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The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat | 
 enlarge | Authors: Robert Drury, Tom Clavin
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $16.50
You Save: $8.50 (34%)
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Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 9061
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5
ISBN: 0871139936
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.904242
EAN: 9780871139931
ASIN: 0871139936
Publication Date: January 6, 2009 (New: This Week)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
November 1950, the Korean Peninsula: After General MacArthur ignores Mao’s warnings and pushes his UN forces deep into North Korea, his 10,000 First Division Marines find themselves surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by 100,000 Chinese soldiers near the Chosin Reservoir. Their only chance for survival is to fight their way south through the Toktong Pass, a narrow gorge that will need to be held open at all costs. The mission is handed to Captain William Barber and the 234 Marines of Fox Company, a courageous but undermanned unit of the First Marines. Barber and his men climb seven miles of frozen terrain to a rocky promontory overlooking the pass, where they will endure four days and five nights of nearly continuous Chinese attempts to take Fox Hill. Amid the relentless violence, three-quarters of Fox’s Marines are killed, wounded, or captured. Just when it looks like the outfit will be overrun, Lt. Colonel Raymond Davis, a fearless Marine officer who is fighting south from Chosin, volunteers to lead a daring mission that cuts a hole in the Chinese lines and relieves the men of Fox. This is a fast-paced and gripping account of heroism and sacrifice in the face of impossible odds.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
 Heroism and Carnage in an Unforgiving Climate January 7, 2009
In the mid 90's I served in the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea. During the long, brutally cold winter months, my fellow soldiers and I would often muse, with a shiver, about what it would be like to have to fight in these conditions during the Korean War in the 1950's.
The Last Stand of Fox Company gives a pretty good idea of what it would be like.
This non-fiction book is an hour-by-hour, day-by-day account of the ordeal and rescue of a Marine company sent to secure a strategic choke point near the frozen, mountainous region of the Chosin reservoir during the onslaught of Chinese forces in Northern Korea.
The 246 men of Fox Company withstood nightly assaults by thousands of Chinese army regulars and kept open an essential, narrow exit route for thousands of Marine forces, who were trying to survive an untenable situation farther north.
With colorful anecdotes from the testimony of the Marines who served, coupled with military data and existing histories, the authors have presented a stylized narrative of the events that is, (forgive the cliche) hard to put down. Rather than a dry, clinical account, The Last Stand of Fox Company is peppered with the slang, expletives and frank thoughts of the men who participated.
At one point an injured soldier finds he is hovering "ten feet above" his wounded self, and he sails even higher, viewing the battle from a slightly elevated position before he is jerked back into his body.
Later in the book, the rescue party, known as "The Ridgerunners", are marching through the snowy mountains at night, trying to locate the besieged Fox Company. Fighting off exhaustion, hunger and frostbite, three officers hunker down in a bunker to consult their antiquated maps and choose the right route. Three times in a row, they emerge from the bunker unable to remember what they JUST DECIDED, so they hunker down again.
These moments give life to what is an almost unbelievable story of heroism and survival. Probably the greatest testimony to the incredible story of valor and bloodshed comes near the end of the book. One of the officers who fought during the stand is putting in the Medal of Honor request for one of his enlisted men and he admits that on the paperwork he lessened the actual number of Chinese the man had killed because he thought people wouldn't believe it!
The book deals with violence frankly; swollen feet, horrible wounds, and hand-to-hand fighting are described in vivid detail. And the moral calculus of war is presented matter-of-factly. When it is apparent that Chinese soldiers are pretending they are dead only to hop up to take a shot at the Marines, the Marine commanding officer makes a hard decision: in certain instances, Marines must administer the coup de grace to the enemy wounded.
Staying very close to the events on "Fox Hill," the authors only occasionally bring the larger, strategic events into our view-just enough for us to understand how the situation developed from a geo-political standpoint. Macarthur and his staff are very distant figures, although their decisions have direct bearing on the fate of the characters.
Other reviewers here on Amazon have critiqued the maps, and I would agree. The maps could have been improved with more detail on the topography, and as the perimeter of Fox hill recedes, it would be nice to see where certain characters ended up. But once you get the general lay of the land, you can follow the events pretty well.
