Fox Company, 2nd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division

Marine Corp Museum

My dad, at the time 1st Lieutenant Robert C. McCarthy was the XO of Fox Company while they held Fox Hill for five bitterly cold 30 below November days in the Toktong Pass during the Korean War. Last fall the USMarine Corp Museum in Quantico, VA opened for the first time with four special exhibit rooms dedicated to greatest battles of the Marines through out the centuries...these were Tripoli, Bellieau Woods, Iwo Jima and one of them was my fathers company's battle in Korea...known through out the Marine Corp legends as Fox Hill. Heady company for a Marine to be included in....This Picture shows the wall when entering F Company exhibit USMC Museum, Quantico, VA. My dad, Lt. Robert C. McCarthy is quoted on the museum wall.

This is what dad wrote on the back of this picture. He also wrote THE Chapter on the battle that is in Marine Corp history books and was originally published in the Leatherneck Magazine as well as still studied at Quantico to this day at OCS(Officers Candidate School) training. "Fox Company, 2nd Battalion 7th Marines had 254 Marines and with the aid of the -30 degree temperatures we destroyed a Chinese regiment of 3000+ soldiers. We held Fox Hill from 27 Nov 50 to 2 Dec 1950 as the forward regiments of Marines retreated . My third Platoon held the top of the Hill. I had 54 Marines at sundown 27 Nov 50 and 22 of the Marines on the morning of 28 Nov 50. I was wounded early morning 29 Nov 1950.( He was shot through the thigh by a bullet that wounded the CO sufficiently that my dad became the commander of Fox Company even though he was wounded.) 86 ( of the original 254 Marines) walked off Fox Hill(to begin the other thing that the Frozen Choisin Marines are famous for . The longest coldest military retreat in US history. Many including my wounded father walking out of thru the frozen mountain passes leaving none of their wounded and NONE of their dead behind, another Marine tradition.) A picture over the door of the exhibit room...

evidently according to dad it looked NOTHING Like Fox Hill...and of course the museum did not consult any of the still surviving members of Fox Company.

If you would like to read more about the Marines and thier battle at Choisin Reservoir you might like to read Break Out by Martin Russ available on Amazon, a well researched book about 60000 Chinese soldiers attempt to wipe out the 12000 Marines by completely surrounding the three Marines regiments which were strung out along 80 miles of narrow mountain road.

"One of the most stirring tales of American military history."

"An outstanding history....captures the viciousness of combat....and the Marines incredible triumph with stark realism and unvarnished candor." - Library Journal


From Publishers Weekly
In the annals of American heroic stands against long odds, Chosin Reservoir stands with the Alamo and BataanAwith the bonus of a happy ending. Russ (The Last Parallel) has written the definitive account of the 1st Marine Division's epic breakout from the Chosin Reservoir in the winter of 1950. Outnumbered, unsupported and isolated in the depths of winter, 12,000 Marines, surrounded by 60,000 Chinese soldiers, cut their way out of encirclement and fought a path to the sea, bringing out most of their wounded and many of their dead with them. Small wonder, then, that Chosin Reservoir is celebrated as a victory by the Corps. Russ weaves the Marines' stories into a compelling tapestry of understated heroism, showing how the 1st Marine Division owed much to officers and senior NCOs with combat experience in WWII and the force of character to lead teenage riflemen from the front. Cohesion, as well as courage and tactical skill, brought the Marines out of Chosin. Time and again, those whom Russ interviewed stress the overriding importance of not letting down other Marines, no matter the cost. Russ relies heavily and appropriately on the accounts of Marines who fought at Chosin. The result is that there is a lot of detail, a lot of close-up recollections of localized battle, but Russ does an admirable job, when necessary, of panning back to give readers a picture of the whole campaign.