Running with the Dogs

Book excerpt: The US Marines fighting in Korea between 1950 and 1953 were often outflanked and almost always outnumberedbut they were never outwitted. The marines of Dog Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Regiment (D-2-7) and their comrades learned quickly how to fight the erratic enemys unfamiliar tactics and strategies and the harsh weather conditions in which they operated. Author Frederick P. Frankville, who fought up and down Korea with D-2-7 for nine months in 1950 and 1951, narrates in detail how the regiment succeeded in its mission and helped create a free South Korea. As he demonstrates, the Dogs adopted new tactics as they fought to accomplish what marines in every war are trained to do: inflict more pain and suffering on the enemy than they receive in return. In this gripping, graphic, heartbreaking, and sometimes humorous memoir, Frankville shares his experiences and those of his fellow marines in wartime conditions and, more importantly, explores the true meaning of the Marine Corps motto, Semper Fialways faithful.