then the grim custom among the Marines fighting a fanatical enemy. He had collected a number of souvenirs from his bouts of hand-to-hand combat, including two Japanese pistols, a bayonet and a gold tooth that, in his youthful battle ardor, he was said to have extracted from the corpse of one of the most hated foes. After one of his most hated foes, after a horrific fight, yancey, according to one account, had learned his own lessons in a hard school, the hardest there was. In a single action he had killed 36 Japanese soldiers before breakfast. His citation noted Among those casualties was an officer who, as Yancey had put it, attempted with great vigor to decapitate me with a sword. After the war, yancey had been alignment for the Razorbacks of the University of Arkansas. Now he owned a spirits shop in Little Rock and also a nightclub called the Gung-Ho. He had recently become a father. The very day he came ashore at Incheon his wife Joanne gave birth to a baby girl. Yancey's panaceous posture, suave smile and prim black mustache gave him the air of a maître d All that was missing was the white jacket. He was a perfectionist, that was certain. He could be hard on the kids, as he called his platoon members. He cursed and torrents and constantly issued commands and strident barks. Still, the man of Second Platoon adored Yancey. He was a bona fide war hero, someone who came alive in combat and had a special talent for it. People said he was indestructible. The strut in his step was infectious. Yancey was the kind of person I'd read about but never thought I would meet in real life, said Private James Gallagher, a machine gunner from Philadelphia. He let us know early on that he would give the orders and we would follow him. Although he was from the South, he was quick to criticize any of his men who showed even a hint of discrimination toward black marines in the newly desegregated core. Yancey was, said Easy Company's Ray Walker, one of those natural born troop leaders possessing both the charisma and the steel nerve. When Yancey was with us, said a number member of the platoon, the men had a kind of vahala complex. Speaking in his grueling voice, speaking in his grumbly baritone, yancey loved to quote from memory long verses of Kipling, his favorite poet, or certain lines from O Henry, his favorite short story writer. Uncannily calm in battle, he would utter swashbuckling exhortations that seemed straight out of a John Wayne movie. Here they come, boys. His men heard him yell during one fight at Su Dong. And there you get a flavor of Hampton Sides writing. It's just fantastic. You feel like you're with the platoon, you feel like you've met First Lieutenant Yancey, you feel like you've served under him for three or four years and you're ready to go through hell with First Lieutenant Yancey. Now, this particular part in the book is after the North Koreans have invaded South Korea in June of 1950, which kicked off the Korean War, or the Korean conflict, the North Korean People's Army, what they call the NKPA. They end up driving the South Korean troops, along with some remnant of American troops, all the way to the southeast corner of Korea, and things were looking grim for the South and for the Americans, pinned against the ocean. Now, in September of 1950, to catch you up, general MacArthur devises a daring plan to come ashore at Incheon, on the western side of Korea, in a very surprising move. The goal was to slice the country in two and block the retreating North Koreans in the south as they were trying to make their way back north. At the same time, the southeast corner, the US Army breaks out, the US 8th Army that is. They break out of the Pusan perimeter and they begin fighting like hell. So this all kicks off a mad dash for the retreating North Koreans to get back on their side of the country and Before the Americans could cut them off. Now, by October, macarthur makes the decision for the US 8th Army to continue in pursuit of the North Koreans and to cross the 38th parallel and to keep going north, eventually to the Yalu River. Now, this was the controversial move. By the end of October, communist Chinese forces, the CCF. It actually just ended a civil war from 1945 to 1949 and they pivoted by sending many, some say up to a million, troops of their own country and they storm across the North Korean border to reinforce their North Korean allies. This brings us to the end of November of 1950, over the Thanksgiving holiday, and Communist Chinese forces begin attacking X-Core at the chosen reservoir. That sets the stage where we pick back up the book now. When the Sun disappeared behind Scat it mountain, to the west of hill 1282, it was almost immediately plunged into darkness. Yancy kept bundling bundles, rather of kindling, strapped to his pack, and soon he had a fire going in a protective place near the top and the flickering shadows. He issued an order that gave the platoon pause. Down the line, the word spread Mr Yancy wants to see bayonets on the ends of those rifles. From their foxholes, the men of easy company, second platoon, murmured uncomfortably what's? Yancy know that we don't now. Little