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027 - Chapter 13 Part 2 - Regroupment at Hagaru · Marine Operations in Korea The Chosin Reservoir Campaign

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, 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. Regroupment at Hagarou East
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Speaker 1: Hill retaken from Chinese. Meanwhile, at Hagarou, Lieutenant Colonel Murray
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Speaker 1: had designated his second battalion for the assault on East
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Speaker 1: Hill at zero seven hundred on six December. As the
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Speaker 1: four point two inch mortars began their planned preparation, the
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Speaker 1: seventh Marines had already initiated the breakout to Codo Ree
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Speaker 1: when marine planes arrived on station at zero seven twenty five.
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Speaker 1: A shortage of napalm tanks limited the air attacks to bombing,
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Speaker 1: rocket and strafing runs. These had little apparent effect on
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Speaker 1: the objective. Further air strikes were directed by the fact
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Speaker 1: first Lieutenant Manning T. Jeter, Junior, who was severely wounded
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Speaker 1: while standing on the crest to direct the corsairs to
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Speaker 1: the target. Captain David G. Johnson, the earlyaison officer, took
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Speaker 1: his place. A total of seventy six planes participated in
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Speaker 1: the day's air attacks at zero nine hundred. Captain Smith's
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Speaker 1: Dog Company moved out to the assault, with First Lieutenant
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Speaker 1: George A. Sorenson's third platoon in the lead, followed by
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Speaker 1: the second and first platoons in that order. Attacking to
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Speaker 1: the northward, Sorenson was pinned down by fire from Objective
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Speaker 1: A before he had covered fifty yards. This was the
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Speaker 1: enemy's main forward position on East Hill, which he had
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Speaker 1: held against marine attacks ever since seizing it in the
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Speaker 1: early morning hours of twenty nine November. First Lieutenant John R.
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Speaker 1: Hines replaced Sorenson after that officer was wounded while he
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Speaker 1: engaged the enemy frontally. First Lieutenant George C. McNaughton's second
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Speaker 1: platoon poured in flanking fires, and First Lieutenant Richard M.
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Speaker 1: Johnson's platoon executed a flanking movement. Chinese resistance suddenly collapsed
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Speaker 1: about eleven hundred. Thus, it seemed almost an anti climax
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Speaker 1: that East Hill, after holding out against the Marines more
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Speaker 1: than a week, should have been retaken at a cost
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Speaker 1: of one man killed and three wounded. About thirty CCF
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Speaker 1: dead were found. As events were to prove, however, this
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Speaker 1: was but the first round in a hard fought twenty
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Speaker 1: two hour battle for the hill mass. The next phase
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Speaker 1: began at eleven thirty, when Royce ordered Captain Peters Fox
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Speaker 1: Company to relieve Smith so that Dog Company could resume
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Speaker 1: the attack against Objective B, a ridge about five hundred
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Speaker 1: yards to the southeast. The lower slopes of this position
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Speaker 1: were now being cleared by two seven. After a ten
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Speaker 1: minute artillery preparation, the three platoons of Dog Company jumped
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Speaker 1: off at twelve fifty. The Chinese put up a stubborn
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Speaker 1: resistance and it took until four eighteen thirty to seize
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Speaker 1: the new objective. Marine casualties were moderate, however, and Captain
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Speaker 1: Smith set up three platoon positions along the ridge running
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Speaker 1: to the south, whence he could control the road leading
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Speaker 1: out of Hagaroo. Later in the day, the enemy appeared
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Speaker 1: to be massing for a counter attack in the saddle
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Speaker 1: between the two objectives. Johnson called an airstrike and all
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Speaker 1: Dog and Fox Company troops within range opened up with
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Speaker 1: everything they had. As McNaughton led a patrol against the
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Speaker 1: Chinese in the saddle. Caught between the infantry fires and
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Speaker 1: the rocket and strafing runs of the Corsairs, the CCF
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Speaker 1: survivors surrendered in mass to McNaughton and his platoon. About
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Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty prisoners were taken to set a
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Speaker 1: record for the first Marine Division in the Reservoir Campaign.
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Speaker 1: At the request of Captain Smith, the saddle between the
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Speaker 1: two marine companies was occupied by reinforcements consisting of an
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Speaker 1: officer and eleven men from the Regimental at Company and
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Speaker 1: an officer and thirty two men from the four Signal Battalion,
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Speaker 1: U S Army. Shortly after dark, the enemy launched a
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Speaker 1: vigorous counterattack. Tanks in eighty one millimeter mortars fired in
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Speaker 1: support of marines, who made good use of two point
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Speaker 1: three to six inch white phosphorus rockets at close range.
