Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Local Filmmaker's Anti-War Documentary Airs Tonight

Writer-director Glenn Palmedo-Smith’s Hold at All Costs asks the United States military to do the impossible: Learn from its mistakes.

Billed as “The story of forgotten soldiers in a forgotten battle of a forgotten war,” the Korean war documentary details the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division’s attempts to hold at all costs a remote station known as Outpost Harry.

After the end of World War II, former enemy countries were to be divided equally by Britain, USA, and Russia. Korea was split in half at the 38th Parallel, the USA supporting the South and Russia bringing Communism to the North. According to Oliver North, “We expected that America’s military might was going to be sufficient to deter aggression and contain Communism. We clearly underestimated our adversary.”

No one, not even Gen. Douglas MacArthur, guessed the might and supremacy of the Chinese army that had infiltrated Korea and surrounded the American troops. During the eight-day battle, much of which was fought at night, American troops were aided by the Greek Expeditionary Force Battalion. Outpost Harry withstood 88,000 rounds of enemy artillery. In the end, the Chinese casualties outnumbered American and Greek fatalities three to one.

Bob Baker and Glenn Palmedo-Smith

Rancho Sante Fe resident Palmedo-Smith is not the film’s only local connection. Bronze Star-recipient and “So nice to be nice” auto dealer Bob Baker was one of the 250 American soldiers assigned to protect Outpost Harry. It has always his desire to produce a documentary on the subject. Baker contacted Smith-Palmedo after reading a review of the filmmaker's The Hungry Woman, a true-life murder mystery that took place in a Southern California migrant camp. The two met and Baker agreed to bankroll the project, to the tune of $1 million. You can read Matt Lickona's interview with Glenn Palmedo-Smith here.

Palmedo-Smith toured the world, interviewing 50 subjects. Visually, it’s little more than talking heads interspersed between newsreel footage, but for a change, I was not in it for cinematic refinement. It’s a gut-wrenching experience that might leave you pulling at your hair over the insanity of war (Zha Bing Shu of the Chinese Communist Forces infantry asks, “Americans fought with us against the Japanese; why are they attacking us now?”) and weeping along with the combatants and their long-suppressed memories.

The Memorial Day presentation of Hold at All Costs airs tonight at 9 pm on KPBS, with a repeat broadcast at 2 am.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vAkK8oRiaA&feature=player_embedded

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio

Owner Jeff Forrest is trading El Cajon for Portugal
Next Article

Live Five: Andrew Peña, Frankie J, Beat Farmers, Jesse LaMonaca, Puddles Pity Party

Latin, roots rock, and pity parties in Mission Beach, Little Italy, El Cajon

Writer-director Glenn Palmedo-Smith’s Hold at All Costs asks the United States military to do the impossible: Learn from its mistakes.

Billed as “The story of forgotten soldiers in a forgotten battle of a forgotten war,” the Korean war documentary details the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division’s attempts to hold at all costs a remote station known as Outpost Harry.

After the end of World War II, former enemy countries were to be divided equally by Britain, USA, and Russia. Korea was split in half at the 38th Parallel, the USA supporting the South and Russia bringing Communism to the North. According to Oliver North, “We expected that America’s military might was going to be sufficient to deter aggression and contain Communism. We clearly underestimated our adversary.”

No one, not even Gen. Douglas MacArthur, guessed the might and supremacy of the Chinese army that had infiltrated Korea and surrounded the American troops. During the eight-day battle, much of which was fought at night, American troops were aided by the Greek Expeditionary Force Battalion. Outpost Harry withstood 88,000 rounds of enemy artillery. In the end, the Chinese casualties outnumbered American and Greek fatalities three to one.

Bob Baker and Glenn Palmedo-Smith

Rancho Sante Fe resident Palmedo-Smith is not the film’s only local connection. Bronze Star-recipient and “So nice to be nice” auto dealer Bob Baker was one of the 250 American soldiers assigned to protect Outpost Harry. It has always his desire to produce a documentary on the subject. Baker contacted Smith-Palmedo after reading a review of the filmmaker's The Hungry Woman, a true-life murder mystery that took place in a Southern California migrant camp. The two met and Baker agreed to bankroll the project, to the tune of $1 million. You can read Matt Lickona's interview with Glenn Palmedo-Smith here.

Palmedo-Smith toured the world, interviewing 50 subjects. Visually, it’s little more than talking heads interspersed between newsreel footage, but for a change, I was not in it for cinematic refinement. It’s a gut-wrenching experience that might leave you pulling at your hair over the insanity of war (Zha Bing Shu of the Chinese Communist Forces infantry asks, “Americans fought with us against the Japanese; why are they attacking us now?”) and weeping along with the combatants and their long-suppressed memories.

The Memorial Day presentation of Hold at All Costs airs tonight at 9 pm on KPBS, with a repeat broadcast at 2 am.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vAkK8oRiaA&feature=player_embedded

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Battle of San Pasqual: where the U.S. Army learned to eat mule

Sally Cavell Johns' master's thesis, University of San Diego
Next Article

Update San Diego, 11/24/2010

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader