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The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden Nightmare from the Korean War
In the fall of 1999, a team of Associated Press investigative reporters broke the news that U.S. troops had massacred a large group of South Korean civilians early in the Korean War. On the eve of that pivotal war's 50th anniversary, their reports brought to light a story that had been surpressed for decades, confirming allegations the U.S. military had sought to dismiss. It made headlines around the world.
In The Bridge at No Gun Ri , the team tells the larger, human story behind the incident through the eyes of the people who survived it. The American side, the green recruits of the "good time" U.S. army in Japan, was made up of teenagers who viewed unarmed farmers as enemies, and of generals who had never led men into battle. On the Korean side were peasant families forced to flee their ancestral village caught between the invading North Koreans and the U.S. Army. The narrative examines victims both Korean and American; the ordinary lives and high-level decisions that led to the fatal encounter; the terror of the three-day slaughter; and the memories and ghosts that forever haunted the survivors.
Based on extensive archival research and more than 500 interviews with U.S. veterans and Korean survivors, The Bridge at No Gun Ri is an extraordinary account of the tragic events of July 1950 that the world should never forget.
In The Bridge at No Gun Ri , the team tells the larger, human story behind the incident through the eyes of the people who survived it. The American side, the green recruits of the "good time" U.S. army in Japan, was made up of teenagers who viewed unarmed farmers as enemies, and of generals who had never led men into battle. On the Korean side were peasant families forced to flee their ancestral village caught between the invading North Koreans and the U.S. Army. The narrative examines victims both Korean and American; the ordinary lives and high-level decisions that led to the fatal encounter; the terror of the three-day slaughter; and the memories and ghosts that forever haunted the survivors.
Based on extensive archival research and more than 500 interviews with U.S. veterans and Korean survivors, The Bridge at No Gun Ri is an extraordinary account of the tragic events of July 1950 that the world should never forget.
336 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2001
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September 12, 2022
An Associated Press reporter, flying overhead, reported that Yongdong “no longer exists as a city. It looks like Nagasaki after the atom bomb…. Yongdong has probably been here for 4,000 years—and never known such silence.” The fires raged into the night.
(p. 136)
A harrowing, horrifying, heartbreaking event from the first summer of the Korean War. The brutality inflicted against innocents is simply shattering and I cried a lot reading this one. A truly important read, but a hard one, to say the least.
I just want to highlight a few (of the many, many) lines that I underlined whilst reading.
In late June, MacArthur’s headquarters ordered indiscriminate bombing behind North Korean lines by the U.S. Air Force, including areas where South Korean civilians still lived. Then in July, the U.S. military went further, ordering the strafing of refugee columns moving down roads toward U.S. Army units. This violated the laws and customs of war. (p. 74)
“Word came through the line, open fire on them,” Wenzel recalled. “They were running toward us and we opened fire.” The Koreans seemed, “confused,” he said. “We understood that we were fighting for these people, but we had orders to fire on them and we did.” (p. 126)
For all July, more psychiatric casualties would be evacuated than seriously wounded men. (p. 132)
He remained weak, too, and his brother had to carry him for months. Koo-hun found two civilian doctors doing relief work in Yongdong, and he lifted his brother onto his back and walked there every day for a month to have the wound checked and antiseptic applied. It would be months before Koo-hak could walk, and years before the young man who lost half a face, but found an unbreakable brotherly bond, could face the world. (pp. 194-195)
The book itself reads very well, with descriptions of everything from the heat of the summer of 1950, to the details of what the survivors were wearing. It’s little things like that which make the whole thing so easy to visualise while reading. The authors trace both the narrative of the soldiers who arrived in South Korea from Tokyo, to the villagers of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri, whose stories converge on the road towards the bridge at No Gun Ri.