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Speaker 1: Although the Chinese endured frightful casualties, they returned again and
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Speaker 1: again to attack until midnight. It was evident that they
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Speaker 1: considered this a fight to a finished for East Hill,
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Speaker 1: and at zero two to five they renewed the assault
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Speaker 1: against all three companies of the second Battalion as well
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Speaker 1: as Charlie Company of the first Battalion. The struggle during
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Speaker 1: the next three hours was considered the most spectacular, if
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Speaker 1: not the most fiercely contested battle of the entire Reservoir campaign.
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Speaker 1: Even by veterans of the um Knee actions, never before
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Speaker 1: had they seen the Chinese come on in such numbers
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Speaker 1: or returned to the attack with such persistence. The darkness
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Speaker 1: was crisscrossed with a fiery pattern of tracer bullets at
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Speaker 1: one moment and the next the uncanny radiance of an
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Speaker 1: illumin the Nation shell would reveal Chinese columns shuffling in
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Speaker 1: a trot, only to go down in heaps as they deployed.
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Speaker 1: Marine tanks, artillery, mortars, rockets and machine guns reaped a
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Speaker 1: deadly harvest, and still the enemy kept on coming with
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Speaker 1: a dogged fatalism which commanded their respect of the Marines,
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Speaker 1: looking like round little gnomes in their padded cotton uniforms,
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Speaker 1: Groups of Chinese contrived at times to approach within grenade
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Speaker 1: throwing distance before being cut down. The fight was not
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Speaker 1: entirely one sided. The Marines took up pounding from CCF
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Speaker 1: mortars and machine guns, and by zero three hundred Dog
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Speaker 1: Company was hard pressed in its three extended positions, pointed
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Speaker 1: like a pistol at the heart of the enemy's assembly areas.
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Speaker 1: Both Mcnonton and the executive officer, First Lieutenant James H.
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Speaker 1: Huntcut were wounded but remained in action. This was the
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Speaker 1: second time in three months that Dog Company had spearheaded
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Speaker 1: a marine attack on a desperately defended hill complex northwest
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Speaker 1: of Seoul. In September, only twenty six able bodied men
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Speaker 1: had survived to break the back of North Korean resistance.
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Speaker 1: The company commander, First Lieutenant H. J. Smith, had died
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Speaker 1: a hero's death at the moment of victory, and First
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Speaker 1: Lieutenant Carl F. Sadel was the unit's only unwounded officer.
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Speaker 1: Now another Smith commanded Dog Company and Saydell was killed
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Speaker 1: as enemy pressure from front and flank threatened to overwhelm
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Speaker 1: the three riddled platoons. Casualties of thirteen KIA and fifty
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Speaker 1: WIA were taken in the Battle for East Hill as
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Speaker 1: Dog Company and the provisional platoons fell back fighting to
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Speaker 1: the former objective A and tied in with Fox Company
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Speaker 1: along the low ground at the northern end of East Hill.
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Speaker 1: The Chinese were beaten off with ruinous losses by Jeskilka's
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Speaker 1: Easy Company of two five Jones's Charlie Company of one
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Speaker 1: five and three Army tanks. Enemy troops had to cross
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Speaker 1: a comparatively level expanse, which provided a lucrative feel of
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Speaker 1: fire for marines supporting arms. Heaps of CCF dead, many
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Speaker 1: of them charred by white phosphorus bursts, were piled up
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Speaker 1: in front of the marine positions. Next, the Chinese hit
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Speaker 1: Captain James B. Heater's Able Company of one to five,
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Speaker 1: still farther to the left, and overran several squad positions.
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Speaker 1: One platoon was forced to withdraw to the rise on
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Speaker 1: which the Division CP had previously been located. The lines
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Speaker 1: were restored at zero five forty six with the help
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Speaker 1: of Lieutenant Hancock and his Baker Company, which had been
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Speaker 1: in reserve. Altogether, the first battalion had suffered casualties of
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Speaker 1: ten killed and forty three wounded, while the counted CCF
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Speaker 1: slain numbered two hundred and sixty in front of Charlie
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Speaker 1: Company and two hundred in the area of Able Company.
