The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea

James Brady's vignette, haunting, poignant, reflective, should take its place along side of William Manchester and John Keegan. The story he tells is not how it should have been, it's not even how he would have liked it to have been. It's like it was. Brady is like any other 19 year old, brash, filled with adventure, drunk on promise and the illusion of immortality. Then he signs up with the Marine Reserves if not avoid, then to postpone his own appointment with destiny. Unfortunately, destiny has a mind of its own, and a few years later he finds himself the Platoon Commander of a Marine Rifle platoon on Hill 749, in the winter of 1951, in Korea.Brady doesn't judge. I like that most about his reflections on a horrible war in a freezing place. If you want to hang Truman, MacArthur, Eisenhower, and John Foster Dulles, this is probably the wrong book for you. It is brilliant but it tells only the story of one man-boy's experience placed in charge of 40 men in combat.To some extent we look down on those boys. We judge them, forgetting that like us, they too were caught in the flotsam of other people's decisions. Although with most of us, the whole world doesn't subsequently judge us. War's change, the technology of killing becomes more sophisticated, sides change, enemies become friends, and bad guys become good guys. Frequenly we forget that it's the young men who take the fire. The greatest homily to Brady and the only self serving remark he makes would be truly understood by a few. When he leaves the fields where 54,000 died, he says, "I hadn't lost any men . . "Brady reminds us that young men are faced with terrible decisions when politicians, frequently never in harm's way, put them into unexplained and perhaps unnecessary combat. We should not judge those boys. And we should not judge them after they become men. 5 stars. A sobering read.To Jim Brady, if no one told you, welcome home.

Good grief Brady. Suck in your gut! Trim down to that lean and mean trenchwise Marine of 1952. And by all means, keep writing books if they are as engaging a human interest story as this one. A chronology of life as a platoon leader in the static, bunker warfare of Korea's second year, I found Brady's book a refreshing contrast to many first person accounts, Korean War accounts in particular. No exhilirating offensives here; no retreats, no advancing in a different direction. Only night patrol warfare with its attendant, alternate boredom, tragedy, hollow victories. Marines lost to mines, to frostbite, to friendly fire, to random shell or mortar fire. Starlight was enough for Brady to patrol by--moonlight cast too many shadows. John Chafee-- later Governor and Senator from Rhode Island-- urged the young author to know his troops 'as Marines, as professionals; but not as men.' A frozen turd once cued Brady that an injured Chinese was too far ahead to make further pursuit worthwhile. Brady the Marine agonizes if Chinese fleeing a napalmed village were women or men-- but Brady the journalist uses an economy of word thats conveys the intensity of combat; the need to reach a quick decision, stick-- and live-- with it There is reflection and commentary here, too. Brady compares tactical approach of Army vs. Marine rifle companies. The latter were better organized and equipped. "NO way a man in combat can give orders to more than 3 men." In battalion reserve Brady's Marines tangles with civilians, even were accused of rape. He lamented the loss 'of pride, of discipline, of professionalism' that came from being away from the War. On a hospital ship in In'chon harbor for a routine examination, he decries the poor treatment from Sailors. Perhaps Dean Acheson can claim to have been 'Present at the Creation' of the post WWII cold war order. Brady was more than present--he was a part. And he trumps the cocky Secretary of State: Brady was there at its final destruction--the Berlin Wall-- as well. Admittedly as a paunchy journalist, but hey, the guy paid his dues. He has just raised one too many for the New World Order.

I coudn't stop once I picked it up. The characters really come alive in this vivid description of the war. It makes you feel like you're there dodging the bullets, creeping though the snow, and hiding in the bunkers right there with Brady and Dog Company.

The book is about one of the most miserable places in the world to wage a war. Korea in 1950 was unheard of by many Americans, but the U. S. Marines were sent there to help defend South Korea from the expected Chinese invasion. Those Marines will never consider the encounter a "Forgotten War." The terrain and weather made it far more treacherous than any of the island fighting in the south Pacific during World War II, and some Marines who fought in both places claimed Korea was a nightmarish land dreamed up by the Devil to pit humans against each other. James Brady, a 23 year old second lieutenant when he landed in Korea as a platoon leader, aged quickly during his tour in combat Being new to the Corps, he found some enlisted career-men were more knowlegeable than contemporary officers. He gives them all their due, but considers Captain John H. Chafee the real hero of the book. The personal hardships of Marines of all ranks on line, is interspersed with humor and horror, but the most memorable part of the book belongs to the adaption of a green newcomer into a seasoned combat veteran. Brady has a talent for sniffing out the phonies and laying his bets with the soldiers of silent professionalism. "The Coldest War" tells it like only this distringuished writer could. Each page gets the reader into the feel of the unforgiving environment. The cold, the steep hills, the constant time in the front lines takes the reader into the uncomfortable setting of blood letting, death, and the terrible stench of the country. It's a book you won't soon forget.

Mr Brady presents an excellent narrative of the miseries faced by combat marines in the latter stages of the unheralded Korean Conflict. I recommend this to all persons interested in military history of any type