The research is massive. I am so impressed by how much the authors compiled, not just from the testimonies, but the national archives material, newspapers, historical texts, etc. I’m impressed, deeply, by how much the survivors put together - and carried in silence - themselves. That they carried their story for decades, each in their own way, fearful to bring it up for years due to political instability until, at last, they could, only to be turned away at every turn, is so heartbreaking and infuriating. I’m so glad that the journalists were able to bring forward the story of No Gun Ri at last, but my heart aches for every survivor - and for the survivors of other atrocities whose stories remain unheard.
Recommended reading 100%.
See also Ghost Flames: Life and Death in a Hidden War, Korea 1950-1953.
⤑ research tag: in an effort to organise my shelves, I’m going to be labelling the books I’m using for study purposes as I tend to dip in and out of these. For further reading on the Korean War, check out this (incomplete list) of other reviews I’ve posted to Goodreads: The Korean War: A History, Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in America, Let The Good Times Roll: Prostitution And The U.S. Military In Asia, Women Marines in the Korean War Era, The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden Nightmare from the Korean War, Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations, Haunting the Korean Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy, and the Forgotten War, “A Defense Weapon Known to Be of Value”: Servicewomen of the Korean War Era, Name, Rank, and Serial Number: Exploiting Korean War POWs at Home and Abroad, The Korean War at Sixty: New Approaches to the Study of the Korean War, We Will Not Be Strangers: Korean War Letters between a M.A.S.H Surgeon and His Wife and When Hell Froze Over: The Memoir of a Korean War Combat Physician Who Spent 1010 Days in a Communist Prison Camp.
A harrowing, horrifying, heartbreaking event from the first summer of the Korean War. The brutality inflicted against innocents is simply shattering and I cried a lot reading this one. A truly important read, but a hard one, to say the least.
I just want to highlight a few (of the many, many) lines that I underlined whilst reading.
In late June, MacArthur’s headquarters ordered indiscriminate bombing behind North Korean lines by the U.S. Air Force, including areas where South Korean civilians still lived. Then in July, the U.S. military went further, ordering the strafing of refugee columns moving down roads toward U.S. Army units. This violated the laws and customs of war. (p. 74)
“Word came through the line, open fire on them,” Wenzel recalled. “They were running toward us and we opened fire.” The Koreans seemed, “confused,” he said. “We understood that we were fighting for these people, but we had orders to fire on them and we did.” (p. 126)
For all July, more psychiatric casualties would be evacuated than seriously wounded men. (p. 132)
He remained weak, too, and his brother had to carry him for months. Koo-hun found two civilian doctors doing relief work in Yongdong, and he lifted his brother onto his back and walked there every day for a month to have the wound checked and antiseptic applied. It would be months before Koo-hak could walk, and years before the young man who lost half a face, but found an unbreakable brotherly bond, could face the world. (pp. 194-195)
The book itself reads very well, with descriptions of everything from the heat of the summer of 1950, to the details of what the survivors were wearing. It’s little things like that which make the whole thing so easy to visualise while reading. The authors trace both the narrative of the soldiers who arrived in South Korea from Tokyo, to the villagers of Chu Gok Ri and Im Ke Ri, whose stories converge on the road towards the bridge at No Gun Ri.
The research is massive. I am so impressed by how much the authors compiled, not just from the testimonies, but the national archives material, newspapers, historical texts, etc. I’m impressed, deeply, by how much the survivors put together - and carried in silence - themselves. That they carried their story for decades, each in their own way, fearful to bring it up for years due to political instability until, at last, they could, only to be turned away at every turn, is so heartbreaking and infuriating. I’m so glad that the journalists were able to bring forward the story of No Gun Ri at last, but my heart aches for every survivor - and for the survivors of other atrocities whose stories remain unheard.
Recommended reading 100%.
See also Ghost Flames: Life and Death in a Hidden War, Korea 1950-1953.
