A Christmas Far from Home: An Epic Tale of Courage and Survival During the Korean War

by Stanley Weintraub

The day after Thanksgiving, five months into the Korean War, General Douglas MacArthur flew to American positions in the north and grandly announced an end-the-war-by-Christmas offensive, despite recent evidence of intervention by Mao's Chinese troops. Marching north in plunging temperatures, General Edward Almond's X Corps, which included a Marine division under the able leadership of General Oliver Smith, encountered little resistance. But thousands of Chinese, who had infiltrated across the frozen Yalu River, were lying in wait and would soon trap tens of thousands of US troops.

Led by the Marines, an overwhelmed X Corps evacuated the frigid, mountainous Chosin Reservoir vastness and fought a swarming enemy and treacherous snow and ice to reach the coast. Weather, terrain, Chinese firepower, and a 4,000-foot chasm made escape seem impossible in the face of a vanishing Christmas. But endurance and sacrifice prevailed, and the last troopships weighed anchor on Christmas Eve.

In the tradition of his Silent Night and Pearl Harbor Christmas , Stanley Weintraub presents another gripping narrative of a wartime Christmas season.

A Military Book Club main selection

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Christmas, War, Military Fiction, Holiday

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2014

About the author

Weintraub was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 17, 1929. He was the eldest child of Benjamin and Ray Segal Weintraub. He attended South Philadelphia High School, and then he attended West Chester State Teachers College (now West Chester University of Pennsylvania) where he received his B.S. in education in 1949. He continued his education at Temple University where he received his master's degree in English “in absentia,” as he was called to duty in the Korean War.

He received a commission as Army Second Lieutenant, and served with the Eighth Army in Korea receiving a Bronze Star.

After the War, he enrolled at Pennsylvania State University in September 1953; his doctoral dissertation “Bernard Shaw, Novelist” was accepted on May 6, 1956.

Except for visiting appointments, he remained at Penn State for all of his career, finally attaining the rank of Evan Pugh Professor of Arts and Humanities, with emeritus status on retirement in 2000. From 1970 to 1990 he was also Director of Penn State’s Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies

Reviews

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Give me tomorrow." This answer from a Korean War soldier to a war correspondent's question of what he wanted for Christmas is a common refrain when referring to this hellish conflict, and Stanley Weintraub uses it to great effect in his very solid retrospective of "the forgotten war" in A Christmas Far from Home: An Epic Tale of Courage and Survival during the Korean War.

This book continues my Christmas reads this holiday season and one might wonder what the Korean War has to do with Christmas. Sure, many are familiar with the World War I story of soldiers from both sides spontaneously calling a truce and crawling out of their trenches on Christmas Eve to sing carols together in the midst of the fighting. But no such heartwarming stories exist for the Korean War. No, for them the Christmas connection will always be with General MacArthur's overconfident boast that the conflict would be quick and decisive and that the boys would be back home by Christmas.

MacArthur was bathing in his own vainglorious WWII accomplishments, where he had attained god-like status. The man could do no wrong -- of this he was certain or at least he projected this certainty to extravagant lengths. After all, the offensive thrust had just begun and it was only about the time of Thanksgiving when he made his "back home by Christmas" claims. Apparently he thought he would march up there, snatch his objective without opposition worth mentioning and be back for tea and medals, as they say. The likelihood of that was slim to none and he would have been aware of that if he bothered to pay attention to the intelligence coming into GHQ.

The impression that MacArthur had become an arrogant coxcomb is what Weintraub leaves the reader with. He does not think much of the man's braggadocious ways and that's clear. Now, I know very little about the Korean War. I've tried to educate myself of late and it does seem MacArthur viewed himself as omniscient and unbeatable. Certainly he pushed American soldiers into a situation where they were surprised and overwhelmed by the Chinese, probably when they shouldn't have been.

Beyond MacArthur, Weintraub is rough on a number of generals involved in the Korean War (...or rather the "police action in Korea", a bullshit label Truman tried to downplay it as, probably because it would sound better politically to lose a police action than a war). The author looks beyond the uniform into the mind of the man as much as he can in A Christmas Far from Home. While much of this is Monday morning armchair analysis, I do appreciate the insights into the individuals where they can be had, because as I said, I'm just trying to figure out what the hell went on...or wrong...here. I'm starting to see that I'm not the first to ask that question.

[Elizabeth]

This book is a tough one to review, since it has some good information in it, but the execution is poor. It might have benefited from some better editing.

