In February 1952, Army 1st Lt. Ben Malcom was en route to join the 3rd Infantry Division at war in Korea when he received a telephone call. He had been selected for a special assignment: running South Korean partisan units deep behind enemy lines.

A lean, tough Georgian fresh out of Ft. Benning's Infantry Officer Basic Course, Lieutenant Malcom never hesitated in accepting the unusual assignment. Within hours, he embarked on one of the most fascinating and heretofore untold stories of the Korean War - the special operations of the United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea (UNPIK). Assigned as an intelligence officer to the 8240th Army Unit of the U.S.

Eighth Army, he worked from a clandestine camp on the island of Paengnyong-do off of the western coast of North Korea. Responsible for the operations and intelligence-gathering activities of eleven partisan battalions known as "donkey units," Malcom was the only American assigned to the 4th Guerrilla Battalion and led them on many raids. They called themselves the White Tigers.

1. Accompanying the White Tigers in a heroic attack on a heavily defended North Korean position, Malcom earned the Silver Star. Ironically, it took twelve years for Malcom to be awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge because his activities were classified. They remained so until only recently.