Professional Military Education

Today’s guest is Hampton Sides. He is the author of On Desperate Ground: The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle.  The topic is the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. This battle took place in the Fall and Winter of 1950 during the Korean War. Marines were surrounded at the Chosin Reservoir by over 100,000 of Mao’s Red Army forces. With their backs to the wall and facing total annihilation, they fought back with tenacity and determination. The fighting took place in sub-zero temperatures on unforgiving terrain. The Chinese attacked the Marines at night with wave after wave of soldiers storming the Marines positions. The fighting became hand to hand quickly. Marines used knives, bayonets, canteens, and helmets to repel the Chinese attackers.  In the end the Marines and Allied forces were able to execute a withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir. They were surrounded by an overwhelming force and against all odds managed to execute a complicate maneuver to avoid destruction.  In the interview, H