What do you think?
Rate this book
Valleys of Death: A Memoir of the Korean War
A hard-fighting soldier's story-from the trenches of America's first battle in the Cold War.
From the devastating counterattack at Unsan to the thirty-four months he spent in captivity-a period of years in which giving up surely meant dying-Col. Bill Richardson's instinct for leadership and stubborn will to survive saw him through one valley of death after the next. Valleys of Death is a stirring story of survival and determination that offers a fascinating, intimate look at the soldiers who fought America's first battle of the Cold War in the unvarnished words of one of their own. Richardson endured many long months of starvation, torture, sleep deprivation, and Chinese attempts at indoctrination, yet maintained defiance under conditions designed to break the mind, body, and spirit of men.
From the devastating counterattack at Unsan to the thirty-four months he spent in captivity-a period of years in which giving up surely meant dying-Col. Bill Richardson's instinct for leadership and stubborn will to survive saw him through one valley of death after the next. Valleys of Death is a stirring story of survival and determination that offers a fascinating, intimate look at the soldiers who fought America's first battle of the Cold War in the unvarnished words of one of their own. Richardson endured many long months of starvation, torture, sleep deprivation, and Chinese attempts at indoctrination, yet maintained defiance under conditions designed to break the mind, body, and spirit of men.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published December 7, 2010
35 people are currently reading
536 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 31, 2021
"This is not a history of the Korean War." Bill Richardson begins his story with this sentence, but what he has to tell us indeed is the story of the struggle in Korea, or of any other war for that part, with all its poignancy, pointlessness, pain, and dark humor.
When on the night of June 25, 1950, President Truman told the nation that he was committing US forces to Korea, Bill Richardson went to Fort Dix to get not a discharge, like most men did, but an extension. He had spent the last four years in Italy, Germany and finally Austria, on occupation duty with the U.S. Army; in Austria he'd met a girl, and therefore hoped to get back over Europe with a new unit. After fighting with the sergeant, who looked "like a cobra ready to strike", over being discharged, he managed to secure himself an extension, and his odyssey began.
When he arrived at Fort Devens to which he was assigned, Richardson realized the first unfortunate fact of the Korean War: it was a war that neither the country nor the military was ready for. "Our Army was hollow." The fifteen-man section Bill was expected to train in weaponry was mostly raw recruits, only four having experience beyond basic training. Despite the dismal situation, at Fort Devens Bill found himself great friends, friends who all joked about how short this war would be. Little did they know...
Shortly after arriving at Taegu, South Korea, Richardson's battalion was subjected to heavy North Korean attacks. With his vivid descriptions, Bill covers it all: the fear, the almost inedible C-rations, which would soon make all the men thinner than their skinny South Korean allies, the death of his comrades, the terrible heat and humidity.
The awful culmination of the story is the battle of Unsan, one of the bloodiest battles of the Korean War. Surrounded by North Korean forces and aware that no reinforcements were coming, Richardson and a few others bravely and desperately fought on until they fell into North Korean hands and were led to Death Valley, the place where the prisoner camp was located.
What is amazing about Richardson is his immensely strong survivability. Even when subjected to intense torture and brainwashing, he perseveres not only in defying his captors, but also in organizing rebellions in and attempting escapes from the prisoner camp. Tired of the inedible food the prisoners were given, Bill instigated some of his fellow prisoners to help him steal the guards' kimchi, which "stunk to high heaven" but tasted better. (Later, he was alone punished for this escapade because he wouldn't betray the ones who helped, and even drew a picture of the punishment.) After severely injuring his legs while performing forced labor, he even became the only one to return from "The Morgue" as the camp's hospital was called (for a reason).
Richardson's story gives a lot of food for thought, not only about war, but also about life, about chances, about remaining human in inhuman conditions. Bill's narrative teems with the weirdest coincidences, such as realizing that one of his fellow prisoners is the boyfriend of Clair, the daughter of his father's girlfriend, because the guy showed him a half-photo of her. ("I looked at it closely and then started to laugh. 'Do you know who is on the other part of the photo?' They all looked at me. 'I know who’s on the other part. Me.'") The two of them had taken this photo when he'd visited her home with his father.
And guess what? With his unwavering resolve, good heart, and bravery, Bill finally navigated his way out of Korea and toward his own happy ending. Well, his Austrian girlfriend got tired of waiting for him, but he was met at the airport by his whole family and by a beautiful young woman named... Clair. He married her.
Bill Richardson's narrative smells, sounds, and looks like war. It is an outstanding memoir, a story of determination and survival through the eyes of the soldiers who fought America's first battle of the Cold War.
