Research Guides: QPME: Marines in the Korean Conflict, 1950: The Fire Brigade, Operation Chromite, and the Chosin Reservoir: Recommended Reading

Marine Corps History Division Publications

THE PROBLEMS OF U.S. MARINE CORPS PRISONERS OF WAR IN KOREA by James Angus MacDonald, Jr. ; Marine Corps History and Museums Division
Publication Date: 1988
Click on title to read online. Various file formats available for download via the Internet Archive.
FIRE BRIGADE: U.S. MARINES IN THE PUSAN PERIMETER by John C. Chapin; Marine Corps Historical Center
Publication Date: 2000
Click on title to read online.

FROZEN CHOSIN: U.S. MARINES AT THE CHANGJIN RESERVOIR by Edwin H. Simmons; Marine Corps Historical Center
Publication Date: 2002
Click on title to read online.
OVER THE SEAWALL: U.S. MARINES AT INCHON by Edwin H. Simmons; Marine Corps Historical Center
Publication Date: 2000
Click on title to read online.

Books

Breakout : the Chosin Reservoir campaign, Korea 1950 by Martin Russ
Call Number: DS918.2.C35 R87 2000
USMC MCCS LIBRARIES: Find copies at your Base Library
QUANTICO/USMC RESEARCH LIBRARY: DS918.2.C35 R87 1999 (print)

On November 27, 1950, a Chinese army some men of 60,000 poured over Korea's border, intent on wiping out a force of 12,000 Marines marching north to the Yalu river on General Douglas MacArthur's orders. The Marines were strung out along a narrow mountain road snaking its way up to the high plateau of the Chosin Reservoir. As the mercury dropped to a bone-chilling 30 degrees below zero, eight Chinese divisions emerged from hiding to pounce on the unsuspecting Americans. How the Marines, despite serious losses, broke out of encirclement while inflicting grueling punishment on the enemy, is one of the most stirring sagas in the history of American arms.

"Don’t you forget that you’re Marines — First Marines!
Not all the communists in hell can overrun you!"

—Col Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller,
rallying his 1st Marines near Chosin Reservoir, Korea, December 1950

CHOSIN: HEROIC ORDEAL OF THE KOREAN WAR by Eric Hammel
USMC MCCS LIBRARIES: Find copies at your Base Library
QUANTICO/USMC RESEARCH LIBRARY: DS918.2.C35 H35 1994 (print)

Details the heroic combat operations of the X Corps of General MacArthur's Far East Command during the Chosin Reservoir campaign of 1950 in North Korea.
COLDER THAN HELL : A MARINE RIFLE COMPANY AT CHOSIN RESERVOIR by Joseph R. Owen
USMC MCCS LIBRARIES: Find copies at your Base Library
QUANTICO/USMC RESEARCH LIBRARY COPIES: DS918.2.C35 O96 1996 (print)

Joe Owen tells it like it was in this evocative, page-turning story of a Marine rifle company in the early days of the Korean War. His powerful descriptions of close combat in the blizzard-blown mountains of the Chosin Reservoir and of the survival spirit of his Marines provide a gritty real-life view of frontline warfare.
FORGOTTEN WARRIORS: THE 1ST PROVISIONAL MARINE BRIGADE, THE CORPS ETHOS, AND THE KOREAN WAR by T. X. Hammes
Read it: MCCS Libraries | Quantico Libraries | Pentagon Ebook | Pentagon Library | DoD MWR Ebook
At the start of the Korean War, the Marine Corps was ordered to deploy an air-ground brigade in less than ten days, even though no such brigade existed at the time. Assembled from the woefully undermanned 1st Marine Division and 1st Marine Air Wing units, the Brigade shipped out 6 days after activation, sailed directly to Korea, and was in combat within 96 hours of landing. Despite these handicaps and numerically superior enemy forces, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade won each of its engagements and helped secure the Pusan Perimeter.
INTO THE BREACH AT PUSAN: THE 1ST PROVISIONAL MARINE BRIGADE IN THE KOREAN WAR by Kenneth W. Estes
USMC MCCS LIBRARIES: Find copies at your Base Library
QUANTICO/USMC RESEARCH LIBRARY: DS919 .E77 2012 (print)

