Pork Chop Hill

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Pork Chop Hill: A Socially Conscious Film. 3/7/2012 A little less than six years after the combat ceased, the battle of Pork Chop Hill became a feature film, based on the book of the same name by historian S.L.A. Marshall. Pork Chop Hill (1959) was made in a politically complex time. The civil rights movement was flourishing; McCarthyism was dying; the Cold War continued. It was a tumultuous time for film as well: Televisions were in the majority of homes and filmmakers were scrambling to get viewers back in the theater. Pork Chop Hill represents these turbulent times. It is a complex film that manages to deal with the major political currents of the time. Although it remains quite accurate to the historical truth, it has a propagandistic agenda: to show the futility of war and to emphasize the bond between soldiers, especially those formed when black soldiers were integrated into the US Army. Certainly, the film captures the same environment depicted in the book. Marshall describes the “ringed entrenchments” “stoutly fortified with heavily timbered, thickly sandbagged,

description

Essay on Pork Chop Hill

Transcript of Pork Chop Hill

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Pork Chop Hill: A Socially Conscious Film.

3/7/2012

A little less than six years after the combat ceased, the battle of Pork Chop Hill became a

feature film, based on the book of the same name by historian S.L.A. Marshall. Pork Chop Hill

(1959) was made in a politically complex time. The civil rights movement was flourishing;

McCarthyism was dying; the Cold War continued. It was a tumultuous time for film as well:

Televisions were in the majority of homes and filmmakers were scrambling to get viewers back

in the theater. Pork Chop Hill represents these turbulent times. It is a complex film that manages

to deal with the major political currents of the time. Although it remains quite accurate to the

historical truth, it has a propagandistic agenda: to show the futility of war and to emphasize the

bond between soldiers, especially those formed when black soldiers were integrated into the US

Army.

Certainly, the film captures the same environment depicted in the book. Marshall

describes the “ringed entrenchments” “stoutly fortified with heavily timbered, thickly

sandbagged, artillery-resistant bunkers” that appear throughout the fighting in the movie.1 Details

such as the “staked and unbroken wire barricade” pose problems for both real G.I.'s and the

movies characters.2 Just as with the book, the movie largely viewed the battle from the lens of

low level tactical squad and soldier actions. While this is accurate, the film also noted the

devastating effects of artillery in a fight that historian David Halberstam described as nothing

less than “a furious artillery battle.”3

1 S.L.A. Marshall, Pork Chop Hill (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1956), 32.2 Ibid., 174.3 David .Halberstam, The Coldest Winter (New York: Hyperion, 2007), 629

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There are details that Pork Chop Hill omitted, however. No Korean soldier made an

appearance in the film despite the fact that “[o]n all outgaurd posts it was the company custom to

team GI's and Koreans.”4 Marshall even indicates that Korean soldiers had a fairly sizable

presence with “40 … newly arrived Korean replacements” out “[o]f the 144 men under Lieut.

Jack M. Patteson.”5 But, in the book that the movie drew so heavily from, Marshall's treatment of

Korean soldiers is hardly favorable. More often than not, the Korean soldiers act reluctantly and

even cowardly. Marshall writes of one instance in which a group of ROK soldiers are eventually

“grenaded to death in the bunker” because they were “paralyzed by their own fear.”6 In a film

that seems to deeply sympathize with the soldiers, this exclusion may be intentional.

Yet, cowardice also makes its appearance in Pork Chop Hill with an American G.I. named

Franklin. Franklin's character is notable for two reasons: first, his reluctance highlights fears

often felt by soldiers and, second, he is an African-American. He's not the only African-

American G.I. which indicates that the movie is making a conscious effort to acknowledge the

integration of units. Furthermore, Franklin's interaction with another African-American soldier

assigned to watch him are very telling as his comrade remarks “I've got a special interest in

everything you do.” A Japanese-American officer, Lieutenant O'Hashi (based on Lieutenant

Clemens actual 1st officer of the same name) is also portrayed in Pork Chop Hill.7 So while

soldiers from other countries such as “Thailand, Colombia, [and] the Republic of Korea” who

fought alongside Americans at Pork Chop Hill are absent from the film, the diversity among the

American G.I.'s is portrayed accurately.8

4 Marshall, 121.5 Ibid., 53.6 Ibid., 69.7 James Marino. “Meat grinder on Pork Chop Hill”, Military History, Apr. 2003, 47.8 Ibid., 43.

