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029 - Chapter 14 Part 2 - Onward from Koto-ri · Marine Operations in Korea The Chosin Reservoir Campaign

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  Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen, Part two of US Marine Operations in Korea
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  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty to nineteen fifty three, Volume three, The Chosen
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  Speaker 1: Reservoir Campaign by Lynn Montross and Nicholas Canzona. This LibriVox
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  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Onward from Codo Ree
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  Speaker 1: Marine Operations of nine to ten December, New snow sparkled
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  Speaker 1: in the sunlight as the day of nine December dawned bright,
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  Speaker 1: clear and cold. A brief reconnaissance convinced Captain Norn that
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  Speaker 1: in the early darkness of the previous evening he had
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  Speaker 1: stopped one ridge short of his objective the northwest slopes
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  Speaker 1: of Hill ten eighty one, covering the approach to the
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  Speaker 1: Cable underpass. Baker Company of one one moved forward without
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  Speaker 1: CCF interference to the position. Captain Barrow had his men
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  Speaker 1: test fire their weapons before mounting the final assault on
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  Speaker 1: the dominating knob of the hill. This proved to be
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  Speaker 1: a wise precaution, since many of them mechanisms had frozen.
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  Speaker 1: After thawing them out, Able Company attacked in column with
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  Speaker 1: the first Platoon in the lead. Although the assault troops
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  Speaker 1: had the benefit of excellent air, artillery and mortar support,
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  Speaker 1: they came under intense small arms fire from the Communists
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  Speaker 1: occupying camouflage, log and sandbag bunkers. McClellan's men were hard hit,
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  Speaker 1: but his left flank squad worked its way forward in
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  Speaker 1: brief rushes to positions within two hundred yards of Objective E,
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  Speaker 1: the topographical crest of Hill ten eighty one. At this point,
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  Speaker 1: Staff Sergeant Ernest j Umball organized a squad grenade attack
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  Speaker 1: which wiped out the first CCF punker. A stretch of
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  Speaker 1: about one hundred and seventy five yards, swept barren places
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  Speaker 1: by the icy wind now lay between the Marines and
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  Speaker 1: the final knob. Baryl perceived that this deadly CCF field
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  Speaker 1: of fire could be skirted by troops working their way
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  Speaker 1: around a shelf jutting from the military crest. Under cover
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  Speaker 1: of fire from his sixty millimeter mortars and a strike
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  Speaker 1: by four corsairs. He brought up his second and third
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  Speaker 1: platoons while McClellan, profited by the cover of scrub trees
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  Speaker 1: to come up behind the objective. Jones built up a
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  Speaker 1: base of fire to cover the direct assault of Roach's
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  Speaker 1: platoon as it stormed up the crest. McClellan had to
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  Speaker 1: contend with the enemy's last ditch stand in two log bunkers,
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  Speaker 1: which the first platoon knocked out by tossing grenades through
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  Speaker 1: the embrasures. The Communists resisted to the last gasp, but
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  Speaker 1: at fifteen hundred the Marines were in undisputed possession of
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  Speaker 1: Hill ten eighty one. Sergeant Umbap paid with his life
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  Speaker 1: at the moment of victory, and Barrow had only one
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  Speaker 1: hundred eleven able bodied men left of the two hundred
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  Speaker 1: twenty three he had led out from Chinhung Knee. But
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  Speaker 1: the Marines had won the decisive battle of the advance
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  Speaker 1: from Codo Ree. They held the key height dominating Functionulin Pass,
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  Speaker 1: though five hundred thirty counted enemy dead testified to the
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  Speaker 1: desperation of the CCF defense. Able company had the most
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  Speaker 1: spectacular part, but the vicar to the united efforts of
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  Speaker 1: all three rifle companies in supporting arms. While Barrel held
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  Speaker 1: the crest of the hill, Norn pushed farther along the
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  Speaker 1: cable car track, meeting stubborn resistance from scattered enemy groups.
