Voices From Korea: A Collection of War Histories

By Joe Freitus

Five years after the bloodiest war in history, World War II, the world again went to war, this time in a remote place called Korea. Editor Joe Freitus has put together these are histories of men and women who fought that war in far-away Korea.

• Language: English
• Publisher: YourSpecs
• Release date: Nov 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9780744313536

Joe Freitus

Joe Freitus lives in Williamsburg, Virginia with his wife and has been a teacher and writer for 30 years. In addition to winning awards as a teacher and writer, he has worked for the motion picture industry, most notably the HBO award winning mini series, John Adams. Writing about adventures related to characters that populated World War Two is his driving passion.

Book preview

VOICES FROM KOREA

A Collection of War Histories

Edited by

Joe Freitus

All proceeds will be donated

to the Veterans

Copyright 2016 by Joe Freitus

SmashWords Edition

* * * *

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Preface

Ray L. Walker, Cpl., 5th Marines

John Mattingly, Crew Chief, C-54

William Ashley, Tin Can Sailor

Angus Robinson, Tiger Death March

Robert K. Festa, B-26 Gunner

Jean Kirnak, 8055 M.A.S.H.

Cornelius H. Charlton…Medal of Honor

Reginald H. Cooper, Crew Chief, F-51

Charles H. Wells, Medical Corps, US Army

John W. Thornton, USN, Helicopter Pilot

Guy P. Bordelon, US Navy, Fighter ACE

Barbara Ames, Red Cross, Donut Dolly

Luis Gutierrez, 65th Infantry Regiment

John W. Lee, Navigator, USS Toledo

Hector A. Cafferata, Medal of Honor

George H. Miller, USS Rochester

Ralph W. Jaeger, Cpl. Mortar Section USMC

Howard S. Browne, USN Med Corps

Robert Black, 8th Airborne Ranger

Richard T, Durkee, Pilot, 80th TAC Sq.

Henry D. Train, Tin Can Sailor

Albert J. Barron, 40th Infantry Division

Richard J. Esser, USS New Jersey, BB-62

Margaret Gibson Duckworth, 121st Evac, Hospital

Corbin B. Willis, Mosquito Squadron

Bill Wilson, Sgt. 2nd Infantry Division

Dr. Chuck Overby, Pilot, B-29

Robert McFarland, Navigator, A-26

Mary Ellen Crenshaw, Navy Nurse

Mitchell A. Perry, Pilot, USCG

Douglas Perret Star, Tin Can Sailor

William R. Charette, Medal of Honor

Dwain E. Lengel, Chopper Pilot, USMC

Charles W. Hinton, Navigator, 13th BMB Sq.

Genevieve Connors McLean, 8055th M.A.S.H.

Joseph F. Brown, Corpsman, FMF

Other Books by Author

Back to Top

* * * *

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Compiling war histories, involves many hours of research, locating sources, interviewing participants, conferring with historians, confirming events, and referencing various Military Organizations. A list of contributory writers is provided, as well as a list of Organizations that offered assistance in the evaluation of some of the histories, and historical background.

I would sincerely like to thank the following Organizations for their contribution to this collection of war histories:

TWU, The Woman’s Collection, Denton, Texas; Mark L. Evans, Historian, Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC; Donald R. Gagnon, Marine Corps Tankers Assoc., Teaticket, MA.;

Edward E, Gilley, Veterans of Underage Military Service, Gulf Breeze, Fl.; Dr. Jan Herman, USN, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Washington, DC; Clydie J. Morgan, American Ex-POWS of War, Arlington, TX; National Aviation Hall of Fame, Dayton, OH, and Wilma L. Vaught, Brig Gen. (Ret.,) The Women’s Memorial, Washington, DC; the US Army Military History Institute, Carlisle, PA, and the National Archives, Archives Library Information Center.

Special thanks for material and guidance from the Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C., and to Paul Stillwell, of the US Naval Institute, for his untiring assistance in locating and verifying naval war histories.

A special thanks to those unnamed Veterans of the Korean War, who patiently read, corrected and commented on the work-in-progress manuscript.

We all thank those men and women who served and submitted personal histories of their time in Korea. Without them this book would not exist.

Last but not least, thank you, Anne.

* * * *

PREFACE

The Central Intelligence Agency noted the movement of the Korean People’s Army (North Korea) southward, toward the border. The conclusion offered: It was a defensive movement to protect their border, and an invasion was highly unlikely. The United Nations observers examined the border, and determined war was not imminent. No one wanted another war.

