Marine Tankers in the Forgotten War
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Oscar E. Gilbert. Marine Corps Tank Battles in Korea. Havertown: Casement, 2003. xxii + 308 pp. $34.95, cloth, ISBN 978-1-932033-13-7. Reviewed by Thomas W. Crecca (U.S. Marine Corps, Field Historian, Marine Corps Historical Center, Washington, DC) Published on H-War (November, 2004) Marine Tankers in the Forgotten War In the Korean War, the combined arms team Oscar "Ed" Gilbert served in the Marine Corps of the Marine Corps showed its devastating capab‐ Reserve as an artilleryman and instructor of Non- ility, from the battles at Pusan, Inchon, and Seoul Commissioned Officers and has devoted consider‐ to the arctic conditions of the Chosin Reservoir able time in researching and writing about the and the war of attrition marking the period from combat experience of Marine tank crews and April 1951 to the Armistice in July 1953. One very units in World War II and Korea. In addition to important element of the combined arms team this book on Marine tank battles in Korea, he is was Marine armor, which is the subject of Oscar E. the author of Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific Gilbert's Marine Corps Tank Battles in Korea. (2001) and is currently working on a history of tank battalions in Vietnam. In addition to his milit‐ ary experience, Gilbert earned a doctorate and is an experienced geologist and geophysicist, special‐ izing in oil and gas exploration and production. Gilbert's inspiration for writing this book was based on the popular perception of the Korean War as "The Forgotten War." Not only was the war never won in the World War II sense of total vic‐ tory, but it was overshadowed by the attention giv‐ en to the frustrating experience of Vietnam. He ex‐ plains that "no one has been so forgotten as the tank and armored vehicle crewmen who served in Korea" and describes the book as "a small effort to H-Net Reviews clarify some of the lesser-known aspects of the campaigns of the first six months (Pusan, Inchon, war, [depicting] what the war was like for some of Seoul, and Chosin in great detail), but also the doubly forgotten warriors" (p. x). The outcome provides a solid explanation of the war of attrition of Gilbert's endeavor is an interesting and inform‐ from the spring of 1951 to the Armistice in July ative book providing an excellent addition to the 1953. Gilbert opens with the major transformation scholarship on the Marine Corps experience in the of the U.S. Armed Forces from a powerful position Korean War. in 1945 to a hollow peacetime force in 1950, ex‐ Gilbert's use of primary sources focuses on plaining how the United States was caught "off the interviews of Marines from the 1st Tank Bat‐ guard" that summer when North Korea launched talion and the 1st Tank Battalion Historical Diary its attack on the South. Because the 1st Marine Di‐ written during the war. The interviews were con‐ vision had a serious shortage in manpower, the ducted from 2000 to 2002 and include many inter‐ reserves served a key role in providing a strong esting individual stories illustrating the experi‐ pool of combat veterans for the 1st Tank Battalion ence of Marine tank crews from the defense of the (pp. 5-7, 13-14, 197). Many of the reservists had Pusan Perimeter to the end of the conflict in July combat experience from World War II either in 1953. One potential weakness is that the informa‐ tank or other frontline units. The author also em‐ tion collected from the interviews is quite re‐ phasizes the importance of each Marine's basic moved from the actual events. All of these inter‐ combat skills, regardless of the formal specialty/ views were taken fifty years after the fact, raising training received. Every Marine's training as a questions about the clarity of each Marine's recol‐ rifleman is clearly demonstrated through the sav‐ lections. In addition to his primary sources, Gil‐ age fighting during the withdrawal from the Chos‐ bert also relies heavily on secondary works to tie in Reservoir. together the individual experience of the Marine Gilbert does an outstanding job comparing the tankers with the flow of events that occurred capabilities of Marine and North Korean tanks. He throughout the war. He uses the five-volume offi‐ describes the importance of the American M26 cial history of U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, Pershing tank and its capabilities on the battlefield 1950-1953 as the basis for the chronological frame‐ in the early part of the war. Compared to the work of events and campaigns of the war. Gilbert M4A3, which was the mainstay of the Marine ar‐ incorporates the data he compiled from his