⤑ research tag: in an effort to organise my shelves, I’m going to be labelling the books I’m using for study purposes as I tend to dip in and out of these. For further reading on the Korean War, check out this (incomplete list) of other reviews I’ve posted to Goodreads: The Korean War: A History, Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in America, Let The Good Times Roll: Prostitution And The U.S. Military In Asia, Women Marines in the Korean War Era, The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden Nightmare from the Korean War, Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations, Haunting the Korean Diaspora: Shame, Secrecy, and the Forgotten War, “A Defense Weapon Known to Be of Value”: Servicewomen of the Korean War Era, Name, Rank, and Serial Number: Exploiting Korean War POWs at Home and Abroad, The Korean War at Sixty: New Approaches to the Study of the Korean War, We Will Not Be Strangers: Korean War Letters between a M.A.S.H Surgeon and His Wife and When Hell Froze Over: The Memoir of a Korean War Combat Physician Who Spent 1010 Days in a Communist Prison Camp.
June 20, 2009
I went to the bookstore looking for a critically acclaimed book of non-fiction about the Korean War. What I found was this excellent, Pulitzer prize winning triumph of journalism . Though I was worried that this book would not give me a broad enough understanding of the 'forgotten war', this fear was quickly dispelled. Even though the story is told through the individual lives of both Americans and Koreans who were witness to the title tragedy, the authors provided more than enough background to give Korean War novices (like me) more than sufficient context. The book is fantastically researched, but yet by telling the story through compelling personal stories it manages to not get to bogged down in facts and details and is wonderfully readable.
In the final pages of the book the readers are given some 'making of' details that were almost as compelling as the tragedy itself. All in all, a wonderful and informative read.
In the final pages of the book the readers are given some 'making of' details that were almost as compelling as the tragedy itself. All in all, a wonderful and informative read.
Read
April 10, 2023Although its title and summary suggests it's about only particular horrific episode from the Korean War, in fact THE BRIDGE provides an excellent overview of the war itself as well as the situation in Korea before and after that war.
The amount of research that went into the newspaper article that won a Pulitzer, as well as many other awards, and eventually resulted in this book is staggering. Also -- that it almost never got written at all! I urge everyone to read the epilogue where this is discussed.
This was a hard book to read because of the subjects it covers: not just the ghastly killing that is its focus (and other random, ghastly killings of hapless civilians that the authors discovered in the course of researching the No Gun Ri massacre) but the totally shambolic approach to this war more generally. In 1945 some people in Washington drew a line on a map of the Korean Peninsula to divide the spheres of influence. Just like that! Similar to the way Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin struck a bargain at Yalta that determined the fate of millions, but with even less insight into what they were doing. I realize a lot was going on in 1945, and the fate of Korea was not top of mind for any of World War II's victors, but still. I mean, come on.
It was hard to read about how the (completely confused, unprepared) U.S. soldiers abruptly sent to Korea managed to dehumanize the people they encountered there, and to realize that this racial prejudice was at least part of what made the atrocities possible.
I live in South Korea now, and have been struck by how many mentions there are, on plaques and other historical things around the capital, of the horrible things that the Japanese did: not only during 1910-1945 occupation, but also throughout earlier history. What is this obsession with the Japanese? I used to wonder.
But now I understand better. They talk about the Japanese because they can't talk about the Americans, who are still here.
South Korea is modern, functional, sleek and prosperous: a success story among nations, and success achieved in an amazingly short time. But this book has reminded me of how much trauma lies not far beneath the surface. Of war, division, random atrocities inflected by Japanese, Americans, and one another.
The amount of research that went into the newspaper article that won a Pulitzer, as well as many other awards, and eventually resulted in this book is staggering. Also -- that it almost never got written at all! I urge everyone to read the epilogue where this is discussed.
This was a hard book to read because of the subjects it covers: not just the ghastly killing that is its focus (and other random, ghastly killings of hapless civilians that the authors discovered in the course of researching the No Gun Ri massacre) but the totally shambolic approach to this war more generally. In 1945 some people in Washington drew a line on a map of the Korean Peninsula to divide the spheres of influence. Just like that! Similar to the way Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin struck a bargain at Yalta that determined the fate of millions, but with even less insight into what they were doing. I realize a lot was going on in 1945, and the fate of Korea was not top of mind for any of World War II's victors, but still. I mean, come on.
