Detailed account of the 5th Regimental Combat Team in the Koren War. Includes a comprehensive list of 5th RCT unit casualties and Korean Ex-Prisoners of War. Indexed for easy referencing. Foreword written by Ltgen Alpha Bowser, G-3, 1st Marine Division, Korea 1950-1951. Much of the information in this book about the Korean War has never before been published.
Hills of Sacrifice is a magnificent history of 'Hawaii's own', the 5th RCT during the Korean War. It will be widely read, and deserves to be"". -- Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano, State of Hawaii
""At last, after 49 years, the best and most definitive book on infantry combat at the bayonet level in Korea. It grips the reader into the firestorm, fury, terror and grief of it all. Hills of Sacrifice is deeply researched, grimly detailed, personalized historiography of battlefield infantry action by American 'grunts' fighting determined North Korean and Chinese soldiers. This superb book is not for the faint-hearted. Graphic descriptions of the bloody details of close-in grunt infantry battle and the love of soldiers for one another"". -- LTGEN Harold G. Moore
""A hell of a read! Hills of Sacrifice explodes like a hand grenade and is riveting combat reportage. It's the most detailed account of the bloody Korean War that I have read. The reader is there in the trenches, with the Grunts, stopping massed attacks or storming enemy held hills. The 5th RCT was a great regiment, with top leaders, brave warriors, and this remarkable book captures their gallantry and sacrifice dead on target. A must read for anyone wanting to know the Grunt's heroic story from the Korean War and how a gallant regiment became the Fire Brigad of the KoreanWar"". -- COL David H. Hackworth
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I'm Michael Slater, the author of Hills of Sacrifice. Fifty-years ago 3,200 soldiers deployed with the US Army's 5th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, to fight in the Korean War. Within six-weeks of entering combat, over one-third of these men had fallen -- killed, missing, or wounded -- fighting in the most bitter close-combat struggle Americans have participated in since the Civil War. One man's Police Action; another man's war. And this war would last three years. My book, Hills of Sacrifice is the story of these men, most no older than 25; a few only 15 or 16 years of age. The 5th RCT was a "Bastard Outfit," meaning it was an independent combat team, one with no permanent higher divisional headquarters. It fought with the 1st Cavalry, 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, 3d, 24th, 25th, 40th, and 45th Infantry Divisions. Over time the 5th RCT developed a superb reputation and it became the US EIGHTH Army's firebrigade of the Korean War. Casualties were heavy -- the unit was often thrown into the breach to breakthrough a heavily fortified Communist position (WAEGWAN: September 1950) or to serve as rearguard (The Chinese Spring Offensive: April 1951). Mistakes were made (Task Force Kean: August 1950). Men died as a result of these mistakes. My book includes a list of known and suspected casualties. In three years of war, the 5th RCT is believed to have lost over 1,000 men killed in action. Like all units in all wars, the 5th RCT included men who displayed uncommon courage on the battlefield (2 Medal of Honor recipients). Of note, many of the men serving in the 5th RCT called Hawaii their home. Few people know even today that the Territory of Hawaii suffered the HIGHEST per capita casualty rate of any State or Territory during the Korean War. One of the men who fell in Korea was SGT Ernest Calhau, known to friends and family as "Sonny." Sonny was my wife's Uncle. He was the original inspiration for writing this book. His letters home are used in the text to amplify the point that men who fall in combat are not mere statistics. These men had their own loves, fears, and lives before the bullet or shell fragment took them from us on a long forgotten battlefield of a distant Asian war. I caution you, my book is not for the faint-hearted. Graphic descriptions of the infantry close-combat battle are related throughout. I relied extensively on primary source material, to include interviews with former riflemen and battalion commanders. Unit records from the National Archives provided much information that has never been published on the Korean War before.
**note** The cover of the book is a photo of Sergeant Herbert Ohia from Hilo, Hawaii, viewing dead North Korean People Army soldiers on Hill 268, 19 September 1950. One of the dead North Koreans is wearing a Russian Helmet.
I want to thank LTGEN Alpha Bowser, Operations Officer, 1st Marine Division, Korea 1950-51, for writing the foreword. He agreed that this book about an Army unit transcended military service boundaries. Outstanding reviews from LTGEN Hal Moore, co-author of We Were Soldiers Once. and Young, COL David Hackworth, author of About Face, and the Governor of Hawaii, the Honorable Benjamin J. Cayetano confirm this is no ordinary book. I hope you will enjoy reading Hills of Sacrifice and looking at the numerous photographs, most taken by Master Sergeant Al Chang, the most accomplished combat photographer of the Korean War (Pulitzer Prize nomination).
