GI FILM FESTIVAL: Memories of the Coldest War
by G.I. Film FestivalIn the winter of 1950, 15,000 U.S. troops were surrounded and trapped by 120,000 Chinese soldiers in the frozen mountains of North Korea. Refusing surrender, the men fought 78 miles to freedom while saving the lives of 98,000 civilian refugees. Chosin is the first documentary on the Chosin Reservoir Campaign. The survivors take us on an emotional and heart-pounding journey through one of the most savage battles in American history. These accounts, combined with footage never before seen by most Americans, create a visceral, emotionally-charged experience unlike that provided by any other war documentary. The upcoming major motion picture “17 Days of Winter” is based on these real-life heroes.
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With approximately 600 film submissions over the last four years, we’ve seen a lot of historical war documentaries come across our flat screen. A LOT. But within the first few moments of reviewing Chosin, we knew we had something completely different. And it had nothing to do with the technical aspects of the film, which were impressive by any standard. Or even the incredible story itself, which will soon be seen on the big screen in narrative form.
No, what is extraordinary about this film is the depth emotion expressed by these heroes and the strikingly graphic nature of their descriptions. It’s been over a month since we reviewed the film and I still can’t shake the image expressed by one of the heroes who said when he shot one of the Chinese invaders at close range, the man’s “blood burned my eyes.” In other words, this was not a group of vets swapping war stories around a campfire. This was a great unburdening. A cleansing. (Check out the trailer above and you’ll see what I mean.)
For 85 minutes we were completely transfixed. And when it was all over we were left asking the question: How did these rookie filmmakers manage to pull such incredible material from these men in a way we had never seen before? Well, here’s how.
The filmmakers (Brian Iglesias and Anton Satter) are military veterans, Iraq War veterans, to be exact. And fellow Marines. And this is why they were able to extract from these men stories they had never told their wives, their children or their closest friends.
Chosin Film Premiering at GI Film Festival
Iglesias and Satter spent eight months on the road collecting the stories of 184 Korean War veterans in 27 cities, living out of a van and eating military rations. And what they have delivered is an intimate, breathtaking and important piece of work that must not be missed.
Click here to buy tickets. The screening will begin Saturday night, May 15, 8:30 pm at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, DC. The GI Film Festival (GIFF) runs from 11 May – 16 May 2010 in Washington DC. The GIFF is a non-profit event and the only film festival in the nation whose mission is to honor the the service and sacrifices of the men and women in uniform through the medium of film.
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293 Comments
Incredible. A battle for the ages.
Ah, the Forgotten War. Growing up my only real knowledge of the Korean War was from M.A.S.H. Although I found Hawkeye funny, I found him to be too much of a whiner, and wondered why the hell he became an Army Doctor if he didn't support the war effort. Secretly I wanted Major Burns to pop him in the mouth. "Get the hell out of my ER tent Captain Pierce, and take your communist sentiments with you!"
While stationed at Kadena AB in Okinawa in the late 80's, I would have liked to have done a TDY to Osan for the ever vigilant alert birds but I never had a chance to do so. I did go TDY to Kwang-ju, and we got there my bus from landing at Kusan. Interesting landscape. The trees where shorter than one would expect. We were told that fires during the war wiped out a lot of forest. Don't know how true that is, but that's I heard.
We hear about the WWII vets, the Vietnam vets, the Gulf vets, but it's very rare we hear about the Korean vets. It's nice that someone is doing that. It shouldn't be the Forgotten War.
I will definitely see this.
My God… that's amazing.
If the documentary travels to Miami I'll see it. Great deed by Veterans honoring Veterans.
I have met some veterans from the Chosin battles, awesome men. I am glad their heroism will be remembered. But it is hard to look at the veterans of the Cold War era, without feeling sad. The Cold War was basically won, but the Progressive/Democrats have been given the Soviet Union, North Korea, Vietnam, and China the victory and defeating America and the West from Washington D.C.
Damn that trailer was better then anything I have seen out of Hollywood in years. I mean an entire movie.. Powerful.