It was hard to read about how the (completely confused, unprepared) U.S. soldiers abruptly sent to Korea managed to dehumanize the people they encountered there, and to realize that this racial prejudice was at least part of what made the atrocities possible.
I live in South Korea now, and have been struck by how many mentions there are, on plaques and other historical things around the capital, of the horrible things that the Japanese did: not only during 1910-1945 occupation, but also throughout earlier history. What is this obsession with the Japanese? I used to wonder.
But now I understand better. They talk about the Japanese because they can't talk about the Americans, who are still here.
South Korea is modern, functional, sleek and prosperous: a success story among nations, and success achieved in an amazingly short time. But this book has reminded me of how much trauma lies not far beneath the surface. Of war, division, random atrocities inflected by Japanese, Americans, and one another.
August 30, 2024
I write and read a lot of horror, okay, and nothing has had an effect on me like the absolutely true story told here.
The first few weeks of the Korean War were a tremendous clusterfuck, and fresh off war with Japan, xenophobia was high in the highest parts of the military command in the far East. This resulted in horrible policy decisions, especially with regards to the handling of refugees.
I don't want to go too much into it, but man. I'm of the age where I still, for reasons, have some faith in the military and whatnot, and as harrowing it was to read the account of the massacre at No Gun Ri, I think what really made me feel my age and just let down was the Pentagon's response. Especially in the face of all the research which had been done by the journalist team, that "five-sided Fistagon" lied through their collective teeth, over and over.
I highly recommend this book. It's hard to read, not because of the prose, but the truth. Definitely worth the time and effort.
The first few weeks of the Korean War were a tremendous clusterfuck, and fresh off war with Japan, xenophobia was high in the highest parts of the military command in the far East. This resulted in horrible policy decisions, especially with regards to the handling of refugees.
I don't want to go too much into it, but man. I'm of the age where I still, for reasons, have some faith in the military and whatnot, and as harrowing it was to read the account of the massacre at No Gun Ri, I think what really made me feel my age and just let down was the Pentagon's response. Especially in the face of all the research which had been done by the journalist team, that "five-sided Fistagon" lied through their collective teeth, over and over.
I highly recommend this book. It's hard to read, not because of the prose, but the truth. Definitely worth the time and effort.
March 8, 2015
A deep dive on this tragic event, but also a good presentation of Korean rural culture of the earl 20th century and an overview of the Korean War.
March 10, 2020
Very well-researched and illuminating history of a little-known tragedy of the Korean War.
June 1, 2024
Half a century of struggle led to this book. On July 26, 1950, green American troops were ordered to kill hundreds of Korean refugees, in the hamlet of No Gun Ri. These refugees were fleeing the brutal North Korean advance but they encountered something much worse. Unfounded fears of North Korean infiltration in refugee masses led Army brass to order indiscriminate airplane strafing on refugee columns and permit killing refugees who tried to cross American lines.
The authors paint the picture of McCarthy-era America, postwar Japan, and near feudalist Korea very well, giving the reader a broader idea of “The Road to No Gun Ri,” which constitutes Part 1.
Part 2 is of course the massacre, which is simply heartbreaking to read. I shall not soon forget it.
Part 3, “The Road From No Gun Ri” talks about the consequences, on both sides. In Korea, the pro-American regime forbade criticism of the U.S, stifling inquiries until the 1990’s, when democracy arrived on the peninsula. Meanwhile, American GIs struggled with PTSD and a nation that looked down on them. Sandwiched between a “good war” and a “bad war” the Korean War doubles as the Forgotten War. Man soldiers struggled to reintegrate and turned to alcohol to escape the ghosts of the civilians in Korea.
This book does an excellent job of drawing these multi-faceted stories together, and I would highly recommend it, as evidenced by my 5 star review.
The authors paint the picture of McCarthy-era America, postwar Japan, and near feudalist Korea very well, giving the reader a broader idea of “The Road to No Gun Ri,” which constitutes Part 1.
Part 2 is of course the massacre, which is simply heartbreaking to read. I shall not soon forget it.
