Told from the front lines of one of the most intense weeks of combat during the Korean war, the final battle for Outpost Harry was fought for control of a key strategic position in the Iron Triangle. UN control of Harry would block communist forces from gaining a sight-line into the Kumwha Valley, block the most direct march into the south Korean capital of Seoul, and keep this important hill in the hands of the free world once the post-war territory lines were drawn. As talks of truce whispered through the Chorwon Valley, US troops were commanded to defend Outpost Harry and "hold at all costs." Outnumbered often by as many as 20 to 1, night after night from June 10-18, 1953, US 15th Infantry Regiment and the Greek Expeditionary Forces - Sparta Battalion defended freedom and democracy from Communist takeover against incredible odds. More than 88,000 rounds of Chinese artillery fell on the small hilltop of Outpost Harry during that 10-day period in June, 1953, one month before the cease-fire.

A first-hand account of the defense of Outpost Harry, a strategic position in Korea's Chorwon Valley brutally contested by the US and Chinese armies as they jockeyed for advantageous positions in anticipation of peace negotiations in Panmunjom. Evans recounts these last days of the war and savage battles for control of important local terrain features against a determined Chinese assault. By June 1953 the Korean War, marked at the outset by extremely fluid advances and retreats up and down the peninsula, had settled into position warfare very near the original pre-war demarcation line between North and South Korea. At this point both sides were fighting to win a peace, to achieve incremental advantages that could be translated into gains at the peace negotiations in Panmunjom. The battle at Outpost Harry devolved into hand-to-hand combat during a period of constant, intense fighting that lasted two days. The author, although seriously wounded that night, refused evacuation and remained on the hill to successfully lead his company in defense of the outpost. It wasn't romantic; it wasn't chivalrous; and many died or were badly wounded. Some of the survivors never fully overcame the mental and physical damage they suffered during the nightmare. With this book, one of those scarred by that experience recounts the events of the battle and his lifelong efforts to deal with the residual horrors. The Korean Conflict may be called "the forgotten war" by some, but not by those who were on the front lines.

Known as the Forgotten War, the "police action" in Korea resulted in almost as many American combat deaths in three years as the Vietnam War did in ten. Yet for many Americans today, the Korean War brings to mind nothing more than the television series "M*A*S*H." William Dannenmaier served in Korea with the U.S. Army from December 1952 to January 1954, first as a radioman and then as a radio scout with the Fifteenth Infantry Regiment. Eager to serve a cause in which he fervently believed--the safeguarding of South Korea from advancing Chinese Communists--he enlisted in the army with an innocence that soon evaporated. His letters from the front, most of them to his sister, Ethel, provide a springboard for his candid and wry observations of the privations, the boredom, and the devastation of infantry life. At the same time these letters, designed to disguise the true danger of his tasks and his dehumanizing circumstances, reflect a growing failure to communicate with those outside the combat situation. Woven through the letters is Dannenmaier's narrative account of his combat experiences, including a vivid re-creation of the bloody battle for Outpost Harry, which he describes as "trivial and insignificant--except to the men who fought it."A high-intensity, eight-day battle for a hill American forces would abandon three months later with the signing of the truce, Outpost Harry was largely ignored by the press despite heavy casualties and many official citations for heroism. From his vantage point as an Everyman, Dannenmaier describes the frustration of men on the front lines who never saw their commanding superiors, the exhaustion of soldiers whose long-promised leaves never materialized, the transitory friendships and shared horrors that left indelible memories. Endangered by minefields and artillery fire, ground down by rumors and constant tension, these men returned--if they returned at all--profoundly and irrevocably changed. This intimate, revealing memoir, a rare account by a common soldier, is a tribute to the Americans who served in a conflict that has only recently begun to gain a place in official public memory.

" She was homely, overweight, and over the hill, but there was a time when Marie Dressler outdrew such cinema sex symbols as Garbo, Dietrich, and Harlow. To movie audiences suffering the hardships of the Great Depression, she was Everywoman, and in the early 1930s her charming mixture of pathos and comedy packed movie theaters everywhere. In the early days of the century, Dressler was constantly in the headlines. She took up the cause of the "ponies" in the chorus lines, earning them better pay and benefits. She played in productions organized to raise money for the women's suffrage movement. And during World War I she claimed she sold more liberty bonds than any other individual in the United States. Dressler was an astute observer of public mood and taste. When she was lucky enough to find work in the newly minted Hollywood talkies, she grabbed the brass ring with fierce enthusiasm, even making three films in the year before her death, when she was so sick she had to rest between scenes on a sofa just out of camera range. The two-hundred-pound actress's remarkable stage presence captivated audiences even though her roles were not Hollywood beauties. She played tough, practical characters such as the old wharf rat in Anna Christie (1930), the waterfront innkeeper in Min and Bill (1931) -- for which she won the Academy Award for best actress -- the aging housekeeper in Emma (1932), and the title role in Tugboat Annie (1933). She spoke honestly to her audiences, and troubled people in the comforting darkness of the Depression-era movie theaters embraced her as one of themselves.

From the front lines of World War II to behind the scenes in the Iran-Contra affair, Major General John K. Singlaub recounts 40 years in the military. Mixing personal anecdotes with well-researched history and previously classified documents, he provides a unique look at the military, including the early days of the CIA. Photographs.

"In three days the number of so-called 'volunteers' reached over three hundred men. Very quickly they organized us into military units. Just like that I became a North Korean soldier and was on the way to some unknown place." -- from the book South Korean Lee Young Ho was seventeen years old when he was forced to serve in the North Korean People's Army during the first year of the Korean War. After a few months, he deserted the NKPA and returned to Seoul where he joined the South Korean Marine Corps. Ho's experience is only one of the many compelling accounts found in Voices from the Korean War. Unique in gathering war stories from veterans from all sides of the Korean War -- American, South Korean, North Korean, and Chinese -- this volume creates a vivid and multidimensional portrait of the three-year-long conflict told by those who experienced the ground war firsthand. Richard Peters and Xiaobing Li include a significant introduction that provides a concise history of the Korean conflict, as well as a geographical and a political backdrop for the soldiers' personal stories.

Personal accounts of more than thirty men and women who served with the American and Canadian forces in Korea during the years 1950-1953. What is it like to go to war? How does a war affect the men and women who are fighting in it? Here are vivid first-person accounts that address these questions and offer powerful insights into what it means to serve in the armed forces in an unfamiliar country far from home. Award-winning author Linda Granfield has collected the stories of thirty-two men and women who were part of the U.S. and Canadian forces in Korea during the years 1950-53, and has set them against a backdrop of historical and geographical information. The veterans in this book represent a variety of service areas, such as medical, supplies, infantry, and naval. Their sometimes grim, sometimes lighthearted recollections are illustrated with their own personal photographs. From a prisoner of war's gripping description of being held captive for nearly three years to a machine gunner's fond memories of the canned hamburgers and bacon his battalion loved to eat, these stories emphasize the human face of war at a time when it's more important than ever to try to understand the many different ways that war changes people's lives. A foreword by renowned author Russell Freedman relates some of his own experiences while serving in Korea with the Counter Intelligence Corps. Also included are a timeline, glossary, bibliography, Internet resources, and index.