When on the night of June 25, 1950, President Truman told the nation that he was committing US forces to Korea, Bill Richardson went to Fort Dix to get not a discharge, like most men did, but an extension. He had spent the last four years in Italy, Germany and finally Austria, on occupation duty with the U.S. Army; in Austria he'd met a girl, and therefore hoped to get back over Europe with a new unit. After fighting with the sergeant, who looked "like a cobra ready to strike", over being discharged, he managed to secure himself an extension, and his odyssey began.
When he arrived at Fort Devens to which he was assigned, Richardson realized the first unfortunate fact of the Korean War: it was a war that neither the country nor the military was ready for. "Our Army was hollow." The fifteen-man section Bill was expected to train in weaponry was mostly raw recruits, only four having experience beyond basic training. Despite the dismal situation, at Fort Devens Bill found himself great friends, friends who all joked about how short this war would be. Little did they know...
Shortly after arriving at Taegu, South Korea, Richardson's battalion was subjected to heavy North Korean attacks. With his vivid descriptions, Bill covers it all: the fear, the almost inedible C-rations, which would soon make all the men thinner than their skinny South Korean allies, the death of his comrades, the terrible heat and humidity.
The awful culmination of the story is the battle of Unsan, one of the bloodiest battles of the Korean War. Surrounded by North Korean forces and aware that no reinforcements were coming, Richardson and a few others bravely and desperately fought on until they fell into North Korean hands and were led to Death Valley, the place where the prisoner camp was located.
What is amazing about Richardson is his immensely strong survivability. Even when subjected to intense torture and brainwashing, he perseveres not only in defying his captors, but also in organizing rebellions in and attempting escapes from the prisoner camp. Tired of the inedible food the prisoners were given, Bill instigated some of his fellow prisoners to help him steal the guards' kimchi, which "stunk to high heaven" but tasted better. (Later, he was alone punished for this escapade because he wouldn't betray the ones who helped, and even drew a picture of the punishment.) After severely injuring his legs while performing forced labor, he even became the only one to return from "The Morgue" as the camp's hospital was called (for a reason).
Richardson's story gives a lot of food for thought, not only about war, but also about life, about chances, about remaining human in inhuman conditions. Bill's narrative teems with the weirdest coincidences, such as realizing that one of his fellow prisoners is the boyfriend of Clair, the daughter of his father's girlfriend, because the guy showed him a half-photo of her. ("I looked at it closely and then started to laugh. 'Do you know who is on the other part of the photo?' They all looked at me. 'I know who’s on the other part. Me.'") The two of them had taken this photo when he'd visited her home with his father.
And guess what? With his unwavering resolve, good heart, and bravery, Bill finally navigated his way out of Korea and toward his own happy ending. Well, his Austrian girlfriend got tired of waiting for him, but he was met at the airport by his whole family and by a beautiful young woman named... Clair. He married her.
Bill Richardson's narrative smells, sounds, and looks like war. It is an outstanding memoir, a story of determination and survival through the eyes of the soldiers who fought America's first battle of the Cold War.
May 31, 2011
This book joined my list of amazing people...I'm glad I happened upon this book at this particular time in my life as I will be thinking soon enough.."what would Sgt. Richardson do right now?" The book is not...literature...I saw the poor reviews for style and artistry. It is certainly not that, but it made my heart pound with residual fear that seeped out of the overwhelming positions these soldiers faced. But it's Richardson himself who stands out and shares his thought process in extraordinary circumstances. A man who chooses humanity and compassion very deliberately as he observes the effect horrific treatment can have on men when they go "survival" he defines several routes of survival through description of various situations while he was POW in Korea. This is a journey in this mans mind, if it had literary style, it would push the reader from true access to the real man.
An example from a scene where the American POW's are being moved again to another camp and men are ignoring the wounded who must be carried. The POW's are tired and barely alive, and the wounded cry to not be left alone...Here Richardson is carrying on a stretcher and desperately needs relief as he can barely carry the wounded man any further..
"Everyone I asked looked away or moved ahead. Most hid in the dark, trying to stay as far away from the stretchers as they could. 'You son of a bitch,' I barked at one soldier..I was disgusted. It reminded me of the soldiers that first night fighting over the rice. We'd forgotten that the backbone of any military was the bond of the soldiers. We fought for the guys to our left and to our right. That is why we fought. To protect our unit buddies, and we expected them to do the same. But on a death march, every man was an island. There seemed to be no place for anything else. I refused to be that way."
The last paragraph of this book will go into my arsenal of weapons for "handling a tough situation" he writes...
