Hi Guys

I'm working on a diorama of the 1st Marine divs fighting withdraw from the Chosin Reservoir, Korea Nov /Dec 1950. Two of the books I'm using for ref tell how the Marines carried out thier dead. The would wrap them up in tarps, parachutes or anything else that would do, and load them on to the vehicles. When they ran out of room they would tie the bodies to to hoods, fenders, one book even mentioned them tieing a few to the barrels of the 105s.
I really do not want to build a diorama with a bunch of wrapped up dead bodies, even if that was what was done. So what should I do ? Do I make a few bodies, if so how do I get across to the viewer what they are without getting to gruesome ? Should I leave out the bodies, if so does that make the dio historically wrong ? Not to mention lessen what the Marines did. I know most dios are not ment to be exact history, rather they are based on the overall facts.
The Chosin Reservoir campaign is a rather major part of modern Marine history. I really would like to get across just what they did, and how tough it was. Soooooooooo
How do I stay as close to the facts without making something that looks like a bad horror movie ? Any thoughts or ideas would be a big help.

Harry

I look at my diorama as if it were a film - whether it becomes a documentary or a work of fiction depends on personal taste, and of course you can "edit" a film to show what you need to, or want to. Even works of fiction can have fact/history embedded in them. Why not compose your "scene" by assembling the actors and props to highlight other areas important to the story - then you could have a chaplain kneeling by a couple of corpses, rendered tastefully, just on the edge of the "shot"? they could be between two vehicles, for example, partially wrapped.
I don't think making a true to life diorama need shy away from the facts, gruesome or otherwise, but there are ways of drawing attention away from those bits and toward the larger scene...
Hope this helps

Richard

I would concentrate on the living figures. Remember your typical platoon would have more living than dead. I would think one ore two rolled up bodies tucked away somewhere would add visual interest without being gruesome. You probably would want to avoid making them the center of attraction.

Just a suggestion but if you want to make a diorama in the manner you suggest just make some tissue paper body shaped and perhaps just show an arm or leg hanging out so that the viewer knows what he/she is looking at, show some blood that has seeped through the canvas or marked it, remember blood is not red after a short period of exposure to the air. This will show what you want without being gory.

IIRC, Chosin ("Frozen Chosin" was it not called?) was quite frigid. I'd forego the blood entirely. By the time the dead would be loaded up, I'd guess the blood would have frozen.
Personally, fully wrapped bodies will get the message across. Maybe one guy with his hand on one with his head down in sorry and you have the tale.

How about the aftermath of unloading and the exhaustion mental and physical that sets in. Empty stretchers and jeeps and left over gear.

another idea is go small scale - do something in 1/72 scale and the impact won't be as 'hard'. The detail won't be there but the idea will be.
Or
do the back of truck full of bodies but basically tarped so as not show detail. Then have two corpsmen holding a fallen soldier in a parachute looking at the back of the truck and give it a title of "No Room". Only do the back part of the truck and literally cut it off so you don't have to include a full truck of dead bodies.

Lots of excellent suggestions already put forth but here's my 2 cts. view.

I reckon the main messages of your dio from your description would be:

1. It was a very tough battle
2. The environmental conditions in which it was fought was deplorable
3. The Marines paid a heavy price

For #1 having men appearing grimy, dirty and if possible painted worn out with heavy 5 o'clock shadows should help convey it. Tilted helmets, strewn equipment because the men were just too tired to lug it around is another. Men without helmets, men with bandages, men sitting on the ground staring aimlessly is another.

For #2 cold can be conveyed with dried, standing trees with a few dried leaves remaining. Dead brown grass is another. Frozen puddles of water, heavy ruts on the road, or rocky lifeless ground should help too. Basically to give the audience an atmosphere that the weather is just plain miserable.

For #3, as the guys mentioned blood and dead bodies are tricky to portray. I'd still have them but place them in the background, perhaps covered bodies being loaded onto a truck. Even a flap of a tarp on a truck blown partially open by the wind to allow the viewer a glimpse on a boot or hand with some dried blood should be enough for the viewer to know the gruesome cargo inside.

It sometimes help to draw it out on paper even if its just a simple drawing. Good luck.

Hi Guys

Thanks for the quick replys. Ck you pretty much hit it right on the head with what I'm trying to do with this dio. I like the idea of having a truck loaded but tarpped, with the wind blowing one side of the tarp out. After reading Martin Russ's book "Breakout" I decided this was one dio I had to do.
This one battle makes anything I've read about the 2nd World War sound simple. The only way I can describe it if the U.S. Military would have fought on the eastern front. Everyone was predicting nothing but death and destruction for the Marines but yet they pulled off nothing short of a miricle. [sp?] Sorry for getting a little long winded. I just get a sense of powerful respect whenever I talk about this battle. Sometimes maybe a little to much
Harry

Lewis "Chesty" Puller is the one name you must know. He was the Marine who led the Chosin withdrawl. His most famous line during the trip came when he was informed that his unit was surrounded. He looked at the man and replied ""All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time!"
Another great one was "Don't forget that you're First Marines! Not all the Communists in hell can overrun you!" I can't help but feel that he was the motivation that saved all those men.

I figure you could use those as Dio names or something. I had to throw the old man in the mix when something about Korea came up. He won 5 Navy Crosses during his career.

On the note of the bodies... One account I read about involved a group of Marine tanks forced to crush and burry the bodies of fallen Marines under their tracks because the ground was too frozen. I believe that was one of the only times men were left behind at Chosin.