First off, I'd like to acknowledge the author's own experience. Near the start of the book, he mentions that he was a veteran of Korea, and when I looked him up online, I saw that he had served with the Eighth Army and received a Bronze Star. He must have shown remarkable strength and courage.

As for the book, honestly, I think he should have written a memoir. This account seems to aim for objectivity, but it doesn't always succeed. I don't blame the author: he was obviously very close to the subject here, and objectivity is difficult even for those without a personal stake in the events described. I give him credit for caring.

However, his exaggerations in some places are so significant that they cast the book's other information—likely factual and highly researched—into doubt. I came into this knowing next to nothing about General MacArthur, and when he started describing the ways that MacArthur failed during the early stages of the war, I believed him absolutely. But then, I noticed that some of Weintraub's remarks were a bit over-the-top. He stated, for example, that MacArthur "always . . . ignored reality." If someone is always ignoring reality, then we're getting into the topic of mental illness, of severe, dehabilitating illness. I don't know MacArthur's situation, but I'm pretty sure that even if he was an arrogant self-absorbed egomaniac, as this book depicts, that he was at least able to function. I don't think he would have become so powerful in the military by "always" ignoring reality. I'm not defending him, and I'm not condemning him. I'm merely suggesting that by making such hyperbolic remarks about him, Weintraub is undercutting his own authority as a researcher. Soldiers make comments to the press, and Weintraub suggests swear words for them that were "likely" present, and only removed for propriety's sake. (Or, maybe the soldier was polite enough not to swear for ten seconds while talking to a newspaper representative.) Powerful people back in the States are discussing MacArthur's ability to lead troops effectively, and Weintraub makes guesses as to what these men were thinking at the time. A war correspondent who was in Korea during the disaster places the blame for some of the unwise military decisions on some other officers, not on MacArthur, and Weintraub states that she likely was just lying because she was a woman. (To Weintraub's credit, he was not trying to condemn all women; rather, he was trying to suggest that MacArthur's kindness in allowing her to be present had clouded her judgment of his character. It still comes off as prejudiced, but at least I can follow his reasoning, to a point.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this sort of bias is fine for a memoir. He was in Korea, and he lived through a powerful experience there. If he had written a memoir, and if it railed against MacArthur, both justly and unjustly, it would have all been valid in that sense. It would have been his own voice, his own journey, his account from when the history was unfolding. Or, if he had shown just a bit more restraint in writing this—if he had limited himself to the factual accounts of MacArthur's errors, which, I have to admit, seem awfully compelling—then this book would have been weighty and powerful indeed.

I'm sad that I'm left with an account I don't wholly trust. I'm sad that so much research has brought so little illumination. I'm grateful for the perspective he offers, just the same. I'm glad that I had the chance to learn about some of the events of the war, and about some of the men who fought it. I learned about racial tensions in the military, and about some survivors (one in particular who was an amputee) who readjusted gracefully to civilian life. I learned about the heroism of the marines, who took days to walk a few miles because they were so badly frozen and wounded, and because they helped their injured companions, and who arrived singing—literally singing!—their Marines' hymn. And I felt the emotion. When he described the desperate refugees hoping to be rescued, I was on the edge of my seat. When I learned about their escape, and about the babies born on the ship that carried them away to a better future, I felt joy. When I read about the POWs and their treatment, I felt sick inside. Again, this is all well-researched and quite powerful. I learned so much about so many of the minutiae, but not as much as I'd hoped about the big picture. In terms of the war itself, of the strategies and military decisions, I didn't gain understanding; I merely gained one man's opinion. I'm grateful that I read it, and that it gave me a lot to think about. There is a lot of good content here. It wouldn't have taken much editing to make this far better.

[Dpoir624 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is a nonfiction book, Douglas MacArthur strikes me as a very strong character in the world. He believes in nothing but victory and is a very optimistic character.

[Lisa of Hopewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Interest

Since moving here to Southern Ohio in 2008 I’ve met two Korean War veterans. One died during the Covid epidemic, the other, my next door neighbor, is still going strong at 90-something. Of course, I have a near life-long interest in U.S. history, too, so that figured into decided to read (well, listen to) this book.

Author Stanley Weintraub has made an industry for himself writing nonfiction stories set at Christmas during the various wars. Finally, I was a child of the 70’s. The movie M*A*S*H was one of the first “grown-up” movies I watched. I also read the book (and a couple of the sequels) at a tender age. Then there was the t.v. show [see the bottom of this post] that ran about 100 times longer than the war itself. So, in memory of all those people who fought in Korea and were immortalized by the book, movie and tv show characters, I had to read or listen to this book.
The Story

General of the Armies Douglas MacArthur, was an early believer in public relations–p.r. Much like Lord Mountbatten (“Uncle Dickie” on The Crown), he was a self-promoter who was often regarded as having over-reached. MacArthur had at least some of the traits of a narcissist. He ran away and deserted our troops, fleeing to safety in Australia with his much younger wife, their toddler son (and his nanny) when the Japanese over-ran the Philippines. For this he managed to earn the nation’s highest award for bravery: The Congressional Medal of Honor.

