Book 1

Explains how the Chinese Army drove MacArthur and the U.N. forces out of North Korea, and tells why the Chinese decided to intervene.

The history of the 24th Infantry regiment in Korea is a difficult one, both for the veterans of the unit & for the Army. This book tells both what happened to the 24th Infantry, & why it happened. The Army must be aware of the corrosive effects of segregation & the racial prejudices that accompanied it. The consequences of the system crippled the trust & mutual confidence so necessary among the soldiers & leaders of combat units & weakened the bonds that held the 24th together, producing profound effects on the battlefield. Tables, maps & illustrations.

"Well written and meticulously researched ... East of Chosin is military history at its best". -- Harry G. Summers, Jr., Washington Post Book World

Despite American success in preventing the conquest of South Korea by communist North Korea, the Korean War of 1950-1953 did not satisfy Americans who expected the kind of total victory they had experienced in WW II. In Korea, the U.S. limited itself to conventional weapons. Even after communist China entered the war, Americans put China off-limits to conventional bombing as well as nuclear bombing. Operating within these limits, the U.S. Air Force helped to repel 2 invasions of South Korea while securing control of the skies so decisively that other U.N. forces could fight without fear of air attack.

At the end of 1950, the UN forces in Korea had suffered a series of decisive defeats by the Chinese. They were in retreat, fleeing south, perhaps even out of Korea altogether. Eighth Army's commander, Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker, had just died in an accident. The situation was as bleak as the wintry landscape.