The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

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 in the Nangnim Mountains. It will need to be held open at all costs. The mission is handed to Captain William Barber and the 246 Marines of Fox Company, a courageous but undermanned unit of the First Marines. Barber and his men are ordered to climb seven miles of frozen terrain to a rocky promontory overlooking the pass.

The Marines have no way of knowing that the ground they occupy-it is soon dubbed "Fox Hill"-is surrounded by 10,000 Chinese soldiers. As the sun sets on the hill, and the temperature plunges to thirty degrees below zero, Barber's men dig in for the night. At two in the morning they are awakened by the sound-bugles, whistles, cymbals, and drumbeats-of a massive assault by thousands of enemy infantry. The attack is just the first wave of four days and five nights of nearly continuous Chinese attempts to take Fox Hill, during which Barber's beleaguered company clings to the high ground and allows the First Marine Division to battle south. Amid the relentless violence, three-quarters of Fox Company's Marines are killed, wounded, or captured.

Just when it looks like the outfit will be overrun, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Davis, a fearless Marine officer who is fighting south from Chosin, volunteers to lead a force of 500 men on a daring mission that cuts a hole in the Chinese lines and relieves the men of Fox Company. The Last Stand of Fox Company is a fast-paced and gripping account of heroism and self-sacrifice in the face of impossible odds. The authors have conducted dozens of firsthand interviews with the battle's survivors, and they narrate the story with the immediacy of such classic accounts of single battles as Guadalcanal Diary, Pork Chop Hill, and Black Hawk Down.

ISBN-13 : 9780871139931
Publisher : Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date : 06/01/2009
Author : Bob Drury,Tom Clavin

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

The authors of the bestselling Halsey's Typhoon do a fine job recounting one brutal, small-unit action during the Korean War's darkest moment. In November 1950, as General MacArthur's troops were advancing deep into North Korea, China warned that it would intervene if armies approached its border. U.S. troops were scattered through mountainous terrain at the onset of a freezing winter. Using extensive interviews with survivors, the authors tell the story of one 234-man company ordered to secure a rocky promontory overlooking the legendary Chosin Reservoir. Abundant and detailed maps enable readers to track the vicious week-long battle almost minute by minute as the men fought off repeated assaults by overwhelming Chinese forces until another marine unit arrived to rescue the few survivors. The authors draw no great lessons from Fox Company's ordeal, but deliver a precise, technically accurate account of the fighting. Although aimed at military buffs, the closeup views of individual marines tested to their limits will engage any reader curious to learn how brave men fought a conventional 20th-century war. 100,000 announced first printing; 12-city author tour.(Jan.)

Library Journal

Drury and Clavin (coauthors, Halsey's Typhoon) provide a gripping, firsthand account of one U.S. Marine company's dramatic, bloody combat during the Korean War, taking listeners on a journey through the harrowing, life-and-death struggle that defined the battle. Michael Prichard's (How Doctors Think) solid narration respectfully conveys these soldiers' heroism in the face of impossible odds and heightens listener interest throughout this impressive work, which successfully communicates the realities of war. Similar in approach to Linda Granfield and Russell Freedman's I Remember Korea and sure to appeal to students of history, specifically those interested in the Korean War. [Audio clip available through www.tantor.com; the Atlantic Monthly hc was described as "a strong narrative of military valor against overwhelming odds," LJ 10/15/08.—Ed.]—Dale Farris, Groves, TX

Kirkus Reviews

Engaging account of an important, sometimes overlooked battle of the Korean War. Drury and Clavin (Halsey's Typhoon, 2007, etc.) have mined archival material and conducted extensive interviews with veterans who participated in the Battle of Fox Hill, during which a Marine rifle company held Chinese troops at bay for five days. Facing enemies who were better equipped in temperatures reaching 30 degrees below zero, the Marines fought south through the Toktong Pass in North Korea's Nangnim Mountains. The company's leader, Capt. William E. Barber, was shot and severely wounded in the leg; refusing to be evacuated, he commanded his troops from a stretcher and was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery.

The authors are thorough, but they don't overwhelm readers with minutia in this riveting narrative, which combines drama, military strategy and human interest. They provide a palpable sense of place by including interesting background material, such as accounts by missionaries who explored the terrain in the 1600s. The book's best sections, however, paint vivid verbal pictures of the fighting: "A concussion grenade exploded in the slit trench and kicked [Pfc. Harrison] Pomers into the wall. Another bounced off his helmet and exploded just outside the trench, nearly knocking him out. He could move nothing but his left arm. He wiped his head, saw the blood on his left hand and, frantically reached for his helmet." This approach offers a fine example of historiography examining war at the micro level. Those looking for a big-picture treatment of the war should consult David Halberstam's masterful and elegantly written The Coldest Winter (2007). Drury and Clavin's prose, bycontrast, is rather pedestrian, but those who persevere will find the effort worthwhile. Substance trumps style in a book that will appeal to military history buffs and veterans. First printing of 100,000. Agent: Nat Sobel/Sobel Weber Associates

From the Publisher

"Bob Drury and Tom Clavin have set the standard for wartime accounts on the Korean conflict.... This is a story that is almost too incredible to be true." —-Dr. Charles P. Neimeyer, director of the U.S. Marine Corps History Division

Meet the Author

A contributing editor and foreign correspondent for Men's Health magazine, Bob Drury has reported from Iraq, Darfur, Afghanistan, Liberia, Belfast, Haiti, and Sarajevo. He has written for all four New York City newspapers as well as a variety of national publications. A Pulitzer Prize nominee and the recipient of several national journalism awards, Drury is the author, coauthor, or editor of seven nonfiction books whose subjects range from the Cosa Nostra to the National Football League. One of his books, the adventure saga The Rescue Season, was made into a documentary by the History Channel.

Tom Clavin was a contributing writer for the New York Times for fifteen years, covering topics ranging from entertainment to sports to the environment. He is the author of seven books, including Dark Noon: The Final Voyage of the Fishing Boat Pelican; Sir Walter: Walter Hagen and the Invention of Professional Golf; The Ryder Cup: Golf's Greatest Event; and Raising the Rainbow Generation. He has written regularly for numerous national magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Golf Magazine, Men's Journal, Parade, Reader's Digest, and Woman's Day. Michael Prichard has played several thousand characters during his career. While he has been seen performing over one hundred of them in theater and film, Michael is primarily heard, having recorded well over five hundred full-length books.

During his career as a one-man repertory company, he has recorded many series with running characters-including the complete Travis McGee adventures by John D. MacDonald and the complete Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout-as well as series by such masters as Mark Twain, John Cheever, and John Updike. His numerous awards and accolades include an Audie Award for Tears in the Darkness by Michael Norman and Elizabeth M. Norman and several AudioFile Earphones Awards, including for At All Costs by Sam Moses and In Nixon's Web by L. Patrick Gray III. Named a Top Ten Golden Voice by SmartMoney magazine, he holds an M.F.A. in theater from the University of Southern California. Michael appears regularly on the professional stage, including as a member of Ray Bradbury's Pandemonium Theatre Company, performing such great roles as Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451, which became the second-longest-running production in the Los Angeles area. Bradbury himself dubbed Michael "the finest Beatty in history."