Sign-In
Cart
And the Wind Blew Cold: The Story of an American POW in North Korea
Hardcover
Biographies GeneralKorean HistoryKorean War
ISBN13: 9780873387507
Publisher: Kent State University Press
Published: Dec 12 2002
Pages: 136
Weight: 0.77
Height: 0.64 Width: 6.24 Depth: 8.88
Language: English
October 6, 1951. Richard Bassett remembers the day vividly. That was the day his platoon ran into an ambush near Kumwha. During the firefight many were wounded, four were killed, and Bassett, along with three others, was captured. During a month-long march to the POW camp the Americans frequently came under friendly fire. Surviving the march paled in comparison to what the captured soldiers had to endure at Camp-5-Pyokdong. Frostbite, dysentery, jaundice, and mental breakdowns dwindled their numbers. Starvation and squalid conditions took their toll on Bassett during his 21-month incarceration. Yet he pledged to himself that if anyone were to walk out of this camp alive, it would be him.
When Richard Bassett returned from Korea on convalescent leave in 1953, he set down his experiences in training, combat, and captivity. Then he put the memoir away and tried to forget. More than twenty years later, hospitalized for acute Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he once again faced his personal demons. Expanding the memoir to include his postwar struggles with the U.S. government and his own wounded psyche, the resulting comprehensive account is published here for the first time.
Bassett captures in plain language and vivid detail those days of his captivity. He describes the shock of capture and ensuing long march to Pyokdong, North Korea, Camp 5 on the Yellow River, where many prisoners died of untreated wounds, disease, hunger, paralyzing cold, and brutal mistreatment in the bitter winter of 1950-51. He recounts Chinese attempts to mentally break down prisoners in order to exploit them for propoganda. Bassett takes the reader through typical days in a prisoner's life, discussing food, clothing, shelter, and work; the struggle against unremitting boredom; religious, social, and recreational diversions; and even those moments of terror when all seemed lost.
Bassett's story is important to general audiences and scholars alike because it has not counterpart in the literature of the Korean War. And the Wind Blew Cold refutes Cold War-era propaganda that often unfairly characterized POWs as brainwashed victims or even traitors who lacked the grit that Americans expected of their brave sons.
Bassett concludes his memoir with a candid discussion of the war's aftermath, his battle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, harassment by a government eager to impugn the loyalty of repatriated POWs, and his long struggle with the Veterans Administration to receive compensation for enduring physical and mental scars. This book will fascinate anyone interested in the Korean War era, in captivity tales, and in the resilience of the human spirit.
Also in
Korean War
This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History, Fiftieth Anniversary Edition
Fehrenbach, T. R.
Paperback
On Desperate Ground: The Epic Story of Chosin Reservoir--The Greatest Battle of the Korean War
Sides, Hampton
Paperback
The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat
Drury, Bob
Clavin, Tom
Paperback
A Brief History of Korea: Isolation, War, Despotism and Revival: The Fascinating Story of a Resilient But Divided People
Seth, Michael J.
Paperback
The Forgotten Home Front: Roger Marshutz's Photographs of Pusan, South Korea, 1952-1954
Kim, Sean C.
Barbash, Ilisa
Hardcover
War Is a Racket: A Decorated U.S. Marine General's Shocking Exposé of War Profiteering
Butler, Major General Smedley D.
Paperback
Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War's Greatest Untold Story -- The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company
O'Donnell, Patrick K.
Paperback
The Forgotten Debate: The Korean War and the Roots of America's Ideological Divisions
Cash, Dane J.
Hardcover
The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War
Brands, H. W.
Paperback
The Marines' Fight for Survival: War, Politics, and Institutional Crisis, 1945-1952
Andrew, Rod
Hardcover
Technical Manual for Rifle U.S. Type 99 Japanese Cal .30-06: (Korean War Reprint)
Nariakira, Arisaka
Paperback
Internationalism in Practice: Claudia Jones, Black Liberation, and the "Bestial" War on Korea
Jones, Claudia
Paperback
뽈레 뽈레 짧은 얘기들 50: PolePole 50 Stories
Koo, Sungyull
Paperback
The Cold War: A Captivating Guide to the Tense Conflict between the United States of America and the Soviet Union Following World War II
History, Captivating
Hardcover
Historia de Corea fácil de aprender - ¡Para niños y adultos! Con ilustraciones para un aprendizaje completo
Kang, Woosung
Paperback
The Frozen Chosen: The 1st Marine Division and the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir
Cleaver, Thomas McKelvey
Paperback
AFOQT Study Guide: AFOQT Prep and Study Book for the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test
Afoqt Study Guide Team
Afoqt Study Guide Team
Spire Study System
Paperback
Surviving the Unipolar Era: North Korea's 35 Year Standoff with the United States
Abrams, A. B.
