The Battle of Chosin Reservoir was one of the most brutal battles of the Korean War. In November and December of 1950, the massively outnumbered United Nations forces fought both frigid weather and the attacking People’s Volunteer Army. Chinese troops outnumbered the Allied forces — for every one U.N. soldier or Marine, there were four attacking them from China. In this article, Capt. Dale A. Dye, U.S.M.C. (ret.) tells the tale of one Marine on the front line of this pivotal engagement.
While he later became one of my closest friends, my first encounter with Barry Jones got off to a rocky start. He was introduced as a retired L.A. Sheriff’s Department homicide detective. Fine … but I was focused on the eagle, globe and anchor lapel pin he was wearing. The ritual began as it generally does among two Marines meeting for the first time.
“Marine Corps, huh?”
“Yeah…”
“Me too. Where’d you go to boot camp?”
“Korea…”
Red flags rose and I arched an eyebrow. “No. I mean where did you go through basic training? Parris Island or San Diego?”
“I never went to boot camp. I just went to Korea.”
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