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Comparatively, the enemy remains much more of an abstraction and is not treated on the

same individual basis. A G.I. remarks “Sounds like all of China's coming” as the Chinese

attempt to retake the hill. Of course, there is some historical accuracy in this depiction. The

Chinese had numerical superiority and were often smart about exercising it. Marshall wrote that

“the assault broke like a flood” and was made up of “approximately two full companies” of

Chinese.9 Beyond sheer numbers, the tactics employed by the Chinese in the film are typical of

their actual fighting style. They fought diligently, capturing the hill “[b]y systematically killing

the occupants and capturing the bunkers.”10 Halberstam had described, “the way they would

move at night on foot and slip along the flanks of their enemies, looking for soft spots, while

taking up positions behind them.”11 Engagements in the movie occur twice at night and, at the

end of the film, the G.I.'s are entrapped by the Chinese moving in from behind.

One individual stands out on the Chinese side, however: the propagandist, who pleads with

the American G.I.'s to cease the fighting. Propaganda itself plays a very prominent role in the

movie and the content of the propagandist's speech does not appear completely contrived. On

occasion, he appears to even be pleading out of his own accord, as though he empathizes with

the G.I.'s caught in the same struggle. It seems unclear as to whether or not this was an accurate

depiction of the sort of propaganda used by the Chinese in actuality. While the propagandist in

the movie praises the American G.I.'s for fighting honorably, Marshall wrote that the 7th division

“had been described as weary, slipshod, and demoralized troops... a caustic criticism” that “was

repeated over Red Chinese loud-speakers” as fighting at Pork Chop continued.12

9 Marshall, 120.10 Marino, 46.11 Halberstam, 403.12 Marshall, 15.

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The film contrasts the small scale fighting with the larger war and its associated command

structure. Early in the film, prior to any depicted fighting, the soldiers expectantly await the end

of the war. The message that eventually comes instead calls on the soldiers to continue the fight.

In the words of Halberstam, “The closer the people talking at Punmanjam came to some kind of

settlement, the more the value of Pork Chop seemed to go up, and the bloodier the fighting for it

became.”13

Pork Chop Hill spares no mention of casualties as field officers openly lament their

frequency. “We have 25% casualties then and more now,” O'Hashi reports to a runner. The

battle, in reality, could be even less forgiving at times. Marshall writes of one unit that “took the

hardest hit” having “gone up there with 135 men in his command and came back with 14.”14 An

officer in the movie similarly reports of Love Company:“There's 12 men left out of the whole

company.” Even down to this detail, Pork Chop Hill remains accurate as the real Love Company

had been reduced to 12 men during the battle.15

The film suggests that many of the casualties can be attributed to a dichotomy between the

officers in the field and the officers higher up the chain of command. In the film, when Love

Company fails to arrive, the soldiers are forced to hold the flank with a single squad. Lieutenant

Clemens laments the fact that they're “doing Love Company's job with only one machine gun.”

