The Battle for Pusan: A Memoir

by Addison Terry

“A great read [that] has frozen the events in print that molded great men who stood alone on the mainland of Asia against the first Asian Communist Army to engage the West.”
–From the Foreword by Brig. Gen. Robert L. Scott, Jr., USAF (Ret.), author of God Is My Co-Pilot

The rapid-fire success of the North Korean Army’s (NKA) invasion of South Korea, launched on June 25, 1950, and supported by Russia’s vaunted T-34 tanks, stunned the world. By August 1, the entire South had fallen, save for the port city of Pusan.

As the enemy prepared to deliver the coup de grâce, only one obstacle Lt. Addison Terry’s unit, the famous Wolfhounds of the 27th Regimental Combat Team. Used as a “fire brigade” to shore up imperiled American defenses, these intrepid soldiers were in the thick of it, stopping the NKA’s threat of a breakthrough at every turn. Against all odds, the Wolfhounds stood firm, racking up two Presidential Unit Citations within weeks. Terry’s account, written while recovering from injuries he suffered during the battle, captures the war in all its grit, sacrifice, and courage.

“A fascinating first-person account of the early days of the Korean War.”
–themilitarybookreview.com

Genres: Military Fiction

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Bonnie_blu · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, let me say that I was stationed in S. Korea and am familiar with and interested in its history. It was an unusual experience reading about cities and locations that I had visited or that I knew of. Terry describes a Korea that was still reeling from the effects of the Japanese occupation. I was there in the late 70s, and it is amazing how different S. Korea was just 25 years after the devastation of WW II and the Korean War. It is a tribute to the Korean people.

Terry's experiences in the Korean War are not only glimpses into the life of a grunt, but are also a look at the Korean War specifically. While reading this very easy-to-read memoir, I was struck by the foreshadowing of how the troops would be treated in the Vietnam War. In both wars, the troops were the victims of political power struggles, poor training, and a lack of supplies and equipment, including weapons and ammo. Of course the two wars differed in that the Korean War vets were not demonized; however, they were ignored and forgotten by the country at large. The Korean War is truly the forgotten war, and its veterans, the forgotten vets.

Terry was an artillery forward observer, and his memoir is a thrilling story. It effectively conveys the brotherhood that forms among soldiers under constant threat of death. In addition, the memoir spectacularly demonstrates how war can be boring beyond belief one minute, and terrifying the next. Terry also shows that, for the grunt, war can be ridiculous, infuriating, disgusting, and even funny at times - - sometimes all within a few hours.

Note: There is racism in the book; it is directed at the Korean people and the "all-negro" 24th Regiment. It reflects the attitudes of the 40s and 50s and will disturb modern readers. But the reader needs to keep in mind the timeframe of the book, and also remember that good did come out of the way the 24th Regiment was deprived of proper training and command. It significantly sped up the full integration of the U.S. armed forces.

[Mountain343 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sought out this book because it felt like most books on the Korean War were focused on the Inchon Landings, Chosin Reservoir, and the air war in general. I wanted a memoir from the early days of conflict, especially the battles around the Pusan perimeter.

This book was exactly what I was looking for!

Honestly, not only is it one of the best books written about the Korean war that I've ever read, but one of a few really great memoirs of 20th century warfare.

While it is sometimes confusing tying to keep track of who is where/doing what, and how some whole episodes of contact are given a single sentence vs a night where little happens is given 10 pages, it's noteworthy in just what stands out in a persons memory. Especially how some things gets all blurred together, how others remain crystal clear, and how what feels like 10hrs is just a minute versus what feels like a minute is actually a week. This book really conveys that disorienting exhaustion and emotion.

Between equipment failure, issues with communications, being short understaffed with poor equipment, thoughts on his ROK allies, and even his experience with the 24th Inf Regiment, this is not a sanitized book written 40 years later, but instead it is full of the very real frustration and questions that were the experience of a FO LT who served in the Occupation Army of Japan and the first parts of the Korean War.

Definitely a great read.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated this book for a number of reasons. I haven't read many Korean War memoirs. I also appreciated that Terry covers the battle to maintain the Pusan perimeter, including the scramble to put US Army units in the field. Finally, he offers some insights into the role that artillery forward observers played and they accomplished their missions. Terry was with the Wolfhounds (27th RCT) who often played the role of firemen, and Terry was quite proud of their record.
His views on Asian troops and African-American troops are raw and unvarnished - when he discusses the 24th Infantry, an African-American unit that suffered from training and leadership issues and performed poorly for part of the Pusan campaign, there is some contempt of a member of an accomplished unit looking down on an underperforming unit, but it feels like there might be more than that as he labels them "Eleanor's Rifles."
An interesting view into the Korean War, the Pusan battles, and the role of artillery forward observer.

[Gin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent war memoir of an artillery officer in the Korean War. It’s a pretty solid read and gets better as it progresses. Terry does a terrific job of conveying the experiences of being at the frontlines - the fear, boredom, idiocy of war. The actions he was in are described very well, and you can imagine being there.

Bearing that this account was written immediately after he was taken out of battle due to being wounded, and thus located in the early 1950s, his account and references to the Koreans and the performance of the all-Black 24th regiment is tinged with racism. But one needs to locate the account in its time. It was a different period, and attitudes on these matters are very different from now in 2024. Almost 74 years ago, the Korean War was.

It’s a readable memoir and adds some frontline perspective of the holding action in the Pusan Perimeter. But it will be better if the maps were bigger and clearer, as the print on my version was quite small, making it difficult to make out the details.

[Travis Nacke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great information of events during the beginning of the war. I visited some of the places mention while living so gave me a new perspective.