Thanking those men, the few, the proud, the brave…
Via NY Post:
This year we have Mother Nature to thank for a Thanksgiving weekend windier and chillier than usual.
Yet as cold as it may be, the weather also reminds us that what we have seen in New York this year is nothing compared to what Americans endured at Thanksgiving time during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. That was back in 1950, when Chinese forces attacked the day after Thanksgiving in what became one of the most decisive battles of the Korean war.
This was the “Frozen Chosin.” At the time, the American and UN forces in Korea near the Chosin Reservoir were thinking the war might be over by Christmas. Then the Chinese intervened by sending in eight divisions of soldiers. In so doing, Beijing overnight changed the entire war.
Suddenly our badly outnumbered forces found themselves surrounded. They decided to fight their way 78 miles through enemy lines.
By breaking out of the trap and inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, the First Marine Division denied the Communists their victory and transformed a tactical retreat into an offensive. Five of the seven Chinese divisions the Marines engaged were destroyed completely, never again to appear in the Korean war.