inter‐ mor forces in World War II, the M26 was much views to highlight the experiences of the Marine better equipped to fight enemy armor. The Mar‐ tank crews in each of these campaigns. ines showed outstanding adaptability in using the Gilbert's focus is on the experiences of junior Pershing as it came into the Marine Corps invent‐ officers and enlisted men at the platoon and com‐ ory on the eve of the Korean War. Most Marine pany level and how this illustrates the day-to-day tankers were not familiar with this new weapon life of a Marine in combat. Gilbert does discuss, until a month before they found themselves fight‐ however, the experience of Lieutenant Colonel ing in the Pusan Perimeter. The M26 Pershing was Henry Milne, the Battalion Commander of the 1st built to defeat the type of armor American units Tank Battalion, during the Inchon-Seoul and Chos‐ had faced in the European theater during World in campaigns as well as the Offensive/Counterof‐ War II. Specifically, it was designed to counter the fensives of 1951-1952. lethal German Tiger and Panther tanks (p. 5). The Pershing had thicker armor, improved mobility, The author does a good job in covering the en‐ and a 90mm cannon compared to the lightly ar‐ tire Korean War experience by illustrating the war mored M4A3 with its 75mm main gun. In compar‐ in a balanced way. He not only covers the major ison, the North Korean People's Army (NKPA) was 2 H-Net Reviews equipped with the venerable T-34/85 Soviet tank, over the side.... It took a hell of a lot of courage for which distinguished itself in the armor battles the driver to stay in the tank and drive it" (p.157). against Germany on the European eastern front in Fighting in the November 1950 Chosin cam‐ World War II. The T-34/85 tank was a fast and paign differed from the battles with NKPA mech‐ agile tank with sloped armor that often deflected anized forces in previous encounters. In this cam‐ enemy rounds without suffering major damage. paign, Marine tank units faced an overwhelming This tank also had a powerful 85mm cannon. number of Chinese infantry that attacked in mass, The author does an excellent job portraying often at night. As X Corps was surrounded and the different types of combat experienced by the outnumbered by Chinese troops, Marine tank 1st Tank Battalion during the Korean War. From crews fought off swarms of infantry attacks and the fighting at the Pusan Perimeter to the landing ambushes. Gilbert explains how the Marines at Inchon and the urban battle for Seoul, Gilbert il‐ worked tirelessly to preserve and maintain their lustrates the encounters between the Marine tank equipment while enduring heavy fighting on a units and the NKPA's mechanized forces. The Mar‐ constant basis. While X Corps Commanding Gener‐ ine infantry-tank teams gave the 1st Marine Provi‐ al, Major General Ned Almond urged Major Gener‐ sional Brigade the combat power necessary to stop al Oliver P. Smith (the Commanding General of the the North Korean spearhead toward Pusan. Even 1st Marine Division) to destroy all of his equip‐ though the Marines had little time to become fa‐ ment, Smith refused, arguing that his primary re‐ miliar with the M26 Pershing tank, the crews sponsibility was to bring out his dead and quickly adapted and inflicted heavy casualties on wounded, and to preserve his division as a fight‐ the NKPA infantry and armored units. ing force (p. 137). The author poignantly summar‐ Gilbert illustrates the changing nature of com‐ izes the daunting feat achieved by the 1st Marine bat for the tankers as the 1st Marine Division Division by saying, "the difficulties of coordinating moved with X Corps to the eastern part of Korea the movement of some 20,000 men and thousands and drove northward from the port of Wonson to‐ of vehicles down a single lane road in the Siberi‐ ward the Yalu River. The author vividly illumin‐ an-cold winter can not be overestimated" (p. 150). ates the immense challenges faced by Marine After the Chosin campaign, the 1st Marine Di‐ crews maneuvering single file along a narrow vision along with the rest of the UN forces road in mountainous terrain. The difficulty of transitioned to a defensive posture reminiscent of movement in channelized terrain was compoun‐ the attrition style warfare of World War I. While ded by the arctic weather conditions facing X the Marines still faced large numbers of Chinese Corps. Gilbert describes the eerie feeling of driv‐ infantry, Gilbert mentions only one occasion ing a tank in horrible weather along a winding where the Chinese employed tanks in the battle road through the mountains with steep drop-offs around the Bunker Hill outpost (p. 222). Although to one side (p.