Leadership in the Crucible: The Korean War Battles of Twin Tunnels and Chipyong-ni

Preface

A colored print posted in the adjutant’s office of the artillery battalion where I began my military service as a lieutenant in the d Airborne Division was my first contact with the d Infantry Regiment and the battle of Chipyong-ni. It was one in a series of illustrations of famous battles that the U.S. Army distributed to raise soldiers’ awareness of their heritage. As I remember it, the scene was a busy and somewhat muddled composition, predominantly blue, depicting a snowcovered battlefield with excited soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. The print was tacked to the wall behind the adjutant’s desk, and I looked at it whenever I was summoned to his office, wondering whether all battles were as disorganized as the one it depicted. Almost twenty years later, when I was an artillery battalion commander in Korea, the print was still posted in many offices there. It was not until I began serious study of the Korean War in preparation for teaching an elective course on the Korean and Vietnam Wars at the U.S. Military Academy that I started to connect the print with the accounts of the battle. I discovered that the battle was one of the most famous of the war, and the more I studied it, the more interesting and puzzling the battle became. How did the battle come about? How did the isolated and outnumbered United Nations forces manage to prevail ? How did the battle affect the outcome of the war? Even more important to me then and now were questions pertaining to how men summon the resources to face overwhelming odds, and how leaders instill and encourage commitment in their soldiers. The profound bond between leaders and the led, a bond that will cause a man to lay down his life for his comrades and for a cause, is one of the esoteric mysteries of military history that can never be fully explained, even by participants who have experienced the phenomenon. I have sought to probe it in this work. I studied the battle in as much detail as was available during the time Preface I was assigned to the Department of History at West Point, and used the opportunity of a sabbatical leave to concentrate on it in some depth. Colonel Robert Doughty, professor and department head, encouraged the project, and a grant from the Association of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy underwrote the study. Tom Ryan, Eighth Army historian in Seoul, walked the battlefields with me and provided many insights. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Paris liaison office assisted me with archival research on the French Battalion, which was attached to the d Regiment. Steve and Denise Arata were wonderful hosts during my stay in France, and Steve provided information on the French military that was especially helpful. Cathy Robert performed yeoman duties as assistant and as translator while working at the archives of the École Militaire and the French military archives at Vincennes. Archivists at the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, and the National Archives and Records Administration in Suitland, Maryland, were especially helpful. Richard Summers and Dave Keough at Carlisle deserve special mention. A number of individuals offered to read parts or all of the manuscript, and their observations helped to make the story clearer for military novices as well as for professionals. Steve Arata, Robert Curtis, Serge Bererd, Robert Hall, Mable Hamburger, Jan Jason, Jay Jason, Claude Jaupart, Frank Meszar, Paul L. Miles Jr., Robert Morrison, Roger Nye, Michelle Powers, and Ansil Walker all provided thoughtful suggestions for revision. Dale Wilson, the freelance copy editor contracted by Texas A&M University Press, taught with me years ago at West Point and was especially helpful . My brother Steve was particularly helpful in overcoming technical problems with the maps. However, the real credit for the stories of the battles at Twin Tunnels and Chipyong-ni goes to the many veterans who shared their stories with me. Because I promised them anonymity if they desired it, I have not cited the specific letters or interviews in the text. I will deposit all of the letters and notes used in the preparation of this manuscript at the U.S. Army Military History Institute for use by other historians. While there were inevitable conflicts in the accounts of events that occurred a half-century before the retelling, most of the recollections...