Passing the Test

"Passing the Test completes the story of ground combat during the Chinese offensives of 1951. It records the action of the small units that held back the last offensives and then counterattacked to regain the ground lost. Recorded on the ground where the soldiers fought, these chapters are 'the unadorned first drafts of history' brought back by the Army History Detachments, as told by the men who fought in those battles. This is combat history at its best."—Lt. General Julius W. Becton, Jr. (Ret.)

"This volume from the Combat in Korea series captures the shock, flow, and change of tactical battle in the spring and early summer of 1951. First hand experiences drawn from battlefield interviews and adept selection of unit battle summaries combine to vividly portray the facts of small unit combat as formal war histories don't. Leader and soldier realities, their uncertainty and reactions under fire, and, ultimately, their choices and resolute performance illuminate this narrative of brutal battle at the height of Korean War fighting. This will be a classic for those wishing to study the Korean War as experienced by the combat soldier in 1951."— Lt. General Bob Wood (Ret.)

"The editors . . . did a fine job in relating the background to the fierce, brutal clashes between the U.S. Army forces of Eighth Army and numerous units of the Chinese 'volunteer' armies that had intervened in the Korean struggle late in 1950."—H-Net Review

"Clearly a work of scholarship that will be a valuable document for understanding the war, more important in some ways than the story of battles and army movements."—Teaching History

"Serves as a monument to the fighting spirit of the individual soldier."—Army

"Cirillo...greatly enhances the text by providing a superlative introduction and conclusion that place the Chinese Fifth Offensive in perspective."—Army

"A must read for all those who want to understand the Korean War and how the United Nations Command and U.S. Eighth Army effectively fought the Chinese Spring Offensives on 1951."—Journal of America's Military Past