The Korean War is often overlooked by Americans. But this forgotten war played a big role in shaping the world order in the second half of the 20th century. What’s more, one of the most heroic and harrowing military operations in U.S. history took place deep in the snowy and bitterly cold mountains of North Korea, creating a legendary group of fighters who became known as the “Frozen Chosin.”

My guest today has written a book that captures this event in military history. His name is Hampton Sides and his book is On Desperate Ground: The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle. Hampton and I begin our discussion exploring why the Korean War is the forgotten war in American history and how the United States got involved in a conflict on the Korean peninsula in the first place.

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JdN: Marines in the trenches in Korea during an Chinese 88-mm-mortar bombardment. 

My father, Marine captain James W. Nugent, fought in Korea and ended up in a coma for three days after a Chinese artillery round landed near him. He confirmed t0 me that the Chinese attacked with human-wave attacks at night. At night, Chinese- communist commissars would walk around feeling fallen Chinese bodies for body warmth. They shot any Chinese soldier in the head whose body was warm, indicating he was still alive, pretending to be dead, and waiting for the right moment to approach the American lines to surrender. 

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Hampton then talks about General Douglas MacArthur and how his unbridled ambition and hubris, as well as other glaring failures among military brass, led American troops into a frozen trap set by the Chinese. Hampton and I then discuss the epic Battle of the Chosin Reservoir and how 20,000 Marines fended off annihilation at the hands of over 300,000 Chinese soldiers in weather conditions that dropped to 20 degrees below zero. We end our conversation discussing the legacy of the Chosin Reservoir campaign.

Show Highlights

• Why is the Korean War known as “the forgotten war”
• How the Korean War started, and how the US got involved
• General MacArthur’s hubris in Korea
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• The heroism of Field General Oliver P. Smith
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• The relationship between MarArthur, Almond, and Smith
• Mao’s role in the Korean War
• The dramatic environment and winter conditions at Chosin Reservoir
• The epic battle at Chosin Reservoir, and the successful withdrawal of the soldiers
• The amazing engineering story of the battle
• What the legacy of the Frozen Chosin can teach us today

Resources/People/Articles Mentioned in Podcast

• Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice
• The Mask of Command
• The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
• Douglas MacArthur
• Battle of Inchon
• Edward Almond
• Wake Island Conference
• Oliver P. Smith

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