"As I walked out, I knew nothing was ever going to intimidate me again. I'd already survived hell. I think from that day forward whenever I was faced with a tough situation I would think or in some cases say, What were they going to do, take me out in the morning and shoot me?"
This book is going to my "golden bookshelf" it was simply amazing...
An example from a scene where the American POW's are being moved again to another camp and men are ignoring the wounded who must be carried. The POW's are tired and barely alive, and the wounded cry to not be left alone...Here Richardson is carrying on a stretcher and desperately needs relief as he can barely carry the wounded man any further..
"Everyone I asked looked away or moved ahead. Most hid in the dark, trying to stay as far away from the stretchers as they could. 'You son of a bitch,' I barked at one soldier..I was disgusted. It reminded me of the soldiers that first night fighting over the rice. We'd forgotten that the backbone of any military was the bond of the soldiers. We fought for the guys to our left and to our right. That is why we fought. To protect our unit buddies, and we expected them to do the same. But on a death march, every man was an island. There seemed to be no place for anything else. I refused to be that way."
The last paragraph of this book will go into my arsenal of weapons for "handling a tough situation" he writes...
"As I walked out, I knew nothing was ever going to intimidate me again. I'd already survived hell. I think from that day forward whenever I was faced with a tough situation I would think or in some cases say, What were they going to do, take me out in the morning and shoot me?"
This book is going to my "golden bookshelf" it was simply amazing...
October 26, 2025
Just a great book. If you want to know what Korean War combat was like, What a 57mm Recoilless rifle section did, what being a US Army non-commissioned officer is about, or what being a POW of the North Koreans and Chinese was like, this is the book for you. Written in an open and honest, yet gripping style, this book follows a soldier who fought in the defense of the Pusan Perimeter, the race to the 38th Parallel and then the Chinese onslaught stages of the war. Then he spent years in North Korean and then Chinese POW camps. Col. Richardson leaves out few details of his odyssey, and the prose can be quite disturbing, yet powerfully moving. I was held in rapt attention the whole time, and was particularly emotionally struck by his reception home by his family and friends. It reminds us that we must greet the warriors home, no matter the popularity of the struggle. And that people can survive horrible happenstance, as Richardson did, to build a strong and happy life beyond. This was another life affirming military memoir, something that is sometimes rare. Junior readers will find a torrent of very adult themes, but will be rewarded if they so choose. This is a boon for Military Enthusiasts/Gamers/Modellers as the tactical discussions will provide good fodder for scenario/diorama development, as will the scattered maps and pictures.
January 7, 2021
I don't remember learning about the Korean War when I was in school. All I knew was that my grandpa had served in the Korean War, and it was the one topic we were never to bring up to him. He never spoke about it. He was the most gentle man I've ever known in my life, and I wanted to read a memoir about the war to get an idea of what he might have experienced while he was over there. I'm glad I did. Reading this makes me understand why he never spoke about it.
War memoirs can be strange; you read scene after scene after scene depicting brutality and violence that's almost incomprehensible, but as you keep reading, you almost begin to wonder, "What could possibly happen next?" This is one of those memoirs. Bill Richardson has provided an integral glimpse into the life of a soldier fresh out of World War II, who didn't even get a chance to sit back and wonder what he wanted to do with himself before the Korean War broke out and he was shipped overseas. It blows my mind what these soldiers had to do at the ages of eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two. I almost feel ashamed at the fact that when I was twenty-two, I got my first full-time job and graduated from college. I was stressed and overwhelmed and scared, and I certainly wasn't crouched in a foxhole in ten-degree weather, battling infection and malnutrition while also being shot at by soldiers across a field. These memoirs are important because wars aren't just dates written in dusty history textbooks. Wars take the lives of people, real people, all over the world every single day. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, friends. People who played rugby and are allergic to penicillin and coach Little League and taught their little sister to read and dream of going to school to become a veterinarian. Because of them, I was able to go to a cozy state college ten miles away from my childhood home and get a full-time job in an office. Because of them, I get to drive home from work every day and return to my warm house and cook dinner.
This is not a fun book to read. There are scenes that made me set it down and go do something else for a while to take a breather. But it's important, and we need to learn history for ourselves from the perspectives of the people who were there. My grandpa would have liked Mr. Richardson's attitude and sarcasm, and reading this book makes me feel a little bit closer to him.
