Book description
For U. S. and UN soldiers fighting the Korean War, the spring of 1951
was brutal. The troops faced a tough and determined foe under
challenging conditions. The Chinese Spring Offensive of 1951
exemplified the hardships of the war, as the UN forces struggled with
the Chinese troops over Line Kansas, a phase line north of the 38th
parallel, in a conflict that led to the war's final stalemate. Passing
the Test: Combat in Korea, April--June 1951 explores the UN responses
to the offensive in detail, looking closely at combat from the
perspectives of platoons, squads, and the men themselves. Editors
William T. Bowers and John T. Greenwood emphasize the tactical
operations on the front lines and examine U. S. and UN strategy, as
well as the operations of the Communist Chinese and North Korean
forces. They employ a variety of sources, including interviews
conducted by U. S. Army historians within hours or days of combat,
unit journals, and after action reports, to deliver a comprehensive
narrative of the offensive and its battles.
Passing the Test highlights the experiences of individual soldiers,
providing unique insights into the chaos, perseverance, and heroism of
war. The interviews offer a firsthand account that is untainted by
nostalgia and later literature, illuminating the events that unfolded
on the battlefields of Korea.
""Clearly a work of scholarship that will be a valuable
document for understanding the war, more important in some ways than
the story of battles and army movements."--Teaching History"
--
William T. Bowers (1946--2008), a former U. S. Army officer, was
editor of The Line: Combat in Korea, January--February 1951 and
Striking Back: Combat in Korea, March--April 1951.
John T. Greenwood, who retired in 2007 as chief of the Office of
Medical History, Office of the Surgeon General, U. S. Army, is the
editor of Milestones of Aviation, Normandy to Victory: The War Diary
of General Courtney H. Hodges and the First U. S. Army, and The
Blitzkrieg Legend: The 1940 Campaign in the West. He lives in
Annandale, Virginia.
