This is CBS, Iron the World. I'm John Batchel. I welcome my colleague, Colonel Grant

Newsham, United States Marine Corps retired, author of When China Attacks Recently on Voice of America,

Chinese edition, to review the Chosen Reservoir Retreat, Thanksgiving 1950, a Marine Corps victory in the other

direction, the first Marine Division trapped near the Chosen Reservoir, had one road to get to the sea,

and took it despite the fact that the Chinese Red Army was all around them on the hillsides

and peppered the retreat through icy conditions all the way down.

Grant recently spoke with Voice of America about this effort,

and I'm presuming this was made available to the Chinese audience everywhere, but especially on the mainland.

Grant, a very good evening to you.

Your conversation was enlightening about being a Marine.

You especially focused on the general commanding the first division in its retreat.

General Smith, he was controversial and he was successful.

What do we need to remember about him? Well, he was the one general, General O.P. Smith,

Oliver, Prince Smith, and his performance at the Chosen Reservoir saved the first Marine Division

and probably saved the entire Marine Corps

from being disbanded. And it was because of his willingness to sort of buck orders from higher

headquarters to take on the irrational exuberance that was demanding everybody get as fast as

possible up to the border with China, to northernmost North Korea.

General Smith knew this was dangerous.

He had a sense that the Chinese were going to attack, and he positioned the First Marine Division

so it could withstand the initial Chinese onslaught.

Other units that did not do that, Army units in particular, literally got vaporized.

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