This book is about the last man standing between the defenders of the Republic of Korea and an army of Chinese Communists on April 25, 1951. That man was Seventeen Year Old Charles L. Gilliland, Private, called Gunsmoke, later Corporal US Army, 2nd Platoon, I Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division , near Tongmang Ni Village, Korea. Readers will appreciate details of the life of the hero as witnessed by his parents, school mates, brother and close friend as well as the last man to see him alive, his platoon sergeant. Here are the ingredients of the upbringing of a one of a kind hero. The reader will get a peak into the books that he read in preparation for his heroic acts.The reader will experience basic training of a hero and embarkation from the Port of San Francisco headed for Korea. Before he can say Jack Frost and barely seven months since he left Mountain Home, Arkansas, he is in death defying combat, fighting in 50 Degrees below Zero weather, with a wind chill index of 100 Degrees below Zero, under attack by a 60,000 fanatical Chinese Communist. His introduction to combat was at the Chosin Reservoir, one of the bloodiest battles ever fought by and American Army. His special unit, Task Force Dog was dispatched to assist in the retreat of the marines..The reader is privileged to read the intimate letters of the hero to his family in Mountain Home, Arkansas and especially the personal letter and recollection of the one man who stood with him in combat from the Chosin Reservoir to the Imjim River and his final act of self sacrifice. The reader will understand why Congress, the President and his Military Superiors praised him in this manner, distinguished, gallant, courageous, beyond the call of duty, heroic actions, indomitable devotion to duty, incredible valor, supreme sacrifice, lasting glory.
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