The Chosin Few

A Marine Corps field jacket is an interesting piece of clothing. It has a high collar much like the blouse on our dress blue uniform and a very warm liner. It can keep one toasty in relatively cold weather and is therefore indispensable. The problem is it's considered a uniform article and CAN NOT be worn with one's civilian clothes. Because of this while in the corps I bought an old olive drab field jacket which already had USMC on the left breast pocket and simply put patches with "U.S. Marines" Over one pocket and my name over the other.
The powers that be never said I couldn't use the LINER of the field jacket with non uniform articles so it all worked out. Wednesday December 12, 2008 I was in a bank and an older gent noticed my jacket and asked what my MOS was. I told him and he mentioned that he learned more than he ever wanted to know about carrying around a *mortar plate and firing a 50 calibre machine gun than he could ever use in "real life". I knew then and there he was an old school Jarhead and we exchanged handshakes and a *Semper Fi. He then told me that he was in the corps until 1952 and my jaw dropped. He was one of the men we call "The Chosin Few".
"The Chosin Few" (no that's not a misspelling) are the Marines who during the Korean war were ordered to stay put when the Chinese Army in a full on assault attacked the Army and Marines on the 38th parallel in human waves in numbers so large that the Americans LITERALLY ran out of bullets and melted machine gun barrels and did NOTHING to halt the Chinese onslaught. The Army retreated but MacArthur (who incidentally hated the Marine Corps and lobbied to have us disbanded on numerous occasions) ordered the Marines to say put. When all was said and done the Marines were stranded in the Chosin Reservoir (in present day North Korea) low on ammunition and supplies, with large numbers of wounded and surrounded on by North Korean and Chinese forces. One of the Marines in charge laughed and said of the situation "Poor bastards, they have us exactly where we want them."
In one of the FINEST moments in Marine Corps history the Marines fought their way out. Along the way they picked up wounded, supplies, vehicles, food and munitions which the army had abandoned in their hasty retreat and also were able to stop most of the casualties from bleeding to death because the low temperatures had allowed for hypothermia. The Marines made it back to U.N. forces with minimal losses.
There I was standing in front of one of the men who had MADE the Marine Corps history I had read about and was only the third such member of the "Chosin Few" that I've ever met and I can honestly say the experience was humbling. He left me with a smile and another handshake and one of the bank employees walked up to me and asked who the old get was who had impressed me. At that point I told this man of the Chosin reservoir and the expression of admiration on his face mirrored my own. I never got the old gentleman's name, but I'm proud to be part of his fraternity. From a dreadlocked s-bird of a younger jarhead I'm proud to wish you a Semper Fi sir... Where ever you are.

* Mortar is a grounded tube which fires small rockets at an arch to hit targets hundreds of yards away.

* Semper Fi is the shortened form of "Semper Fidelis" The U.S. Marine's moto which is Latin for "Always Faithful" i.e. to God, country and corps.