When dawn broke on Sunday, June 25, 1950, the Korean People’s Army, under a massive artillery barrage, crossed the 38th Parallel. As a defensive measure, the South Korean army destroyed the large highway bridge, that spanned the Hahn River. Unfortunately, more than 4,000 refugees were using the bridge to escape to South Korea.

The South Korean Forces, which consisted of some 95,000 men, were incapable of stemming the invasion, and were down to less than 22,000 men, in just five days. The President of the United States ordered General Macarthur to take charge, and send the U.S. Army to reinforce the South Korean Army.

MacArthur had little choice, as to how to fight this new war. He decided to slow down the North Korean advance, and sent in the Eighth Army, under the command of General Walton Walker. Unfortunately, his troops consisted of four Occupational Divisions, that were ill-equipped, ill-trained, and were unable to hold the North Korean advance.

It quickly appeared the thrust of the North Korean Forces, was to capture the port of Pusan, on the eastern coast of Korea. Walker pulled the 25th Infantry Division behind the wide Naktong River, and formed a defensive line around Pusan. Fifty-three United Nation members promised to send troops. Eventually the United Nations would provide 19,000 troops, aircraft, ships and aid.

The unprepared Military responded, by calling up Reserve Units, and rushing them to the defense of Pusan. The histories you are about read, are of the men and women who were called, and sent, to defend the South Korean nation. Many of those called, had served in World War II. This was also a War that would see the draftee and the citizen soldier, once again being sent into harm’s way.

Collecting personally written histories of World War II, I received a large number of histories from men and women who served in Korea. At the time, it was not my intent to edit a book about the Korean War. The number kept increasing, as well as the addition of war histories from Vietnam Veterans. It was an opportunity that I could not miss.

With the completion of Voices From A Distant War, I decided to proceed with a similar book titled: Voices From Korea. There are many excellent books written about, what has come to be known as, the Forgotten War. Voices From Korea is not a history book, as such, but rather the experiences of those who lived through the Hell of the Korean War.

This Editor asks the reader to keep in mind, I am the Editor, not the writer of these histories. I have assembled them in order of their relationship to the timetable of the War, beginning with Pusan, Inchon, and the push north to the Yalu River. The reader is presented with 36 selected war histories, as written by those who served.

Back to Top

* * * *

THE VOICES

* * * *

RAY L. WALKER, KOREA

CPL 3RD PLT, ABLE CO, 1st BN, 5th MARINES

June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. The U.S. Army sent in to stop the attack, was trapped at the port of Pusan. The Marines were activated, and sent to back up the US Army. One of those Marines was Ray L. Walker, CPL, 5th Marines.

The entire text of this interview reflects the personal memoirs and actual words of RAY L. WALKER, USMC. This interview was completed with Lynnita Sommer Brown, Korean War Educator Foundation. Due to the length some editing was necessary.

Ray L. Walker was born October 3, 1931, in San Francisco, California. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1948, on his 17th birthday. In August of 1950, Walker landed in Korea with the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade. He participated in the Pusan Perimeter campaign, Inchon Landing, Liberation of Seoul, and the Chosin Reservoir Campaign. He was evacuated from Chosin and Korea, in December of 1950. He is now a resident of Brentwood, Tennessee. The following text is entirely in Ray Walker’s own words:

UNDERSTANDING MARINE OPERATIONS

In 1948 only 70,000 Marines were allowed to serve on active duty, because Louis Johnson, our nation’s Secretary of Defense, reduced the size of the Military, in keeping with the then large Military budget cuts. When the Korean War broke out, that was about how many there were. By the time the First Marine Division, Reinforced, landed at Inchon, the Corps had put together almost 25,000 Marines in Korea, with no draftees. That included Marine Air, artillery, weapons companies; all of it.

A Marine Division consists of three Infantry Regiments, as well as one Artillery Regiment. An Artillery Regiment is directed by the Division Commander, in support of the Infantry Regiments. The 1st Division included the 1st, 5th and 7th Marine Infantry Regiments, as well as the 11th Marine Artillery Regiment. Each Infantry Regiment has three Battalions. Each Battalion has three Rifle Companies. Each Rifle Company has three Rifle Platoons, and a Mortar Platoon.

