"On October 15, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of U.N. troops in Korea, convinced President Truman that the Korean Communist forces would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving and that the Chinese would not intervene in the war. Unbeknownst to him, 300,000 Red Chinese were crossing the border into Korea, as he ordered some 20,000 men of the First Marine Division to lead American troops deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea and straight into a trap along the frozen shores of the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic--and harrowing--operations in American military history, and one of the classic battles of all time. Faced with probable annihilation and temperatures plunging to twenty degrees below zero, the surrounded and hugely outnumbered Marines and other U.N. troops fought through the enemy forces with ferocity, ingenuity, and nearly unimaginable courage as they marched their way to the sea"--Back cover.

"With a new afterword"--Page 4 of cover.

Prologue. Morning calm -- Seoul. The professor ; Traitor's house ; Across the Han ; Beneath the lighthouse ; The battle of the barricades ; The savior of our race ; God's right-hand man ; The tiger wants human beings -- To the mountains. Many, many ; King's envoy to Hamhung ; Heroic remedies ; Will o' the wisp ; Broken arrows ; A powerful instrument ; Fattened for the kill ; Never too late to talk ; Never a more daring flight -- The reservoir. Easy for us, tough for others ; Boon companions ; Easy Company holds here ; Where the bullet belongs ; Gung-ho, you cowardly bastards ; When the lead is flying ; A hot reception ; The war council ; An entirely new war -- Red snow. You will all be slaughtered ; Kissing a buzz saw ; Morphine dreams ; No soft options ; One-man army ; Every weapon that we have ; The ridgerunners ; This place of suffering -- To the sea. Attacking in a different direction ; In the day of trouble ; I'll get you a goddamn bridge ; Blood on the ice ; Taking departure ; The Bridge of Long Life ; Down to earth ; The most harrowing hour ; The crossing ; We will see you again in the south ; We walk in the hand of God -- Epilogue. In the pantheon.