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  Speaker 1: The collapse of CCF resistance on Hill ten any One
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  Speaker 1: had a beneficial effect on the Marine advance from Codo Ree.
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  Speaker 1: RCT seven continued its attack on the morning of the
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  Speaker 1: ninth with effective air and artillery support. Lieutenant Hovader's able
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  Speaker 1: company of one seven seized the remainder of Hill thirteen
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  Speaker 1: oh four, while Lieutenant Taylor's Baker Company moved south to
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  Speaker 1: Objective C. The Army Provisional Battalion occupied the high ground
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  Speaker 1: between Objectives C and D. These movements were carried out
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  Speaker 1: against ineffectual enemy resistance or none at all, whenever a
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  Speaker 1: few Communists dared to raise their heads along the MSR.
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  Speaker 1: The Airborne THADC and the R five D had the
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  Speaker 1: communications equipment to control aircraft on station and to direct
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  Speaker 1: their employment in response to ground force units. The first
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  Speaker 1: Battalion of RCT five maintained its positions on Objective D
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  Speaker 1: Hill fourteen fifty seven all day at coto Ree. The
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  Speaker 1: other two battalions and regimental headquarters made preparations to move
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  Speaker 1: out the following day as a preliminary to the withdrawal
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  Speaker 1: of RCT I minus from coto Ree. The third battalion
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  Speaker 1: was relieved in its positions along the perimeter by the
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  Speaker 1: forty first Commando. Lieutenant Colonel Ridge's men then moved out
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  Speaker 1: to relieve three seven On Objective A and occupy Objective B.
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  Speaker 1: The second Battalion of RCT seven less A company with
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  Speaker 1: the Regimental Train outposted the MSR between Objectives A and C.
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  Speaker 1: At about sixteen thirty, Captain Morris's Charlie Company in a
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  Speaker 1: platoon of Baker Company one seven moved down the MSR
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  Speaker 1: and secured the bridge site after a short fight. While
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  Speaker 1: Charlie Company outposted the area, the Baker platoon crossed behind
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  Speaker 1: the broken bridge and suddenly found about fifty Chinese in foxholes.
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  Speaker 1: They were so badly frozen, reported Sawyer, that the men
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  Speaker 1: simply lifted them from the holes and sat them on
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  Speaker 1: the road, where marines from Charlie Company took them over.
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  Speaker 1: Late in the afternoon, a patrol from one to seven
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  Speaker 1: attempted to make contact with One one by moving down
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  Speaker 1: the MSR. Chinese fire forced the men off the road,
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  Speaker 1: and they scrambled across the defile below the overpass and
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  Speaker 1: into One one's lines. Lieutenant Colonel Partridge arrived with Weapons
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  Speaker 1: Company one seven, and the bridge sections followed in the
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  Speaker 1: Brockway truck. Even the enemy lent a hand when Communist
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  Speaker 1: prisoners were put to work as laborers after the abutments
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  Speaker 1: were constructed. A brockway truck laid the treadways and plywood
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  Speaker 1: panels in position so that both trucks and tanks could cross.
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  Speaker 1: At about fifteen thirty, three hours after the start the
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  Speaker 1: bridge was in place, Partridge drove his jeep to the
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  Speaker 1: top of the pass to inform Lieutenant Colonel Banks, commanding
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  Speaker 1: Division Train number one one, that he could begin the descent.
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  Speaker 1: Sawyer's troops had not been idle that afternoon, and a
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  Speaker 1: total of about sixty CCF prisoners were taken during attacks
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  Speaker 1: to drive the enemy back from the bridge site. At
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  Speaker 1: about seventeen hundred, Partridge returned, and an hour later the
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  Speaker 1: first elements of the division trains began to cross. Only
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  Speaker 1: a few vehicles had reached the other side when a
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  Speaker 1: disastrous accident threatened to undo everything that had been accomplished.