The reality is that the two platoons were given orders “to attack up the rear slope of Pork Chop

with the object of “re-enforcing”.” Meanwhile, “Fox platoon... never arrived at the fire” and

“Love platoon... was not told that the Red Chinese had already swarmed over Pork Chop.”16 In

13 Halberstam, 629.14 Ibid., 630.15 Marino, 46.16 Marshall, 130.

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fact, it seems that in one instance Love Company “never learned that it was supposed to be part

of a joint operation with King” Company in a joint counterattack.17

This lack of communication all too often translated into tragedy, as the film shows. When the

G.I.'s make their nighttime assault in the film, they are briefly caught in the open by their own

lights, making them easy targets for the Chinese. A remarkably similar incident occurred in the

real battle, described by Marshall, in which, a patrol was caught by 81mm mortar flares

“throwing its members sharply into silhouette … before they could go flat.”18 Later in the film,

Lieutenant Clemens expresses his discontent to the men sent to photograph a “successful

American action,” asking: “Would you mind telling me: when I can't get anything that I need,

just how you two just managed to get up here?” Clemens sends him off with the rather desperate

message: “We must have help or we can't hold the hill.”

In turn, this dichotomy is the product of a much larger, misguided philosophy about the war.

Very early on, General MacArthur had said, “To give up any part of North Korea to the

aggression of the Chinese Communists would be the greatest defeat of the free world in recent

times.”19 Using the same logic, Pork Chop Hill, an otherwise insignificant outpost, “took on a

political and propaganda significance far beyond” it's “military value.”20 MacArthur and officers

around him had frequently furthered these political and propagandistic ends through the

manipulation of intelligence. Halberstam wrote that “minimized both the number and the

intentions of the Chinese troops.”21 These mistakes only worsened the problems experienced by

the ground troops. Ultimately, Halberstam best describes it as a “fault line” that “ran between

17 Marino, 46.18 Marshall, 135.19 Halberstam, 386.20 Marino, 4421 Halberstam, 43.

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senior officers in Division, trying however inadequately to represent the dangers to its men and

Corps still responding to the hopes and vanities of commanders in Tokyo.”22

The film draws many of the same conclusions that historians have. Marshall assigns some

importance to Pork Chop, remarking,“Tactically, the great value of the outposts came from the

fact that they looked temptingly weak. They were the cheese in the trap.”23 For the Chinese,

comparatively, Pork Chop Hill itself was really of “propaganda value at the talks” with the

“Chinese political leadership want[ing] to show the U.N. that its cooperation did not reflect an

unwillingness to fight.”24 Similarly, Halberstam remarked that the fighting continued to provide

“just enough input to let the other side know that neither side, Western nor Eastern, was going to

lose military face.”25 Pork Chop Hill hints at the futility, both tactically and strategically, of the

late war military actions. Perhaps Max Hastings best summarizes both the real battle and the

movie, writing that Pork Chop Hill, “reflected... the interminable conflict between military

reason and political interest.” (Hastings 282)

Lewis Milestone’s directing filmography was extensive, but he is best known for his

earlier work, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), which won Best Director and Best Picture

in the Academy Awards. All Quiet on the Western Front was based on the classic novel by the

same name, and the film is relatively true to the book. It is one of the classic anti-war films.

Young students are enthusiastic to join the war effort, but when they reach the front they are

harshly disillusioned. The film explores the horror that the soldiers on the front face, as well as

the disconnect they feel when they return home.

22 Halberstam, 42423 Marshall, 3324 Marino, 43, 45.25 Hastings, 282

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In some ways, Pork Chop Hill was a companion film to All Quiet on the Western Front.

In Pork Chop Hill, the soldiers have already witnessed the horrors of war. They are tired,

demoralized, and confused. Command was not giving them proper supplies or reinforcement and

they were fighting over a hill with no strategic purpose so far as they understood. Indeed, back at

the negotiating table the diplomats are asking the same question, "What are we talking about?

What are we arguing about? You know that this insignificant little hill is of no importance to you

and of no importance to us. If we can settle on the truce line to which I thought you had agreed,

this hill is right in the middle of the neutral zone. So how can it be worth any man's life?” When

the U.N. diplomat realizes that the Chinese diplomat was ignoring him, he stormed outside.

“Why did they pick pork chop to attack? . . . I'm beginning to think they picked it because it's

worth nothing. Its value is that it has no value. That makes it a test of strength: pure and simple.