Attached to Marine Battalions, were Navy Corpsmen. Amongst Marines, the Navy is the good-natured butt of jokes, and a certain amount of patronization, but not the Corpsmen. They are at the head of the line for honor and respect. Any Marine that has been in combat, will praise the Corpsmen. We treat them as Marines, even though they are in the Navy.

JOINING UP WITH THE BRIGADE

I originally left the mainland in December of 1948, for Hawaii and Guam, aboard the USS Thomas Jefferson, out of Hunters Point, San Francisco. That was my first trip aboard a ship, a Navy Troop Transport, but I was never seasick. I had no duties, other than working in the Scullery, on occasion. It took well over a week to get there. I don’t recall much about that trip. I was scheduled to go to Guam, but developed German measles aboard ship, and was put off at Hawaii, and placed in Aiea Heights Naval Hospital. When discharged from the hospital, I was stationed at Kaneohe Naval Air Station, and was sometimes on temporary duty (TDY) to Haiku radio station, which drew its small Guard Detachment from Kaneohe, on a rotating basis. Later in 1949, and until August of 1950, I was stationed at Pearl Harbor, where I served under Col. Lewis B. Chesty Puller, in a Guard Company; both on the Main Gate, and later on Jeep Patrol, out of the Provost Marshall’s Office. Able Barracks covered the Main Gate, and Baker Barracks covered the Jeep Patrol and Provost’s Office.

When the Korean War broke out, I was sent to Korea, flying from Hawaii to Tachikawa Air Base in Japan, then flying in an Air Force C-47 from Japan to a dirt strip at Masan, near what was called the Bean Patch, some few miles north and west of Pusan. By the end of July 1950, the 8th Army was about to get kicked off the Korean peninsula. Gen. Walton Walker, Commanding General of the 8th Army, was begging for all the help he could get, but they couldn’t hold the North Korean Army back. The Marine Brigade landed at Pusan on August 2nd, and went into combat on August 7th. Between August 7th and September 6th, the Brigade stopped the North Korean Army cold, defeated it, and turned their route into a blood bath, wherein the Naktong River literally ran red with blood. The Naktong is a major river system that runs from the northwest to the southeast, generally, and was the primary natural defense system for Pusan.

The Brigade got a large number of casualties, and pulled into reserve in the Bean Patch, about August 19." The Bean Patch was a rest area near Masan, a small Korean village, where the Marines absorbed the first Replacement Draft, which I was in. These Marines, along with the 8th Army, which was made up of the 1st Cavalry, 2nd Infantry Division, 24th Infantry Division, and the 5th RCT, were responsible for securing the Pusan Perimeter, during the early days of the war. At this point in time, there were no Foreign Troops, other than Americans, in the area. The Turks and Dutch didn’t get to Korea until after the Inchon Landing, and retaking of Seoul. Several weeks into the war, MacArthur called for a Marine Division, and the Marine Corps began to pull Marines from Guard Companies, to furnish replacements for the Brigade. By late August and September, they were activating Reserves to form the 7th Regiment, as well as replacements.

When the Brigade arrived in Korea, the Army was on its last legs. If we had not arrived when we did, they would have been pushed out of Korea, like the British at Dunkirk. We stopped the North Korean Army cold, in two major battles at the Naktong River, near Yongsan. My Unit’s actions at both Naktongs, were on a hill named Obong-ni Ridge. We called it Red Slash Hill, and also called it No Name Ridge; all the same piece of ground. During this time, we took numerous hills, and turned them over to the Army, only to find that the Army abandoned the hills, under fire, and we had to retake them. In one instance, a young Army Lieutenant came running off the hill that we had just left, as the first enemy fire erupted, and asked our Officer where our lines of retreat were. He was told, we had no such line of retreat, and to get back on the hill and defend it.

In one situation, in August, we had to retake ground the Army had lost, and we were heavily engaged. Two machine gun crews were cut off by North Korean Troops, and Captain Fenton, Baker Company Commanding Officer, was in the process of letting a Platoon up there, to let them out, when orders came from General Walker to immediately leave, to help the Army plug a hole that the North Koreans were pouring through. Captain Fenton asked for an hour, to get his trapped men out. The request was denied, and we abandoned six Marines. The Mythology of the Corps is you never abandon your men, under any circumstances. I’ve seen entire Companies committed to a firefight, to get one man back. In the Corps, abandoning men under fire is a capital crime. It just isn’t done. But Captain Fenton, with tears flowing, ordered his Company to load up and leave. When they got back, those men had not only been killed, but also emasculated, obviously tortured. I am more compassionate, or understanding, than many of my Comrades, with regards to the Army that served in Korea, during those early days. I’ve raised some hostility towards me, at times, when I’ve argued the Army’s case. After all, these kids were Americans, poorly led and equipped. They hardly stood a chance. None of us would have done much better, had we been in the Army, instead of the Marines. My bitterness and contempt is reserved for the Department of Defense, and MacArthur, who was in charge of seeing to it these men were trained and equipped. Because of the ineptitude and disgraceful conduct, at high levels, we had to abandon six Marines, to the mercies of a terrible enemy. I still get pretty emotional when I think about that incident.

