On the night of November 28, 1950, six Chinese divisions launched a massive assault on the U.S. 1st Marine Division near the Chosin Reservoir. The Marines were outnumbered at least six to one, as the Chinese struck both at the front of the American lines and thirty-five miles to the rear, effectively cutting them off. Surrounded in the freezing mountains of North Korea, the Marines had no choice but to fight their way southward toward the coast.

The first major objective was Hagaru-ri, at the southern end of the reservoir. In brutal subzero temperatures, the Marines engaged in relentless combat, sustaining heavy casualties while inflicting enormous losses on the Chinese. Supplies had to be flown in by air, and wounded evacuated under constant fire. Despite the desperate conditions, the Marines held together as a disciplined force, refusing to collapse under overwhelming pressure.

From there, the division began a harrowing withdrawal to the coast. As General Oliver P. Smith famously declared, “Gentlemen, we are not retreating, we are merely attacking in another direction.” Over thirteen days of bitter fighting, the Marines suffered more than 4,500 casualties, while Chinese losses are estimated at 40,000 dead and wounded. When the Marines finally reached the port of Hungnam, they were evacuated along with tens of thousands of North Korean civilians, turning what might have been a catastrophic defeat into one of the most storied fighting withdrawals in U.S. military history.