This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History - 50th Anniversary Edition by T.R. Fehrenbach | Military History Book for Historians, Students & Veterans | Perfect for Research, Education & War History Collections

A hard book to read; now I know why friends who served there don't talk about it. This book has a bit of a different perspective from that of "The Coldest Winter" by David Halberstam. I recommend you read both. This one is easier on MacArthur than Halberstam was, but it does not make him a hero either. There were some heroes in Korea. Some of them were the officers, even the general officers. More were the enlisted ranks, including the noncoms. I'm not sure if he was a noncom or just a grunt, but one Marine told me years ago about saving a number of new guys. How? He taught them how to wash and dry their socks at the Frozen Chosin so they didn't lose their feet and they could keep on fighting. He'd learned how in WWII and got called up for Korea. Lost his business, but lived to tell about the socks. That's all he told.This book describes the horrors of fighting a foe that does not care how many casualties it takes and does not fight the conventional war we fought in Europe in WWII. We should take a lesson or should have taken one. Events taking place on the Korean peninsula today should not be dismissed. Earlier events brought the world near to nuclear holocaust when supposed sane people possessed the nukes. The possessors now are not so restrained by sanity and are many more and desperate. But, back to the book. I had no idea of the use of artillery in this war. Our soldiers and marines underwent bombardments such as the world had never seen. Tens of thousands of artillery rounds were fired in single battles. If you have seen or read "Band of Brothers" you will be familiar Sergeant Lipton's reaction to one artillery bombardment, and it was a light one compared to the frequent bombardments in Korea, even occurring when peace was supposedly at hand.Reading this you will find out how poorly equipped our fighting men were. They had malfunctioning weapons, insufficient artillery, insufficient communications gear, batteries that didn't hold a charge, when they had batteries. You name it, our fighters lacked it, including ammunition. The one thing they never lacked was enemy and hostile environment, either too hot or too cold. The author did his homework and supplied us with all the facts we could use. It's easy to understand why this book is a text book at West Point. It should be required reading for every Congress person, Representative or Senator, and their staffers, and all the Department of Defense employees who have anything to do with logistics.I think I wandered here. Let me just end this by saying that this is an excellent book. It's not easy because it shows major mistakes made by the one superpower on earth that cost thousands of its best their lives. But, that's why you should read it. It should wake you up; it should wake all of us up to the reality that we have to find better ways to lead this world than by using military might. I only wish I knew what those ways are.