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  Speaker 1: A tractor towing an earth moving pan broke through the
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  Speaker 1: plywood center panel, rendering it useless, and with the treadway
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  Speaker 1: spaced as they were, the way was closed to wheeled vehicles.
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  Speaker 1: A first ray of hope glimmered when an expert tractor driver,
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  Speaker 1: technical Sergeant Wilford H. Prosser, managed to back the machine
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  Speaker 1: off the wreck bridge. Then Partridge did some mental calculations
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  Speaker 1: and came up with the answer that a total width
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  Speaker 1: of one hundred and thirty six inches would result if
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  Speaker 1: the treadways were placed as far apart as possible. This
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  Speaker 1: would allow a very slight margin at both extremes, two
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  Speaker 1: inches to spare for the twenty six is on the
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  Speaker 1: treadways and barely half an inch for the jeeps using
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  Speaker 1: the forty five inch interval between the metal lips on
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  Speaker 1: the inboard edges of the treadways. Thanks to skillful handling
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  Speaker 1: of the bulldozers, the treadways were soon respaced, and in
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  Speaker 1: the early darkness, Partridge's solution paid off when the first
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  Speaker 1: jeep crossed its tires, scraping both edges. Thus the convoy
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  Speaker 1: got under way again as an engineer detachment guided vehicles
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  Speaker 1: across with flashlights while Sawyer's troops kept the enemy at
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  Speaker 1: a distance. Advanced reports of the bridge drop had brought
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  Speaker 1: press representatives flocking to Coto Ree in casualty evacuation planes.
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  Speaker 1: David Duncan of Life, a former marine, took realistic photographs
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  Speaker 1: of the troops, which attracted nationwide attention. Keys Beach sent
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  Speaker 1: out daily reports while making notes for a book about
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  Speaker 1: his adventures in Korea. Miss Margaret Higgins, who refer used
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  Speaker 1: to be outdone by male colleagues, was twice requested to
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  Speaker 1: leave Cotoree before nightfall by Marine officers who respected her
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  Speaker 1: pluck as a reporter, but felt that the perimeter was
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  Speaker 1: no place for a woman in the event of an
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  Speaker 1: enemy attack. Hundreds of words were written about the bridge drop.
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  Speaker 1: Some of these accounts were so dramatized as to give
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  Speaker 1: Stateside newspaper readers the impression that the span had been
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  Speaker 1: parachuted to Earth in one piece, settling down neatly over
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  Speaker 1: the abutments. Headlines reported the progress of the first Marine
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  Speaker 1: Division every day, and front page maps made every American
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  Speaker 1: household familiar with the names of such obscure Korean mountain
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  Speaker 1: hamlets as Cotoree and Chinhung Knee. General Shepherd and Colonel
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  Speaker 1: Frederick P. Henderson flew up to the perimeter on the
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  Speaker 1: ninth for a conference with General Smith. Before their departure,
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  Speaker 1: they were informed that all remaining casualties a coto Ree
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  Speaker 1: would be evacuated that day all night long. On nine
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  Speaker 1: to ten December, an endless stream of troops and vehicles
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  Speaker 1: poured across span that was doubtless the world's most famous
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  Speaker 1: bridge for the moment. The sensation throughout that night, recalled
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Colonel Partridge in retrospect, was extremely eerie. There seemed
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  Speaker 1: to be a glow over everything. There was no illumination,
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  Speaker 1: and yet you seemed to see quite well. There was
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  Speaker 1: artillery fire and the sound of many artillery pieces being discharged.
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  Speaker 1: There was the crunching of the many feet and many
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  Speaker 1: vehicles on the crisp snow. There were many North Korean
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  Speaker 1: refugees on one side of the column and marines walking
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  Speaker 1: on the other side. Every once in a while there
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  Speaker 1: would be a baby wailing. There were cattle on the road.
