Charlie: What do you think soldiers thought of their leadership at this point in the war? Why?

In order to answer this question I will discuss leadership in terms of the different levels of echelons. At the company level, Army and Marine NCOs were now much more versed in terms of battle experience than they had been in the summer of 1950. The junior leaders inside the infantry and armor companies had grown significantly in less than a years time to understand the realities of what they were up against in terms of the DPRK and the CCF. Although, the ranks of Marines and Soldiers were now filled with reservists who were not full time warriors, Fehrenbach writes that the men had great junior leadership. Fehrenbach writes, “their officers were tough-minded, because their discipline was tight, and because their esprit-that indefinable emotion of a fighting man for his standard, his regiment, and the men around him, was unbroken-weak and strong alike, they would face it well.” Throughout these chapters the author writes of several junior officers and NCOs who took brave actions despite facing a brutal and effective enemy. Although the junior leaders may not have believed in the greater mission of the conflict, they were determined to fight and were now emotionally invested after watching their comrades suffer at the hands of the enemy. An example of this determination is demonstrated by Captain Phillips, commander of Easy Company 7th Marines, thrusting his bayonet “deep into the snowy ground”…as a “marker of defiance, a flag to stand by.”

In terms of higher echelon leadership the Soldiers and Marines on the Korean Peninsula certainly respected MacArthur and looked to his leadership as one of competence. Fehrenbach writes that General Ridgway “supplied the will” and “by the end of January, as a result of firm and unmistakable orders from the new ground commander, the Eight Army moved north to reestablish contact, and to bring the enemy to battle.” Ridgway motivated the Eighth Army and certainly inspired confidence in the troops although Fehrenbach does not detail the Soldiers’ purview on the larger picture. It can be easily assessed that the American troops were certainly disappointed in the fact that MacArthur’s speech in regards to being home by Christmas was obviously not true.