Very early on, and before I had arrived, on August 20, [this is hearsay, but told by many,] two Army Divisions, the 1st Cavalry and the 2nd Infantry, were on either side of the Brigade. The Army had relieved 50 percent of their men, to go back to the Field Kitchen wagons, for hot chow. The Marines were in their foxholes eating C-rations. Three tank columns hit them; three tanks at each Army Division, and three at the Brigade. The Army retreated, and lost their artillery. The Marines knocked out their three tanks, and killed most of the accompanying North Korean Infantry. The Marines took off in pursuit of the retreating North Koreans, and started to get artillery fire from the rear, the artillery the Army had abandoned. The Marines returned, and retook the artillery. These type of incidents were so common in August and September, that it left a very bitter taste. As a result, I know an awful lot of Marines, from the Brigade, who will not belong to any organization, that also has Army members.

The POWs are a special case. Since many were taken prisoner, after they had thrown their weapons aside, and run, many people accused them of cowardice. And by the time the war was over, only one Marine opted to stay with the Reds, along with a large number of army POWs. When I was on the board of the Chosin Few, in 1983/87, we had a special POW Committee. We tried very hard to get these POWs to come aboard. They frankly feared the result. It took us a long time to achieve any results with them, at all.

The 5th Regiment, or Brigade, (synonymous terms) was in rest at the Bean Patch, until the latter part of August. On September 31st, the Brigade would embark on what is called the 2nd Naktong Campaign. Just prior to that second campaign, however, on August 18th, a bunch of Pearl Harbor Marines, me included, boarded a MATS (Military Air Transport Service) Constellation, and flew to Tachikawa Air Force Base, in Japan. We were all volunteers, all anxious to go to Korea. It was made clear, that, at some point, we’d all go, but it was mentioned, that if you wanted to go now, fall in line in front of the Administration Building, after chow. It was a long line. I can’t imagine anyone in the Corps, regardless of age, that doesn’t know what they’re volunteering for when they go to war. Of course, the green kids have not experienced it, so their knowledge comes from history, movies, and war stories, told by those who were there before. Sure, I knew what I was volunteering for, as well as I could know it. At 18, it was a great adventure, and fantasy ruled the mind. We were all John Waynes. On the plane, we had sandwiches and snacks, milk and Coke. We carried our rifles and packs. No other supplies, other than our sea bags, (which carry all of our clothing,) were stored in the hold of the plane. There were only Marines and Pilots aboard, and the plane was roughly three fourths full. There were at least 50 or 70 of us, I think.

Arriving as part of the first replacement draft, I served in Korea from August 20, 1950 until December 11, 1950, under a very fine Commanding Officer, named Captain John Stevens. He was C/0 of Able Company. I was with Able Company, from the time I arrived to Korea, until I was shipped, out due to injury. On the 20th of August, we boarded Marine DC-3s, and flew to Masan, Korea. When we arrived at the Bean Patch, the members of the Brigade were already there, taking R&R. That August, we were issued two cans of Schlitz per night, (the Military perspective was, that it was a morale booster,) and we listened to the war stories of the men who had been through the first Naktong battles. I don’t recall anything that was said, other than don’t ever fall asleep on watch. We also got our gear in order. I wasn’t much of a drinker, and really didn’t care much for beer, although I did drink one of the two issued. I swapped the other for either cigarettes or something. I doubt I gave it away. The Government soon stopped giving out the beer rations. I suppose some guy wrote home that he was given a beer ration, and as a result, the good ladies of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) put a stop to polluting our young men, and making drunkards out of them. The WCTU’s suggested replacement for the beer, was grapefruit juice, which froze solid up north. Alcohol was, and is, the great bugaboo of the religious right. WCTU was able to lobby Congress, and organize a vocal minority of mothers, who were told their young sons were being led into the life of the dissolute; a life of drinking and whoring. Of course, few objected to the killing. This only deepened my disrespect for religion, which I already had a great antipathy towards.

