| With a Black Platoon in Combat: A Year in Korea (Texas a & M University Military History Series) |  | Author: Lyle Rishell
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 1129309
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.8 x 1
ISBN: 0890965269
Dewey Decimal Number: 951.9042092
EAN: 9780890965269
ASIN: 0890965269
Publication Date: April 1993
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The first year of the Korean conflict was a dark and humiliating period for many of the troops who fought there. Against a backdrop of U.S. political indecision and reduced military capability, American soldiers fought a dedicated and numerically strong enemy force that was determined to overrun South Korea. One of these units, the segregated 24th Infantry Regiment, was made up of black soldiers, commanded for the most part by white officers. Lyle Rishell, an infantry platoon leader, led a black platoon of Able Company in that regiment. This book tells the dramatic, often frustrating, sometimes heroic story of that platoon in that first, fateful year of war. From detailed notes he made at the time, and from his memories of those days, Rishell reconstructs the deployment and tactics of his unit, its day-to-day actions and survival. The story that unfolds is one of honor, fear, fighting spirit, fierce combat, and the cries of wounded men. The 24th Infantry Regiment has received bad press from many historians of the Korean conflict, who claim that the black soldiers and noncommissioned officers were undisciplined and even cowardly in battle. Rishell's moving account, based on his own experiences, describes his men as no better or worse than any other infantrymen in the first year in Korea. His troops fought well from July, 1950, to May, 1951, in nearly constant front-line action against the North Koreans and the Chinese Communists, despite a variety of significant fundamental obstacles, including the racial prejudice of much of their own army. It is a unique and compelling story of the relationship of a white officer and black soldiers before integration of the services and the civilrights legislation of the sixties. It is also an important corrective to a poorly understood aspect of one of America's most dismal conflicts.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good read but maps would be helpful June 16, 1999
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The first impression this book made upon me was consistent with 'forgotten war' nature of this bitter conflict: the book has yet to be checked out of my university library, despite 4 years on the shelves. Rishell was a white Lieutenant assigned to the Black Platoon of Able Company, 24th IP. Like many Korean War books written by soldiers on the ground, it covers the year from the beginning of the conflict to May 1951, when the stalemate began to emerge.
The book has a good description of how the topography (especially the Taebek mountains), climate and lack of infrastructure in Korea affected the outcome of the war and presented formidable difficulties for both sides.
One criticism I have is the lack of maps in the book. Of course all readers at this point would have a general idea of the layout of the peninsula and how the war raged from one end to the other. But the author constantly refers to small locations and battles, and without some kind of map, the story becomes very confusing. Ironically the author himself states how invaluable maps would have been in managing the conflict more effectively. In the earliest days of the war, the only Korea maps the US had were copies they obtained from the Japanese.
On the all important issue of how the Black Platoons perfomed in Korea, Rishell is more clear. He claims bugouts were widespread in all units early in the war. He criticizes Max Hasting's "The Korean War" account of the Yechon battle, the first victory by US led forces in the war. He praises the 159th Artillery Battalion, also black, for its support.
 A Comrade in Arms May 9, 1999
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was shipped to Korea as a rifleman and assigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment's 2nd Battalion, G-Company, 1st Platoon, 1st Squad. where I was to serve from Dec.4 1950 until Sept. 1st, 1951. The regiment originally known as the Buffalo Soldiers, and can truely state that it was one of the most outstanding combat units in the Korean War.In my book WHAT'S A COMMIE EVER DONE TO BLACK PEOPLE?, I wrote of my experiences, it details the psychological effect of the war, on a 17-year-old kid, It also tells the story of a black man's fight in a racist United States army. A war where we black soldiers soon realized the bitter irony of our situation--supposedly fighting to protect the rights and freedom of an ethnic people, many of us had never heard of before; even as that freedom was denied us in our own country. My experience was a rude awakening to the realities, not only of life and death, but of politics. Writing this book was one of the most difficult decision of my life. But perhaps it along with books like, WITH A BLACK PLATOON IN COMBAT, will serve as an inspiration to other Black-veterans, to tell their stories, our history. Reflecting back now, at age 66, and realizing the advancements we Americans, of African decent have made, I feel very proud of my participation; and privilege to have served under warriors like Capt, Lyle Rishell; together we are sharing our experiences with the younger generation.. Yes! perhaps, if I had known then at the ages 17, what I know now, I too might've stayed home and remained in school (war is not like those in movies). But I didn't. I chose the road of adventure, The Creator spared me, perhaps to add this chapter, to the history of African-Americans in the making of this our great country.. Hopefully Capt, Rishell's book will impress upon the now generation, that the freedom and opportunities we now enjoy, many black men also fought and died for it. Freedom, indeed, was not Free.. PS; Even now, 49 years afterward, tears come to my eyes, when I recall comrades, Whites, Blacks, Reds & Yellows, that gave their very all..
War from an infratryman's point of view. September 4, 1998
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a no-nonsense, non-embellished account of one platoon leader's experience with the oft-maligned 24th Infantry Regiment in Korea.Rishell tells in a matter of fact tone the hardships, heroism, and sacrifice of men under the strain of combat. Despite the fact that he was a white officer in a predominately black regiment, race does not play a factor in his recollections, as it most likely did not in combat. He has written an important account about his platoon(2nd of Co. A) that should be read for the wealth of detail it contains about a soldier's life in Korea during a very difficult time.
Co. A, 1st Bn, 24th Infantry Regt, 25th Division, 1950-51. December 8, 1997
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Despite the title, race does not figure in the author's experiences. Then-Lieutenant Rishell and his men were far too busy trying to fend off hordes of North Korean and Chinese troops in a wildly inhospitable climate to sweat any such small stuff.
Their story, with Colonel Rishell's thoughtful annotations to his original fragmentary notes, is basically the record of an infantry platoon fighting for their lives - hungry, cold, tired, and afraid, one and all. They were, in Rishell's first-hand opinion, no better and no worse than other units, which means they were pretty damned good, considering how green and poorly equipped they were.
Rishell's memoir is a valuable addition to the record of the Korean War. No map is provided, an odd omission in a war so dominated by topography.(The "score" rating is a feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)
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