Lt. Col. John Upshur Dennis Page was a U.S. Army artillery officer, a bespectacled 46-year-old professional soldier who had spent most of his career yearning for a solid chance at combat. When his chance finally came in Korea in 1950, he took such heroic advantage of it that the Marine Corps gave him its highest award -- the Navy Cross.

In October 1950 John Page left for Korea almost eagerly. He hated to leave his wife and children at home in New Orleans. But he was a soldier and he'd had little combat experience. Throughout World War II he had been plagued with a reputation as a troubleshooter who knew how to whip an outfit into fighting trim. The Army had kept him doing just that at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Page arrived at Tenth Corps headquarters in Hamhung, Korea, on November 27. The next day he was asked to handle a special mission. Red Chinese armies had crossed the Yalu River and now teemed in the hills around and behind U.N. lines, disrupting communications and supply. The main supply route to the Marines at the Chosin Reservoir was threatened. It had to be kept open at all costs. Page was given the job of placing communications along the road, to keep track of enemy activity.