My first day of combat was 120 degrees in the shade. It must have been August 22 or 23. The second day, I was disabled due to heat. I got heat stroke, and was out on the ground for at least an hour. After that I learned to take the salt tablets and drink water. From there on, it was tolerable. Since Mortar Squads work close behind the Rifle Companies, I was not involved in any close combat action. I was subjected to counter battery fire, i.e., incoming mortar and artillery fire, although none came close enough to really cause concern.

In those first days, I was just adjusting to the general work of war, integrating within a new Unit, where I knew no one, and figuring out which Officers knew their stuff, (they all did,) and which enlisted men were able to give good tips, (many did.) In the Brigade, all Officers were World War II Vets, all staff NCOs and above were World War II Vets, and many of lower rank, even some PFCs, were World War II Vets. When you are green and untried, these people bring a lot of confidence to the arena; they know what they are about, and they instill in you a feeling of confidence. They act calm, when the action around you would normally cause the untried to question whether they should fight or run.

At age 18/19, I really wasn’t very interested in how Koreans lived or died. Most Korean villages, I saw that first two weeks, were blown apart or burned. Without meaning to be too crude, when a shell blows a hooch apart, and there’s this dugout space under it, and off to the side, a honey hole, and a ton of literal shit blown all over the place, one doesn’t ask questions about what one observes. Anyway, I saw many homes, from a large and impressive farm home, to small huts. The warming tunnels, dug out underneath the houses, were an obvious way to deal with heating, since they didn’t have chimneys. There were places where North Korean Troops fought within the village, and when we would go in, we would check these huts out to make sure we didn’t get a surprise.

Fire fights last for short periods of time. Beyond that, war is lots of time spent waiting, time spent cleaning weapons, getting mail, and BS sessions. The Brigade was in a pretty small area of the Perimeter for four weeks. I know we had to retake ground, that we had turned over to Army Units previously. I also know that the majority opinion of the Marines was, that the Army was inefficient, poorly led, and generally did a poor job. I know I saw Army personnel, but I don’t know where or why; some in trucks passing. Once a few trucks stopped, and some Marines got in fights with them; 1st Cavalry, is my memory. Generally, I spent my time in Korea, mostly in a fog, paying little attention to any details that did not involve me in close quarters. I don’t ever recall being scared, more than three times, though I’m sure at other times I must have been. The only times I recall being scared, was when incoming artillery came very close to me, near Seoul; once during a mortar barrage, while clinging to the bottom of a foxhole, and when I got hit up north.

From the 23rd of August until September 6th, we fought in several actions. Somewhere around the 3rd of September, we fought the second Naktong, destroying the entire North Korean 4th Field Army. When MacArthur told General Walker to release the Marine Brigade, so it could go to Inchon, General Walker begged MacArthur to let him keep the Brigade, and to send an Army Unit to Inchon. The issue was so up in the air, that withdrawing the Brigade, became a political issue, as well as Military.

Walker wanted the Marines to stay in the Perimeter, because he was worried that the Army Troops, alone, would get overrun. The Army wanted to use new Army Troops, coming from the States, to make the Inchon landing, alongside the 1st Marine Regiment. General O.P. Smith, Division CO, said he would not do that, and he got us out of the Perimeter. The Marines were always under Army Command in Korea. In the Perimeter, it was 8th Army, under Gen. Walton Walker. From Inchon, onward to the Reservoir, we came under X Corps and General Almond. So, the Brigade commander, Gen. Eddie Craig, took orders from General Walker, and the Marine Division’s, General Smith, took orders, at times, from General Almond. I say at times, because Smith ignored most of the really dumb orders, thank God, or we would have been destroyed, just like the Army’s 7th Infantry was, following that idiot’s orders to go to the Yalu.

With Inchon ahead of it, the Brigade was supposed to have withdrawn sooner than it did. However, the North Korean army launched an attack around September 3rd, and the Brigade had to deal with that first, before boarding ships for Inchon. We were very short on manpower, and in the last week or so, we ended up in one man foxholes. We would string wire between holes, at night, since the gooks would, on occasion, creep down the line, and catch someone in a hole asleep, and kill him. The idea of the wire was to pull on it occasionally to make sure the other guy was awake. Several got knifed in their foxholes.

