Trafford Publishing: Korea (Our War 1950-1953)

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Korea (Our War 1950-1953)

by Colonel Peter W. Cuthbert, AUS (Ret)

311 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #02-0559; ISBN 1-55369-746-4; US$26.50, C$30.75, EUR22.00, £15.50

A memoir of the Korean War and its influence on the lives of a young married couple who both survive the ordeal. Their story is told chiefly through their letters.

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about the book about the author sample excerpts catalogue info

About the Book

This is a history book, a war story, a love story and a personalized account of what it was like to be a replacement officer in combat during the Korean War. It is a memoir which includes letters, photos, and unit records to bring out what was happening at the time.

About the Author

Colonel Peter Cuthbert attended The Citadel for two years, transferred to Norwich University and graduated with the Class of 1951. He was commissioned an Armor Officer through the ROTC and retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a colonel after serving 32 years as a "citizen soldier." He is the author of an article, "A Salute to Army Reserve Components," that appeared in The Army Digest, October, 1970.
Colonel Peter Cuthbert was a highschool history teacher, coach, history department chairman and a principal during his 31 year career in education.

Sample Excerpts

FOREWORD
This book has been quite a few years in development. Back in July '93, I read somewhere that, "exactly forty years ago the guns fell silent" in Korea. I had just finished having read, Some Desperate Glory: Diary of a Young Officer, by Edward Campion Vaughn, published in 1981, long after his death. It is a very well written personalized description of what is was like to be in the trenches during the "War to end All Wars" (later referred to as WWI). His experience was similar to mine. The idea of writing about my service in Korea was formed.
Perhaps the greatest reason for this book, however, is that my great grandfather, Augustus R. Devereaux, was a Sgt. in the 1st Maine Calvary throughout the Civil War, and his obituary in the Ellsworth American has intirgued me over the years. It mentioned some of the actions he was in and how he had been captured several times and gotten away.
After doing a little research I discovered that his unit was awarded more battle streamers (35) than any other unit in the Union Army of the Potomac and that they had more casualites than any other cavalry regiment in the Union Army . If only I had been able to hear his stories personally or if only he had kept a diary, but no such luck. That's why I want to leave an account of our small part in the Korean War for our progeny to read, and others if so inclined, to get a feel for history and to make it come alive through a personalized account.
As I began to gather information from the Korean War, it became apparent that there was very little written material on the subject. Book stores, such as Waldens, the Dartmouth Book Store, and libraries have many volumes on the Civil War, WWII and even more on Vietnam, but very little about Korea; truly the "forgotten war."
Some of the books available by well-known authors even contained glaring errors (which I have underlined below) in the location of certain battle sites. For example, John Toland wrote in his book, In Mortal Combat, Korea 1950-1953, that Heartbreak Ridge was south of Bloody Ridge (p.484) when it is due north and that Heartbreak Ridge was north of the Punch Bowl (p.487) when it is due west.
Walter G. Hermes also had errors in his volume titled, Truce Tent and Fighting Front, part of the series called, United States Army in The Korean War, published by OCMH (Office Chief of Military History) as an official Department of the Army publication. On page 83 in the text, it states ".... a J-shaped ridge that lay northeast of the Punchbowl." But on p.82 on Map 3, it shows J-Ridge placed southeast of the Punch Bowl. And on the map on page 304, it states that Kumhwa is 3.1 mi. from the Chórwon area when it is at least another 12 mi..
Also, in the same volume on p. 305, it is stated that "... Hill 281 (Arrowhead), two miles southeast of White Horse...." Yet on Map 5, p.304, it is clearly shown to be southwest! And I have been to all these places.
The names of certain towns and villages like Kumhwa and Mundung-ni where we fought are no longer on the military maps used by the U.S. Army troops today stationed in Korea. They are now located in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) and are deserted.
During the winter of '96-'97, while recuperating from a ski accident (broken shoulder), I did find an excellent book describing a very similar Korean War experience to my own. Titled The Coldest War, it is an autobiographical account of the experience of journalist James Brady when he too was a replacement platoon leader during the "Static War" in Korea. Although he was a Marine, his comments and vivid descriptions of what he went through were almost identical to what I had experienced. His book was nominated for a Pullitzer Prize and should be required reading for all newly commissioned officers, especially the West Pointers.
