Marine Commandant Lauds 'Chosin Few' By Staff Sgt. Kathleen T. Rhem, USA American Forces Press Service
Brooke Rowe
USA American Forces Press Service
(EXCERPT) SAN DIEGO, Dec. 7, 2000 -- When Commandant of the Marine
Corps Gen. Jim Jones was introduced to the aging Chosin Reservoir
veterans, many in the group quickly rose to give him a standing
ovation. One could not help but notice those who stayed seated, not
out of disrespect, but because they were confined to wheelchairs or
reliant on crutches.
Whether their wounds were inflicted during that long-ago frozen
campaign or they were caused by the ravages of age in the 50 years
since we can not know, but few can doubt these men paid a heavy price
to uphold America's values on the Korean Peninsula.
One also cannot doubt that these men are the few, the proud, the
living legacy of today's Marines. When Jones stood before the group
and said, "Good Morning Chosin Few. Can I have a big hoorah from the
Marines here?" Their response was so explosive the walls shook. "Once
a Marine, always a Marine," several in the crowd said.
On Nov. 27, 1950, the Korean War looked over but for the victory
parade. Allied forces had chased the North Korean army for two months
from the southern tip of South Korea and sat poised at the Yalu River,
the North's border with China. On that Thanksgiving Day, 200,000
Chinese troops took the Allies by surprise, routed the 8th U.S. Army
and surrounded 10,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Division at the Chosin
Reservoir.
Those Marines were led by the storied Brig. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty"
Puller. Their fighting withdrawal to safety from Nov. 27 to Dec. 9 is
considered by many to be one of the more harrowing campaigns in U.S.
military history. They fought their way out on a mountainous road in
sub-arctic conditions, losing 718 of their number, but killing more
than 25,000 enemy troops, according to some sources.
Those veteran Marines have called themselves the "Chosin Few" ever
since and formed an association by that name. The group met in San
Diego the week of Dec. 5 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that
icy "trip through hell," as many of them described it.
"The purpose of this gathering is to restore bonds of brotherhood that
we created in November and December of 1950," said retired Lt. Gen.
Stephan Olmstead, association president. "In that battle, or battles,
we forged a relationship that should not ever be broken -- that can
not ever be broken."
Jones thanked the group for the legacy they leave service members
today. "I stand before you as the inheritor of the legacy and the
representative of... today's Marine Corps to come and say thank you,"
he said.
He told the veterans that service members through the ages will always
remember what they had done.
"Only you who lived through that time can fully appreciate what it
meant. Only you can feel and vividly recall that sacrifice. You truly
have a bond that characterizes such heroism, devotion and courage,"
Jones said. "Those of us who were not there nonetheless have a sacred
obligation to make sure that we seek to understand and we remember and
we honor you."
The commandant admitted that the veterans are aging and it's becoming
harder for them to meet as a group. "Eventually, we'll be an
organization that says, 'Remember the Chosin Few,'" he said in an
American Forces Press Service interview. "But until then, we have to
give them the utmost respect, love, loyalty and honor."
Jones said a startling testament to the Korean War veterans'
accomplishment can be seen in a satellite photograph taken over the
Korean Peninsula.
"If you look to the South you see... thousands of points of light
(symbolizing) opportunity, freedom, dedication, hope. If you look to
the North, you see darkness," he told his predecessors. "All of you
deserve to have a framed copy of that picture to give to your children
and your grandchildren, because you did that. You contributed to
that."
Jones also explained to the group their importance to their young
successors. "The standard that we measure today's Marines against is
you," Jones said. "Above all, the one thing that today's Marine does
not want to do is disappoint you."
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Alford L. McMichael, the senior
enlisted Marine, agreed with his boss. "Our pride in what they did is
special to us," he said in an interview. "That's what drives us to
want to be like them."
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Brooke Rowe
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
www.americanwarlibrary.com