Know what you mean. Lost both parents in the last year. Dad was WW11 veteran and won 2 bronze stars. Later in life he told me stories that were incredible about what he went through. All that sacrifice. For what? So a bunch of damn freeloaders and illegal invaders can give this country over to the Marxists? I truly hate Obama and the Marxists that are on the left. If that is politically incorrect screw them. They can kiss my ass.
Blame Bush
Fuck You Randy and your entire shithead family. Don't you ever bring your bullshit into anything concerning my family again you fucking piece of shit.
I would love to see a good war movie that makes our soldier out to be the good guys for a change! The libs in Hollyweird always portray American soldiers as a bunch of civilian killing rapist. I'm sick of it! The men in our armed forces are your friends and neighbors! Quit portraying them as a bunch of thugs!
Its sad that there haven't been very many movies to acknowledge this war. I doubt most people (re: younger people) in the States are even aware of the Korean Conflict.
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"Chesty" Puller. A Marine's Marine. Most decorated Marine in history. Earned 'em all. Led a great fighting force of fine young American men.
We Americans still have great men like these guys, if we just set the totally lose and LET THEM WIN!
The United States thinks in terms of "American Exceptionalism" because WE ARE EXCEPTIONAL.
It's pieces of crap like Obama and his cheap pimps that think our best days as a country have passed.
Like a bad sickness, we'll just let Obama "pass" and recover and go on bigger and better. Watch us.
Hawkeye was probably drafted. My Dad's cousin served in WWII, came home, started a family and a dental practice, and then got called up again for Korea.
"We Were Soldiers" – Mel Gibson. Hellova movie.
("Spoiler Alert – the Good Guys WIN!)
Holy crap. This looks intense. I love stuff like this.
http://religionannarbor.wordpress.com/ .
Sorry about you parents harley, they really were the "greatest generation". My Uncle Frank was at Bastogne with the 101st. I have his service records and papers and jump wings and stuff.
My parents are 80 and 77 and starting to feel and look their age. My Dad flew combat in Vietnam in '69-'70.
I went by their house and my Dad's relatively new Mercedes CLK 380 is jacked up and he's screwing around with the brakes.
I just shook my head and sat and watched, he's still tough as a boot.
Tells me "I'm not paying those sonofabitches at Mercedes $250 for a damn brake job!"
God Bless you parents.
Chesty Puller – man of few words and much heroic action.
Barry Obama – man of way too many words and moronically wrong actions.
What is wrong with our country? We gotta fix this crap fast!
Well said, Jamesb. Reading about Marines like Chesty Puller and Dan Daly convinced me to join the Corps. They were exceptional heroes, some of the finest warriors this country's ever produced, and helped shape the Corps from its under-appreciated pre-World War I status to the recognized best fighting force in the world.
On the topic of the Marine Corps, and going back to the whole debate over supercarriers, I like the idea of building several more smaller Marine Corps escort carriers. With maybe twenty of those we could do the work of our current carrier battle groups at half the cost. And with the Joint Strike Fighter becoming our standard to replace the Harrier, they'll be even deadlier at projecting air supremacy.
Ya, I read that entire article about supercarriers and the suggestion to go smaller and quicker and as much as I like the idea of a 1100' big boy plying the seas we have what? 10 carrier groups?
Maybe smaller would be smarter. Make 'em really fast and well self-defended, go to sea withn a smaller support fleet.
The F-35 (?) with the center directional jet nozzeling down for VTOL from a carrier or ski jump like the Brits are doing, would be cool and effective and able to do the job.
Like the guy was saying we had a TON of "Jeep" carriers by the end of WWII.
I'll check it out. Thanks!
This is literally a dream come true for me. I have been obsessed with the story of the Chosin Few ever since some Chosin vets spoke to my platoon during boot camp. Iwo Jima is the primary Marine battle in the eyes of the public, but for Marines, the ultimate battle will always be Chosin. I always describe it as America's version of "300."
I briefly served with Capt. Iglesias during OIF 1 and he definitely stuck out as a bright young lieutenant. He and his partner have done a real service to the Marines and the American public by helping to bring this forgotten battle into the public eye.
cant wait to see this film, it looks incredible
heroic!
