East of Chosin: Entrapment and Breakout in Korea, 1950 (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series Book 2) by Roy E. Appleman (PDF)

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In November, 1950, with the highly successful Inchon Landing behind him, Gen. Douglas MacArthur planned the last major offensive of what was to be a brief “conflict”: the drive that would push the North Koreans across the Yalu River into Manchuria. In northern Korea, US forces assembled at Chosin Reservoir to cut behind the North Korean forces blocking the planned march to Manchuria. Roy E. Appleman, noted historian of the Korean conflict, describes the tragic fate of the troops of the 31st Regimental Combat Team which fought this engagement and presents a thorough analysis of the physical conditions, attitudes, and command decisions that doomed them.

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⭐Despite the title, this is not the story of Chosin most Americans ought to be familiar with. That is to say, it is not the Korean War story of the 1st Marine Division and its magnificent fighting retreat from North Korea’s Chosin Reservoir to the coast. No. It is not that story because the Marines were on the west side of the Chosin Reservoir. On the east side was the U.S. Army, specifically the 7th Infantry Division’s 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), later known as Task Force Faith.(1)In contrast to the Marines, the story of Task Force Faith did not end well. Indeed, Roy E. Appleman says, “It would be hard to find a more nearly hopeless or more tragic story in American military history.” (xii) Appleman tells that story in his usual well-paced and clear prose style relying on memoirs, official records, and extensive interviews with survivors. Given the breakout of Task Force Faith ended in disaster and the loss of its records, Appleman has done a great service for readers by piecing together what little records exist and survivors’ sometimes contradictory memories into a coherent narrative.My one major reservation about this otherwise excellent work is the failure to acknowledge how the Chinese exploited the element of surprise to defeat one part of the Task Force before it could be reinforced by the other part (defeat in detail).(2)Even so, scholars and serious students of the Korean War will appreciate this book’s extensive analysis, 525 endnotes, 11 military topographic maps, 40 photographs, and six appendices.1. The Chinese public may now be more familiar with what happened on the east side thanks to “The Battle of Lake Changjin” (2021), a big-budget feature film that presents the Communist Party’s fictionalized version of the battle. The only American film treatment is a documentary, “Task Force Faith” (2014).2. John I. Alger, “Definitions and Doctrines of the Military Art: Past and Present,” The West Point Military History Series, ed. Thomas E. Griess (Wayne: Avery Publishing Group Inc., 1985), 18. Also, Karl von Clausewitz, “On War,” trans. O.J. Matthijs Jolles (New York: Random House, 1943), in “The Book of War,” Modern Library War Series, ed. Caleb Carr (New York: Modern Library, 2000), 421-422.

⭐”…after General Almond left to return to Hagaru-ri, Lieutenant Colonel Faith and Lieutenant Smalley ripped their Silver Stars off their jackets and threw them into the snow.”This pivotal passage from the text “East of Chosin” reveals Lt. Col. Don Carlos Faith’s disgust not just with his increasingly desperate situation, but with also his chain of command. Author Roy Appleman offered little to explain the military culture and key personalities behind this event. This book provides a very good description of WHAT happened during the 100 hours that it took for the 31st Regimental Combat team, a U.S. Army unit of 3,000 men, to be encircled and destroyed in North Korea in December 1950. The book is a good page-turner for anyone wanting a blow-by-blow account of what happened. The writing style is well above average for a military history book; drama and tension are woven into a story that is constructed primarily from survivors’ first-hand recollections.The bulk of the book is a timeline of events. Chapter 22 provides a lengthy analysis entitled “Could Task Force Faith Have Been Saved?” The author synthesizes his conjecture with observations shared by survivors. By failing to examine military organizational culture as it then existed, and especially the personalities of the key leaders, the story of Task Force Faith remains unexplained. Why would such a reckless mission be undertaken, and why was it executed the way it was? Or in so many words– What were they thinking? To be fair, an excursion into personal backgrounds would have made the book more laborious to read.Fortunately, separate analyses appear elsewhere to complement to “East of Chosin.” One is Ray Vallowe’s research as posted on the “Korean War Educator” website. Another is the 2007 master’s thesis “Organizational Leadership in Crisis: The 31st RCT at Chosin Reservoir,” prepared by Maj. Paul Berquist, also available online as of late 2011. The latter not only describes the event, but also examines the personalities involved. For example, we now understand that Lt. Col. Don Carlos Faith was politically shrewd in obtaining promotions and selecting his staff for occupational affinities rather than experience. We also learn that Gen. Edward M. Almond had put Faith on notice for a perceived lack of aggressiveness during earlier campaigns. This suggests that Faith may at first have suspended his better judgment at Chosin as he strove to prove himself to his superiors. The same thesis also analyzes the rapid deployment of forces under Gen. Almond’s command in Korea just prior to the Chosin campaign. Almond’s penchant for the strategies displayed by U.S. Civil War Confederate cavalry apparently didn’t apply well to road-bound, mechanized troops dependent on long supply chains.The Berquist thesis describes a perfect storm of poor organizational design, limited communications technology, and interservice rivalry that doomed the men of Task Force Faith. It’s also useful to remember the dynamics of professional advancement in the military: one bad fitness report from a superior can derail an officer’s career. This may help to us to understand not only General Almond, but also the curious final actions of Col. Allan MacLean, the initial commander of the task force who would be succeeded by Lt. Col. Faith. One may conclude that Task Force Faith’s demise ultimately reflects the misplaced arrogance of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and his advocacy of atomic weapons as a solution to Chinese intervention in the Korean War. To wit: Why bother to deploy fully equipped field armies when you can always drop the bomb?

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