Irv Sternberg

In the Land of the Morning Calm Irv Sternberg

They were boys when the Korea War started. Three of them joined the Marines, one enlisted in the Army. On November 23, 1950, they enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner. Four days later, they found themselves fighting for their lives in the snow-covered hills and ridges in North Korea in the brutal Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. There, boys as young as 17, fixed bayonets and fought in hand-to-hand combat with hordes of Chinese troops in sub-freezing Siberian temperature and howling winds. The epic battle and subsequent withdrawal has earned a place in Marine Corps lore, alongside Montezuma, Tripoli and Iwo Jima. Among those who fought at the Frozen Chosin were four men now living their winter years in Colorado. This is their story.