Wow. Proof that Randy can be inappropriate in any given thread.
Ewald,
The latest class of gator-freighter seems to fit that bill, and Isn't the USS New York City one? Loaded with jump jets, helos, a big assed well deck… I need to google it but I gotta go to work, sorry…
Give me one of them, loaded up with lean mean fighting marines, that USMC hovercraft, some helos… Hell theres a whole lot of small countries I could/would happily overtake with jus ONE of those…
I feel we will still need the big carriers for use as remote landing strips for the Navy fighter fleet for the foreseeable future. Maybe a couple giant ones, too, and some spec ops tasked small (maybe submersible) carriers for the really super secret missions…
Just my opinons, your mileage may vary…
I read the book M.A.S.H. was based on many years ago and you are correct, Hawkeye and Trapper and most of the rest of the medical personnel were all drafted.
Also, the book is a pretty good read. It details the surgeons' experiences without all of the political baggage that was added to the TV series.
You have my condolences for your loss Harley
inspiring and humbling. most of us will never measure up to these men.
My father in law, a former Marine, is a veteran of the Chosin Reservoir. He also made the Inchon and Suwon landings and along the way collected 2 Purple Hearts and spent some time recovering on a hospital ship after being blown out of his foxhole by a grenade. He was actually eligible for a couple of more Purple Hearts, but he turned them down to stay with his unit. His brother also fought over there.
This has been the forgotten war but the valor of the men who fought and died there must not be forgotten.
I am an Army veteran and we have only briefly talked about his time in Korea. The most stunning images I have seen though were pictures he took of Seoul after the invasion. Having been stationed in Korea a couple of times there is just no way to compare Seoul of 1955 with Seoul of 1988 that hosted the Olympics.
No he doesn't talk about it much, and I don't push. The few stories he has told are chilling enough, interspersed with the usual stories of GI's doing what GI's do when they have too much free time.
I wonder if Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks will call these guys racists or show them in some future movie casually gunning down captured enemy troops?
My time in Korea was after, but they were the grunts that taught me how to stay alive. Those debts can never be repaid. It's gratifying to see them honored so well. Look at the still camera work of "triple D" David Douglas Duncan.
He, more than anyone, grasps the essence of that shit hole.
Growing up, I learned that my fathers Cousin fought at and survived the unbelievably overwhelming odds at Chosin Reservoir. He talked very little about his experience to my dad.
There is a story about Chesty Puller in Korea. At one point he, and a group of Marines (can't remember how many), were surrounded by the enemy. In the middle of all the chaos Chesty stood up and said, OK men, we have the bast@ards right where we want them, we can shoot in every direction and kill the MF'ers. Yes, he was a Marine's Marine, and held in high esteem by all.
This is one I will see. It is the right time for Veterans to stand up proudly against these Alinski leftards. If they expect us to cower I have a newsflash for them.
That's all he's got. I know the type well. He's probably compensating for not having many friends. So he craves attention, yet he can't figure out how to do it positively, so he lashes out.
In a way, I feel sorry for him, because until he can get over his problems, he probably won't change.
I've never seen that but the commercials looked really good. Gibson's voice over line speaking to the troops "I will be the first soldier off the chopper, and the last soldier to leave."
Ya, it's a hell of a good movie. It's based on an auto biography and true to that and true to history this Col. was first in. I think it cronicles the first cavalry and offical engagement between U.S. troops and NVA regulars in a more symetrical type encounter. You might look it up, it's been a few years since I saw it, great movie, IMHO.
If you haven't seen Gettysburg before, I recommend that one. Some of the scenes appear a bit slow and labored, but I think they're trying to emphasize the different mannerisms from a different era.
It portrays soldiers on both sides as honorable men. And it has some great action scenes. Especially Pickett's charge and Little Round Top. A plus is it was filmed on site at the Battlefield park, and they used actual Civil War reenacters for extras, so they were already practiced in period acting.
My sister and a friend of her's went to NYC to see the official launching of the USS New York, last summer I think.