In the opening campaign of the Korean War, the First Provisional Marine Brigade participated in a massive effort by United States and South Korean forces in 1950 to turn back the North Korean invasion of the Republic of Korea.
RECKLESS: THE RACEHORSE WHO BECAME A MARINE CORPS HERO by Tom Clavin
USMC MCCS LIBRARIES: Find copies at your Base Library
QUANTICO/USMC RESEARCH LIBRARY: DS919 .C53 2014 (print)

This book about Reckless the war horse who truly became a war hero, beloved by the Marine Corps and decorated for bravery, is written by the author of The Last Stand of Fox Company. Clavin shows his knowledge of warfare and military history in that he details the strategy, armament and troop movements by both sides during the bloody battles among the rice paddies of Korea.
RETREAT, HELL! by W. E. B. Griffin
USMC MCCS LIBRARIES: Find copies at your Base Library
QUANTICO/USMC RESEARCH LIBRARY: PS3557.R489137 R48 2004 (print)

Extraordinary challenges face the Marines in Korea, in W. E. B. Griffin's most electrifying Corps novel yet. It is the fall of 1950. The Marines have made a pivotal breakthrough at Inchon, but a roller coaster awaits them. The bit in his teeth, MacArthur surges across the 38th parallel toward the Yalu River, only to encounter the Chinese in full force, who drive him back in turn. Back and forth, the bloody tides of war shift, and swept along with them are Captain Ken McCoy and Master Gunner Ernie Zimmerman, caught in the fight of their lives; Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, working desperately to mediate the escalating battle between MacArthur and Truman; and Pickering's daredevil pilot son, Malcolm, lost somewhere behind enemy lines-and maybe lost forever.
SGT RECKLESS: AMERICA'S WARHORSE by Robin L. Hutton
Read it: MCCS Libraries | Quantico Libraries | Pentagon Library | DoD MWR Ebook | DoD MWR Audiobook
From the racetrack to the battlefield -- dauntless, fearless, and exemplar of Semper Fi -- she was Reckless, "pride of the Marines." Reckless was awarded two Purple Hearts for her valor and was officially promoted to staff sergeant twice, a distinction never bestowed upon an animal before or since.

THE DARKEST SUMMER: PUSAN AND INCHON 1950 : THE BATTLES THAT SAVED SOUTH KOREA--AND THE MARINES--FROM EXTINCTION by Bill Sloan
USMC MCCS LIBRARIES: Find copies at your Base Library
QUANTICO/USMC RESEARCH LIBRARY: DS918.2.P87 S56 2009 (print, audiobook)

The Darkest Summer opens a unique and revealing window on this all-but-forgotten war. A narrative studded with gripping eyewitness accounts, it focuses on the three fateful months when the Korean War's most decisive battles were fought and the Americans who fought them went -- however briefly -- from the depths of despair to the exultation of total conquest.

THE LAST PARALLEL: A MARINE'S WAR JOURNAL by Martin Russ
USMC MCCS LIBRARIES: Find copies at your Base Library
QUANTICO/USMC RESEARCH LIBRARY: DS921.6 .R8 1999 (print)

Long regarded as one of the best books about combat ever written, The Last Parallel -- an undisputed classic of the Korean War -- is back in print. A national bestseller and a Book-of-the-Month Club main selection, The Last Parallel "ranks top among combat soldiers' war records of all time", said Fred T. Marsh in The New York Herald Tribune. John P. Marquand in the Book-of-the-Month Club News concurred: "The Last Parallel is about the best account of combat I have read. One could even rate it as a higher achievement in some respects than that classic, The Red Badge of Courage ... Every reader wilt see death and danger as Sergeant Russ saw it. He will wince at the explosion of the mortar shells. Vicariously he will struggle every step of the way as Russ and his companions bring back the dead and wounded ... it is the best pro-Marine book yet to be published and one that should be read by mothers, wives and sweethearts, as well as everyone who has worn a uniform".

THIS KIND OF WAR: THE CLASSIC KOREAN WAR HISTORY by T. R. Fehrenbach
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FREE ONLINE: Navy Digital Library - at RBDigital and OverDrive
FREE ONLINE: DoD-MWR Online Library in EBSCO
USMC MCCS BASE LIBRARIES: Search for copies
QUANTICO/MCU RESEARCH LIBRARY: Click on title for available copies and formats
History of the Korean War written from the perspective of those who fought it. Partly drawn from official records, operations journals, and histories, it is based largely on the compelling personal narratives of small-unit commanders and their troops. As Americans and North Koreans continue to face each other across the 38th Parallel, this book offers vital lessons for the future.

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