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  Speaker 1: Everything added to the general sensation of relief or expected relief,
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  Speaker 1: and was about as eerie as anything I've ever experienced
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  Speaker 1: in my life. Advancing jerkily by stops and starts, the
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  Speaker 1: column met no serious opposition from Chinese, who appeared to
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  Speaker 1: be numbed by cold and defeat. Prisoners taken that night
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  Speaker 1: brought the total up to more than a one hundred
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  Speaker 1: during the movement from Coto Ree to Chinhung Knee. Some
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  Speaker 1: of them were suffering from gangren. The result of neglected
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  Speaker 1: frozen limbs and others showed the effects of prolonged malnutrition.
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  Speaker 1: These captives testified that CCF losses from both battle and
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  Speaker 1: non battle casualties had been crippling. At zero two forty
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  Speaker 1: five on the morning of the tenth, the leading elements
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  Speaker 1: of the First Battalion RCT seven began to arrive at
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  Speaker 1: Chinhung Knee. A traffic regulating post had been set up
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  Speaker 1: at that point the day before by Colonel Edward M. Snedecker,
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  Speaker 1: Division Deputy Chief of Staff, for the purpose of controlling
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  Speaker 1: the movement of marine units to the south. The remaining
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  Speaker 1: elements of RCT seven were strung out from Objective Sea
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  Speaker 1: to the cableway crossing of the MSR. Traffic moved without
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  Speaker 1: a hitch until zero four hundred, when two trucks bogged
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  Speaker 1: down in a U shaped bypass across a partially frozen
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  Speaker 1: stream about two thousand yards beyond the treadway bridge. Major
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  Speaker 1: Frederick Simpson, commanding the first divisional train, had the vehicles
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  Speaker 1: pushed off to one side while the engineers built up
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  Speaker 1: the road. After a delay of three hours, the column
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  Speaker 1: got under way again, with the first vehicles reaching Chinhung
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  Speaker 1: knee at zero eight thirty. Ultimately, both division trains got
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  Speaker 1: through without a fight, thanks to avoiding the delays which
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  Speaker 1: had caused so much trouble during the advance from Hagaroo
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  Speaker 1: to coto Ree. Following the trains, the seventh Marines moved
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  Speaker 1: through the pass. Lieutenant Colonel Lockwood's two seven less Company E,
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  Speaker 1: guarding the regimental train, led the way for the Regimental
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  Speaker 1: Command Group, the Provisional Army Battalion three seven and the
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  Speaker 1: third Battalion of the eleventh Marines. During the early morning
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  Speaker 1: hours of the tenth George company of three to one
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  Speaker 1: beat off an attack on Objective A by an enemy
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  Speaker 1: force estimated at three hundred and fifty men. This was
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  Speaker 1: the only noteworthy instance of CCF activity, otherwise limited to
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  Speaker 1: scattered shots, and it was believed that the Communists were
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  Speaker 1: side slipping southward parallel with the MSR. Confirmation of that
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  Speaker 1: assumption came at twelve hundred, when able company of one
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  Speaker 1: to one cited Chinese marching in platoon and company columns
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  Speaker 1: through the valley only about one thousand yards east of
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  Speaker 1: Hill ten eighty one. Almost simultaneously, other dense CCF columns
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  Speaker 1: crossed the field of fire of the attached army self
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  Speaker 1: propelled triple A guns while pouring around an adjacent slope.
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Colonel Schmuck called immediately for air strikes and artillery fires.
