The Last Stand of Fox Company - by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin (Paperback)

About the Book

This fast-paced and gripping account describes the harrowing story of the 10,000 U.S. Marines who were surrounded by 100,000 Chinese soldiers during the Korean War. With dozens of firsthand interviews and thrilling narration, this book does justice to the brave men who served.

Book Synopsis

A "gut-clenching and meticulously detailed" (USA Today) account from the Korean War and how Captain William Barber led 246 courageous Marines of the Seventh Marine Regiment in the perilous defense of Fox Hill.

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 that will need to be held open at all costs. The mission is handed to Captain William Barber and the 234 Marines of Fox Company, a courageous but undermanned unit of the First Marines. Barber and his men climb seven miles of frozen terrain to a rocky promontory overlooking the pass, where they will endure four days and five nights of nearly continuous Chinese attempts to take Fox Hill. Amid the relentless violence, three-quarters of Fox's Marines are killed, wounded, or captured. Just when it looks like they will be overrun, Lt. Colonel Raymond Davis, a fearless Marine officer who is fighting south from Chosin, volunteers to lead a daring mission that will seek to cut a hole in the Chinese lines and relieve the men of Fox. This is a fast-paced and gripping account of heroism in the face of impossible odds.

Review Quotes

"Bob Drury and Tom Clavin have set the standard for wartime accounts on the Korean conflict. Packed with fascinating personal accounts of courage and sacrifice on the part of a handful of marines assigned to keep thousands of Communist Chinese soldiers from breaking through the strategic Toktong Pass in 1950, this is a story that is almost too incredible to be true. Told largely in the words of the participants, The Last Stand of Fox Company deftly captures the spirit of the marine corps and its legendary tenacity on the battlefield." -- Dr. Charles P. Neimeyer

"Bob Drury and Tom Clavin have written a paean worthy of one of the most extraordinary battles in marine corps history. You can almost feel Korea's biting cold, and hear the terrifying bugles in the dark. Most of all, they remind us that although the places and dates change, the valor of America's fighting forces remains the same. A magnificent book." -- Nathaniel Fick