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The Darkest Summer: Pusan and Inchon 1950: The Battles that Saved South Korea-and the Marines-from Extinction. By Bill Sloan. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009. 385 pages. $27.00.
It matters that Bill Sloan is a journalist, novelist, and writer of nonfiction. Among his nonfiction books are four popular histories admiring Marines in combat. The most recent, The Darkest Summer, focuses on the period from the invasion of South Korea by the North Korean People's Army (NKPA) on 25 June 1950 to 27 September 1950, when General Douglas MacArthur personally restored Syngman Rhee as president in the National Assembly building in Seoul. Sloan then summarizes events after the friendly forces crossed the 38th parallel, doffing his cap to Marines who fought well.
Sloan describes the terrible beating taken by US forces from late June to mid-September at the hands of the surprisingly well-armed and well-trained NKPA, providing a sense of desperation and defeat. Enemy employment of the T-34 Soviet tank was particularly effective, both in combat power and psychological effect. The piecemeal commitment of unprepared soldiers that resulted in embarrassing ineffectiveness is all too familiar to historians, soldiers, and general readers. Friendly forces were scraped up where they could be found and assembled in Korea, often committed to battle without preparation or training. They barely hung onto the Pusan perimeter in the southeastern...