When we were on the front line, we had to keep clean, as best we could, which was usually only when we were near rivers. I brushed my teeth, by rubbing them with my undershirt, (skivvy shirt) with some salt on it. When we were in Reserve we were within 500 yards of those who were in assault, and at times watched the action through binoculars. The only actual Reserve we experienced, was at the Bean Patch early on. Once I got there, the only other time we weren’t on line, was the return to Pusan, to go to Inchon; then the return to Inchon, to go to Wonsan.

I never saw a USO show that I am aware of. In fact, I know there were none, until Bob Hope showed up, I’m told, at Wonsan. We never saw him. I think most of that kind of thing came after Chosin, and well into the next year. I don’t recall ever being where such a thing could have even taken place. As to receiving mail, I vaguely recall getting a letter. We were still using World War II V-mail, a rather strange kind of reduction, onto some kind of paper that was smaller and lighter than regular mail. I haven’t the foggiest, who sent it. It may even be, that someone let me read his letter from a girlfriend. I just don’t have much recall of any of the letter stuff, and I know there were no packages I ever saw. All that kind of thing was rather sporadic. I was in Korea for right at 120 days; 4 months. So, 4 months, out of 68 years, is just not written in the stony part of my memory.

My memory of the hardest combat for me was, in the Brigade down south. As far as Chosin went, it was just terribly cold. Although, I got wounded up there on November 28, and evacuated, by air on December 6, to the USS Consolation Hospital Ship in Hungnam, I still recall the southern campaign as the most difficult for me. It was 120 degrees in the shade, damn little water, and there were lots of North Koreans. There was not enough manpower to have two men in a foxhole most nights, to keep an eye on those little guys, wearing those black pajamas, crawling around, trying to find your foxhole. No, by comparison, my war was far more entertaining down south. Small groups of North Korean Soldiers crawled down along our lines. I suppose they were looking for defense perimeters, and on occasion killed someone in a foxhole. They wore a loose netting over the pajamas, and would sometimes have small branches in there as camouflage. I never spent any time assessing their age. They were armed with a knife and grenades, and I suppose they carried a pistol, but I really don’t know, nor did I pay much attention to it.

War for each one was measured by about five square yards. That is your world, and you haven’t the foggiest what is going on 50 feet away, during a fire fight. I lost friends in both places, but one thing about 40 below, you don’t bleed much, and corpses don’t smell. In 120 degrees, you bleed a lot, and corpses smell forever and ever. That’s a smell I can never forget. I saw my first dead Marines in the second Naktong Campaign, and it shook me up pretty bad. Since there was only one Marine Regiment there, at the time, it was my Regiment, and they were from my Battalion. I knew nothing about them, other than they were dead, laid out on ponchos, wearing Marine utilities. Army dead did not upset me. Marine dead are my brothers. We wear the same uniform.

When we pulled off line on September 6th, and went to Pusan, we got up to strength with replacements, so we had all three Companies in the Battalions. The thing about replacements, the original troops generally never let you get too close, and then when the replacements have been there awhile, they treat the next batch of replacements the same way. The reason seems to be, that those groups that were together originally, formed close friendships, and many of those friends got killed. It is a very painful experience. But if Joe Doaks got killed, and you hardly knew him, it was less painful. So you stop getting close to people, that may well be dead by dinnertime.

Normal Infantry Combat consists of shooting at an enemy you never see, at distances of over 500 yards. Close combat is seldom, and very, very few ever experience that. Chosin was a little unusual, in that there were so many Chinese, but yet, I actually saw fewer than five armed enemy. (Down south I only came in contact with one live, armed North Korean, and never saw any other live North Koreans, unless they were prisoners.) I know I surely killed a number with the grenades, that morning, months after the Naktong Campaign ,at Chaoin, but I can’t confirm that. I assume that at other times, what rounds I fired killed or wounded an enemy, but I can’t be sure of that either.

As I have listened to the BS over the years, I have figured that if every story told were true, it would mean that there were no Marines killed in the Korean War, and we killed the total population of Korea several times over. Also, there would have to be twice the number of Marines in the Brigade, or Division, than were actually there. During the two weeks of Chosin, close to 900 Marines died. Some 35,000 Chinese died, most at the hands of air dropped napalm. I’m sure we accounted for a large number. I’m told there were 1400 dead Chinese in front of Hill 1282, where I got wounded. That fight started around 8:00 P.M. and lasted until 6:00 A.M. It was fought by 240-some men of Easy 7, and two Squads of Able 5.

