Jeff Shaara - The Frozen Hours

He dies in April 1964, of biliary cirrhosis, a liver disease, and at his own request is buried in Norfolk, Virginia. He is eighty-four. Jean dies in 2000.

The accolades and historical celebration of MacArthur’s life and career are lengthy, including more than one hundred military decorations from the United States and other countries around the world. Much of his reputation is earned, and there is ongoing debate that much of it is achieved on the backs of others. Like others before him, from William T. Sherman to George Patton, the controversy at least inspires discussion and examination. It is this author’s suggestion that characters like Douglas MacArthur are a crucial component of American history. In what can often become a dreary study of names, dates, places, facts, and figures, it is essential that there be personalities worth remembering, for good or otherwise. Douglas MacArthur is certainly that.

“I didn’t fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that’s not against the law for generals.”

“That little bastard [Truman] honestly believes he’s a patriot.”

“He got his first star in 1918 and that means he’s had almost thirty years as a general. Thirty years of people playing to him and kissing his ass, and doing what he wants. That’s not good for anyone.”

“If MacArthur had had his way, the cost to the moral credibility of the United States around the world would almost certainly have been historically disastrous.”

GENERAL EDWARD “NED” ALMOND

Almond never accepts blame or even responsibility for the failures of his command in the fall and winter of 1950. It is a view not shared fully by his supreme commander, Douglas MacArthur. After the Chosin campaign concludes, Almond’s authority is severely curtailed, and true to Oliver Smith’s wishes, the Marines never again serve under Almond’s authority.

Almond serves adequately as Tenth Corps commander throughout the campaigns of 1951, and is generally praised by General Matthew Ridgway as an aggressive field general. But he never receives public praise and attention, nor the affection of his troops that always embraces Oliver Smith.

Throughout his life, he maintains steadfastly that his orders to advance blindly toward the Yalu River came from MacArthur, that he only obeyed what he was instructed to do. But he alters his own history in his description of the campaign as little more than a reconnaissance in force, and in 1976 he writes, “we had been caught in a mess by an unknown enemy strength which battle action could only determine.” Once that strength was determined, it fell upon MacArthur, and not Almond, to order the withdrawal southward, which Almond acknowledges, though he continues to ignore and deflect criticism for his command decisions.

He leaves Korea in late 1951, is promoted to lieutenant general, and becomes commander of the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Almond retires from the army in 1953 and goes into the insurance business. He dies in 1979, at age eighty-six, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM BARBER

Fox Company’s commander recovers from his wounds in Japan, returns to the States in spring 1951. He requests and is assigned to the Marine Corps recruitment center in San Diego, serves in that post until his promotion to major in July 1952. His service carries him to Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; and Quantico, Virginia; as well as service as a naval attaché to the United States embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. He is promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1960 and is assigned to Okinawa as commanding officer of the Marine’s Third Reconnaissance Battalion. He returns again to the States, is promoted to full colonel, and serves in a variety of prestigious positions at the Marine Corps Headquarters. He eventually is named commanding officer of the Second Marine Regiment. His active-duty career concludes in 1970, after a tour in Vietnam as psychological officer for the Third Marine Amphibious Force.

After retiring, Barber becomes an analyst for the Northrop Corporation and settles in California. He dies in 2002, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

William Barber’s career is punctuated by his astounding command of the action of Fox Hill. Outnumbered five to one, his company fends off repeated attacks by Chinese troops, with best estimates concluding that more than one thousand of the enemy are killed in the process. Of his 240 men, only a few dozen leave Fox Hill without wounds. Despite his severe wounds, Barber continues to command the action, until the pain and worsening infection render him completely immobile. For his heroics, William Barber is awarded the Medal of Honor by President Truman in August 1952.

COLONEL HOMER LITZENBERG

He is awarded the Navy Cross for his command during the Chosin campaign. In mid-1951, Litzenberg is assigned to Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He serves in a number of administrative posts, including command of the Marine Corps Development Center at Quantico. He briefly commands the Third Marine Division, and in 1954 is named inspector general of the Marine Corps. He commands at both Camp Lejeune and Parris Island until his retirement in 1959.

He dies in 1963 at age sixty, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

COLONEL LEWIS “CHESTY” PULLER

“All right. They’re on our left. They’re on our right. They’re in front of us, they’re behind us. They can’t get away this time.”

Arguably the most celebrated and admired Marine in the Corps’ history, Puller is awarded five Navy Crosses and one army Distinguished Service Cross, the only man to receive so many awards at that level. He is promoted to brigadier general in January 1951, major general in 1953. He returns to the United States in mid-1951, commands the Third Marine Division, then is named to command of Troop Training Unit, Pacific, in California. In July 1954 he is named commander of the Marine Second Division, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

He suffers a stroke, and retires from the Corps in 1955. He survives until 1971, and dies at age seventy-three. He is buried in Christ Church Cemetery, Saluda, Virginia.

“I’d like to do it all over again. The whole thing. And more than that, more than anything, I’d like to see once again the face of every Marine I’ve ever served with.”

COLONEL ALPHA BOWSER

One of O. P. Smith’s most trusted staff officers, Bowser earns considerable respect as a primary staff officer for commanders throughout much of his career. He returns home to the United States in May 1951, serves in his position as G-3 (Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations and Plans) at the Marine base at Camp Pendleton, California. After serving briefly as chief of staff of the Marine Third Division, Bowser is named to the staff of Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe, in Paris. In July 1955 he is assigned to San Diego, serves on the command staff of the Pacific Fleet Amphibious Force. In 1956 he is promoted to brigadier general and named to command the Marine Recruit Training Command in San Diego. Promoted to major general in 1960, he serves as commanding officer of the Marine Base at Twenty-nine Palms, California, and later serves as commanding officer of the Marine base at Camp Lejeune. Promoted to lieutenant general in 1965, Bowser is named to command of Fleet Marine Force in Norfolk, Virginia, until his retirement in June 1967.

He settles in Kailua, Hawaii, and dies in 2003, at age ninety-two.

GENERAL WALTON WALKER