The Coldest War ─ A Memoir of Korea

America's "Forgotten War" lasted just thirty-seven months, yet 54,246 Americans died in that time - nearly as many died in ten years in Vietnam. On the fiftieth anniversary of this devastating conflict, James Brady tells the story of his life as a young marine lieutenant in Korea.
In 1947, seeking to avoid the draft, nineteen-year-old Brady volunteered for a Marine Corps program that made him a lieutenant in the reserves on the day he graduted college. He didn't plan to find himself in command of a rifle platoon three years later, facing a real enemy, but that is exactly what happened after the Chinese turned a so-called police action into a war.
The Coldest War vividly describes Brady's rapid education in the realities of war and the pressures of command. Opportunities for bold offensives sink in the miasma of trench warfare; death comes in fits and starts as too-accurate artillery on both sides seeks out men in their bunkers; constant alertness is crucial for survival, while brutal cold and a seductive silence conspire to lull soldiers into an often fatal stupor.