 Riveting account of Marines in battle in the Korean War December 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This remarkable book tells the unbelievable story of a small company of Marines fighting to hold open a mountain pass in Korea. Out-numbered and out-gunned, these 246 Marines hold off 10,000 Chinese soldiers determined to overtake the Toktong Pass near the Choisin Resevoir. The story of their eight day battle is a moving account of bravery and of sacrifice.
Drury and Clavin have given the reader a riveting day-by-day picture of the efforts of this extraordinary group of soliders. The narrative is enriched by what are obviously first-hand accounts from the soldiers themselves. The horrors of the days, where the Marines must battle both the elements and the enemy, are meticulously detailed, as are the ever-mounting casualties.
This book is not an easy read by any means, but even knowing the staggering losses that would be presented, I found it hard to put down. Both the writing and the story itself draw the reader in, and make finishing this book an imperative. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in U.S. military history.
Gripping December 24, 2008
Reminded me alot of "We were Soldiers". Very well told war story on the relatively small unit level
My copy was from the Vine program and had quite a few typo's but I was assuming that would be fixed in regular editions. If not, that might irritate some of the more ticky readers
I notice alot of comments here on the maps, and to be honest that's not one of my major concerns when I read a book if I'm at all familiar with the area, so I can't really comment one way or the other on them. If that's a major point for you then I can't help you there, but some others have strong opinions one way or the other apparently
But as far as story telling and content, you can't get much better than this in a true war book. I would reccomend it to anyone with an interest in this genre
A slow start but don't let that deter you (a history teacher's review) December 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although I am a history teacher I have to admit that I am woefully under-informed on the Korean War - at least when compared to our other wars. Sadly, I am not alone in this fact - there's a reason why the Korean War is called "The Forgotten War".
Drury and Clavin start off slowly, in part because there is no context as to why the soldiers are marching around in the subzero weather in northern Korea. However, once they explain the purpose of this particular campaign in the war as a whole and show the reader a few maps I got a lot more comfortable with how they were telling the story and appreciated it a lot more.
This is not a fancy history - it is told from the ground level perspective of the the Marines on the hill and is full of tales of bodily fluids, men too young to actually join the Marines, frozen toes, poor equipment and a command structure that not only failed to realize the Chinese Army had entered the war, but failed to realize that a few thousand Marines were up against tens of thousands of those same Chinese soldiers.
Recommended for those who enjoy a "Band of Brothers" type perspective on the war. This book is not a general history but I'd suggest it as a companion to any general history in order to get that gritty feel of the front line perspective - the point of view of the men who actually fought the war.
terrific story of heroism December 18, 2008
"The Last Stand of Fox Company" is the true story of a Marine company that held a hill overlooking a key strategic pass leading to the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. Freezing, short on rations and ammunition, and nearly buried in successive waves of Chinese soldiers, the Marines held Fox Hill for seven days, permitting their fellow Marines to evacuate an unsustainable position at Yudam-ni.
This book is the real deal. The level of detail in the narrative is simply awe-inspiring. Often we know what happened down to the minute. Individuals are followed throughout the battle and we learn of their personal fates. The Marines display courage and even a sense of humor in the face of death, but nothing is sugar-coated for us. The men on Fox Hill took heavy casualties. Many of those who did not die immediately were scarred for life. Wounds went untreated, but the men fought on, and their pain is described in detail. Frostbite was nearly as debilitating as bullet wounds, and weapons often refused to function in the bitter cold.
The book is not all blood and guts. There are some intriguing tidbits of information. We learn about General Macarthur's plan to create a nuclear "dead zone" between Korea and China by exploding thirty nuclear bombs along the Yalu River. The description of the Chinese soldiers was fascinating. Some of them fought without socks in the sub-zero weather. Occasionally, Chinese officers dressed in Gilbert and Sullivan finery wandered into rifle range where they were instantly cut down. And the Chinese buglers blew "Taps" at dawn. A series of fine maps show the shifting positions and attack vectors throughout the ordeal.
"The Last Stand of Fox Company" is one of the best war books I have ever read. Readers looking for a story of heroism against the forces of nature and overwhelming odds will not be disappointed.
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