Book Review: "Operation Broken Reed"
Tom Miller
Nov 19, 2007
Operation Broken Reed: Truman's Secret North Korean Spy Mission That Averted World War III, by Lt. Col. Arthur L. Boyd (Ret.). Carroll & Graf, $26.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-78672-086-6
President Harry Truman was in a quandary. After eighteen months of attacks and counterattacks, the war in Korea was back where it started near the 38th Parallel that had divided the two nations since World War II. Truman now "faced a fearful decision:" either escalate the conflict in the hope of achieving victory or accept a stalemate.
Truman's decision was made more problematic by a lack of dependable intelligence "on enemy capabilities and intentions." The intelligence community (including the CIA) had missed not only the June 1950 North Korean invasion of the South but also the massive Chinese intervention in November 1950.
According to Boyd, a retired Army officer, Truman decided at this crucial juncture to bypass the intelligence community and authorize a top-secret "black" operation that would put a team behind North Korean lines to collect and transmit intelligence on the enemy.
The hand-picked, ten-man team was inserted behind enemy lines by submarine and traveled across the Korean Peninsula from the Sea of Japan to their pickup point on the coast of the Yellow Sea. Along their route, there were perhaps a million North Korean and Communist Chinese troops. Boyd notes presciently that "the odds for success seemed remote."
Remote or not, the ten men chosen accepted the dangers inherent in their mission. They also accepted that it would go unacknowledged: there would be no record, they would receive no recognition (no awards or decorations), and they were sworn to silence for the next half-century.
Boyd, a young Signal Corps officer at the time, was chosen because he had a top-secret crypto clearance and was adept at Morse code. It would be his job to transmit the intelligence reports to aircraft on station over the Sea of Japan.
Despite the danger and some close calls, the unit collected a trove of intelligence that "revealed a staggering enemy buildup" - evidence that convinced Truman not to escalate the war.
Heartbreakingly close to their rendezvous point, the team was discovered and ambushed by the North Koreans. Seven were killed instantly and three wounded - two seriously. Miraculously, they made it to the pickup point and were rescued. Boyd's wound was not life-threatening, and he recovered quickly. He never learned the fate of his two companions.
Fifty years later, Boyd is finally free to tell this fantastic tale of selfless service and heroic sacrifice. Boyd acknowledges that given the surreal nature of the mission and the absence of corroborating evidence or witnesses, some readers might question the veracity of his story. He also appeals for anyone else with knowledge of the mission to come forward. (I admit to some skepticism. I also admit to being thoroughly enthralled by Boyd's tale.)
If Broken Reed unfolded as Boyd insists, corroboration - and more details - would be welcome. The team members knew each other only by aliases, and Boyd can identify none of them. Given their sacrifice and the putative impact of their mission on the course of the war, it would be nice if they finally received some long-overdue recognition.
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Copyright 2008 by Tom Miller
