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With a Black Platoon in Combat: A Year in Korea (Volume 29)
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 War, 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 frontline 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 civil rights legislation of the sixties. It is also an important corrective to a poorly understood aspect of one of America's most dismal conflicts.
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 War, 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 frontline 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 civil rights legislation of the sixties. It is also an important corrective to a poorly understood aspect of one of America's most dismal conflicts.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1993
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September 26, 2024
With a Black Platoon in Combat is an officer’s account of his time as a platoon leader in the 24th Regimental Combat Team during the Korean War. Lyle Rishell fought with the 24th RCT during the Pusan perimeter breakout, and then as part of 8th Army’s push north to the Yalu river. He was wounded twice in combat and moved to a S shop later in his war experience.
Rishell primarily focuses on his personal experiences as a platoon leader in the 24th RCT. He reflects on combat and leadership during the Korean War. If your expectation is a combat memoir then this is a pretty decent addition to the genre. Just going off the title of the book, I doubt anyone expected a run of the mill Korean War memoir though.
The author truly wasted a major opportunity which should be pointed out. Rishell was a white platoon leader in an all black, segregated unit. Rishell doesn’t spill a drop of ink reflecting on race, segregation, or racism in any substantial way. We know the platoon is black but that’s about it. In fact, we don’t get any information on what it meant to be a black soldier in the Korean War in the Jim Crow army. I had no idea what he really thought about the matter.
As a Korean War memoir, the book was okay. It only weighed in at 170 pages but it was a bit of a tedious read. There are not many books about the 24th RCT, but this wasn’t a great addition to their history. It has a sterility of racial sentiment when racial sentiment is extremely pertinent to the existence of the 24th RCT.
Rishell primarily focuses on his personal experiences as a platoon leader in the 24th RCT. He reflects on combat and leadership during the Korean War. If your expectation is a combat memoir then this is a pretty decent addition to the genre. Just going off the title of the book, I doubt anyone expected a run of the mill Korean War memoir though.
The author truly wasted a major opportunity which should be pointed out. Rishell was a white platoon leader in an all black, segregated unit. Rishell doesn’t spill a drop of ink reflecting on race, segregation, or racism in any substantial way. We know the platoon is black but that’s about it. In fact, we don’t get any information on what it meant to be a black soldier in the Korean War in the Jim Crow army. I had no idea what he really thought about the matter.
As a Korean War memoir, the book was okay. It only weighed in at 170 pages but it was a bit of a tedious read. There are not many books about the 24th RCT, but this wasn’t a great addition to their history. It has a sterility of racial sentiment when racial sentiment is extremely pertinent to the existence of the 24th RCT.
Displaying 1 of 1 review