The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, ends on this date 12/13 in 1950. Professor Walter Murphy was there!

The battle took place about a month after the People's Republic of China entered the conflict and sent the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) 9th Army to infiltrate the northeastern part of North Korea. On 27 November 1950, the Chinese force surprised the US X Corps commanded by Major General Edward Almond in the Chosin Reservoir area.

A brutal 17-day battle in freezing weather soon followed. Between 27 November and 13 December, 30,000 United Nations Command troops (The Chosin Few) under the field command of Major General Oliver P. Smith were encircled and attacked by about 120,000 Chinese troops under the command of Song Shilun, who had been ordered by Mao Zedong to destroy the UN forces.

The UN forces were nevertheless able to break out of the encirclement and withdraw to the port of Hungnam. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, especially the Chinese, with both battle casualties and non-battle casualties caused by the frigid weather.

The withdrawal of the US Eighth Army from northwest Korea in the aftermath of the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and the evacuation of the X Corps from the port of Hungnam in northeast Korea marked the complete withdrawal of UN troops from North Korea.

The Battle of Chosin Reservoir is regarded by some historians as the most brutal in modern warfare by violence, casualty rate, weather conditions, and endurance.

Over the course of fourteen days, 17 Medals of Honor (Army and Navy) and 78 Service Cross Medals (Army and Navy) were awarded by the United States, the second most as of 2020 after the Battle of the Bulge (20 MOHs and 83 SCMs). American veterans of the battle are colloquially referred to as the "Chosin Few" and symbolized by the "Star of Koto-ri".

Three books that I highly recommend are Hampton Sides’ “On Desperate Ground", Adam Makos's "Devotion" and Walter Murphy’s “The Vicar of Christ.”

Sides’ is an historical account that puts you on the ground and in the COLD of Korea! Having experienced Korea’s winter firsthand during Operation Bear Hunt (1985), I can attest to just how bitterly cold it is.

Makos' Devotion puts you in the skies above Korea with Navy Ensign Jesse Brown and Lt. Tom Hudner (you can read more here...https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/paulmcbrideusmcvetandhealthcareexec_brotherlylove-thankyouveterans-veterans-activity-7137430500209528832-tF-7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Murphy’s novel is an altogether different book.

It is universally considered to be an unusual, fascinating, and well-written observation of the life of a man who was first a Marine then Chief Justice of the United States, later a monk, and finally elected Pope. The fact that Murphy was THERE as a young Marine gives the first part of the book a credibility and “feel” that is unmatched.

The second part is based on Murphy’s almost 40 year tenure at Princeton where he served as THE constitutional scholar to many current college and law school professors, and one Supreme Court Justice (Alito).

In 1980, I had the good fortune to meet Professor Murphy as one of my professors, Dr. Fritz Nova, was a contemporary and friend who taught an outstanding class on Jurisprudence.

That said, Professor Murphy was one of the most interesting men I ever had the pleasure to meet.

Writing about it now, I marvel at the fact that when I met him in 1980, he was only 30 years removed from the battlefields of Korea. (I am close to being that far removed from my time in the Marine Corps - (28 years in 2018.)

Here's the piece from 2018...

Walter Murphy was a remarkable individual whose life embodied bravery, intellect, and dedication. As a Korean War Marine, he displayed valor and commitment to service, traits that echoed throughout his life.

His experiences shaped his understanding of the world, leading him to pursue a path in law. At Princeton University, he became a distinguished constitutional law scholar, renowned for his insightful contributions and profound understanding of the subject.

Murphy's journey from the battlefield to academia showcased resilience and a thirst for knowledge. His expertise in constitutional law not only stemmed from his academic pursuits but also from a deep appreciation of the principles that underpin a just society. His work reflected a keen awareness of the intersection between law, politics, and societal values, earning him admiration and respect in the legal community.

Murphy taught at Princeton for 37 years, ultimately serving as the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence -- a chair first held by Woodrow Wilson. Murphy’s students included U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, for whom he served as a senior thesis adviser. Murphy was a leading scholar and teacher on a variety of topics, focusing first on political theory and later on judicial decision-making. He then broadened his interests to comparative politics and the problems of creating and maintaining constitutional democracy.

Scattered among more than a dozen academic books and numerous articles were three novels noted for their scholarly as well as their literary merit. “Intellectually, Walter was a leader in many ways,” said Sotirios Barber, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame. “He pioneered the study of judicial politics within the Supreme Court -- the politics of putting together a coalition on the court to reach a decision.

He pioneered the study of comparative constitutional law. Walter was the founder and the leading exemplar of what’s now called in some circles the ‘Princeton approach’ to constitutional studies. This is a view of constitutional institutions from the perspective of institutional designers and reformers as opposed to the perspective of lawyers and judges. It’s a view that measures constitutions by their social results. “Walter met a lot of resistance in mainstream political science circles for this effort because it demanded the integration of normative and empirical approaches,” said Barber, who was a collaborator with Murphy for more than 25 years. “But he succeeded. He put together a fairly wide-flung group of scholars and kept them together through the last 20 years. Walter was an important figure and a good man.”

Walter Murphy - Marine, Scholar, Author

Born on Nov. 21, 1929, and raised in Charleston, Murphy attended the University of Notre Dame, earning his A.B. in 1950. He then served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Korea, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross, the Purple Heart, a Presidential Unit Citation and three battle stars.