When the Korean “War” began, Arthur hadn’t lived in the USA for many years. He’d commanded the Philippine Army, then been away in Australia during World War II, then oversaw the occupation of Japan. His last big experience in the United States had been leading the Army, with the help of his assistant, Dwight D. Eisenhower, through Washington D.C. and to the camp of the “Bonus Marchers” or “Bonus Army”–the unemployed, homeless, desperate veterans of World War I marching on Washington to try to make Congress pay them their “bonus” for service in WWI several years early. It didn’t work. MacArthur and Ike led the tanks and troops in moving the marchers out of their encampment. (Where many of them were subsequently put on trains and sent to south Florida where they would die in a hurricane). He survived that black mark how? Public relations. He also had a notorious affair with a showgirl called Bubbles who called him, wait for it, “Daddy.” Yeah.

When the U.S. entered Korea Mac Arthur was in charge of the Command area that included Korea. He did not take the whole thing very seriously and insisted, as have so many commanders in so many wars, that our boys would be home for Christmas.

Only, they weren’t. And, many did not even have winter uniforms. [This mix-up of seasons and uniforms is a specialty of the U.S. Army. In the Spanish American War, a tropical war, they had heavy woolen uniforms]. This book tells what the men went trough from Thanksgiving until what we remember today as the Chosin Reservoir aka “The Frozen Chosin” was over. Thankfully, President Harry S. Truman, got tired of MacArthur’s grandiose insubordination and fired him. Who knows how long the war would have lasted with “Doug Out Doug” in charge (the name comes from hiding in a dugout).
My Thoughts

My next door neighbor was a young and bitterly cold U.S. Marine during this battle. It must not have affected him–he used to mow the equivalent of 3 acres with a push mower every week and raise 7 kids on a city cop’s salary. All but 1 went to and graduated from college. He’s still tough. It’s pretty obvious from this story that he wasn’t the only one.

Harry Truman was a remarkable president for standing up to an icon and winning. MacArthur should have been revealed of command when the Philippines fell. Instead he let another general take the surrender while he went on living his life with his family in Australia. His Congressional Medal of Honor should have gone to all of those who survived captivity under the Japanese. He is remembered well, however, for changing Japan to a more democratic form of government. Nonetheless, Truman kept a potential despot from running for president by firing him over Korea. We should be grateful.
My Verdict
3.5

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was going through my grandfather’s keepsake suitcase a few weeks ago, which is a metal box full of things like his Korean War papers and some photographs from the 1950s. He enlisted in the army in 1952 and did a tour of Korea during the Korean War until the conflict ended. It always saddens me how little people know about the Korean War, as it is perhaps only seconded by the War of 1812 as the most forgotten American war. Of course, both of those are wars the USA lost, and high school history courses are tailored to instill a sense of patriotism, not make the country look bad.

I never got to talk to my grandfather too much about his military service as I was only seven years old when he passed, so I have decided to try to learn a lot more on my own. A Christmas Far from Home: An Epic Tale of Courage and Survival During the Korean War is the first in what will be a handful of books on the subject I plan to read in the next few months. Considering how eye-opening this book was, it will be an interesting time for sure.

This book is a look at the Korean War at the tail end of 1950, and specifically the debacle that happened during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir and the following evacuations thereof. Amidst endless promises of “we’ll all be back home for Christmas”, many corners were cut when North Korea seemed on the back foot. Why waste resources when we’re assured victory? This lead to the United States government being utterly unprepared for the onslaught that was the Chinese Army spilling across the border en masse.

My biggest takeaway reading this book was just how “over-rated” General Douglas MacArthur was. Granted, I have a feeling that most famous military generals largely had their moments when their entire careers fell flat on their faces, but MacArthur did so much in that regard it’s hard to look back at his successes and assume they were the “flukes”. His biggest disasters were in the Philippines and Korea, and one common flaw with both blunders was underestimating his opponents. At times, he blatantly ignored intelligence and analysis, refusing to listen to staffers in critical areas. In my opinion, he seemed to be more about cultivating his own public image and building power, then blaming The President when he fell flat on his face. Yes, he did a masterful job of rebuilding Japan after World War II, but managing troops when the heat was on was not his forte. Perhaps my assumption is based on the opinions of the authors I’ve read, but so far – I’m not a fan.