INCHON

On the 6th of September, the Brigade boarded three APAs at Pusan, and sailed directly to Inchon. We encountered a typhoon, named Kieza, on the way there. It was a hell of a storm, and there were lots of seasick puckers. I looked out of a forward porthole, and the ship looked like it was going down a mountain of water, and the waves were up high in the sky. I recall seeing the sea about 40 degrees above us, as it crashed down on the ship. It was pretty spooky, but the Navy Ships seemed to handle it well. I don’t recall how long it lasted, at least all day, I think. At the same time, we were heading for Inchon, and the 1st Marine Regiment, out of San Diego, was making its way, by ships, to Japan, and then Inchon. They, and the 5th Marines, made the Inchon landing, on September 15, 1950. When they jointly arrived at Inchon, the 1st and 5th united to become the 1st Marine Division, with Major General Oliver P. Smith, as the Commanding Officer. At this point, the 1st Marine Division was one regiment short. Six days later the 7th Marines arrived at Inchon, after the landing, and we then had the full complement of the 1st Marine Division, made up of the 5th, 7th, and l1th Marine (Artillery) Regiments, as well as our Air Wing.

At Inchon, there was a very large fleet of ships participating in the invasion. There was a Battleship, many Cruisers, lots of Destroyers, and a baby-flattop, (I think the Boxer,) launching airplanes. They fired their cannons all day, from early morning throughout the day, up to just as the assault waves started in. There was also all-day air bombardment, and strafing by Navy and Marine Aircraft; F4U Corsairs, those pretty blue gull-winged Fighter Planes, as well as other aircraft. Ships were firing rocket barrages, everything they had, nonstop, all day. When the assault wave started in, only the Fighter Airplanes were working, storming the beach, napalming farther inland, and generally raising hell all over the place.

Colonel Taplett’s 3rd Battalion, of the 5th Regiment, landed on Wolmi-do Island at 5:30 A.M., September 15. Wolmi-do was connected to Red Beach by a paved causeway. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 5th Regiment landed at 5:30 P.M. on Red Beach, and the three Battalions of the 1st Marines, hit Blue Beach. The entire operation was timed to coincide with the freak tidal situation. The tides dropped some forty feet, within about 15 minutes, so once we landed we would be stranded on the beach. The remaining two Battalions of the 5th Marines, hit Red Beach on time, and the three Battalions of the 1st Marines hit Blue Beach.

I wanted out of the Mortar Platoon and in a Rifle Company, and got that wish as we detached and headed for Inchon. I had done very well with the BAR, when I was in Boot Camp, and at the rifle range, and thought I would do a better job with that, than carrying those shells. I never did like hard labor.

At Inchon there were three landing areas, Wolmi-do island at 5:30 A.M., by the Battalion 5th Marines, under Col. Bob Taplett, followed at 5:30 P.M., by the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 5th Marines, hitting Red Beach, and the three Battalions of the 1st Marines, hitting Blue Beach, along with a 7th Infantry Tank Unit. There were some attached ROK Marines and interpreters, as well as Navy and Marine Air Units, and a number of Naval Ships; both Troop Ships, as well as Combat Ships. Red Beach was broached, by using two ladders, at the front of the LCVP, to get a foot on the wall, while the LCVP was bumping against the seawall. The 1st Marines at Blue Beach had large portions of the seawall blown open, and were able to get in, using Amtracs, the amphibious ducks, in these openings.

The word landing, when used in the context of a Military Operation, usually is identified as administrative, when it is like the one we did at Wonsan, i.e., an unopposed landing, but usually implies an opposed landing. It is a little more ambiguous than waves. The term wave comes from the alignment of the Higgins boats, (LCVPs,) in a horizontal plane, approaching a hostile beach. Troops off-load from the Troop Ships, by climbing down the rope network, hung over the side, and into the Higgins boats, or LCVPs; those little tubs, whose front door drops and everyone rushes out.

Those LCVPs gather in a number of circles, about four to the circle, awaiting the Naval Commander’s flag, that tells them to head for the beach. Then each LCVP pulls out of the circle, in a preordained fashion, and aligns with others from other circles, until you have the horizontal wave of boats, each wave following the one in front of it. If there had been only four circles of four boats, then there would be four boats aligned in a wave, and there would be four waves in assault. If there were more than that, then there would have been more than