The Outpost War, by Lee Ballenger

The Outpost War: US Marines in Korea Volume 1, 1952, by Lee Ballenger
Foreword by Allan R. Millett
Brassey's, 2000
Library: 951.9 Bal

Backmatter:
The U.S. Marine Corps' traditional role is to attack an entrenched enemy, seize his ground for mop-up and occupation forces, and move on to the next unlucky target. Midway through the Korean War, however, the Mariners were forced to abandon their usual tactics to fight a limited war. Lee Ballenger's The Outpost War is the first book-length study to focus on USMC combat operations during the stalemate phase of the Korean War.

In 1952, overriding political objectives dictated that the tactics of UN forces in Korea shift from those of maneuver to those of holding on to territory recently gained, often at great human cost. For the duration of the Korean War, UN field officers were prohibited from attacking the enemy with anything more than a battalion of men without approval from high command. Both sides dug trenches across the breadth of the Korean Peninsula and built outposts in no-man's-land between "the main lines of resistance." These combat outposts were strong points that commanded high ground from which the enemy could be observed, controlled and engaged. Thus began the "outpost war", a forgotten period of the "forgotten war", but one during which 7,800 Marines became casualties.

The Outpost War tells the story of the 1st Mariner Division's move to the Jamestown Line in Western Korea where the Marines were ordered to dig in and learn to fight a defensive war. The book describes their steep, deadly learning curve and reports on major battles of the period, including Bunker Hill and the Hook.

Table of Contents
1. The Move West
2. Outpost Defense
3. Jamestown Line
4. Raid on Ungok
5. Blind Mn and Elephants
6. Bunker Hill
7. Elmer and Irene
8. Patrols and Raids
9. Outposts Lost
10. Retaking the Hook
11. Biding Time
12. Year's End
Hard Lessons
Appendix 1: Casualty Table
Appendix II: Hills and Outpost Sites
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index

Photos (the numbers divided by slashes are the Battalion/Regiment
--2nd Lieutenant Howard Matthias, Dog Company, 2/5, on the MLR after a night patrol in July 1952
--1dt Lieutenant Stan Rauh, Able Company, 1/7, aboard hospital ship USS Repose, wounded retaking the Hook, October 1952
--Staff Sergeant, Dave Evans, George Company, 3/1, about June 1952
--Captain Bernard Peterson and Major Bill Biehl, controlling an air strike from the MLR
--Sergeant John "J.J." O'Hagan, Able Company, 1/7, Outpost Dagmar, June 1952
--Private 1st Class Don McClure, wireman with How Company, 3/7, Hill 229, June 1952
--2nd Lt. Lee Cook, platoon leader, Reconnaissance Company, September 1952
--Staff Sergeant John R. Alexander, platoon sergeant in Able Company, First Tank Battalion, 1951
--Tank A-41 disembarking LST 1068. Inchon, 16 April 1952. Private 1st class Durk, Sgt Chris Sarno, 2nd lt Wilson
--2nd Lt Jim Vanairsdale, platoon leader, Easy Company, 2/7, Hill 67, May 1952
--First Platoon, Easy Company, 2/7, after raid on Hill 67. (Ten recognizable faces of men gathered in a jeep)
--2ns lt William Watson, George Company, 3/7; Corporal Mickey Williamson, 3/7; Bill Conners, Eleventh Marines (three Kentuckians)
--Private 1st class Gus Mendez, Item Company, 3/1, July 1952. Holding a BAR.
--2nd lt Hunt S. Kerrigan, Platoon Leader, Able Company, 1/5. 1953 after being awarded Silver Star
--Private 1st class Tom Lavin and Private First Class Miller of Fox Company 2/5 (Miller will be kia 24 June 1952)
--Private 1st Class Tom Lavin with BAR
--Sergeant Glen Dye, Dog Company, 2/1 receiving Gold Star, Yokosuka, Japan
--Corporal Peter Beauchamp and Private First Class William Freyer, George Company 3/1, spring 1952
--Private 1st Class Chuck Burrill, Reconnaissance Company, October 1952
--Sergeant Robert J. Thornton and Private 1st class "Red" Garden, How Company, 2/7, June 1952, on the line at Hill 229.
--2nd Lt Henry Conway, George Company, 3/7, captured 6 October 1952, Outpost Detroit
--Private 1st Class Howard Davenport, Reconnaissance Company, near Munsa-ni in August 1954
--Private 1st class Andy Frey and unidentified Marine, George Company, 3/1, September 1952
--Captain Fred McLaughlin, Able Company, 1/7, CP bunker, retaking the Hook, October 1952
--Sergeant Arthur Lipper III, First Platoon Guide, Reconnaissance Company, 1952
--Private 1st class, Gene Thomas, George Company, 3/1, outside his bunker, December 1952

Maps
--1st Marine Division Sector, Jamestown Line, 1952-1953
--The Korean Peninsula
--The Eighth Army Front Line, 30 April 1952
--Objectives for 1/5 Attack, 9 May 1952
--2/1 Sector, 9-11 August 1952 (Battle for Bunker Hill)
--Hook Penetrations, 26-27 October 1952