Most of the books that are available covering the war, dwell entirely on the first year as the action moved up and down the peninsula. Clay Blair, in his book The Forgotten War containing over 1,000 pages and 29 chapters, devotes only one chapter to the last two years of the war! There was practically no information on what was going on while James Brady and I were there, except that "Peace Talks" were taking place. In fact, almost half (46%) of American casualties were sustained during the "Static War" between mid-1951 and July 1953 while the talks dragged on as the participants argued over such things as airfield construction by the North Koreans, the return of POWs, the size and shape of the truce table, and the final truce line. During this time, 575 peace talk meetings were held and 18,000,000 words were exchanged while some of the most savage battles took place, such as "Bloody Ridge," "Heartbreak Ridge," and "Pork Chop Hill."
The total Korean conflict casualties (136, 926) are almost five and one-half times that of four U.S. wars: Revolutionary, 1812, Mexican, and Spanish-American, and half of them occurred during the so-called "Static War." "In one important respect there is little difference between a war of movement and a static war. In the first, the fighting man is killed while his army is on the move. In the second, he dies in a more closely defined area. To him the results are the same; his maiming is just as disabling, his death just as final."
T.R. Ferenback states, "that of the 1,500,000 soldiers who went to Korea during the war, only 12.5% actually fought and saw combat." In contrast, during the Spanish-American War only 13% were in non-combat jobs.
Our tank company was on the MLR (Main Line of Resistance) most of the time from June '52 to March '53, and thus were were usually in "harm's way." Even when off the MLR, we were within artillery range and were periodically shelled.
As soldiers well know, fate plays such a large part in our lives. Born a year later, I would have missed the war. Had my orders assigned me to stateside duty, or Germany or even Alaska (as some friends got), there would be no war story. If assigned to a different unit or to a different job, things would perhps have been very different.... If you step ouside a bunker just one second too soon.... If the round had not been a dud.... If the enemy decided to take your hill that night.... If the sniper was a better shot.... If the mortar or artillery round was just five or ten yards shorter (or longer). Some of us were very lucky, some weren't. As a survivor without a scratch, it is easy for me to say that I am proud of my service and am glad to have had the experience and lived to tell about it.
This book contains information from my memory (not always accurate, as I found out from reading my letters), from hundreds of our letters, from unit records stored in the National Archives in Suitland, MD, from magazine articles and newspapers, from civilian authors' history books on the war, and from U.S. Army Official publications. As a history teacher, I have also tried to give the general background and an overall view of the war as we knew it.
As you read this memoir, and particularly my thoughts expressed in letters, please bear in mind that I was only 22 years old when sent to Korea as a replacement to assume the responsibility of taking command of a Tank Platoon in combat, that I was very much in love with my "bride" of less than two years and that our daughter, Jane, was born only two weeks before I left.
Our letters have been printed exactly as written with the exception of some very personal (and redundant) proclamations of love and a few paragraphs relating to people whom we know but would be of no interest to the reader. In some cases, only relevant excerpts of letters are included.
In describing the period of the "Static War," during which we lost half of our casualties and when I was there, Clay Blair wrote the following:
"Notwithstanding the MacArthur hoopla, the majority of the American public turned firmly against the war. The lack of dramatic ground action - a stirring military resolution of the conflict - and the complex and tedious negotiations probably turned others against it. Not a few simply became bored with the war - or non-war - and turned their attention to other matters at home. The Korean conflict was gradually to slip from the front pages, and, in due course, the public consciousness. It was to become "The Forgotten War."
Veterans and their families who were part of this "war" will never consider it "Forgotten." This is our story as we lived and fought it. This is both a love story and a personalized history involving real people and events. It contains both facts and personal feelings and opinions. Someone once said that a war is never over 'till the last veteran dies. Perhaps this will help to keep "Our War" from ever being "Forgotten" and to seem real and alive to future generations, especially our progeny. That is my purpose.

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