Paperback
Forgotten Warriors: The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, the Corps Ethos, and the Korean War
Hammes, T. X.
Paperback
Fire Mission!: The Story of the 213th Field Artillery Battalion in Korea 1951-1954
Sobieski, Anthony J.
Paperback
Christmas Far from Home: An Epic Tale of Courage and Survival During the Korean War
Weintraub, Stanley
Paperback
In the Shadow of the Greatest Generation: The Americans Who Fought the Korean War
Pash, Melinda L.
Hardcover
Forgotten Warriors: The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, the Corps Ethos, and the Korean War
Hammes, T. X.
Hardcover
UP and DOWN IN and AROUND NORTH and SOUTH KOREA: WHEN I SERVED IN THE U.S. ARMY WITH THE IPW (INTERROGATION OF PRISONERS OF WAR) TEAM, 19th Inf. Regt.
Tashiro, Kenneth Aijiro
Paperback
A General's Last Call: George C. Marshall as Secretary of Defense, 1950-51
Thompson, Wayne C.
Paperback
Storia della Corea Semplificata - Per Grandi e Piccini! Con Illustrazioni per Imparare al Meglio
Kang, Woosung
Paperback
I Am Now Back Across the 38th Parallel Line: Letters from a 5th Regimental Combat Team Soldier
Mullenax Vanmeter, Julie
Paperback
Scrappy: Memoir of a U.S. Fighter Pilot in Korea and Vietnam
O'Connor, Ian a.
Johnson, Howard C. Scrappy
Paperback
Cold Noses, Brave Hearts: Dogs and Men of the 26th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon
Granger, Sandra Fickbohm
Fickbohm, Robert
Hardcover
Combat in an Age of Terror: The 7th Infantry Regiment in America's Modern Wars, Korea Through Iraq
McManus, John C.
Paperback
The Glosters in the Korean War: From Mobilisation to the Battle of the Imjin River and Beyond
Dixon, Robert
Hardcover
Hearts of Iron: The Epic Struggle of Teh 1st Marine Flame Tank Platoon: Korean War 1950-1953
Carty, Jack
Ravino, Jerry
Paperback
Ground Forces in the Korean War 1950-53 (2): The US Army and US Marine Corps
Mackowiak, Robert
Paperback
Totally Korean: Traditional Korean Dishes You Can Make at Home (2022 Guide for Beginners)
Kim, Eugene
Paperback
United States Army Heroes During the World Wars: 37th Infantry Division
Sterner, C. Douglas
Paperback
Kim Jong Un: The Hidden Revolution. Inside the Mind and Strategy of North Korea's Modern Leader
Leone, Ferruccio
Paperback
Skirmish Red, White and Blue: The History of the 7th U.S. Cavalry, 1945-1953
Daily, Edward C.
Paperback
United States Army Heroes During World War II: 7th & 8th Armored Divisions
Sterner, C. Douglas
Paperback
United States Army Heroes - Volume VI: Distinguished Service Cross - Army (H - Q)
Sterner, C. Douglas
Paperback
Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War
Xue, Litai
Goncharov, Sergei N.
Lewis, John W.
Paperback
The History Of Rogers' Rangers (Volume I); The Beginnings Jan 1755- April 6, 1758
Garfield Loescher, Burt
Paperback
My Life, My Story: A Father's Legacy, A Buffalo Soldier's Journey
Stamm, Richard
Wright, Henry F.
Stamm, Sheila Wright
Paperback
Silver Wings, Golden Valor: The USAF Remembers Korea
U. S. Air Force
Office of Air Force History
Paperback
United States Army Heroes - Volume IX: Distinguished Service Cross (Korean War)
Sterner, C. Douglas
Paperback
The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: A True Story About the Birth of Tyranny in North Korea
Harden, Blaine
Paperback
Last War of the Superfortresses: Mig-15 Versus B-29 in the Korean War 1950-53
Krylov, Leonid
Tepsurkaev, Yuriy
Paperback
Chaos, Kangaroo Courts, and Communism at Koje-Do: POW Riots in the Korean War
Sharp, Arthur
Paperback
Black Soldier - White Army: The 24th Infantry Regiment in Korea
Bowers, William T.
Center of Military History, Us Army
Hardcover
Brotherhood in Combat: How African Americans Found Equality in Korea and Vietnam
Maxwell, Jeremy P.
Hardcover
Lost in the Cold War: The Story of Jack Downey, America's Longest-Held POW
Downey, John T.
Christensen, Thomas
Downey, Jack
Hardcover