The Chosin Few

Among the many historic battles in Marine Corps history, few have stirred the imagination of the Marines themselves more than The Chosin Reservoir Campaign in the early stages of the Korean War. The First Marine Division, the spearhead of the United Nations X Corps, aided by elements of the U.S. Army's Seventh Division was surrounded in the mountainous regions of North Korea around the Chosin Reservoir area by 10 Chinese Communist divisions. The entrapment was the result of the collapse of the United Nations 8th Army in the western part of Communist country, thereby exposing the Marines left flank. The Marines fought against overwhelming odds—somewhere between 5 or 10 CCF soldiers for every Marine—in snow, wind and temperatures that did not rise above zero for two straight weeks, AND WON. They completely annihilated at least three Chinese Communist divisions and crippled two others so badly they had to be broken up and their remaining personnel parceled out to other units.

The Marines brought all their dead, wounded and equipment with them when they broke out of the trap and marched the 78 miles back to the sea The First Marine Division had been written off but they lived to fight another day and were instrumental in winning many of the later battles in the Korean War.

The four novels in The Chosin Few series explore the men and women caught up in this mighty event and the impact it had on them. Within the stories the reader will find mystery, romance, heartwarming friendships and moral challenges. Heroism, courage, duty and honor are d' rigor. There is also cruelty, dishonor, character failure and weakness. The reader will want to stand up and cheer in some places and sit down and cry in others. These are human stories, but the reader will come away with a sense of wonderment and pride in the accomplishments of these outstanding young Americans.

The Keep Our Honor Clean tells us the story of four brothers and their spunky mother, aided by a former French Foreign Legionnaire and a Zulu Prince as they fight their battles against a domineering stepfather and for the young men, against a brutal enemy in Korea . The task is long and difficult but courage, persistence and honor wins out in the end. Although they win the battles, they don't all come home.

The Mad Dogs relates the tale of an eclectic Marine Rifle squad—former cowboys, Indians, dockworkers, New York City gang members, northern blacks, southern whites and more--that assembles for the first time just before shipping out for “The Land of the Morning Calm.” They then perform so extraordinarily well, in the mountains of North Korea that they go into Marine Corps history as “The Mad Dogs”, perhaps the finest rifle squad of all time.

      “Sir, the enemy didn't fight fair. We want another chance when the odds are no more than like 10 to 1, not 20 to 1.”

The First to Fight is the chronicle of a legendary Marine Colonel in his last command. The story takes us with him from the littered streets of Shanghai just before world war two, then to Guadalcanal , Peleliu and other Pacific war battles. It climaxes in a heroic battle in the frozen wastes of North Korea . The Colonel has a premonition that Chosin will be his last battle, but he is not sure if it will be because of his pension for “stepping on toes” or something more sinister.

He is aided in his quest by “Buffalo Joe” Hunter, a mountain of a man from Montana , Eddie Herrera, a Chicano Orphan from Texas , a reformed prostitute and a squad of fun loving Marines, who call themselves “The Animals” because they are all hairy, dark skinned or both.

From Dawn to Setting Sun, (Under development) brings together the surviving Marines from the first three novels as they make their final push in the breakout from the Chosin Reservoir trap. Exhausted, hurt and cold they face continuing attacks by an enemy with overwhelming numbers. Some also face, moral dilemmas, and an uncertain future, but, again, with heart warming sacrifice, the love of one warrior for another, and incredible fighting skill they carry the day.