As they were boarding the ship, the Capt. and some VIPS were coming down the gangway. She yelled out "Chenango Valley '76" the school and year she graduated high school. She said he turned around and smiled, stuck out his hand to shake hers and replied "Chenango Valley, class of '85, welcome aboard the USS New York."
That is a cool story.
Thats what I heard the Marines at Chosin said too.
EdSki,
That is an AWESOME story…
Nothing against you Mr. 999, but in my opinion those two names aren't worthy to be mentioned in the same thread with the Chosin Few.
A little forgotten battle in a forgotten war. It surprises me that they are even doing a Movie about it. The 120000 Chinese were out numbered by some 15000 marines. The Mistake that was made was that the Chinese thought they could do it with just 120,000 men. I will go see the film if it gets out.
Well Said, We are Exceptional and have been since the founding of the Nation. Guys like Obama come and go and they just end up as a foot note in history. Our Best days have not even come yet. As for going with smaller Carriers, Look what happened to the Royal Navy in the Falkland Islands. They didn't have enough striking power that a Carrier like the Nimitz Class can bring to bear, and it cost the Royal Navy ships it should not have lost. Yea its not cheap, but its cheap compared to loosing a war. The Brits won down in the Falklands because the Argintine Army was well not up to the task when you got right down to it. Cheap Pimps I like that!
That's interesting. I really don't know much a bouit the Falklands other than a Brit nuke sub sunk a battle cruiser (not a battleship, but a heavy cruiser I guess would be a better term) and that the Brits took some ship loses from Exorsets anti-ship missles (sic).
No way would I want to see us mothball a Nimitz class, but if finacially feasible add mid-sizers, quick strikers (even though I know the Nimitz can crank up to what 35 knots? something like that)
He was CO of 1st Marines and at one point during the battle, some Army officer whose unit had straggled in and attached itself to his regiment asked about the plan of retreat, at which point Chesty told his artillery liaison to target the army positions and if they started to cut and run, fire on them. Then he turned back to the Army officer and said "that's our plan of retreat"
That's all he's got. I know the type well. He's probably compensating for not having many friends. So he craves attention, yet he can't figure out how to do it positively, so he lashes out.
There's probably a bit more than lack of friends in those like Randy. Of course, I think that because I don't really have much in the way of friends and I try not to act like Randy, while he seems to revel in his bigoted rants.
The real heroes, I’ll shake the hand of any man that’s fought for this wonderful country.
Hollywood can kill my ass.
My Uncle was one of the "Chosin Few" as well. And he doesn't talk about it much but he is starting to. I saw him for the first time in years yesterday. Sadly it was at his sister's funeral. At the dinner afterwards I found myself at the table with my two cousins one who served as a medic in Vietnam, the other was in the Navy in the Mediterranean durning the same time and my Uncle, First Marine Div. in WW2 and Korea. Two generations who served their country relucttantly in battle because they were called do it. There stories of how and why they got there are different. My cousins were drafted and my uncle signed up just a few months before we went to war because I think he just wanted to get away from home. …. [continued below]
…. Then after WW2 a buddy said let's join the reserves the fighting is over and it will help with income as they just got married and had a kid coming.. Bam – Korea happened and my Uncle who survived some of the worst battles of the Pacific nearly froze to death in Korea. All I can say is you wonderful men [including you to Just A Grunt with my uncle and cousins].. thank you for serving, thank you for staying alive. Thank you. and I pray with all my heart the pain of the things you had to do and the things you saw will somehow demish and that God's grace fills you up wipes aways the hurt. I don't know how else to thank you but to pray that for you. You all are my heros. – EAJ
A total of 300,000 Chinese infiltrated Korea, and 120,000 of them were aimed at the marines in X Corps. The Marines are always disgruntled about the notion that they retreated, because in fact it was the collapse of the Eight Army on their left flank which made their position in North Korea untenable. They had to get out. This helps to explain their astonishing performance. They didn't retreat after being mauled in combat
The importance of the Marines surviving and carrying on the fight can't be overstated. Had they been annihilated or surrendered, it would have freed up the 120,000 to wheel to their right and complete the rout of the Un Forces in Korea. This would have been an incredibly destabilizing situation, reminiscent of what occurred in July of 1914, when events spun out of control and led to WW!. A Marine rout at The Chosin could have created a downward spiral of chaos that could have led to WWIII. Evan as it was, with the situation stabilized, Joe Stalin seriously considered invading Western Europe.
