Pork Chop Hill

The film Pork Chop Hill, starring Gregory Peck, is an American made movie that depicts the true story of the battle of Pork Chop Hill in the Korean War. As one of the last battles of a war, which reached no conclusion the significance of Pork Chop Hill is one that is difficult to describe. Tactically, Pork Chop Hill had no conclusive purpose whatsoever – it did not provide any offensive or defensive advantages to either side of the war, nor did it lead to any type of supply road. The leadership in the film recognized the lack of importance that Pork Chop Hill had for them in the fight and consistently asked themselves why they are wasting their men and valuable supplies for a location of such little importance. Contrarily, strategically, to
Halberstam informs us in The Coldest Winter, that the Chinese were infamous for their ability to reposition and move troops nearly invisibly due to the fact that the United Nation forces never knew where and when the Chinese would going to be striking next.2 Halberstam goes on to mention that the Chinese soldiers wore white parkas that would allow them to blend in with the snowy terrain and drop to the ground each time American patrol planes flew overhead in search of the enemy.2 In other words, the Chinese always had the upper hand in regards to their capabilities of maintaining the element of surprise, and yet, the primitive bugle with its high-pitched noise hat resonated across the valleys, destroyed this element of surprise each and every time they used it. The audience of Pork Chop Hill took note of this based on the reactions expressed by the American forces every time they heard the dreadful sound of the bugle. As soon as they heard the noise, they were able to strategically prepare themselves for the attacks that were about to come, every time the horn was sounded, the Chinese gave away their position and the fact that attacks were on their
Private Franklin is an African American soldier who introduced to the audience when they first start charging the hill. After repeated attempts to hide from the fighting and Lieutenant Clemens pushing him onward, another African American soldier, Corporal Jurgens, is tasked with keeping Franklin in line. Throughout the film, the audience observes two different perspectives of these soldiers and the reasoning they have behind their actions.5 Corporal Jurgens tells Private Franklin that he has an invested interested in the performance of his fellow African American because he hopes one day back home they can be treated with equality if they perform well in Korea.1 Halberstam explains that it was not until the Korean War when the U.S. Army started to desegregate the forces and the audience of Pork Chop Hill sees evidence of that with the appearance of these two African American soldiers.2 However, even desegregated units were difficult for African Americans because, as Private Franklin explains to Lieutenant Clemens, “I don’t want to die for Korea. What do I care for this stinking hill? You wanna see where I live back home? I sure am sure I ain’t gonna die for that.”1 Truth be told, as Lieutenant Clemens points out, not many of the soldiers had a reason to fight in Korea. Most American soldiers, Halberstam explains, did not even know where Korea was at the outbreak of the war let