after 6 pm, a bright, gibbiest moon, four days past full, peaked over the southeast horizon to light up the slopes of the North Ridge. It was a beautiful, sharp night. The ground fog was clearing. Yancy could see the reservoir, a white expanse with black, bald spots where the wind had swept the snow off the ice, the valley was calm, the temperature had dropped to 20 below zero. In the moonlight Yancy could make out the jumbled ridges where the pockets of other Marines were also Settling in for the night, and nearly every point on the compass another group of defenders occupied some godforsaken scrap of high ground Hill 1203, hill 1426, hill 1294, hill 1276, hill 1240. Each unit on each promontory Would have to tend to its own safety, but the man of easy company could at least take comfort, and, knowing they weren't entirely alone, that some of the travails of their shivering vigil were shared by some poor marine bastards across the way. Yancy realized that the moon was rising behind his position and In an affluxious angle that was throwing his men into a silhouette and that's providing cleaner targets for any enemy approaching from below. He put. He put the platoon on 50% alert, that is, in each foxhole One man would try to sleep while his buddy kept his eyes peeled rifle at the ready. A Few quiet hours passed, but then, at 945, the easy company radio man picked up some bad news From dog company, which was situated about a thousand miles away on an adjoining hill. Heads up over there came the want, the warning from dog. One of our guys just got bayoneted in his bag. A few minutes after that, yancy could faintly discern white shadows Flinting over the ground, moving towards the crown of 1282. Then he saw the livid Flashes of the Chinese burp guns as bullets peppered the hillside. This wasn't much of an attack, yancy thought quite tepid. In fact he surmised that it was intended merely as a probing action and as he instructed his machine gunners to hold fire at first so as not to refuel their positions, the Chinese were only testing, trying to locate the salient points in the weak links In Yancy's line. Still a vigorous firefight broke out. For a few minutes Yancy stalked the periphery exhorting his men. Gallagher opened up with his 30 cow machine gun and moved down, mowed down a file of Chinese who were making straight for his position. They wore white quilted coats, fur lined hats and canvas shoes that look like sneakers. Many of them sported white capes. Gallagher dropped one enemy soldier at point blank range. The attacker fell within an elbow, touching one of his tripod legs of his machine gun. After a few intense moments, the shooting, wayne then stopped. It was so strange the way the Chinese fought. They were ethereal as quickly as they appeared. They slipped into the shadows. Don't worry, yancy yelled, they'll be back. Yancy had his men inspect the Chinese bodies. One of them found a tape measure, a plotting board and a surveying tool called an aliyad Probably a scout, yancy said, figuring the man had come to diagram marine positions for Chinese mortar men. Downslope Papers on his person identified him as an officer of the 17th Division. At that moment a sniper fired a round from long range. A spent bullet grazed Yancy's left cheek and drove deep into the soft tissue of his nose. Cursing, he hocked and spluttered as blood coarsed down his face and into his mouth. The gash smartly terrible. But Yancy was okay. Refusing medical attention, he methodically took off a glove and snatched the silver sliver of metal from his snout. The blood instantly crusted over and froze to his bearded skin. Yancy looked like a wild chieftain smeared in war paint. He scanned the slope and fumed. He told his men to dig their holes a little deeper. They'll be back, he said. But we'll be ready for them. Understand, just do what I tell you. And they did come back again and again and again. There was one thing about this book that I understood in great detail is that the Chinese just kept throwing waves and waves of soldiers at our Americans. The Americans couldn't believe it. Now I wholeheartedly endorse this book if you want to read more about our brave Americans in the forgotten war of the Korean conflict. The book again is on desperate ground by Hampton sides the epic story of the Choson reservoir and the greatest battle of the Korean war. Now reading from the Defense Department's official website on the commemoration of all those who had served in the Korean conflict, it says this on April 11th 1951, truman relieved MacArthur. This is halfway through the commemoration. On April 11th 1951, truman relieved MacArthur, who had led the UN command. Macarthur had wanted to expand the war into China, which was against the directives of the president, who did not want a wider war which would likely involve the Soviet Union. We were in Korea in the name and on behalf of the United Nations. This unified command which I had entrusted to US Army General Douglas MacArthur was a United Nations command and neither he nor I would have been justified if we had gone beyond the mission that the United Nations General Assembly