Part 3, “The Road From No Gun Ri” talks about the consequences, on both sides. In Korea, the pro-American regime forbade criticism of the U.S, stifling inquiries until the 1990’s, when democracy arrived on the peninsula. Meanwhile, American GIs struggled with PTSD and a nation that looked down on them. Sandwiched between a “good war” and a “bad war” the Korean War doubles as the Forgotten War. Man soldiers struggled to reintegrate and turned to alcohol to escape the ghosts of the civilians in Korea.
This book does an excellent job of drawing these multi-faceted stories together, and I would highly recommend it, as evidenced by my 5 star review.
January 4, 2025
I received this book as a gift, which I chose to read on my flight home from ROK to the US (16hr flight). This book was so well written and captivating that I could not put it down. Still a very much cherished book, that it may be time for me to reread it now that is been over several years.
June 13, 2024
Before this book I knew little to nothing about the Korean War and now I think I might know too much.
October 23, 2021
Sped-read for an undergrad history essay.
Definitely some decent narrative/oral history of a Koran equivalent of My Lai, and quite heavy stuff even if I never always gel with American narrative history styles.
Also it's definitely influential and part of an overall wave of looking at South Korean and American military and government atrocities against South Korean civilians before, during and after the war and into the decades of military rule under Park et al. culminating in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, one of the first in the region.
The contemporaneous political violence is probably more of interest to me and was a lot worse, but found this useful nonetheless. Definitely need more translations of Korean oral history (and some of their academic work).
Definitely some decent narrative/oral history of a Koran equivalent of My Lai, and quite heavy stuff even if I never always gel with American narrative history styles.
Also it's definitely influential and part of an overall wave of looking at South Korean and American military and government atrocities against South Korean civilians before, during and after the war and into the decades of military rule under Park et al. culminating in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, one of the first in the region.
The contemporaneous political violence is probably more of interest to me and was a lot worse, but found this useful nonetheless. Definitely need more translations of Korean oral history (and some of their academic work).
October 29, 2025
Story of a massacre of Korean civilians by the US military in the early days of the Korean conflict. Authors tell story leading up to the event, discuss the massacre, and subsequent efforts by Korean survivors to gain acknowledgment (as well as the mental toll it took on many of the US servicemen present). Heartbreaking story but one worth reading.
June 9, 2018
War Is Hell
A nice mixture of scholarly and narrative with perhaps a bit to much emphasis on individual experiencesThere is a tone of sadness and resignation throughout the book.Tragic.
A nice mixture of scholarly and narrative with perhaps a bit to much emphasis on individual experiencesThere is a tone of sadness and resignation throughout the book.Tragic.
March 9, 2022
Hard to read topic. Skipped through many pages. All in all though this is a book that needs to be read and used when teaching about the Korean War.
December 28, 2016
Book of the Year (2016) (Runner Up) This book, which covers the mass-shootings of a group of Korean civilians by U.S. soldiers in 1950, is not a pleasant read. It is biased, the sourcing is inadequate, and the book has a constant self-righteous vibe more concerned with judging than informing. It has far more in common with 1997's equally flawed The Rape of Nanking, than more recent and well-researched books covering atrocities, such as Tiger Force and Black Hearts. Having said that, this is a book that needs to be read. The Korean War was sort of a halfway war, with elements of both World War II and Vietnam, and the mass atrocities against civilians by all sides has been mostly swept under the historical rug.
February 29, 2008
Informative book on an angle rarely heard - from the civilian side.
November 26, 2015
How come communism ever seemed threatening enough to start an absurd war like this, and seperate a people who had been a republic for 1300 years!?
April 6, 2016
Jun
Jogger llama bbvc jjjj movimiento de los dos partidos que llaman mucho más de lo mejor que me gusta la
Jogger llama bbvc jjjj movimiento de los dos partidos que llaman mucho más de lo mejor que me gusta la
March 21, 2025
Very well researched and harrowing story about US violence and hegemony. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews