The secrets of Inchon : the untold story of the most daring covert mission of the Korean War

“A classic first-person account of heroism, resolve, and ultimate triumph that will touch every American.”—Stephen CoontsRetrieved from a safe-deposit box, this stunning first-hand account of a crucial, but little-known covert mission of the Korean War offers an honest, revealing, and remarkable story of wartime courage—from the very man who led the mission. According to his colleagues, Commander Eugene Franklin Clark had “the nerves of a burglar and the flair of a Barbary Coast Pirate.” And in August of 1950, when General Douglas MacArthur made the unpopular decision to invade Inchon—a move considered by many to be tactical suicide—he sent in Clark to find out what they needed to know. Discovered by North Koreans, he soon found his intelligence gathering interrupted by firefights, air raids, hand to hand combat, and even a small-scale naval battle. Culminating in the night of the invasion, Clark's account, informed by a growing brotherhood with his newfound allies, is rich in both adventure and humanity.“What an adventure it describes! There is no reason to disbelieve any of it, but if only a tenth of it were true, it would rival anything Hollywood could cook up.”—Chicago Sun-Times "The Secrets of Inchon is a story of heroism and courage, only now come to light after fifty years: the true account of Navy Commander (then Lieutenant) Eugene Franklin Clark - a man, according to his colleagues, with "the nerves of a burglar and the flair of a Barbary Coast pirate" - and the daring covert mission that helped change the course of the Korean War.". "In the year 2000, historian Thomas Fleming published an article about a crucial but little-known mission of the Korean War, led by a thirty-nine-year-old Navy lieutenant named Eugene Clark. After it appeared, Clark's widow told Fleming that her husband had written up his own account, which was now in a safe-deposit box. Would he like to read it? Fleming would - and when he did, he discovered an extraordinary document: a vividly written first-person chronicle, filled with color, detail, and event, as honest and revealing a wartime narrative as he'd read in many years."--BOOK JACKET. An account based on the experiences of a naval lieutenant who witnessed a covert Korean War mission firsthand discusses his two-week assignment to obtain vital intelligence in the wake of firefights, night raids, hand-to-hand combat, and a small naval battle. Reprint. Chronicles the two-week, covert, Korean War mission of then-Lieutenant Clark to obtain vital intelligence in the wake of firefights, night raids, hand-to-hand combat, and a small naval battle ON AUGUST 26,1950,1 was summoned to the office of Captain Edward Pearce, USN, in the Dai Ichi Insurance Building in downtown Tokyo, overlooking Emperor Hirohito's imperial palace.