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  Speaker 1: Able company hit the enemy with four point two inch
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  Speaker 1: and eighty one millimeter mortar rounds, and the army teams
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  Speaker 1: cut loose with fifty cow and forty milimeters bursts. The
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  Speaker 1: slaughter continued for an hour as the Chinese kept on
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  Speaker 1: moving southward with that fatalism which never failed to astonish
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  Speaker 1: the Marines. Baker Company of one point one launched an
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  Speaker 1: assault with close air support at thirteen hundred on a
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  Speaker 1: CCF strong point adjacent to the railroad and north of
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  Speaker 1: the battalion's physicians. Overlooking the MSR. Norn's men found three
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  Speaker 1: point five inch rocket launchers their most effective weapon when
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  Speaker 1: clearing the Communists from heavily timbered and sandbag bunkers. Excellent
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  Speaker 1: close air support was received, though two Marine KA casualties
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  Speaker 1: resulted from an error by Navy planes. All day, the
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  Speaker 1: seemingly endless column of vehicles and troops wound southward along
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  Speaker 1: the twisting mountain road. At ten thirty, General Smith and
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  Speaker 1: key members of his staff displaced from Cotoree and preceded
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  Speaker 1: by C forty seven and helicopter to the rear CP
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  Speaker 1: of the division at hung Nam. By eighteen hundred, both
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  Speaker 1: division trains, all elements of RCT seven, and the first,
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  Speaker 1: third and fourth battalions of the eleventh Marines had closed
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  Speaker 1: Chin hung Nie. There the infantrymen in trucked for Hungnam.
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  Speaker 1: The fifth Marine's column followed the seventh, with three five
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  Speaker 1: leading the way and two five close behind. Just south
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  Speaker 1: of Objective A, A brief firefight was now necessary to
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  Speaker 1: silence a CCF machine gun, whereupon the movement continued without
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  Speaker 1: further incident until the two battalions reached Chin hung Nie
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  Speaker 1: at dusk. The first battalion was not relieved by two
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  Speaker 1: to one until eighteen hundred, and did not close Chin
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  Speaker 1: Hung Nie until the early morning hours of the eleventh.
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  Speaker 1: The withdrawal of RCT one minus and detached units from
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  Speaker 1: Coto re commenced on the afternoon of the tenth. The
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  Speaker 1: third Battalion it will be recalled, had relieved RCT seven
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  Speaker 1: units the day before on Objectives A, B and C,
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  Speaker 1: and the first battalion occupied Objective E. The regimental plan
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  Speaker 1: called for one one to hold the Hill ten eighty
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  Speaker 1: one area and protect the MSR until the other units
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  Speaker 1: of the regiment passed through, whereupon Schmuck's battalion was to
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  Speaker 1: pull out with the tanks at the end of the
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: column as the rear guard. The movement from the Coto
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  Speaker 1: re perimeter commenced at fifteen hundred when H and S
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: Company of RCT one departed. The second Battalion Minus of
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  Speaker 1: the eleventh Marine fell in behind, followed in order by
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  Speaker 1: a detachment of the one hundred eighty fifth c Engineers
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  Speaker 1: U S Army, the second Battalion of the thirty first
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Infantry US Army, the second Battalion of RCT I, the
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  Speaker 1: Division Reconnaissance Company, and Lieutenant Colonel Milne's Tank Column consisting
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  Speaker 1: of Companies B and D of the first Tank Battalion,
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  Speaker 1: the Tank Company of the thirty first Infantry US Army,
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  Speaker 1: and the Tank Platoon of the fifth Marines at Company.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: As the last elements left Coto Ree, the ninety second
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  Speaker 1: FA Battalion at Chinhungni began laying heavy concentrations on the
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  Speaker 1: evacuated base. Only scattered shots were received by the tail
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  Speaker 1: of the column from Chinese troops mingling with the Korean refugees.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Several small enemy groups on the flanks of the column
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  Speaker 1: were taken under fire and dispersed, but with three one
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  Speaker 1: guardian objectives A, B, and C, no serious opposition developed
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: during the first stage of the withdrawal of division breakout.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: At dusk on ten December, all indications made it appear
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  Speaker 1: that the movement of the first Marine Division southward would
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  Speaker 1: be completed according to plan, with only minor losses of
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: personnel and equipment. Following the seizure of Hill ten eighty one,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: casualties had been comparatively light and enemy resistance ineffectual. Then,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: between midnight and zero one hundred on eleven December, two
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: reverses occurred in areas the Marines supposed to be safe.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: The MSR south of Chinhungni was under the protection of
