Repeating history?

I have many thoughts about this book but as always, here’s the situation that led to me reading it.  This Kind of War is another book from the Army Chief of Staff’s reading list.  It has also been recommended by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis as a must-read.

Secretary Mattis is known, colloquially, as the Warrior Monk due to his dedication to his craft and his knowledge and understanding of making war.  He is known to be a voracious reader and believes that all leaders should be reading.  From Task and Purpose, Secretary Mattis said “You need to have that broader reading as you grow and personally develop so you can actually do the job as a military officer.”  He famously responded to an email from a colleague about the importance of reading (Read the email here).  Finally, the Secretary said, in regards to the current climate with North Korea that ““There’s a reason I recommended T.R. Fehrenbach’s book,” Mattis replied, “that we all pull it out and read it one more time” (article).  Needless to say, this book came highly recommended.

T.R. Fehrenbach was a Korean War veteran who wrote This Kind of War to detail the stories of the men who fought the “forgotten war.”  This book is a comprehensive look at the Korean War that uses the narratives of small units and individuals to represent the larger war as a whole.  As a result, there are moments of incredible, specific detail and others that feel rushed.

The author definitely focuses the book from the perspective of small units and individuals but he still discusses issues, problems, and decisions from higher, strategic echelons.  Fehrenbach’s backs up his criticism pretty thoroughly but he occasionally slips into some proselytization.  Specifically, it is in regards to the draftees and the type of men he believes are required to fight wars.  I do not particularly agree with his sentiments.  Fehrenbach believes in the necessity of a warrior-class, he mentions legionnaires often, to defend America.  I hear similar sentiments frequently today.  I won’t be petty with my criticism, though I really want to be, but I do believe that line of thinking is misguided and only deepens the civil-military divide.  Nevertheless, Fehrenbach dealt with this issue during a war with draftees, unlike the all volunteer force of today which was almost certainly more difficult.

My last criticism of this book is the language used.  This Kind of War was published in 1963 so Feherenbach uses the language of the era to describe events.  This includes many racist terms for Asians of many descents.  He also talks about men and women in terms of the specific roles they are expected to occupy.  It sounds ridiculous today in such a widely respected book.

 

All in all, it was a very good book and I better understand the Korean War than I did before.