They're willing to spend lives for nothing, or what seems nothing. That's what they want to

know: are we as willing to do that as they are?” Although Pork Chop Hill is not traditionally

considered an anti-war film, the wanton waste of human life comes across strongly in this

section.

A number of propagandistic anti-communist films were made between 1948 and 1957: I

Married a Communist (1949); I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951), which was nominated for

an Academy Award for Best Documentary; The Hoaxters (1952), which was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; My Son John (1952) which was nominated for

an Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story; and Trial (1952).26,27 Each of these

films and many more depict a simple ideological war between the good (America and

democracy) versus the bad (communism). These films are usually either documentaries or

26 http://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/allPowers/film.html, 27 http://www.filmsite.org/50sintro6.html

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pseudo documentaries that attempt to educate the viewer about the evils of communism, or they

are fictional tales that depict communism in a negative light through metaphor and allegory.28

Pork Chop Hill is not an anti-communist film. The Chinese are not depicted as mass

waves of men, they are depicted very similarly to the American soldiers. In fact there are two

back to back scenes where the Chinese are shown charging up the hill and the American

reinforcements are shown charging down the hill, and the depiction is very similar. In fact, it is

the Americans, not the Chinese, that are shouting primal war cries as they charge down the hill.

Our representative voice for the Chinese is the man who does the Chinese propaganda, but he is

not a negative character. This is most apparent in his final appearance in the film. He is shown

wearing a pair of glasses with a card in his hand and a communist cadre standing behind him. He

reads, “Hello GIs. I hope you can hear me loud and clear because your very lives depend upon it.

I have been ordered to tell you that you have just 45 minutes to surrender. That is the message"

The announcer gives the cadre an almost dirty look, and he leaves.

Now i'm talking to you on my own account. You are brave men. You have fought

a good fight. I don't want you to die, any more than I want our own soldiers to die.

You have earned the right to surrender with honor. And I’m glad I've 45 minutes

to persuade you, my way. You are young, and I am young. We should be thinking

of long lives ahead of us. Listen. [An American song is played]. Doesn't that

make you think of all the things you want to live for? Love, marriage. Why must

you die before you have even begun to live? Think about it. Just think about it. 43

minutes left. All you have to do is start walking this way.

28 In fact, the genre of science fiction flourished in early 1950s with films that were anti-communist at heart.

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You can hear the sympathy in the voice of the propaganda officer. That an ambiguous character

is the main depiction of communism in the film suggests that Milestone did not intend to make

this a film about how evil the communists were.

There were no popular pro-communist films during this time, but there were anti-war

films. The majority of these were, in the eyes of McCarthyism, avatars of appeasement (the A-

word) and therefore pro-communist and un-American at heart. The House Un-American

Activities Committee (HUAC)—a committee designed to investigate elements in American

culture that undermine America and democracy—became a standing committee in 1945. In

1947, it created the infamous Hollywood blacklist by firing the “Hollywood Ten,” thereby

terrorizing many in the film community into using anti-communism into a motif.

Regardless, there were dissenters. The Men (1950) was a film where Marlin Brando

debuts as a soldier who became a paraplegic in the war who had to deal with the psychological

consequences. Fear and Desire (1953) was Stanley Kubrick’s first feature film, where soldiers

in an unknown war fight an unknown enemy. In the end, they kill the opposing general and his

men only to find that they look eerily like themselves. The Rack (1956) depicts a North Korean

POW who is alleged to have betrayed his men. When his father heard of the charges, he turned to

his son and asks, “Why didn’t you just die?” There were a number of other anti-war films, but

very few were profitable at the box office. None of the above three were commercially

successful films.

Pork Chop Hill strikes a balance between these two genres. Films that show the horror of

war (like All Quiet on the Western Front) could no longer capture the attention of the audience,

but Milestone did not want to produce another film like Halls of Montezuma (1951), where in

order to avoid being blacklisted, Milestone created a jingoistic war film. Milestone instead

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enters a developing genre of the 50’s: the films with a social conscience. These were films that

subtly dealt with sensitive topics. High Noon (1952), which was nominated for Best Picture in

the Academy Awards, was a subtly disguised anti-McCarthyism film. Although it was written

during a time where McCarthyism was in decline, Pork Chop Hill could not directly undermine

the government. Instead, it was glancing blow, softened by Pork Chop Hill’s sympathy to the

men on the field. However, its depiction of insignificance of the actual Pork Chop Hill begs the

question: why were we there in the first place?

The political environment into

which Pork Chop Hill entered was

defined by the decline of McCarthyism,

the ongoing Cold War (at this point

manifested by the space race), and the

flourishing civil rights movement. The

fact that Pork Chop Hill manages to

seamlessly comment on each of these political movements is a testament to the complexity of the

Korean War, as well as to Milestone’s grasp of the political environment. It is also not

unprecedented. As these were the three major issues of the day, it was not uncommon for

politicians (from both the Right and the Left) to link them. In the South, the civil rights

movement was frequently associated with communism. As early as the 1930s, the Southern

Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW)—a group that contested white supremacy—was

attacked as a Communist organization.29,30 Similar attacks on the Civil Rights Movement resumed

29 Robin Kelly, Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990), 184-189

30 Robbie Lieberman and Clarence Lang: Anticommunism and the African American Freedom Movement: Another Side of the Story. (NYC: Palgrave Macmillan 2009), 1.

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with the end of WWII: Time magazine published a piece by the historian Arthur Schlesinger

stating that the Communist Party was infiltrating the National Association for the Advancement

of Colored People (NAACP).31,32 This is a clear example of McCarthyism.

However, there was a political current running counter to these attacks on the Civil

Rights Movement. Historians such as Mary Dudziak, Jeff Woods, and Jonathan Rosenberg argue

that the Cold War also cultivated and strengthened the Civil Rights movement. Their arguments

generally propose that civil rights reform

was used to remedy the disconnect

between the United States belief in freedom and democracy and the racism that was integrated

into its government.33,34,35,36 In short, it was a propagandistic move.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to argue whether the Cold War was, overall, a

positive or negative influence on the Civil Rights Movement and civil rights reform, but it is

clear that Pork Chop Hill takes place in this discussion. Pvt. Franklin is a propagandistic tool that

simultaneously shows the human side of a black soldier, his potential bravery, and his seamless

integration into the army. The desegregation of the army started in the Korean War, giving black

soldiers the chance to prove themselves side by side with their fellow Americans. Milestone

represents this pressure in an argument Franklin has with another black soldier set to watch over

him. Franklin accosts the black soldier, “Who you staring at?”

“I’m staring at you, who you think I’m staring at?”31 Doug Rossinow, Visions of Progress: The Left Liberal Tradition in America (Philadelphia: University of

Pennsylvania Press, 2008), 214.32 Lieberman, 133 Mary Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton: Princeton

University Press, 2000), 12.34 Jonathan Rosenberg, “How Far the Promised Land?” in World Affairs and the American Civil Rights Movement

From the First World War to Vietnam (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006), 175.35 Jeff, Woods, Black Struggle Red Scare: Segregation and Anti-Communism in the South, 1948-1968 (Baton

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004), 10.36 Lieberman, 2-3.

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“What for?” Franklin asks desperately and angrily as he grabs the soldier’s arm.

“I’ve got a special interest in everything you do,” the soldier replies.