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: troops of the third Infantry Division, Task Force Dog at
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Chinhungnie and two battalions of the sixty fifth Infantry in
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  Speaker 1: the vicinity of Sadong and Majandong. It was manifestly impossible,
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  Speaker 1: of course, for the army troops to guard every yard
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  Speaker 1: of the road, for the rugged terrain offered many potential
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: ambush sites. Guerrilla activity had been reported near Sadong, but
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: the division trains and the fifth and seventh Marines had
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: passed through without aim incident. On the afternoon of the tenth,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: Korean civilians warned of an impending attack by Chinese soldiers
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: who had infiltrated into this village. As previously indicated, Colonel
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Snedeker had arrived at Chinhungnie the previous afternoon. At his suggestion,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Task Force Dogs sent out an infantry patrol, which returned
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: with a report of no enemy activity. At dusk, an
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: attack on the traffic turnaround outside Sudong caused Snedeker to
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: halt all traffic at Chinhung Knee until the MSR was cleared.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: After a firefight in the darkness, elements of the sixty
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: fifth Infantry reported at dusk that the enemy roadblock had
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: been cleared, and the marine column resumed its movement southward
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: during the next few hours. Colonel Snedeker's worst problem was
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: lack of transport. The division had requested that the maximum
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: number of trucks, ambulances, and narrow gage freight cars be
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: collected at Majon Dong, the new railhead. Only about one
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty trucks were actually made available. However, one
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: hundred ten of them being from Division service units in
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: the Hungnam area. In spite of this shortage, the flow
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: of traffic was being maintained when an explosion of CCF
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: activity brought everything to a stop at Sudan shortly after midnight.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Mountain defiles had usually been the scene of enemy ambushes,
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  Speaker 1: but this time the Chinese swarmed out from behind houses
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  Speaker 1: in the village with grenades and burp guns. Several truck
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  Speaker 1: drivers of the RCT one Regimental train were killed by
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  Speaker 1: the first shots and their vehicles set on fire in
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: the flickering light. A confused fight ensued as trucks to
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  Speaker 1: the rear stopped. The Marines of the RCT I train
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: resisted as best they could, but leadership was lacking until
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Colonel John U. D. Page US Army and Marine PFC.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Marvin L. Wasson teamed up as a two man task force,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: which routed a group of about twenty Chinese at the
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: head of the vehicle column. The Valiant Army artillery officer
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: paid with thee and Wasson received two wounds from a
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: grenade explosion. Pausing only for first aid, he got back
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: into the fight as another Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Walden C. Winston,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: commanding the fifty second Transportation Truck Battalion, US Army, directed
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: a counter attack by Marine and Army Service troops. Harry Smith,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: a United Press correspondent, also had a part in the action.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Wasson called for a machine gun to cover him while
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: he fired three white phosphorus rounds from a seventy five
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: millimeters recoilist at a house serving the enemy as a stronghold.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: It burst into flames, and the survivors who ran out
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: were cut down by machine gun fire. The Marine PFC,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: a jeep driver who was dubbed the Spirit of seventy
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: six by Winston, then volunteered to help push trucks of
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: exploding ammunition off the road. Winston gradually brought order out
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: of chaos, but it was daybreak before the MSR was
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: cleared so that the column could start moving again. The
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: RCT one regimental train had suffered casualties of eight killed
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: and twenty one wounded, while equipment losses consisted of nine
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: trucks and an armored personnel carrier. Lack of infantry protection
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: was a factor and another reverse which occurred at the
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: tail of the division column. General Smith's final orders for
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: withdraw provided that the tanks were to come out behind
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: the First Marines train, with the infantry of that regiment
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: bringing up the rear. Thus, a breakdown in the armored
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: column would not block the road for wheeled vehicles, yet
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: the tanks would have protection against close in attack. The
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: First Marines prepared detailed plans for the leap frogging of
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: battalions during the final withdraw phase. In effect, these called
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: for two to one to relieve one to five on
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Objective D and remain there until relieved in turn by
