Retreat, Hell!: The Corps, Book 10

Historical fiction at its finest. WEB Griffin tells a truly interesting story and mixes true and fictional characters with seamless precision.

Griffin concludes his series with the fateful events of fall 1950. MacArthur’s bold counterattack at Inchon has reversed the Korean War’s tide and has the North Koreans retreating in disarray. MacArthur wants to press his advantage into North Korea and finish the war by Christmas, but Truman and his Pentagon advisors fear MacArthur will draw the Chinese into the war. MacArthur’s staff is telling him there’s no risk of that.Major Ken McCoy disagrees. Nearly cashiered from the Marines for predicting a North Korean invasion a month or two before it actually happened, now called back to the CIA, he has intelligence that suggests the Chinese have secretly sent tens of thousands of men into North Korea, with many more poised to join them. But he doesn’t have hard evidence and once more the brass won’t listen to him, setting the stage for the Allies being taken by surprise yet again.His boss Brigadier General Fleming Pickering and Truman’s own trusted buddy and adviser Major General Louis Howe trust McCoy’s judgment and have to work delicately between the MacArthur and Truman camps. Truman worries that if he fires MacArthur, a potential rival in the 1952 presidential election, he’ll appear to have acted for personal reasons.Pickering’s pilot son Pick is still MIA, shot down behind enemy lines and, as we learn at the outset, alive, hungry and desperate as he tries to avoid capture. His war-correspondent girlfriend is desperate for news of him, as is Pick’s childhood friend, the now-pregnant Ernestine McCoy, who has moved to Tokyo to be closer to her husband. Pickering has to come to terms in the story with his devil-may-care approach to life and who has been harmed by it.This is another book with little action, a lot of background and a boatload of Famous Grouse scotch whiskey about a war too many of us know too little about. It’s the dawn of age of the military helicopter and jet, the first hot war of the Cold War, the first time the U.S. must fight wars in a limited fashion, fretting about going too far or setting off a wider and potentially nuclear war. I wouldn’t have minded one more book in this series, telling us what happens after the Chinese surge across the border and the American and South Korean troops must retreat yet again.I like the characters of reservists called out of their comfortable lives to fight this sudden war, and of the women who bitterly resent their being sent off to war yet again. Griffin likes to get beyond pilots and spies and tip-of-the-spear warriors to give us those who make up the masses of the military. There is an efficient regular who runs a transportation company and hopes to parlay good work into a career-move promotion. There’s a slick car salesman now a captain over an infantry unit, thrown into the breach at Pusan, held in reserve at Inchon, and now ashore in the administrative fog of war without anyone having a good idea of what to do with them. There’s a cryptographer snagged by Pickering and his people because, formerly in Europe, he has no ties to MacArthur’s cryptographers and can keep things mum.And I like his handling of the month-to-month mood – the desperation and pessimism of the first couple of months, and the manic surge of confidence after Inchon with most people agreeing the war can be over by Christmas. Griffin, to his credit, doesn’t give any of his characters the prescience to know it will drag on until June 1953, but allows the ones we like best to remain silent on the matter. And Griffin is as ever excellent on the cross-currents and politics at the top, between White House and Pentagon, between Pentagon and MacArthur, between MacArthur and the fledgling CIA and so on.I was a little disappointed that not all of the series regulars had their lives brought forward. I would have enjoyed a line or two describing what happened to them after World War II. Having spent ten novels with them, I will miss these characters.

RETREAT, HELL! is book 10 of 10 in The Corps series. I binged read all 10 books in less than 3 months. I stopped and read something else but quickly returned to the series. The reason that I found the entire series so addicting is that there are constant characters throughout most of the series, e.g., “Killer” McCoy, General Fleming Pickering, Lt. Col. Banning. I found myself invested in these characters and their lives.The entire series is less about “combat”, but more about the characters, personalities, and rivalries in the military from enlisted to officers to the Commander-in-Chief. It’s also about their wives, lovers, girlfriends, etc. The one thing that I found especially interesting is the differences in “culture” between the US Army and USMC.RETREAT, HELL! takes place in the days after the Inchon invasion to the days BEFORE the battle of the Chosin Reservoir. This book has the least combat action than the other 9 books. RETREAT, HELL! is more about small unit and special forces (CIA) action during the Korean War. It also focuses on General MacArthur and his military and political rivalries during the Korean War which was an extension of what happened during WW2.The entire The Corps series is an excellent historical fiction that connects real events, real persons, real places with fictional dialogue, characters, and events to weave a memorable story of life in the USMC during pre-WW2 to the Korean War. The Corps series had me remembering little known facts that I had read about before, but had forgotten until I read the series.RETREAT, HELL! does NOT have a final ending. The massive counterattack by thousands of Chinese Red Army troops during the Korean War is not covered. The firing of General MacArthur by President Truman is also not covered.

I really liked this book because the fiction was put together with a lot of factual information that most reader will recognize and look forward to what will be happening with the cast of characters.

The last in the Corps series and one of the best of all his books.For an old dog-face soldier, he did a heck of a job writing about the Corps and the men in it.I read this book about once a year and had to buy a new one when the old one wore out.Although I enjoy all of his books, he really shines with The Corp and Brotherhood of War series.The books in his series must be read in order to understand them fully.He does a great job of describing exactly what life was like for American Grunts in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

I have read all 10 books in this series and have enjoyed each and everyone one. What I didn't like was the repeat of previous situations in the books. Also repeating characters names such as Jack NMI Stecker when you could have just stated Colonel Stecker and everyone reading would know who you were referring to. If you meant to make Pick into a real first class no account useless bastard then you succeeded. Speaking as a USAF Veteran that candy ass sorry excuse for a military man would have got his sorry ass kicked every day he lived. And I would have personally been proud to do it!

I am writing about all ten volumes of Griffin’s classic Marine Corps series - nine about marines in WWII; and two about marines in the Korean Conflict. Do you like the Marine Corps? These are the books for you. Do you like clearly drawn characters? These are for you. Do you enjoy bureaucratic intrigues? These books are definitely for you. Best infighting stories ever! Do you like detailed action? Well, there is some - often told at a distance…. Do you like literate story telling? Then, absolutely, these are for you. How’s that for a superfluous recommendation? -J. Bannister

In WEB Griffins Corps series this book fits well in the US version of of Military History. Its a rousing flag waving tale of the Korean War. It does not even attempt to include the other allied forces involved, except in ancilliary roles. His semi documentary style gives authenticity to the story especially in the references to historic figures. The charactors central to the story are well written and once started it is difficult to put down.I have read every book written by this author covering the entire range of his books, I am currently reading his latest. I recognise that as a Brit I do sometimes resent the omission of the allies at times but I do find reading the books addictive, and I eagerly follow the careers of Maj. Lowell and his friends

Anything I say about WEB Griffin woulfd really be stating the obvious. He is without doubt at the pinnacle of authors in his genre. If you haven't read him before it's your loss.

interesting read,give one an insight into how the forces work

Action packed, and a good read cover to cover.

Arrived safe and sound. Thanks