This book is not perfect, I’d even consider it a bit meandering at times, but it helped me get a better understanding of what topics I should seek out when looking into information on this initial period of the war. Stanley Weintraub writes from the vantage point of relating the war to what was going on at the home front, sometimes forgetting to explain the geopolitical situation in Korea itself very well. That said, this book is a good entry point for information on this topic and has led me to find books more detailed on the actual battles themselves.

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[Elgin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first (and last) of Stanley Weintraub's "Christmas and war" books that I have read. I am not sure what the author was trying to accomplish here. I have read a couple of other accounts about the situation at the Chosin reservoir. If I had not read those other books I would not have understood the dynamics of the military action during that period. Maps would have helped! There were two poor maps in the introduction area of the book but no other maps. I spent a lot of time flipping back to the maps to get a feel of movements and location but often places mentioned in the text were not on the inadequate maps. I think that when reading war history, maps of troop movements (several of them) are crucial. But there were no such maps.

Overall I found the writing rambling and unengaging.

[Mark Luongo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though he was referring to another war, I couldn't help think of my father when I read this book. He used to say after coming home from working out in the cold all day, "It's as cold as a bastard out there."
I don't know if I'll ever have to experience the kind of cold that the Marines at Chosin in Korea did. I'm sure I would never want to. But it was all part and parcel of their story in November/December 1950. Their retreat and evacuation was miraculous. Again, poor leadership, faulty intelligence and ego did the "leathernecks" and "dogfaces" in. I know he was a hero to many people but MacArthur's actions were almost criminal. Don't they ever learn.
I was also thinking of the Korean War veterans who used to come and visit my classes, they had great stories to tell. Truthful to say the least.

[Ted Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Weintraub's SILENT NIGHT last Christmas, I elected to read A CHRISTMAS FAR FROM HOME this Christmas. I was a 6 year old youth in 1950 enjoying the joys, comforts, and security of an Indiana Christmas. Stanley Weintraub provides a detailed description of the courage and survival of our brave troops in Korea. We still owe them a debt of gratitude for protecting our freedoms, no matter how unglamorous the situation presented itself. This is another well researched military story accounting the efforts of our heroic Americans in uniform. We may all enjoy a wonderful Christmas this year through the efforts of our troops.

[Tarawyn Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel EXTREMELY generous to give 3 stars. It reads like a textbook. I feel that "an epic tale of courage and survival" implies some sort of human connection. He includes 1-2 sentence quotes from many hundreds of soldiers and OCCASIONALLY a whole paragraph about a single soldier, but it's not at all what I expected. I was expecting the memoir of a soldier, or the lived experiences of a unit, not a general overview of what went wrong and poor decisions made by generals.

[Bob Spiridigliozzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book that showed the struggles of the US Military in Korea in and around the Chosin Reservoir. It was a brutal time for American troops and the book accurately portrayed that. I just felt the author was VERY anti-MacArthur and pro-Marines which tainted the story he told. But still a good read.

[Britt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know this historian loves to write about wars at Christmastime and I’ve read his Pearl Harbor book. I like Christmas-related books at this time of year, but this one was confusing and boring at least on audiobook. The Korean War is far from my speciality and I don’t know a ton about it. I thought this would help me but it was not useful in the audio version at least.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of the Korean Conflict in 1950 when MacArthur in his hubris states that the war will be over and the troops will be home by Christmas. The exploits of the U.S. Marines and the Army in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir are a major focus of this history.

[Audiobook Accomplice (Gillian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real heroes were the troops fighting and dying—Don’t look to MacArthur for heroism…
My Full Review

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat of a memoir with narratives from survivors, it's a nice addition to the Korean War stories and important to share these men's memories. I read this after The Coldest Winter so it was not nearly as in depth as Halberstam's geopolitical survey...but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Kevin Harber · Rating 4 out of 5]

In addition to being petty and self-serving and a hindrance to the war effort in WWII, I have now learned MacArthur was the same in the Korean War. Makes me wonder if he was ever worth a damn at any point or if he was just really good at PR.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of the US miliary at the Chosin Reservoir during the Chinese intervention in the Korean War. Mix of stories of marines and others who had to fight their way out of the pocket as well as response (or lack of urgency) among US military leaders in Japan at the time.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

more a narrative of the "fighting strategy" than a tale; we certainly weren't prepared to fight this conflict - our men were inadequately clothed; a wonder they could even fight.