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: two thirty one. The Army battalion would hold until three
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: to one pass through, then follow Ridge's battalion down the MSR.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: After two to one, three to one and two due
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: thirty one had passed through, Lieutenant Colonel Schmuck's positions around
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Hill ten eighty one, one one would follow as rear guard.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: The first departure from plan occurred when Lieutenant Colonel Sutter discovered,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: after starting up Hill fourteen fifty seven that Objective D
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: was so far from the road and so steep that
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: most of the night would be required merely for the
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: battalion to make the climb, no enemy having been sighted,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: he asked permission to return to the road and continue
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: along the MSR. This request was granted by Colonel Poehler,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: and two to one resumed the march, followed by two
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: eleven minus two thirty one and H and S Company
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: of rct I in that order. Lieutenant Colonel Ridges three
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: to one, which remained on objectives A, B and C
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: until twenty one hundred fell in at the end of
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: the regimental column about midnight. After waiting for three to
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: one to move down the pass, the tank column began
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: its descent with only Recount Company as protection. Lieutenant Hargut's
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: platoon of twenty eight men guarded the last ten tanks,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: and the other two platoons screened the middle and head
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: of the column. Behind the last machine. Approaching as close
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: as they dared were the thousands of refugees. CCFS soldiers
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: had mingled with them, watching for an opportunity to strike,
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: and Hargot had the task of keeping the Koreans at
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: a respectful distance. Progress was slow as the forty tanks
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: inched around the icy curves with lights on and dismounted
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: crewmen acting as guides. Shortly before zero one hundred. The
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: ninth machine from the rear had a break freeze which
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: brought the tail of the column to a halt for
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: forty five minutes. The rest of the tanks clanked down ahead,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: leaving the last nine stranded along the MSR southwest of
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Hill fourteen fifty seven and about two thousand yards from
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: the treadway bridge. The enemy took advantage of the delay
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: when five CCF soldiers emerged in file from among the refugees.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: As a voice in English called that they wished to surrender.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Hargot went to meet them, cautiously covered by Corporal George
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: aj Amiot's bar. Suddenly, the leading Chinese stepped aside to
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: reveal the other four, producing hidden burp guns and grenades.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Hargot pulled the trigger of his car being, but it
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: failed him in the sub zero cold. The former Allmarine
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: football star then hurled himself at the enemy group. Swinging
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: his car being. He crushed a Chinese skull like an eggshell,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: but a grenade explosion wounded him. As the ambush developed
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: into an attack from the high ground on the flank
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: as well as the rear, before the remaining four Chinese
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: could do Hargot any further harm Amiots shot them down
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: one by one. The fight turned into a wild melee
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: in which friend could hardly be distinguished from foe. Hargot's
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: platoons slowly fell back until the last tank was lost
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: to the enemy along with its crew. The men in
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: the next to last tank had buttoned up and could
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: not be aroused to their dangers by banging on the
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: hull with rifle butts. While making the effort, Harget was
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: stunned by an enemy explosive charge, which blew Pfc. Robert D.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: DeMott over the sheer drop at the side of the road,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: leaving him unconscious on a ledge. The other men of
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: his platoon believed that he had been killed and continued
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: their withdraw only to find the next seven tanks abandoned
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: with their hatches open. Amiot, wearing body armor, was covering
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: their retirement, firing from prone when a CCF grenade exploded
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: after landing squarely on his back. The Chinese must have
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: suspected black magic when he went on coolly picking off
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: opponents as if nothing had happened. It was a precarious
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: situation for Harget and his remaining twenty four men but
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: they fought their way out without further casualties. And meanwhile,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: tank crewman had succeeded in freeing the break of the
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: lead tank and driving two tanks down the road. One
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: of them was brought out by Corporal cp Lett, who
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: had never driven four I'm going to get this tank
