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This weekend marks the 59th anniversary of one of the most courageous battles in military history. It happened in the early stages of the Korean Conflict, often called the forgotten war. Thousands of marines fought against the North Koreans, the Chinese and another enemy - the weather, Now 85 years old, Joseph Owen was a young first lieutenant in November 1950, when he and nearly 20,000 other American fighters, trying to gain ground against the surging North Koreans and Chinese Army, were outmaneuvered, trapped behind enemy lines at North Korea's treacherous Chosin Reservoir. The American's were out-gunned 10 to 1....

WAHPETON, N.D. — More than a half-century after Pvt. Joseph Meyer Jr. disappeared while fighting in the Korean War, the Army has told his family his remains will be coming home. Meyer was 17 when he left Wahpeton to enlist in the Army. He was declared missing in action in 1950, with few clues offered to his family.

Hugh, Our son, Boots Dunlap, is a Capt. in the 1-32 Inf Battalion (nicknamed Chosin Bn.). We just got this letter to soldiers' families from the Battalion Commander. These men and women are doing a great job and spilling their blood for us at home. I hope American appreciate their sacrifice. Charlie Dunlap Dear Chosin Family, As you all make your way back from summer vacations and travels, I thought I would welcome you back with some great information about your loved ones' exploits over here in Operation Enduring Freedom. It has been a long, hot summer here in AOR...

PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII (NNS) -- The guided missile cruiser USS Chosin (the War Dragon) (CG 65) returned to its homeport of Pearl Harbor after a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific and 5th Fleet area of operations Jan. 9. Chosin, commanded by Capt. Doug Venlet, departed Hawaii in July as part of Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1. "The Sailors of the 'Mighty War Dragon' performed every mission to Chosin standards - a fantastic effort in everything they did," said Venlet. During the deployment, Sailors from Chosin and helicopter Anti-Submarine Light Squadron 37, Detachment 4 supported maritime security operations (MSO). MSO...

Reginald R. Myers, 85, a Marine Corps colonel who received the Medal of Honor in the Korean War for leading his vastly outnumbered force in an assault on a key position during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, died Oct. 23 at a hospice in West Palm Beach, Fla., of the effects of a stroke. He had lived in Jupiter, Fla., since moving there from Annandale in 1993.

No matter where Marines are serving, from the Pentagon and Marine Barracks in Washington, to the loneliest outposts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marines will stop, shake hands, say happy birthday, sing the Marines' Hymn and, if it is available, have a piece of cake. It doesn't matter to us if its an elaborate cake from some big hotel, a smaller cake from the great cooks aboard ship, or a cookie from an MRE, we're going to celebrate!

This is one of those rare moments when it might be better if I were not a former Marine. Don't misunderstand me, I'm incredibly proud of my prior service as one of America's "few good men." But I'm afraid I may now come across as being somewhat less-than objective when I attempt to blast Navy fawning James F. Dunnigan out of the water (no pun intended). Here's why: Last month, Dunnigan, acclaimed author and the editor in chief of Strategy Page, wrote a piece, "Why the U.S. Navy Is Creating a New Marine Corps," in which he said, "the toughest...

There was talk among the men they might get a real Thanksgiving... [O]n Nov. 27, 1950, 120,000 Chinese surprised the 1st Marine Division with a nighttime attack, coming across in human waves. The combat would last all night, into the next day and for days after that... They are often called the "Frozen Chosin," about 20,000 Marines and Army troops who came under fire in the most brutal conditions of the Korean War. One military historian called the combat at the Chosin Reservoir "the most violent small-unit fighting in the history of American warfare." It was made all but unendurable...

Between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, 1950, the 1st Marine and 7th Infantry divisions took on 100,000 Chinese (25,000 of whom died) during a 70-mile fighting withdrawal in bitterly cold North Korea. Thanksgiving Day, 1950, began relatively well for Marine Cpl. Harley Trueblood. Cooks were dishing out roast turkey with all the trimmings—the first food except cold C rations that he and the other leathernecks in Co. B, 1st Tank Bn. of Col. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller’s 1st Marine Division had eaten since they had stormed Blue Beach at Inchon two months earlier. The enemy was on the run. Trueblood...