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Speaker 1: George Company of three to one also beat off a
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Speaker 1: Chinese attack on the south of the perimeter. With the
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Speaker 1: coming of daylight, these marines found that they had one
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Speaker 1: of the Chinese with draw routes under their guns. Mortar
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Speaker 1: and rifle fire annihilated one group of about sixty enemy
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Speaker 1: and another group of fifteen Reds surrendered. The new day
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Speaker 1: revealed a scene of slaughter which surpassed anything the Marines
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Speaker 1: had seen since the fight for the Approaches of Soul
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Speaker 1: in September. Estimates of CCF dead in front of the
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Speaker 1: second Battalion positions on and around East Hill ran as
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Speaker 1: high as eight hundred and certain it is that the
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Speaker 1: enemy had suffered a major defeat. When marine air came
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Speaker 1: on station, the Chinese, as usual, scattered for cover about
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Speaker 1: zero two hundred. Murray ordered three five, which had not
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Speaker 1: been in contact with the enemy during the night, to
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Speaker 1: displace to the south at the head of Division Train
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Speaker 1: number two, followed by one five and Ridges Battalion of
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Speaker 1: the first Marines. This meant that Royce's men, with a
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Speaker 1: platoon of tanks and the engineers in charge of demolitions,
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Speaker 1: would be the last troops out of Hagaru attack of
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Speaker 1: RCT seven to the south. During the twenty two hour
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Speaker 1: battle on East Hill, the seventh Marines had been attacking
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Speaker 1: toward Codo Rie On the eve of the breakout. The
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Speaker 1: gaps and the infantry ranks were partially filled with three
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Speaker 1: hundred artillery men from the eleventh Marines, bringing Litzenburg's strength
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Speaker 1: up to about twenty two hundred men. Seventh Marines Operation
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Speaker 1: Order fourteen Dash fifty called for the advance to be
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Speaker 1: initiated at first light on six December as follows. First
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Speaker 1: Battalion to move out at zero four thirty to clear
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Speaker 1: the ground to the right of the river. Second battalion,
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Speaker 1: supported by tanks, to attack as advance guard along the
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Speaker 1: MSR Provisional Battalion thirty one seven to clear the ground
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Speaker 1: to the left of the MSR. Third Battalion to bring
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Speaker 1: up the rear of the regimental train, with George Company
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Speaker 1: disposed along both flanks as security for the vehicles. Daybreak
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Speaker 1: revealed a peculiar silvery fog covering the Hagaroo area. The
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Speaker 1: first battalion, with Charlie Company an assault had as its
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Speaker 1: first objective the high ground southeast of tone Ree. No
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Speaker 1: resistance was encountered, though twenty four Chinese were surprised to
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Speaker 1: sleep in their positions near the objective and seventeen of
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Speaker 1: them killed. The second platoon of Dog Company, first Tank
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Speaker 1: Battalion was attached to two seven when the advance guard
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Speaker 1: jumped off at zero six thirty from the roadblock south
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Speaker 1: of Hagaroo. Almost immediately, the column ran into trouble. Upon
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Speaker 1: clearing the roadblock, the lead dozer tank took three hits
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Speaker 1: from a three point five Bazuka. Within twenty minutes, the
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Speaker 1: column came under heavy fire from CCF positions on the
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Speaker 1: high ground on the left. Fox Company in the lead
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Speaker 1: was allowed to pass before the enemy opened up on
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Speaker 1: the Battalion Command Group, Dog Easy Company, and Weapons Company.
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Speaker 1: The Fox prevented air support initially when it lifted First
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Speaker 1: Lieutenant John G. Theros Fack of two seven brought in
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Speaker 1: marine aircraft an eighty one millimeter fire on the CCF position.
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Speaker 1: It took a coordinated attack by the two infantry companies
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Speaker 1: and the tanks, however, before the resistance could be put
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Speaker 1: down and the advance resumed. At twelve hundred two and
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Speaker 1: a half hours later, the upper reaches of this hill
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Speaker 1: were cleared by D five after two seven in air
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Speaker 1: smothered the initial Chinese resistance. Fox Company and the platoon
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Speaker 1: of Dog tanks advanced down the road about four thousand
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Speaker 1: yards south of Hagaroo. They met the next resistance. Although
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Speaker 1: the Chinese positions were in plain sight of one seven,
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Speaker 1: neither two seven nor air could spot them. Colonel Litzenburg
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Speaker 1: and Lieutenant Colonel Lockwood attempted to coordinate mortar fires from
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Speaker 1: two to seven with observation from one to seven, but
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Speaker 1: were unsuccessful because of poor radio communications. Following an erratic
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Speaker 1: artillery barrage and some good shooting by the tanks, Fox
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Speaker 1: Company cleared the enemy position about fifteen hundred aided by
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Speaker 1: a dog easy flanking attack, and the provisional Battalion in
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Speaker 1: order to assist two seven. Baker Company of one to
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Speaker 1: seven came down from the ridge west of the river
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Speaker 1: to act as right flank guard. Meanwhile, one seven continued
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Speaker 1: to push ahead methodically to the right of the MSR
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Speaker 1: as the three rifle companies leapfrogged one another. Enemy contact
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Speaker 1: was continual, but no serious opposition developed. During the daytime hours.
