Imagine yourself a Marine in the Korean war. It’s cold. You’re exhausted. In this campaign you’ve marched across frigid mountains to fight a series of battles against North Korean and Chinese forces. Now, you’ve just learned that your single Marine division has been surrounded by eight divisions of Chinese troops. It all seems hopeless.
Then up walks General Chesty Puller, your legendary commander. The man is a bulldog on two legs, his barrel chest puffed out, a grim smile on his face. You’ve seen this man suffer along with you, taking every chance you took, leading from the front. You’ve seen him wait till the men were fed before taking anything for himself. You know he somehow conjured up warm clothes for the men to wear in the middle of North Korea when people were freezing to death. You’ve seen him bed down in the same tents you have.
Looking out fearlessly at the Chinese positions he pronounces, loudly:
“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time!”
. . .
For more, listen to the Podcast episode and check out my book, History Stories for Everyone, where I dive deeper into this and some of history’s other most fascinating and relatable human stories:
