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UNDER THE C OL ORS

NOTES FROM U.S. MILITARY HISTORY

BLOOD BATH AT THE BATTLE OF
“FROZEN” CHOSIN KOREA

When dawn broke frozen American, Chinese,
on December 1, 1950, on and Korean frozen corpses
the barren hillsides on the lay strewn about the terrain,
eastern shore of the fro- the results of sustained,
zen Chosin Reservoir in vicious, close-in fighting.
northeastern North Korea, Frozen hands and feet were
the ragged, tenuously held common. Some wounded
perimeter of the U.S. Army’s men, who were unable to
Task Force Faith was a scene move, had frozen to death.
of utter desolation. The task The blood bath was exhibited
force’s surviving members on all sides of the fight.
were on the verge of anni- The American dead were
hilation. The perimeter was from the previous night’s at-
little more than groups of tack. The Chinese command-
starving, exhausted, and er had exhorted his troops to icans and South Koreans so close to the ground that
frostbitten American and wipe out the task force before awaited evacuation at the Marines said they could see
South Korean soldiers, in dawn. The dead bodies were overwhelmed aid station. their faces.
varying numbers, huddled gathered in central collecting The men of the beleaguered This map shows the po-
around campfires near the points. Survivors searched regimental combat team had sitions of the principal units
remaining artillery pieces the bodies for ammunition, been under attack against involved in the Battle of the
and heavy weapons, trying to weapons, and clothing. overwhelming odds for 80 Chosin Reservoir. The Chi-
find warmth. Thousands of Nearly 600 wounded Amer- hours in the harshest, sub-ze- nese attacking forces in red
ro weather conditions ever and the retreat routes of U.S.
faced by American troops. forces in blue. Easy to see the
Space will not allow for U.S. forces were surrounded
the full recounting of this making the breakout the
battle, considered the worst extraordinary event it was.
in modern history. What we Caught by surprise on
will do here is give you some the night of November 27,
of the facts documented in the understrength Army task
history. The main thrust is to force had suffered through
acknowledge the remarkable four consecutive nights of
break out of the Marines, repeated ground attacks. The
the heroic efforts of the U.S Chinese had massed their
Army holding off the Chinese troops in human waves and
Communist Forces (CCF) swarmed over American
for days. And the unflinching foxholes into the perimeter,
bravery of the pilots who flew fighting hand to hand, firing

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