The Pusan Perimeter (U.S. Marine Operations in Korea 1950-53, Vol. 1)

Hardcover, reprint 1976, ix + 271pp (including 32 pages of b&w photos and 23 maps). Ex-library, marked "withdrawn": an external stamp on upper page edges, internal stamps and inventory numbers; remnants of a removed label inside the rear board. Pages are clean, untanned, with unmarked text; firm secure binding. Age-toned outer page edges with faint age-spotting. Boards show rubbing to edges; a foreign library label on the back. No dust jacket. -- "An ability to furnish skilled forces to meet emergency situations on short notice has long been a hallmark of the Marine Corps. When the call came for such a force to be dispatched to Korea on 2 July 1950, the Corps was handicapped by the strictures of a peacetime economy. Nevertheless, a composite brigade consisting of a regiment and an air group was made available within a week's time. With a reputation built largely on amphibious warfare, Marines of the 1st Brigade were called upon to prove their versatility in sustained ground action. On three separate occasions within the embattled Perimeter - south toward Sachon and twice along the Naktong River - these Marine units hurled the weight of their assault force at the enemy. All three attacks were successful, and at no point did Marines give ground except as ordered. The quality of their performance in the difficult days of the Pusan Perimeter fighting made them a valuable member of the United Nations team and earned new laurels for their Corps." [Foreword by Gen. Lemuel Shepherd] -- Contents: 1 Korea, Doorstep of Strategy [Korean Question; Russo-Japanese War; Korea as a Japanese Colony; Partition of Korea; Red Victory in China; Civil Strife in Korea]; 2 Red Aggression in Korea [Units of the NKPA; NKPA Command and Leadership; NKPA Infantry Division; NKPA Air and Armor; NKPA Officer Procurement Conscription; NKPA Order of Battle]; 3 Marine Brigade [NKPA Gains of First Week; Early U.S. Decisions; Geography of Korea; U.S. Ground Forces in Korea; Requests for U.S. Marines; Activation of the Brigade]; 4 Advance Party [Conference with CINCFE; Washington Scene; Advance Party in Japan; Voyage of the Brigade; Advance Party in Korea; Crisis of the Eighth Army]; 5 Prelude to Battle [Reconnaissance by Jeep; Brigade Air Lands; Landing of Ground Force; Bedlam on Pusan Water Front; Brigade at Changwon; Pusan Perimeter; Brigade Air Strikes First; Planning the Sachon-Chinju Offensive]; 6 Action on Hill [First Platoon Fight; Perimeter on Hill 342; Call for Artillery Fires; Task Force Kean Stalled; General Craig Assumes Control; Enemy Attack at Dawn]; 7 Advance to Kosong [Heavy NKPA Resistance; Assault on Hill 255; Confusion at Tosan Junction; Brigade Artillery in Support; Encounter with Japanese Maps; Ambush at Taedabok Pass; Seizure of Kosong]; 8 Fight on Two Fronts [Kosong Turkey Shoot; Changchon Ambush; Marines Ordered to New Sector; Attack of 3/5 to the Rear; Enemy Dawn Attack at Changchon; Breaking Off Action]; 9 Battle of the Naktong [Task Force Hill Organized; Planning the Next Operation; Reconnaissance of Terrain; Air and Artillery Preparation; Company D on Objective; Attack of Company E]; 10 Obong-ni Ridge [Company B to the Attack; Advance of Company A; Defeat of Enemy Tanks; End of the First Day; Enemy Counterattack on Ridge; Obong-ni Ridge Secured; Supporting Arms Clear the Bulge]; 11 Second Naktong [Famous Bean Patch; Planning for Inchon Landing; Return to the Naktong Bulge; All-Out NKPA Offensive; Marines Jump Off; Progress of Brigade Attack; Assault on Hill]; 12 Mission Completed [Collapse of the 9th NKPA Division; Attacks of 5 September; Two Marine Tanks Killed; Brigade's Final Action; Brigade Embarkation at Pusan; Results of Brigade Operations; Summaries and Conclusions]; Appendixes [Glossary of Military Terms; Command and Staff List; Citations and Commendations]; Bibliography; Index.…