War memoirs can be strange; you read scene after scene after scene depicting brutality and violence that's almost incomprehensible, but as you keep reading, you almost begin to wonder, "What could possibly happen next?" This is one of those memoirs. Bill Richardson has provided an integral glimpse into the life of a soldier fresh out of World War II, who didn't even get a chance to sit back and wonder what he wanted to do with himself before the Korean War broke out and he was shipped overseas. It blows my mind what these soldiers had to do at the ages of eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two. I almost feel ashamed at the fact that when I was twenty-two, I got my first full-time job and graduated from college. I was stressed and overwhelmed and scared, and I certainly wasn't crouched in a foxhole in ten-degree weather, battling infection and malnutrition while also being shot at by soldiers across a field. These memoirs are important because wars aren't just dates written in dusty history textbooks. Wars take the lives of people, real people, all over the world every single day. Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, friends. People who played rugby and are allergic to penicillin and coach Little League and taught their little sister to read and dream of going to school to become a veterinarian. Because of them, I was able to go to a cozy state college ten miles away from my childhood home and get a full-time job in an office. Because of them, I get to drive home from work every day and return to my warm house and cook dinner.
This is not a fun book to read. There are scenes that made me set it down and go do something else for a while to take a breather. But it's important, and we need to learn history for ourselves from the perspectives of the people who were there. My grandpa would have liked Mr. Richardson's attitude and sarcasm, and reading this book makes me feel a little bit closer to him.
Read
May 6, 2024You ever wondered how it was like during the cold war jump into Valleys of death by Mitch Weiss here is my top 5 reasons why you should read this is it's impossible to put down because it teaches you history.My second reason is the setting just brings you into the book because this is a book about someone else's life so it just brings you into it more.My third reason is because reading this book can make you more grateful seeing all these deaths and sacrifices in this book can change your point of view on how you think about your life.My fourth reason is there is multiple themes in this book for example never give up because Bill Richardson was sent away to the north Koreans he kept trying to think of ways to escape . My fifth and final reason is the change of emotions this book puts you through for example showing how fast things can change in a war.Valleys of Death is a amazing history book that you should for sure pick up it won't disappoint
April 2, 2024
Wow, what an incredible memoir. I'll be honest, I cried while reading this. It was trauma after trauma followed by death after death while enduring the war efforts in Korea and his imprisonment as a POW. As nothing short of a brave and accomplished man throughout his life, COL (Ret.) Bill Richardson absolutely deserved to have his story told as he wanted it to be told. He honors the men alongside whom he fought and who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. He teaches the reader how, at its worst, life is all about surviving together and supporting each other through the hardest, most impossible of times.
November 11, 2023
There is nothing stylistically flash about this book. It's a simple story told by a 'simple' soldier. I do not mean that without respect to the author but there is no pretence in this book. It is told how it was — raw, uncompromising, brutal and cruel. For an insight into this most horrific war it's worth a read. If you are after the broad context of the war, the politics and the strategy, this is not the book for you. But if you wish to follow a soldier on his journey through hell then it's a solid read.
August 22, 2019
Excellent; memoir of an infantryman's time in Korea, including a multi-year stay as a POW; intriguing viewpoint of indoctrination into the ground forces in Korea, the friendships made and torn apart, the cruelty of the North Koreans and Chinese, and one man's efforts to survive and return to his home
December 29, 2024
A Chinese officer… had pressed a pistol between my eyes. He was screaming at me in Chinese and pointing up the hill.
I was numb and couldn’t speak. I lifted my shoulders and let them drop. I’ve thought of this moment many times, and I know that off he pulled the trigger I would never have known it. That would have been the end.
I was numb and couldn’t speak. I lifted my shoulders and let them drop. I’ve thought of this moment many times, and I know that off he pulled the trigger I would never have known it. That would have been the end.
October 12, 2019
Great book! The story of a man who has been through hell and lived to tell about it. Inspiring tale that shows how powerful the mind is. Col. Richardson's determination and a will for living shows us no matter how hard life gets, we can persevere.
June 10, 2022
Bill Richardson tells us about his first-hand experience in the chaos of the Korean War and his brutal imprisonment in a North Korean P.O.W. Camp and his sheer will to survive the cold, heat, exposure, malnutrition, and brutality of his treatment at the hands of the North Korean state.
January 19, 2025
Great story. Great details throughout.
I enjoyed reading this book through and through. From beginning to end, the details describing the various events that took place paint an eye-opening picture to keep the reader engaged and eager to read the next chapter.
I enjoyed reading this book through and through. From beginning to end, the details describing the various events that took place paint an eye-opening picture to keep the reader engaged and eager to read the next chapter.
February 13, 2018
The author survived as a POW for three years in North Korea with the Chinese. Horrible conditions! War is evil.
April 26, 2019
A good account of the horrors of Korea, but not the best writing out there.
January 7, 2022
One of the most harrowing war memoirs I've ever read.
August 23, 2022
Amazing book and story.
