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He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose
There are no great men, only great challenges that ordinary men are forced by circumstances to meet.
The worst part of that environment is the "Hawk Bite" (wind chill). I've seen unprotected skin on the hands go from pink to grey to white in less than 3 minutes in sub zero temps. In Alaska at least we had stands of firs that we could take shelter in to block the wind (and no one shooting at us).
Photos I've seen on Korea show no such stands of firs and even if there were I am sure the Chicoms had them target referenced.
Look at how they are huddled around their small fire. Trying to block the wind, absorb what little heat is coming from the fire and absorb each other's heat.
Our cold weather clothing back then wasn't the best either. On the march they would work up a sweat. which would soak their underclothes and outer clothing. The wind would freeze the clothes to them when they stopped and then with the insulating factor gone, they would begin to freeze and send them into hypothermic shock.
A good informative read on freezing to death is outlined in Jack London's short story To Build A Fire.
I put a location on a doco the other day on Chosin Reservoir for those interested to watch it on Netflix another member posted the doco graciously for the site so I have just placed it here it is a very stark doco on what those PBI GI's went through well worth sitting down with a cuppa and watching.
I've seen unprotected skin on the hands go from pink to grey to white in less than 3 minutes in sub zero temps. In Alaska at least we had stands of firs that we could take shelter in to block the wind
I remember it all well too, don't need a repeat...
Attachment 93169IMHO The Last Stand of Fox Company is extraordinary reading. That's the battle where US Marines faced the worst weather since Valley Forge and were outnumbered more than any time since The Alamo. What an astonishing feat of arms! That's also the battle in which Hector Cafferata took out over 200 Chinese attackers with an M1 and was awarded the MOH.
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Originally Posted by BEAR
