Truce tent and fighting front

602 Pages·1966·0.73 MB·English

by  Walter G. Hermes

to Those Who Served
. . .

Foreword
This is the second of five volumes to be published in the series UNITED
STATES ARMY IN THE KOREAN WAR. When completed, these vol-
umes will present a comprehensive account of U.S. Army activities in what
was once euphemistically termed a police action. Truce Tent and Fighting
Front covers the last two years in the Korean War and treats the seemingly
interminable armistice negotiations and the violent but sporadic fighting
at the front.
The scene therefore frequently shifts from the dialectic, propaganda,
and frustrations at the conference table to the battles on key hills and at
key outposts. The author presents a solid and meaningful reconstruction
of the truce negotiations; he develops the issues debated and captures the
color of the arguments and the arguers. The planning and events that
guided or influenced the proceedings on the United Nations side are thor-
oughly explained. The volume abounds in object lessons and case studies
that illustrate problems American officers may encounter in negotiating
with Communists. Problems encountered by the U.N. high command in
handling recalcitrant Communist prisoners of war within the spirit and
letter of the Geneva Convention are explained with clarity and sympathy.
Truce Tent and Fighting Front is offered to all thoughtful citizens–
military and civilian—as a contribution to the literature of limited war.
Washington, D.C. HAL C. PATTISON
18 June 1965 Brigadier General, USA
Chief of Military History
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The Author
Walter G. Hermes received his M.A. from Boston University and his
Ph.D. in History from Georgetown University.
During World War II he served with the U.S. Army in radio intelligence
and military government assignments. After the war he attended the Uni-
versity of Denver and the University of California at Los Angeles.
Dr. Hermes joined the Office of the Chief of Military History in 1949.
For many years he served as Department of the Army representative on the
Department of Defense Liaison Committee with the Department of State
on the Foreign Relations of the United States series insofar as they covered
World War II and the international conferences of that period. Dr. Hermes
is at present a member of the Current History Branch of the Office of the
Chief of Military History.
He has assisted Dr. Maurice Matloff in the preparation of the volume
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare, 1943-1944 in the UNITED
STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II series, and has edited the volume by
Maj. Robert K. Sawyer, Military Advisors in Korea: KMAG in Peace and
War in the ARMY HISTORICAL SERIES.
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