Despite the initial shock, the Marines soon left the comforts of their sleeping bags, grabbed their weapons, and braved the incoming enemies in a waist-deep snow-covered battlezone. Not only did the ground freeze, making digging new foxholes impossible, but the 12,000 Marines and a few thousand Army soldiers were surrounded and outnumbered by as many as ten-to-one.
“We’ve been looking for the enemy for several days now, we’ve finally found them. We’re surrounded.” —Colonel Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, a decorated Korean War hero.
As the Marines struggled to defend the front, American forces in nearby positions began fighting the Chinese assault tooth and nail. Charlie and Fox Companies of the Seventh Marines, on the other hand, were barely managing the downpour of enemies in their narrow lines near Toktong Pass. The situation for the American forces quickly deteriorated from ease to desperation.
28 November 1950
Exhausted, freezing, and running low on ammo, the first 24 hours of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir had turned the favor away from the UNC forces. After intense battles, it dawned on MacArthur that a withdrawal was necessary lest he risk the lives of the clearly outnumbered Marines. Nonetheless, the situation for the assaulting Chinese Army wasn’t favorable either, as body after body of freezing men dropped faster than those fatally shot.
Because foxholes were impossible to dig at this point, some Marines used the frozen dead as cover from the communist troops’ seemingly never-ending bullets. By the end of the 28th, a stalemate has ensued between the American and Chinese forces surrounding the Yudami-ni perimeter front. Meanwhile, the Charlie Company managed to retreat back and rejoin the others at the front, leaving the Fox Company under the leadership of Captain William E. Barber to fend off for themselves in the isolated part up on a critical hill overlooking the narrow Toktong Pass.
For the next five days, the Company will solo defend this vital road allowing a safe withdrawal of the rest of the First Marine Division away from the sub-zero region of Chosin Reservoir.
“Retreat Hell! We’re just attacking in another direction.” —Major General Oliver P. Smith, CG of the 1st Marine Division, ordered the Marines to move southeast to the Hamhung area as the CCF continued to surround the Hagaru-ri perimeter.
The Regimental Combat Team 31 (RCT-31), led by Colonel Allan D. MacLean (“Task Force MacLean”), faced off against the Chinese soldiers at the east side of the reservoir, and like the rest of the First Marine Division, they were outrageously outnumbered. As the fighting continues, MacLean recognizes the growing desperation of the situation and orders a withdrawal southward. This task proved difficult to complete, with the majority of the Task Force either severely wounded or killed and MacLean himself captured by the Chinese Army.
Under the new leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Don Faith (now known as “Task Force Faith”), following the disappearance of MacLean, the remaining soldiers of the combat team managed to regroup and attempted to break out toward the Marines at Hagaru-ri, all while under incessant machine gun fire. Left with no choice, Faith steered his men to counter the assault of the surrounding Chinese forces. These efforts, amid the struggle, came out as a success, but not without casualties—including the commander himself, who obtained fatal wounds caused by enemy grenades.
In the end, out of the 2,500 men of the RCT-31, nearly half were either killed, wounded, or captured. But these sacrifices weren’t in vain, as they were able to avert much more disastrous losses and preserved the lives of over 15,000 Marines on the western side.
The Chosin Few
The intrepidity of Fox Company, led by Captain Ray Davis, and their efforts to secure the crucial Toktong Pass paved a safe path for the remaining Marines to continue marching south, escaping both the biting cold and the colossal troops of the Chinese Army.
As their tanks could barely cope with the freezing cold, American fighter jets were easing the struggles below, providing airstrikes, close air support, and airdrops amid the blinding blizzard.
Throughout the first two cold nights of December, rescue missions were launched, and dozens of jeeps were deployed across the ice to pick up survivors who mostly suffered from wounds, frostbite, and shock. Of the 1,000 men who were able to reach the Marine lines, only 385 could be considered able-bodied.
Recovery continued until the 11th, when the last remaining UN forces safely left Funchilin Pass, and by the 13th, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir had come to a bitter end.
According to official records, the coalition force of the US and ROK reported more than 10,400 casualties during the battle of the “Frozen Chosin,” with about 7,388 Marines dying due to the extreme cold. It later bestowed the Medal of Honor on 13 US servicemen, including ten Marines, two Army soldiers, and one Navy officer, as well as dozens of other military medals on dozens of brave men who went above and beyond the call of duty. Those who survived became known as the “Chosin Few.”
On the side of the Chinese Army, the estimated number of casualties reported varies, but many historians believe there were about 19,202 combat casualties plus a whopping 28,954 non-combat losses, which were usually caused by the brutal Siberian winter that wrapped the Chosin Reservoir. The loss was so extreme that it “reduced China’s People’s Volunteer Army by one-third and remained out of action for another three months.”
Check out Marine veteran Eddie Rios below as he recounts his experience as one of “The Chosin Few.”
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