Tag Archives: Chosin Reservoir

Chosin Thanksgiving

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75 years ago.

Official caption: Thanksgiving Turkey is prepared for members of the Camp Pendleton-based “Fighting Fifth” Marine Regiment near the Chosin Reservoir of North Korea, 21 November 1950.

At this stage, a lot of folks thought the Korean Campaign was a wrap with “home by Christmas” talk being thrown around.

Marine Photo A4975 by Sgt FC Kerr, National Archives Identifier 74242756

The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir/Battle of Lake Changjin would kick off just six days after the happy image above was snapped.

Lasting approximately 17 days, it pitted 120,000 enemy Chinese “volunteers” of the Red 9th Army against a force of just 30,000, mostly Marines (primarily of the 1st Marine Division’s 5th, 7th and 11th Marines augmented by the British 41 Commando RM and assigned Sailors) as well as a smattering of Soldiers from the 3rd and 7th Army Infantry Divisions.

This, as an estimated 300,000 Chinese poured across the Yalu, forced MacArthur to notify Washington, “We face an entirely new war.”

Frozen Chosin at 70

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Take a minute sometime in the next couple of weeks to remember the Marines– along with Navy Corpsmen and U.S. Army troops— who were trapped in what could be called the Chosin Pocket along the Changjin Reservoir in North Korea.

But today, we do not remember the Chosin as a pocket that was surrounded and reduced, because, well, the Marines “attacked in another direction” and broke the hell out.

“First Division Leathernecks Counter Fire with Fire When Attacked by Well Entrenched Chinese Reds During the Division’s Heroic Breakout from Chosin.” 7 December 1950. Note the WWII tropical “frogskin” camo, of little use in Korea in winter, along with an M1919 LMG and an M1903 Springfield, the latter likely a sniper rifle Marine Photo 127-N-A5434, taken by Sgt. F. C. Kerr, via NARA