"Koto-ri, Chosin Reservoir, on the jump off for Hungnam. Moral among the Marines is as high as if they were fresh from triumph.

"You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to the point of arrogance that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth. And the amusing thing about it is that they are.

"You should see the group that is about me as I write ... dirty, bearded, their clothing food-spattered and filthy ... they look like the castoffs of creation. Yet they have a sense of loyalty, generosity, even piety, greater than any men I've ever known.

"These rugged men have the simple piety of children. You can't help but loving them, in spite of their language and their loose sense of private property.

Don't ever feel sorry for a priest in the Marines. The last eight weeks have been the happiest and most contented of my life."