Yesterday I had a nice visit with my Uncle Rex. I asked him to share more things with me about the war and his being one of the "Chosin Few". He never once mentioned this film or anyone interviewing him. I asked him if he kept in touch with any of the men he knew during that time. He said he had not really but that he knew so many of them were gone now. I thought how sad that no one has recorded their memories or stories. Now I see someone has but they missed talking to my uncle and that makes me very sad. He's well into his 80's now I hope someday soon like- tomorrow soon – a film maker talks to him. He lives in Roy Utah just incase someone wants to know. In the mean time bless the film makers for getting and showing what they collected. Their story should never be forgotten. – EAJ
one more observation. Something similar occurred with WW!! vets who survived horrific combat. They were also tight lipped about their experiences. But apparently the passage of about fifty years and the fact that they are staring at the prospect of leaving this life in short order loosens their tongues. They understand that if they don't say something soon the story will never be known at all. And yes, they'll only talk to other vets — especially younger ones.
I was in the Army and never in a war, but old WWII vets will instantly tell me about how they crapped their pants in their first encounter with combat. One old guy instantly told me how A Jap infiltrator came this close to cutting his throat only to be saved by his buddy in the foxhole who shot the Jap at the last instant. Amazing stuff
And you got it right … ALL Marine Pilots with date of rank of Captain Jan1, 1951 or later were called back. I was one of the lucky ones .. finished school after getting out of WWII, started a family, just began to think poverty wouldn't be forever, two kids and off we went, as the Air Corps says, into the wild blue yonder.
Hawkeye was exemplary of the,liberals who late would head for Canada or dodge responsibility in some other way. Frank represented the desperate need for people regardless of their capabilities.
Speaking for my formerly gung ho self, I was a hell of alot more careful and a lot less brave.
I don't think of it as a forgotten war … it was just a very inconveient one.
I was with the 11th Marines and 5th Marines at the Chosin Reservoir. Was wounded at Yudamni on 12/2/50 at the start of the "breakout". Flew to Japan from Haguru and spent 6 months at the St. Albans Naval Hospital.__I saw the film in NYC a few weeks ago as a guest of Brian and Anton. Was also interviewed in the summer of 2009 by Brian and Anton about my experience at the Chosin. The film was FIVE STARS +. Saw combat footage I've never seen before. Recognition is long overdue.
Made me real proud that I was and still A United States Marine!
Semper Fi
My father was in Task Force Faith. To this day he wonders why he lived and all those around him died. He has carried this burden all his life, He was on the East side of Chosin. Faith had sent him back to drop White Phosphorus Grenades down the barrels of weapons so they couldn't be used against them. When he return a load of Napalm had been dropped on his buddies. He saw Col. Faith KIA. He has an 8×10 picture of Col.Faith. I asked him who that was and he said,"The man who saved our lives what few of us survived." He is 80 years old and in the VA Hospital in Pineville,LA. He is a great man. I hope I can get a copy of this Documentary for my children and grandchildren.
I was with the 11th Marines and 5th Marines at the Chosin Reservoir. Was wounded at Yudamni on 12/2/50 at the start of the "breakout". Flew to Japan from Haguru and spent 6 months at the St. Albans Naval Hospital.__I saw the film in NYC a few weeks ago as a guest of Brian and Anton. Was also interviewed in the summer of 2009 by Brian and Anton about my experience at the Chosin. The film was FIVE STARS +. Saw combat footage I've never seen before. Recognition is long overdue.
Made me real proud that I was and still A United States Marine!
Semper Fi
My Name is Former Sgt. Gilbert Olson U S M C D-2-7 Ist Marine Div. Korea, 1950-51.
I served with Dog Co 2nd Bn.7th Marines. At Chosin.I was one of 15 that came off hill 1240.
The Morning of Nov,28th, 1950. & 7 that made it all the way to Hugnam. God was with me all the way. Semper- Fi. Gilbert Olson.
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