Life and Death, Frozen in Time

When my father was a part of the retreat from the Chosin reservoir he thought a lot about life and death. The year was 1950. It was between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the North Korean army backed by Communist China had encircled the US forces, triggering an epic battle and ultimately, a US defeat. The US was withdrawing along a single lane dirt and gravel road that was carved into the sides of steep mountain ranges running from the Yalu river in the north to the sea of Japan in the south. Their retreat had to take place at night so as to avoid being easily spotted by Chinese soldiers aiming rifles and artillery down on them from the ridge lines. Temperatures were in the minus ten-to-twenty-below range and as many soldiers succumbed to frostbite and exposure as from guns. The US commanding officer, when asked about this defeat, scoffed at journalists and insisted his troops were simply “advancing to the rear.” <a href="https://medium.com/the-narrative-arc/life-and-death-frozen-in-time-3bbcf5da1ad7">Website</a>