Upon returning from combat, he was assigned to teach at the U.S. Naval Academy from 1952 to 1955. During the evenings, he attended Georgetown University’s Institute of Linguistics and received an M.A. from George Washington University in 1954. Murphy resigned his military commission to attend graduate school at the University of Chicago, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1957. He spent a year as a fellow at the Brookings Institution and joined the Princeton faculty as an assistant professor of politics?in 1958.

He was named the McCormick Professor in 1968 and retained that chair until his retirement with emeritus status in 1995. He remained in the Marine Corps Reserve, retiring in 1974 as a colonel.

He made his home in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque, N.M., for many years. Murphy’s versatility as a scholar was well known throughout the field of politics. Fred Greenstein, Murphy’s colleague since 1973 in Princeton’s Department of Politics, said, “His early book ‘Elements of Judicial Strategy,’ which analyzes the way justices seek to influence one another, is a classic.

Despite his corner on that intellectual market, Walter then turned to the crowded field of constitutional interpretation and eventually wrote what I take to be a major comprehensive work on the topic [‘Constitutional Democracy: Creating and Maintaining a Just Political Order,’ published in 2006].

“In addition to being a first-rate scholar, he was an interesting and popular novelist,” said Greenstein, a professor of politics emeritus. “The latter began when he decided that he could not publish his findings in a study of the inner workings of the Catholic Church without compromising the clergymen who were his sources. That led him to publish ‘The Vicar of Christ,’ a three-part novel that follows a character who first experiences combat in Korea, then becomes a Supreme Court justice and then becomes the first American Pope -- a real page-turner.”?

The 1979 novel landed on The New York Times best-seller list and won the Chicago Foundation for Literature Award. Other colleagues described Murphy as a beloved teacher and mentor to generations of graduate students who now teach in universities across the United States. He was known for one course in particular.

“His course on ‘Constitutional Interpretation’ changed my life,” said Princeton Provost Christopher Eisgruber, who majored in physics at Princeton, earned a master’s degree in politics at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and a law degree at the University of Chicago, then served as a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens before returning to academia. “In his hands, the Constitution and the Supreme Court became magical and wondrous subjects. He inspired me, and many others, to careers as constitutional scholars.”

Robert George, the current McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, joined the Princeton faculty in 1985 and began serving as Murphy’s preceptor in the course before taking over as lecturer in 1995. “He was my mentor,” George said. “I had the great advantage of being able to sit at the feet of the master and learn how to teach the course.” Murphy returned regularly to Princeton for conferences and lectures.

“While he was here, he always led a session in the graduate seminar I was teaching. He was always a hit with the students,” said Ezra Suleiman, Princeton’s IBM Professor in International Studies and professor of politics.

In 2001, the annual Walter Murphy Lecture in American Constitutionalism was named in his honor.

Suleiman, a colleague of almost three decades, said the book Murphy wrote “showed not just his stunning erudition but also that the study of constitutional law in the U.S. could only benefit from comparative study, because the problems involved in establishing democratic constitutions affect many societies.

It’s important to address the problems comparatively, he argued, and not overly concentrate on a single society and its exceptionality since every society can be said to be unique.” Eisgruber added, “I am glad that he gave us all this book with which to remember him: It is a profound work, and it will transmit Walter’s wisdom and wit to new generations of students and scholars.”

It was in the area of comparative constitutional law that Murphy advised the Supreme Court’s Alito on his thesis in 1972 on “An Introduction to the Italian Constitutional Court.” Stanley Katz, a lecturer with the rank of professor in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, fondly recalled collaborating on a large comparative constitutionalism project with Murphy many years ago. “I loved working with Walter -- he was deeply thoughtful and well-informed -- although our political views were not closely aligned. But that did not matter to what became one of my closest friendships at Princeton.

Walter was the real article, and I loved him.” Suleiman added, “His hallmark was his integrity, which meant speaking his mind and which, he realized, did not always go over well. But this didn’t stop him. And he was beloved for his sincerity and his wit.”

Murphy served as a member of the Committee on Judicial Conduct for the Supreme Court of New Jersey, a member of the New Jersey Civil Rights Commission and a member of the New Jersey Advisory Commission to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

He was also secretary and later vice president of the American Political Science Association, a member of the editorial board of the American Political Science Review and book review editor of World Politics. ?

Elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1976, he received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Guggenheim Foundation as well as three Fulbright awards.

In 1995, the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.? Murphy was married for 54 years to Mary Therese Dolan Murphy, who died in 2006. In 2009, he moved from Albuquerque back to Charleston and married Doris Maher Murphy of Ravenel, S.C., the first girl he ever dated, on Jan. 9, 2010.

Walter Murphy passed away on April 20, 2019.

Requiescat in pace sir... you were Semper Fidelis.

POST SCRIPT: In December of 2023, I learned that my Basic School Roommate, Andy McClintock's dad (General Bain McClintock, USMC), was good friends with "Walt" Murphy!

About the author… Paul McBride is a former Marine Officer and the Founder and President of America Military Society Press. You can contact him at [email protected]

Sources; The Princeton Review, May 2020, Princetonian, April 2020, The New York Times, May, 2020, Author's personal recollection and journal entries, November,1980

This article originally appeared on the amsp1775.com website on December 13th 2018