With a Black Platoon in combat : a year in Korea /

There are many excellent general histories on the Korean conflict, such as Max Hastings's The Korean War (CH, Jul'88) and Clay Blair's The Forgotten War (1987). Rishell takes issue with both of these and tries to prove that US troops performed well during the first year of the war. Rishell, a white officer who commanded a black platoon during this period, maintains that his men performed no better or worse than any other infantrymen. He disputes the earlier accounts that his men had "bugout fever" and states that his troops never left a position without an order to withdraw. As a general history this work is very superficial. It is on the local level that the author makes his strongest contribution by relating the early optimism of the American troops and their dismay at the sight of retreating ROK troops. The book is a brief and well-written personal account of the war. An excellent chronology, some good photographs, and an adequate index. No footnotes or, most damning, maps. General; advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty. M. O'Donnell; College of Staten Island, CUNY

Rishell's skimpy memoir, padded with expositional material about the history of the Korean War, is nonetheless a valuable eyewitness report of the early weeks of the 1950-1953 conflict. As a white lieutenant, he commanded an all-black platoon of the 24th Infantry Regiment in the defense of the Pusan Perimeter and the pursuit of the North Korean Army after Gen. Douglas MacArthur's Inchon landing. Rishell spent several weeks in an Army hospital in Japan recuperating from injuries, but returned to his unit for Operation Ripper, the first U.S. offensive against Chinese Communist forces. Surprisingly, Rishell does not discuss race relations, noting only that his platoon's reputation for unreliability in the presence of the enemy is undeserved: ``They performed well. There was never a moment when they failed me, nor did I give any thought to the fact that they were black.'' Photos. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved