The Last Stand of Fox Company

A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat

By: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

November 1950, the Korean Peninsula. After General MacArthur ignores Mao's warnings and pushes his UN forces deep into North Korea, his 10,000 First Division Marines find themselves surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by 100,000 Chinese soldiers near the Chosin Reservoir. Their only chance for survival is to fight their way south through the Toktong Pass, a narrow gorge in the Nangnim Mountains. It will need to be held open at all costs. The mission is handed to Captain William Barber and the 246 Marines of Fox Company, a courageous but undermanned unit of the First Marines. Barber and his men are ordered to climb seven miles of frozen terrain to a rocky promontory overlooking the pass. The Marines have no way of knowing that the ground they occupy - it is soon dubbed "Fox Hill" - is surrounded by 10,000 Chinese soldiers.

As the sun sets on the hill, and the temperature plunges to 30 degrees below zero, Barber's men dig in for the night. At two in the morning they are awakened by the sound - bugles, whistles, cymbals, and drumbeats - of a massive assault by thousands of enemy infantry. The attack is just the first wave of four days and five nights of nearly continuous Chinese attempts to take Fox Hill, during which Barber's beleaguered company clings to the high ground and allows the First Marine Division to battle south. Amid the relentless violence, three-quarters of Fox Company's Marines are killed, wounded, or captured. Just when it looks like the outfit will be overrun, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Davis, a fearless Marine officer who is fighting south from Chosin, volunteers to lead a force of 500 men on a daring mission that cuts a hole in the Chinese lines and relieves the men of Fox Company.

The Last Stand of Fox Company is a fast-paced and gripping account of heroism and self-sacrifice in the face of impossible odds. The authors have conducted dozens of firsthand interviews with the battle's survivors, and they narrate the story with the imm...

©2008 Bob Drury and TO, Clavin (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Bob Drury and Tom Clavin have set the standard for wartime accounts on the Korean conflict.... This is a story that is almost too incredible to be true." (Dr. Charles P. Neimeyer, director of the U.S. Marine Corps History Division)
"A paean worthy of one of the most extraordinary battles in Marine Corps history.... A magnificent book." (Nathaniel Fick, New York Times bestselling author of One Bullet Away)

Moving!

To hear the things these men went through makes me proud to have been in the Marines. I feel the camaraderie with these Marines even though I wasn’t there, and the end had me tearing up. Great book!

One of the Best!

I read a lot of military history books, and this is as good as any I have read. In fact, I can only think of maybe 2 or 3 that were as good. I couldn't wait to hear the next installment each day in my vanpool, and it ended too soon.

Very well researched and easy to follow, the authors are to be commended for a fine job telling about a little known battle that decided the lives of so many. I am even prouder to be a Marine now that I've read about these brave Marines who went before me.

DH

Excellent book about an important but often overlooked war. Brave men who answered the call.

Fantastic book about the brave men of the Chosin

It was a great book, detailing the miserable life the Marines dealt with while combating communism and overcoming odds, while making the enemy believe they chose the wrong fight.

Excellent

Must read book. I read as part of my Memorial day tip of the cap to our troops

Great listen

Absolutely a must listen for all interested in the history of our great country and the conflicts that keep us free

Great story of Greater Men

I loved this book! The reader was pleasant to listen to and the story was gripping. If this story was fiction, it would probably be considered "unrealistic." Less than 300 men against the Chinese 59th division. The stories about these great men went through is amazing. How these men survived in -10 to -50 degree weather, let alone fight is amazing. And as I live in South Dakota I understand cold. This book should be made into a movie.
Tips on how to make your listen more enjoyable: Look at a map of the 1st Marine division's positions around the Chosin Reservoir, so that you are familiar about the positions of the larger battle. Also, look at a map of Fox Hill so that you can more easily know what part of Fox Hill the story is talking about.

Very thorough for an amazing military story

The author went to painstaking lengths to provide a great deal of details on this amazing piece of military history. A tribute to the men who went through it.

The Last Stand of Fox Company Left Me Cold

I love military books! After serving 23 years in the Marine Corps and visiting South Korea, I thought this book would be a good read. Right from the beginning I was pulled in. In fact, I would leave this book feeling cold because of what I read and how cold it was for those hard charging Marines. Anyone who loves military books or has served in the military should read this book.

Must listen

One of the best of the Chosin Reservoir I’ve ever read. I read this book years ago and decided to listen to it to refresh my memory. The narration could be better, but all in all fantastic. Fox Company 2/7 are legends. Semper Fidelis Marines!