[Tom Mahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not a bad book, it could have been so much more. Sort of a quick read for a very indepth subject. For a truly great read on the subject, check out Last stand of Fox company by Bob Drury.

[Happyscrapper · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF it is very hard to follow and very confusing.

[Zod · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 10th book I have read about the Korean War and the first I've read in the past 18 months. Any book about the Chosin Reservoir Campaign puts life in perspective and reminds me that I don't have much to complain about...

The book is a good overview and introduction to the Chosin Reservoir Campaign and X Corps' (10th Corps) thrust into North Korea and fighting withdrawal south from the Chosin.

This book is quick and easy to read and provides of good introduction and overview of the major characters of the campaign on both sides.

I truly enjoyed the fact that Stanley Weintraub did an excellent job highlighting the joint and combined force nature of the campaign, which involved USMC, US Army, USAF, USN, British Forces, civilians, and Japanese contractors and longshoreman.

This book will set the stage and allow the reader to move on to other books like Roy Appleman's East of Chosin, which focuses on Task Force Faith's action east of the reservoir, Bob Drury's The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat, and Patrick K. O'Donnell's Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story--The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company. The later two books focus on the actions of smaller company-sized elements and feature numerous first person accounts and allow the reader to feel the biting North Korean Winter. Appleman's, while it does focus on an entire Regimental Combat Team (RCT), it also features first person narrative as well.

All in all I recommend this book as a short Chosin Campaign Primer and recommend that readers move onto the other books immediately after reading A Christmas Far from Home: An Epic Tale of Courage and Survival during the Korean War.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must plead ignorance to much about the Korean War (excuse me, police action), and this book helped some, but I suspect it could have contributed so much more. It's clear that Weintraub had little use for MacArthur (or Acheson, or Truman, etc), but his personal feelings don't help to contribute much to the story. It did whet my appetite for more, and anyone that can make a solid recommendation will be appreciated. I recall from my Air Force days the possession of these heavy white "bunny boots" that we were issued in Minot, ND, and being told we could thank the sufferers of the Korean conflict for spurring the logistics type to come up with footwear for saving feet from being frozen. I used to watch the cops who were watching the B-52s on the alert pad, and wonder what they'd have done without this wonderfully warm footwear. Hearing that the Chinese sent their soldiers out with almost nothing (and their thinking that they could 'afford' these casualties to the cold) sent shivers down my legs.

[Pat Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read about the over advancement of the Marines, and consequent withdrawal, in the Korean War. This book portrayed the peril that the marines were in better to me that "Breakout" which describes the same conflict. I found the wording difficult to make flow through my brain though. It is difficult to describe. Maybe clunky writing, or maybe I was not in the right frame of mind to read the book. It has good history in it. This was a terrifying situation for our forces to be up in and around the Chosin Reservoir with the Chinese lurking everywhere in overwhelming numbers. If you are a war book nut this is for you.

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the title of this book, I was hoping it'd be more focused on the foot soldiers and less about command. I recently read The Coldest Winter, so the focus on MacArthur and Almond felt like a retread.

There were some poignant anecdotes about what the troops went through. And, due to the author's focus, I did learn something new -- mainly about 1) the Marines and 2) supply drops (which are more interesting than they sound).

[Jack Haren · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a slow start the story came together. Nice blend of insights from the company officer level and from senior commanders. I think the book was rushed to press because there was a lack of editor support in many places. Sentence structure was broken and deficient throughout the book.. Author overloads the narrative with commas and many sentences just ran off the tracks.

[Stu Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent short historical overview of the Chosin Reservoir campaign in the Korean War. It's not deep per se, but it's filled with excellent stories and neat anectodes (you'll learn how tootsie rolls help in engine repair). It's a worthy successor in Weintraub's Christmas at war series

[Dave Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

well researched and there is some mind blowing stuff in here,but it doesn't make as coherent a narrative as "the coldest winter" My dad was a marine in first infantry who was at pusan, inchon, and the chosin reservoir so i read the account with great interest.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice narrative of a forgotten episode of the forgotten war -- so well worth a read for anyone interested in US military history. And for anyone interested in rehabilitating the reputation of Douglas MacArthur and his entourage, this is not the place to start.

[Dona · Rating 5 out of 5]

quick - easy read. Give a nice general overview of events & people involved in fighting in northern Korea Nov-Dec 1950.

[Curt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Nothing really new and kind of disjointed.

[Diana Petty-stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good look into the struggles our troops had with unexpected obstacles in weather that often dropped way below zero and attacks by the Chinese using Russian weapons.