Yes, I watched that documentary on Netflix. A gripping story that’s been overlooked and a travesty how that particular regiment was thrown into battle, then essentially abandoned by senior commanders and had to fight their way out. It’s a wonder that there were any survivors at all from those units.
It was triage. You could save 2.5K Army personnel or you could save 30K Marines. The Army guys drew the short straw. What was worse - the Army guys were outnumbered 8 to 1 vs the Marines being outnumbered 3 to 1. IMO, the problem wasn't leadership - Maclean and Faith were given the job of the 300 - fighting against overwhelming odds without the high command even realizing what they were up against, due to the fog of war - and they did a superb job with what they had. But fighting a skilled opponent with 8 to 1 numerical superiority in that opponent's favor, using a force composed mostly of green troops* who were cut off and mostly resupplied from the air, was always going to result in extremely high casualties. The real kicker is how TFF veterans were treated after this epic stand - as soldiers who ran from the fight.
* They were fortunate that Chinese logistics were even crappier. If PVA had anything like American logistics, both TFF and the two Marine divisions would have been swept off the map. Heck, unless Truman resorted to nukes, Kim Jong-un would rule over a unified Korea today.
Do you remember the name of that documentary? Have Netflix and I would love to watch it.