These days, for many of us, wars are reduced to their most visually enticing elements to be presented on silver platters with dinner every night. The stories are reduced to casualty statistics, and then all of these things are subsequently interpreted and judged for us as a number of ‘experts’ weigh in on a war they’ve never seen with their own eyes.

Bailey’s book Firing and Flying for the Field Artillery in Korea is the antidote to the mediated wars of our time. Bailey offers little interpretation and does nothing to spice up his work. What you will find in this book is nothing but the raw facts, the movements, the individuals involved and exactly what they went through. It’s not, by any means, a simple read. It’s technical, meticulous, and well-informed. Inside you will not find the political strife of interested parties or the drama of broken families. You will find the real movements and real actions of the real men fighting in a real war.

Bailey uses this real recount to give us the suspense of the war from the eyes of the soldiers who fought in it. And suspense there is, as the soldiers were caught in the crossfire of one of the largest wars of the century. In knowing the truth and all the facts, we can have a better understanding of what was lost and what was gained in this war, as well as having an insight into what is at stake in every war.

If you have a sincere interest in the military actions of your own government, if you want to know the non-fictional non-colored version of what war is like, or if you enjoy the study of real military strategy and tactics, this is the book for you.

TB Koskie
T&R Reviews

As a infantry company commander and regimental intelligence officer (S-2) in Korea during the War, I found that the friendly field artillery support provided to my unit decimated the enemy, thus minimizing friendly casualties.

This book is a tribute to the professional expertise of the field artillery support as described with the personal experience of Lt. Col. Kincheon H. Bailey in his book Firing and Flying for the Field Artillery in Korea. It's frank and goes to the base line of the way things were.

I highly recommend this excellent depiction of the professionalism and techniques used in supporting infantry combat units by the 64th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzer) during the Korean War.

Andrew J Gatsis,
Brigadier General US Army Retired,
July 27, 2007

Author Biography

Lt. Col. Kincheon H. Bailey

Graduated from the USMA at West Point. NY 5Jun45. Graduating in the top 10% of his class in English, spelling, grammar and writing were simple chores for him. Friends came to him for help in writing resumes, book reports, etc. With the Gunnery Department at Fort Sill, OK, he helped rewrite FM6-40 Field Artillery Gunnery. He rewrote battalion tests, improving grading techniques to more nearly assure accurate grading. Retiring from the US Army in 1966, he obtained an MS degree at Penn State in ’67 and DEd (with EE Minor) at NCSU in 75. An EE technology instructor at Wake Tech CC in Raleigh for 25 years, after retiring from the US Army, wrote many technical articles for professional magazines.