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: out of here, even if I get killed doing it,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: he told Hargot. By sheer determination coupled with luck, he
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: maneuvered around the obstacles ahead and down the icy road
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: to safety. Captain Gould and his demolition's crew of engineers
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: had been waiting for hours to blow the treadway bridge.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: After the last elements of the division crossed. With the
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: passage of the two tanks and Hargot's platoon, it was
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: believed that all marines who could be extricated were safely
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: over the span. On this assumption, which later proved to
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: be erroneous, Chief Warrant Officer Willie Harrison set off the
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: demolition charges. The losses of the recomplatoon were three MIA,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: two of them later changed to KIA, and twelve wounded.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Crews of the two rear tanks were missing and presumed dead.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: Hargot's losses would have been more severe, except for the
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: fact that some of his men were wearing marine body
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: armor made of lightweight plastics. On other man of Harget's
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: platoon went the distinction of being the last marine out
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: at the finish of the chosen reservoir breakout. When durable Pfc.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: Dumont recovered consciousness after being blown over the brink by
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: the CCF pack charge explosion, he found himself precariously perched
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: on a ledge overhanging the chasm. Slightly wounded, he managed
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: to climb back on the road, where he encountered only
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Korean refugees. Upon hearing a tremendous detonation, he realized that
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: the bridge had been blown. He remembered, however, that pedestrians
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: could cross through the gatehouse above the penstocks, and he
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: came down the mountain with the refugees to Chinhungnie. There
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: he was given a welcome befitting one who has cheated
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: death of a sure thing. The remaining tanks made it
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: safely to Chinhung Knee without benefit of infantry protection other
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: than what was afforded by Recount Company. Lieutenant Colonel Schmuck
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: did not receive a copy of the first Marine Operation
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Order sixteen dar fifty, he explained as only information being
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: a frago designating one one as rear guard, and a
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: hasty thirty second conference with Colonel Poehler. When the first
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Marine Command Group passed through, I was informed. He added
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: that the tanks were in the rear of the first Marines,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: that second Battalion thirty first Infantry was bringing up the rear,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: and that as soon as that unit passed, I would
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: employ my battalion as rear guard. No mention at all
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: was made of the reconnaissance company. In order to check
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: off the units that passed endlessly through my lines, I
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: established a checkpoint at the Incline railway overpass and kept
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: a close record of movements. A great deal of intermingling
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: of units was observed by the one to one commander
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: at zero three hundred. After citing the lights of the tanks,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: he gave orders for able company to commence the withdrawal
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: in order to consolidate my battalion for the rear guard
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: action prior to daybreak. When the first tanks reached my position,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I was first startled to find No. Two thirty one
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: accompanying them, and then flabbergasted to discover that the recont
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Company was somewhere out there screening the movement. This canceled
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: my carefully laid covering plan. No further trouble resulted for
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: the tanks and recount company ahead of them. The infantry
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: units continued the movement southward from Chinung Nie, chiefly by
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: marching because of the shortage of trucks. Lieutenant Colonel Sutter's
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: men proved that footslogging is not a lost art by
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: covering the twenty two miles from Cotoree to Madjoon Dong
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: in a twenty hour hike with packs, heavy parkas, individual weapons,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: and sleeping bags. Battle casualties of the division for the
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: final stage the attack from Coto Ree southward, whereas follows
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: KIA fifty one DOW twenty four MIA sixteen WIA two
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty six total three hundred forty seven. At
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: thirteen hundred on eleven December, the last elements of the
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: division cleared chin Hung Knee Majon Dong had been left
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: behind at seventeen thirty without audible regrets, and by twenty
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: one hundred all units with the exception of the tanks,
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: had reached assigned assembly areas in the ham hung hung
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Nam area. The armored column arrived at the LST Staging
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: area of hung Nam half an hour before midnight, thus
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: bringing to an end the breakout of the First Marine Division.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter fourteen, Part two, read by Aaron Bennett,