February 4, 2023
Only reason I’m giving it four instead of five is for a few grammatical errors. The story is amazing and easy to follow whether you’re military or civilian.
October 23, 2024
A page turner and a shocking story of war and survival. Outstanding
December 29, 2024
A true leader in every sense of the word. Richardson put the lives of his men and piers above his own in doing so laying the blueprint of what a leader should be.
January 15, 2022
Interesting, I enjoyed the perspective a single solider shared with us from an almost forgotten war. Those damn Chinese Communist are real SOB's.
January 21, 2011
Quick and matter of fact read of a young man whose life is turned upside down and all around. Richardson has just returned from four years of occupation duty in the US Army in Austria. He just missed serving in WWII. He's all set to arrange for his Austrian fiancee to come to the States. Next minute he's in Korea fighting for his life and experiencing combat for the first time as a corporal. In the space of 90 days he's been promoted all the way to master sergeant, seen the ugly face of war, and gone from defensive operations to offensive operations back to defensive operations and then sheer survival as a POW. Surprising that he omits that his battalion commander later became Chairman of the JCS-Harold K. Johnson. The recounting of his POW experience is very instructive. In combat death would at least be quick but the imprisonment with the suffering from the total medical neglect and austere and harsh enviroment was brutal. I imagine this book is much like Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" except only shorter in length. Bill Richardson is unbroken as well and an inspirational guy.
July 3, 2012
This was the first book that I have read on the Korean War. As I had only limited knowledge of what happened during those years it was interesting to fill in some blanks. The author called it the last of the infantry men wars. To me is seemed like a mix of WWII style forward campaign movement but some of the Vietnam problems of taking a hill and leaving it.
The author spent 34 months as a POW. Surprisingly it is only about a third of the books content. The descriptions do give a clear picture of what happened to POWs and I was shocked to find that they often died at a rate of 30-40 per day.
For me to find that Richardson went on to form Project Delta in Vietnam was just another feather in the man's cap. After his experiences in Korean he was a perfect fit for such a job.
The author spent 34 months as a POW. Surprisingly it is only about a third of the books content. The descriptions do give a clear picture of what happened to POWs and I was shocked to find that they often died at a rate of 30-40 per day.
For me to find that Richardson went on to form Project Delta in Vietnam was just another feather in the man's cap. After his experiences in Korean he was a perfect fit for such a job.
April 2, 2013
Fully admit my ignorance: I had no idea there was so much suffering on the part of American POWs during the Korean War. This memoir by Bill Richardson was somewhat reminiscent of "Unbroken," but with a little less drama and detail. Still, the horrific circumstances endured by Richardson and so many other soldiers are stunning and startling. Amazing anyone survived, but somehow Richardson managed to weather it all. Thousands of soldiers did NOT make it, which is hardly surprising, given the conditions and treatment they endured at the hands of the North Koreans and Chinese. For an eye-opener--especially about the Korean War and its effects on U.S. troops--pick this one up.
January 15, 2012
A quick note, with no disrespect to the author. The quality of the writing made the reading quite difficult not so much due to content but more on a lack of style. The first half of the book reminded me of my daughters 5th grade papers. Finishing the book was difficult except for the one saving grace which was Col. Richardson's story. If you can stand poor writing and editing then I recommend this book for content only.
August 16, 2013
This book is a biography by a marine who was involved in the Korean war. This book was great because it had lots of action and the point of view of a marine who was directly involved in many firefights. It was also amazing due to the fact that is a war that mainly people don't know about. I recommend this book to history lovers.
March 26, 2015
By Far better then many of the books i have read on war. The story was compelling and it shed some light on a war that for me was sort of forgotten amongst WW11 and the Vietnam war. The book was at no point dry or left the non-military savvy folk such as myself to hang and dry with confusing military abbreviations and the like.
If you haven't read it yet, Do.
If you haven't read it yet, Do.
April 29, 2012
My brother gave me this book shortly after I returned from Korea. I think I finished it in one sitting. It contains a gripping account of a man's experiences during the Korean Conflict without all of the fluff.
January 2, 2014
So fortunate to have met Bill Richardson and his lovely wife. Claire, this past April in Washington DC at the Medal of Honor Ceremony for Fr. Emil Kapaun. Thank you Bill for telling me about your book and sharing your story. You are truly an amazing human being!!!
August 26, 2013
Words could never describe the admiration I have for the servicemen who have fought our Nation's wars. Bill Richardson is no exception. His details of the fiascos of the Korean War, plus his unrelenting bravery as a POW, were a powerful read.
October 29, 2012
This was a good book. It is written from a soldier's point of view. It has good sensory detail.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews