[Rembrandt_fan]

You wrote, referring to Chinese military dead in Korea, "Volunteers? Right!"

I'm sure many of the Chinese fighting in Korea were volunteers--Mao Zedong's own son volunteered for action in Korea, and died there. I was an airborne infantryman during the Reagan era, at the height of the Cold War. We were taught never to underestimate the bravery or dedication of our adversaries, whether Russian, Eastern Bloc, or Chinese. I also have an uncle who was a combat engineer during the Korean War, attached to a machine gun battalion. The Chinese would attack in waves, thousands of them, blowing their damned bugles, knowing going forward was certain death. My uncle thought they were brave, although he couldn't get his head around the thinking behind such tactics.

[Gritty]

We were taught never to underestimate the bravery or dedication of our adversaries, whether Russian, Eastern Bloc, or Chinese

I don't believe I ever have and I'm not now doubting the bravery of these Chinese "volunteers" or the others you mention.

The waves of Russian troops storming Gernman tanks with their bare hands were certainly brave as well, but perhaps they had motivations other than dying for the glory of "Mother Russia"?

Nonetheless, what I'm questioning is the Chinese being truly "volunteers" rather than being volunteered by Mao and his generals.

[Gothmog]

Thanks for your families service, but while the Chinese conscripts may have been brave in the face of death, they were certainly not volunteers and faced execution regardless. From "Mao the Untold Story", excerpts from pgs. 361-62, in response to the US response to N Korea's invasion of the South in 1950:

"Stalin signalled to Mao that the moment had come for him to act."

"Mao leapt into action."

"Poverty-stricken, exhausted China was about to be thrown into war with the USA."

"Mao was convinced that America could not defeat him, because of his one fundamental asset -- millions of expendable Chinese, including quite few that he was pretty keen to get rid of. In fact, the war provided a perfect chance to consign former Nationalist troops to their deaths. ... In case UN troops should fail to do the job, there were special execution squads in the rear to take care of anyone hanging back."