had given us. Truman States and his memoirs and account of his presidency Now by the latter part of 1951, 1952 and 1953, having fighting continued, with the front line stabilizing in a stalemate in the vicinity of the 30th parallel. And just finishing this piece to conclude the Korean conflict, dwight D Eisenhower became president on January 20th 1953 and on July 27th 1953. The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, ending the fighting. Prisoners were exchanged in, south Korea gained a bit of territory northeast of the 38th parallel. About 37,000 Americans lost their lives during the Korean War and over 92,000 were wounded and 8,000 were missing. South Korea sustained 1.3 million casualties, including 415,000 dead. Casualties among other UN forces totaled 16,500, including 3,100 dead. No peace treaty was ever signed between North and South Korea and in the decades since the Korean War, north Korean forces have conducted numerous cross-border incursions and other acts of aggression. So the story doesn't end there. There is a ceasefire that persists to this day, but it leaves the Korean War without a clear victor. Now one of our greatest military, one of our greatest living military historians, victor Davis Hansen, has a very poignant video at Prager University about the reasons for fighting the Korean War, which I highly encourage you all to watch. I'll put a link in the show notes. As for First Lieutenant Yancy, let's read from his Navy citation medal that he earned while in Korea. The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a gold star in lieu of a second award of the Navy Cross to First Lieutenant John Yancey, united States Marine Corps Reserve, for Extraordinary Heroism in Connection with Military Operations against an Armed Enemy of the United Nations. While serving as Platoon Leader of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine's 1st Marine Division in Action Against Enemy Aggressor of Forces in the Republic of Korea on 27-28, november 1950. With his company subjected to a savage, sustained night attack by an enemy force of approximately two battalions, while defending strategic high ground north of Yudam-ni and adjacent platoon positions infiltrated by hostile troops, first Lieutenant Yancey bravely rushed into the thick of the fighting in a daring attempt to rally his men and seal the gap in the lines. Although wounded by an enemy bullet which penetrated his cheek and lodged in his neck, he led the Marines through snow and subzero temperatures in a fierce hand-to-hand encounter with the hostile force, drove off the attackers and quickly reorganized the unit. Learning that his company commander had been killed, lieutenant Yancey unhesitatingly assumed command, boldly made his way from one platoon to another in the face of intense enemy fire, adding words of encouragement to the men, seeking aid for the casualties and directing the defense of the vital terrain. Despite two further wounds sustained during the intense of action, he gallantly refused to be evacuated and continued to lead his company in repelling the hostile attacks until, weakened by loss of blood and no longer able to see, he was forced to accept medical aid by his inspiring leadership, outstanding courage and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of overwhelming odds. First Lieutenant Yancey was directly instrumental in the successful defense of the area and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. So in today's Liberty Minute, let us appreciate the courage and the heroism of all the first Lieutenant Yancees, all those stories that we need to hear of those that served in the Korean War. Unfortunately, it's the forgotten war to too many Now. The enduring legacy of the Korean War, a conflict that shaped our history and transformed the lives of those who experienced it, shouldn't be forgotten, as we might be facing yet another Chinese nation growing in power and strength in the Far East. Another reason for the Korean War, especially to fight it, was to stop and literally put a check, a solid check, on the communist world from attempting other invasions, perhaps in Taiwan or Western Europe in the 1950s Remember, the Soviets were riding high in the 1950s. So there are many reasons why the Korean conflict should be remembered and studied. Most importantly, we should absolutely honor those that it served. One place we can go to honor those that served, which was built in 1995, one year before I ended up in Washington DC, and that is the Korean War Veterans Memorial, which is on the National Mall in Washington DC, just southeast of the Lincoln Memorial. This Veterans Memorial, which honors those Americans who had worked and fought under the most trying circumstances and those who gave their lives for the cause of freedom. We would do well to visit that memorial and pay our respects for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for this cause of freedom. And again, our book that we reviewed is On Desperate Ground the epic story of the Cho Sun Reservoir, the greatest battle of the Korean War, by Hampton Sides.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.