A Task Force Called Faith
The Untold Story of the U.S. Army Soldiers Who Fought for Survival at Chosin Reservoir—and Honor Back Home
by Steve Vogel
You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 18 Nov 2025 | Archive Date 25 Nov 2025
The Globe Pequot Publishing Group, Inc. | Lyons Press
Talking about this book? Use #ATaskForceCalledFaith #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
The forgotten heroes of Chosin—how Task Force Faith fought against impossible odds and a legacy of unfair shame.
On the 75th anniversary of the legendary Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Steve Vogel tells the little-known story of the Army soldiers who gave all during the Korean War’s most consequential battles and then were denigrated for their sacrifice. A Task Force Called Faith delivers a fresh perspective on Chosin, where 150,000 Chinese soldiers trapped 20,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers in the frozen mountains of North Korea in November and December of 1950. For seven decades, the Marines who successfully broke out from Chosin have been justly hailed as heroes, but the Army soldiers who fought alongside them have been reviled as cowards. In A Task Force Called Faith, Steve Vogel sets the record straight. What he’s learned is the culmination of twenty-five years of digging into the story, first as a reporter for The Washington Post and now as a leading military historian.
At Chosin, an Army force of 2,300 soldiers—a unit known as Task Force Faith—was positioned on the east side of the reservoir to protect the Marines’ flank but was overwhelmed by a Chinese force eight times its size. Fighting with little ammunition, support or food in temperatures that plunged to 35 degrees below zero, more than 80 percent of the Army soldiers were killed, captured, or wounded. After the battle, they were falsely accused of throwing down their weapons and feigning wounds. As Vogel documents, their brave fight through four days and five nights bought time for the Marines on the west side to consolidate and fight their way out. The Army survivors and their families have long sought to clear their names of those terrible charges and reclaim the honor they won at the frozen lake.
A Task Force Called Faith tells their story. Vogel carries the narrative to the present day, as the remains of many of the hundreds of soldiers still missing in action at Chosin continue to be identified and returned to their families.
During a time of growing tension and uncertainty in the relationship between the U.S. and China, A Task Force Called Faith provides an original, deeply researched look at the brutal, undeclared war the two countries fought 75 years ago. Chosin was the moment the Cold War turned into a savage and exceedingly hot conflict, leaving behind an uneasy standoff that looms ever larger with a nuclear-armed North Korea.
Advance Praise
“Author Steve Vogel has written a masterful Korean War history of the 31st Infantry Regimental Combat Team and Task Force Faith during their terrible five-day battle east of the Chosin Reservoir in 1950. Seven Chinese Regiments swarmed the three understrength US Army battalions in 20 degrees below zero weather. The cut-off courageous soldiers essentially destroyed two divisions of the Chinese 27th Army while suffering terrible losses with 85% of the RCT killed, wounded, or MIA. The terrible sacrifice of the 31st RCT enabled the survival of the brave Marines of 1st Mar Div who were able to break out to the south and the Navy evacuation at Hungnam. In a twist of fate, my dad, Colonel Bill McCaffrey, took command of the 385 survivors and reorganized and retrained the Regiment for a year of continued brutal combat. Vogel has rescued the 31st RCT from a distorted history and shines a light on the valor of these superb infantry soldiers.”
—Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, US Army (Ret.), recipient of two Distinguished Service Crosses and NBC military analyst
“Steve Vogel's account of the annihilation of a U.S. Army task force in Korea is the most moving, most agonizing, most instructive story of war I have ever read. Prodigiously researched over two decades and masterfully written, A Task Force Called Faith reveals the suffering and heroism of field officers and grunts who were falsely accused of cowardice. It also documents the vanity and incompetence of America’s most senior generals in the Korean War. This is a revelatory read for anyone interested in how the United States fights its many wars.”
—Blaine Harden, author of Escape from Camp 14
"I encountered the remarkable story of Task Force Faith nearly twenty years ago when I interviewed some of its survivors, who had desperately fought against waves of Chinese soldiers on East Hill alongside the Marines of George Company – I knew there was a powerful untold story waiting to be uncovered. Steve Vogel has masterfully told this story, detailing a period as desperate as any in the annals of American arms. Through superb storytelling and thorough research, Vogel transports the reader to the Frozen Chosin. You can almost smell the napalm and cordite. Snow, ice, hordes of Chinese soldiers, hand-to-hand combat, 30-below-zero weather, with hope only residing in the intrepid soldiers who experienced it. I highly recommend it.”
—Patrick K. O’Donnell, military historian and bestselling author of Give Me Tomorrow and The Unvanquished
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781493092895 |
| PRICE | US$39.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 502 |
