Roughstuff's Korean War Article and Journal Review
Welcome to Roughstuff's Korean War Article and Journal review. My purpose with this page is to review, add comments and solicit comments about Korean War articles that appear in mainstream magazines, scholarly publications, and other mass media. Korean war books are reviewed on a separate page in this website. At the moment (July 11, 1997) I am thick as thieves with book reviews to do, plowing through almost 4 books a week. So this page will grow more slowly for a while. Eventually, however, the pace will pick up, since the Korean Peninsula is very much in the news these days. My suspicion is that it will continue to be for many years; in fact, in one of my own articles i point out that Korea will be the major source of regional instability in the region for the foreseeable future-- not Taiwan, China/Hong Kong, or the Spratlys/Paracells.
My sincere hope is that this page and review will contribute to knowledge and appreciation of the sacrifices made by thousands of Americans and UN Forces on the peninsula, and that we will learn the lessons and precedents, both good and bad, that the Korean War set out for us. If the article is available on-line, the title is made clickable; if the article is in a non-cyberspace source, the citation is given in traditional academic format.
Black Soldier, White Army.The 24th Infantry in Korea.
This article is a summary of investigations into the fighting ability and performance of the members of the 25 Infantry Divisions' 24th Infantry Regiment. If the numbers confuse you, they have alot of others as well...many people get the 24th IR (the 'Buffalo Soldiers.') mixed up with the 24th ID in Korea, commanded by Dean. Widely, and according to the article, unfairly accused of 'bugging out' and lack of combat discipline, the study attempted to compare the regiments' performance with those in the same vicinity and same circumstances.
In evaluating the performance of the Army in the first few weeks of the Korean conflict one must keep in mind that many writers--such as Donald Knox in his Pusan to Chosin text-- have ben severly critical of the discipline, fitness, training, and tactics of numerous Army units and commanders. The Marines in particular were fed up with having to shed blood a second time when Army units could not hold bitterly fought ground in the Pusan Perimeter. Such complaints were heard again in the retreat from the Chosin reservoir, months later. "No one joined the army in 1948", says Knox, "in order to fight a war."
I might add that as a civilian with no military experience (and certainly no combat experience except in a few schoolyards here and there) reading accounts of battles can be alot watching a tennis match...back and forth, back and forth. (especially in Korea)
The general tone of 'Black Soldier, White Army' is that the regiment had its share of problems but - many of these problems could just as well be attributed to the leadership of the regiment--often white, and
- many of the regiments' successes were ignored or underplayed in the press.
For example, in the initial deployment of forces in Korea, the regiment scored a victory at Yechon, but was routed at Sangju. In the perimeter, their success at Battle mountain was overshadowed by their collapse south of Haman. With the advance into North korea following Inchon, the regiments's debacle with Task Force Wilson stood in contrast to its success at kuni-ri.
In the 1951 campaigns north of Seoul, the Han and Hantan rivers, and the retreat to line Golden, again, the regiment had both successes and failures.
Colonel Thomas Gillis, the last commander of the regiment, ws told upon receiving his assigment that the 24th was the weakest line in the 8th Army. He quickly realized the problem was with the regiments' leadership and sacked an number of its officers. "He was rewarded, " the article goes on to say, "on the 15th of September when the regiment conducted a heroic bayonet and hand grenade assault."
Summing up the performance the 24th IR, the authors say it best--
" If it reflects lapses of command and deficiencies in leadership, training and equipment—the sort of failings that burdened all units during the initial stages of the conflict—it also contains displays of honor, commitment, selflessness and heroism that are in keeping with the best traditions of the United States Army."