Dark Horse Six: A Memoir of the Korean War, 1950-1951

"For two miserable weeks, with temperatures hovering between 20 and 40 degrees below zero, the outnumbered allied ground troops held off a Chinese army that had been ordered to annihilate them. When the running fight ended on Dec. 11 (1950) nearly 7,000 allied troops had been killed or wounded, and many of the casualties were victims of frostbite. The Chinese suffered an estimated 30,000 casualties. Historically, only the battle of the Alamo and Custer's Last Stand matched such seemingly hopeless odds. Like the Alamo, Chosin produced its own famous battle cry. According to a Time magazine account From Dec. 18, 1950, Major Gen. Oliver P. Smith, Commander of the First Marine Division, (the very same Marine Division fighting in Iraq today), set the tone for the battle by snapping, "Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, were just advancing in a different direction!" Dark Horse Six, is the combat memoir of Colonel Robert D. Taplett. He was the commander of one of the USMC's most famed battalions, the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment, during the first year of fighting in Korea. His battalion's radio call sign during the bitter fighting against the Chinese was Dark Horse. After 50 years he has decided to tell his story. He wants the deeds of his Marines put into the record. The mistakes of combat, planning and egos are here as well. His experience was on the front lines, not theorizing behind some desk. THIS IS A WARRIOR'S STORY!