The black soldier’s “special interest” is that if Franklin deserts, it will reflect poorly on

the black community. The fact that it is a black soldier who wishes to desert and not a white

soldier is not racist. This is a motif amongst war films (albeit usually displayed with white

actors): the cowardly soldier has a change of heart and becomes heroic and patriotic. In what is

easily the tensest moment in the film, Lt. Clemons confronts Pvt. Franklin who is hiding in a

bunker, and Franklin threatens to kill Clemons. Angrily he shouts, “10 years for what? Cause I

don’t wanna die for Korea? What do I care about this stinking hill? You wanna see where I live

back home? I sure am sure I ain’t gonna die for that. So cinch I’m not gonna die for Korea, serve

10 years for it neither.” Clemons silently responds:

Chances are you’re gonna die whether you like it or not. So am I whether you

shoot me or not. At least we got a chance to do it in pretty good company. . . .

They don’t care about Korea any more than you do. A lot of them have it just as

rough at home as you do. They came up and fought. About 25 of them left. That’s

a pretty exclusive club, but you can still join up, if you want to.

Franklin silently walks out of the bunker and walks with Clemons to the front line. Later, he is

seen carrying a wounded soldier to safety and he is shown attempting to fortify the defenses as

the men hide in the bunker.

Pork Chop Hill is clearly sympathetic to Franklin and his plight. He is depicted just as

how the average soldier felt: not inherently evil or inferior, just confused and demoralized, like

the majority of the soldiers in Korea. In addition, the government he is fighting for considers him

an inherently inferior human being. Pork Chop Hill may be an anti-war film, but it also a film

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about the bonds between soldiers. In his speech, Clemons extends this bond to Franklin. In light

of his role in Pork Chop Hill, it is quite fitting that Gregory Peck would play Atticus Finch in To

Kill a Mockingbird three years later.

Pork Chop Hill is evidence supporting the historians who believe that the Cold War was

a positive influence for image of African Americans, but it only tells half the story. Racism in the

army penetrated its highest ranks; General MacArthur and especially his aide, General Almond,

were notoriously racist. Ned Almond was against the integration of black soldiers into the army.

A black soldier named Forest Walker led a successful charge against a North Korean position.

For his efforts, General Ridgway attempted to get Walker awarded a Silver Star, but Ned

Almond stopped the medal and removed Walker from command.37

The concluding moments of the film show weary troops walking back from the front

lines to Gregory Peck explaining their legacy:

Pork chop hill was held. Bought and paid for at the same price we commemorate

in monuments at Bunker Hill and Gettysburg. Yet you will find no monuments on

Pork Chop. Victory is a fragile thing and History does not linger long in our

century. But those who fought there know what they did, and the meaning of it.

Millions live in freedom today because of what they did.

However, considering Milestone’s emphasis on the insignificance of the hill, this seems more

like a bitter statement then a solemn recognition of the importance of what these soldiers have

done. Regardless of whether it was important or not, men fought and died for this hill. However,

their sacrifice was not honored by the American public. Pork Chop Hill will be their monument

instead.

37 Halberstram, 547.

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Bibliography

Halberstam, David. The Coldest Winter, (New York: Hyperion, 2007).

Hastings, Max. The Korean War, (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987).

Marino, James. “Meat grinder on Pork Chop Hill”, Military History, Apr. 2003.

Marshall, S.L.A. Pork Chop Hill (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1956).

Kelly, Robin. Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression (Chapel

Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990), 184-189

Lieberman, Robbie and Lang, Clarence,: Anticommunism and the African American Freedom

Movement: Another Side of the Story. (NYC: Palgrave Macmillan 2009), 1.

Rossinow, Doug. Visions of Progress: The Left Liberal Tradition in America (Philadelphia:

University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008), 214.

Dudziak, Mary. Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton:

Princeton University Press, 2000), 12.

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Rosenberg, Jonathan. “How Far the Promised Land?” in World Affairs and the American Civil

Rights Movement From the First World War to Vietnam (Princeton: Princeton University Press,

2006), 175.

Woods, Jeff. Black Struggle Red Scare: Segregation and Anti-Communism in the South, 1948-

1968 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2004), 10.

Dirks, Tim. The History of Film: The 1950s. (http://www.filmsite.org/50sintro6.html, accessed

3/7/2012).