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Title: On Hallowed Ground: The Last Battle for Pork Chop Hill by Bill McWilliams ISBN: 1-59114-480-9 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: October, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (3 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: not the way to write a small action military history
Comment: When i first began to read the book, I was pleased to have it, until I got to the small-unit-action descriptions. There were no maps!!, or at least well-done maps. There is one map of the general area, and that does not show or name many of the hills and outposts for which actions are described; the details are impossible to follow. Because of this, I took out my copy of S.L.A.Marshall's book 'Pork Chop Hill' for this book has well-drawn maps and even better, good drawings of the ground with peaks and OPs identified. All of these made McWilliam's book intelligible. By doing this, I found one more strike aginst the newer book. In the description of the actions of the Ethiopian battalion at OPs Yoke and Uncle much of the writing was lifted word for word from Marshall's earlier book without attribution. (...). i am not sure how much more of the book is like that, if any. there are sections lifted from other authors but they are put into smaller and different type and given attribution, a perfectly acceptable way of using someone else's work. However that one perfect example makes me doubt what the author thought he was doing or how he was doing it. Further, along with these defects are a number of errors in English. An example is a sentence that read, and this is not an exact quote, 'the casualties were stretched across the hill...'; meaning the casualties were carried by stretcher. After correcting the mispelling, we are still left with a noun used as a verb, not a terrible set of mistakes but an example of how poor the editing was.
I can recommend reading the book, just not spending so much money to buy it until it is revised and corrected.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Must-Have Book of the Korean War
Comment: As an Australian military historian myself, I have written numerous books on the Australian military experience overseas, principally in the two world wars. Quite frankly, however, I admit I knew lamentably little about the Korean War, the so-called "forgotten war". In fact, I think it's true to say that most people's knowledge of that war these days would only have derived from watching episodes of MASH. That lack of knowledge for me, at least, changed forever after a friend relentlessly urged me to read Bill McWilliams' superb account of the battle for Pork Chop Hill in 1953. If anything, I found it to be even more evocative and powerful than James Bradley's wonderful "Flags Of Our Fathers" for the descriptions of the battles, and the compelling stories of the ordinary but extraordinarily gallant leaders and men who fought, died or survived in one of the bloodiest, most ferocious engagements of any war. You cannot read past the stories of such combatants and medics as Bob Northcutt, James McKenzie and Dick Shea without giving thanks for their astonishing valour and determination, and yet the book is filled with such stories, told at length or in a few simple but effective sentences. At first glance the book's earlier pages may seem a little overladen with background detail, but once you begin to read you realise that the author has done a superb and meticulously thorough job of research, and does not lead us into any situation without first fully presenting the preceding events, the units assigned, and those individuals particularly involved. It is a masterful blend, as McWilliams first informs us, then sets the scene, and finally takes us through the different battles and aftermath using the stark, sometimes horrifying, often poignant recollections and accounts of a host of participants and/or witnesses. There is a welcome abundance of excellent photographs and maps to show where the engagements took place, and many of the soldiers and leaders who took part. Family members also reflect back over half a century to the deeds and heroism of their loved ones, which adds yet another dimension to this engrossing book. The story of the 7th Infantry, and in particular the different battalions of the 17th and 32nd Regiments, is one that has been told before, but never with such descriptive detail, real-life drama, and compassion. This is certainly a book to be treasured, and read many times. Thank you, Bill McWilliams, for giving us this truly fascinating, truly compelling book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Helps fill a void in the history of the "Forgotten War"
Comment: The Korean War is often called the "Forgotten War." However, in truth, the war of maneuver that made up the first year of the war has been the subject of many excellent books. The stationary, or "outpost war," that was fought from 1951 to 1953 has received far less attention. Bill McWilliams' book, "On Hallowed Ground: The Last Battle for Pork Chop Hill," is a close study of one of the most brutal battles fought during that period.
Pork Chop Hill may be familiar to some readers as the subject of SLA Marshall's book and the subsequent movie starring Gregory Peck. That book and movie deal with the April 1953 battle for the outpost on Pork Chop. McWilliams reviews that earlier battle as well as the overall strategic situation, but he focuses on the July 1953 battle in which regiments of the U.S. 7th Infantry Division fought against a Chinese enemy determined to seize Pork Chop.
The author does a great job in describing this chaotic battle and the bravery of the soldiers in the rifle companies and their supporting elements that fought it. He examines in detail the decisions made at high levels of command that ultimately determined the outcome of the battle. And finally, in his section on the aftermath of Pork Chop, he puts it in the perspective of both history and the families of the fallen.
This is a great addition to the literature of the Korean War. It should be of interest to both students of the Korean War and those readers with a general interest in military history and ground combat.
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