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Speaker 1: On the left flank, the Provisional Battalion had several firefights,
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Speaker 1: while the advance was uneventful for the third battalion following
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Speaker 1: in the rear of the regimental train, about five thousand
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Speaker 1: yards had been covered by dusk. Enemy resistance stiffened after dark,
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Speaker 1: as had been anticipated. The planners had realized that the
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Speaker 1: movement could have been made in daylight hours with fewer
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Speaker 1: losses in personnel and equipment, but intelligence of the expected
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Speaker 1: arrival of CCF reinforcements influenced the decision to continue the
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Speaker 1: march throughout the night, even at the cost of inc restopposition.
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Speaker 1: By noon, long lines of Chinese could be seen along
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Speaker 1: the skyline to the east of the road, moving towards
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Speaker 1: the MSR air attacked these reinforcements, but could not stop
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Speaker 1: their movement, as later events proved. About eight thousand yards
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Speaker 1: south of Hagarou in Hellfire Valley, a Chinese machine gun
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Speaker 1: on the left stopped the second battalion at twenty two hundred.
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Speaker 1: The column was held up until midnight before army tank
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Speaker 1: fire knocked out the enemy gun. After covering twelve hundred
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Speaker 1: more yards. A blown bridge caused another halt while Dog
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Speaker 1: Company engineers made repairs. Movement was resumed at zero two
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Speaker 1: hundred when a second blown bridge resulted in a delay
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Speaker 1: of an hour and a half before it could be bypassed.
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Speaker 1: Dawn brought a significant innovation in air support. Circling above
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Speaker 1: the eleven mile column inching towards Codo Ree was an
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Speaker 1: airborne Tactical Air Direction Center THADC installed in an R
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Speaker 1: five D of vm R one fifty two and operated
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Speaker 1: by Major Harlan E. Hood and his communicators from m
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Speaker 1: TAX two. Major Christian C. Lee, commanding officer of m
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Speaker 1: TAX two, had made arrangements when he realized that with
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Speaker 1: his radios packed in trucks and jeeps, he could not
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Speaker 1: control close air support effectively. Only the addition of one
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Speaker 1: radio to those standard in the aircraft was necessary to
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Speaker 1: provide basic communications. But when being readied for the pre
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Speaker 1: dawn takeoff, the mission faced failure because an engine wouldn't
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Speaker 1: start minus a Refueller truck. The crew chief, Technical Sergeant H. C. Stewart,
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Speaker 1: had worked all night to pour twenty four hundred gallons
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Speaker 1: of gas into the craft by hand. Now in the
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Speaker 1: bitter cold of dawn, he set out about to overhaul
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Speaker 1: the starting motor. Two hours later, Major John N. Swartlee
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Speaker 1: was piloting the plane over the MSR No. Trouble was
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Speaker 1: encountered by two seven along the last few miles of
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Speaker 1: the route, and the battalion was first to arrive at co. Meanwhile,
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Speaker 1: the third Battalion had been assigned the additional mission of
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Speaker 1: replacing the provisional battalion as protection for the left flank
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Speaker 1: as well as rear of the seventh Marines train. A
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Speaker 1: brief firefight developed at about twenty one hundred as the
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Speaker 1: Chinese close to hand grenade range. Lieutenant Colonel Harris deployed
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Speaker 1: George and ITEM companies around the vehicles and drove the
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Speaker 1: enemy back to a respectful distance between zero two hundred
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Speaker 1: and zero four thirty. ITEM company of three seven and
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Speaker 1: a platoon of tanks were sent back up the road
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Speaker 1: to clear out a troublesome Chinese position near Hellfire Valley.
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Speaker 1: About zero two hundred, during a halt for bridge repairs,
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Speaker 1: the seventh Marine's train was hit by enemy fire. The
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Speaker 1: Regimental command Group suffered most. Captain Donald R. France and
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Speaker 1: First Lieutenant Clarence E. Mc guinness were killed, and Lieutenant
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Speaker 1: Colonel Frederick W. Ducett was wounded, while Lieutenant J G.
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Speaker 1: Robert G. Mettemeyer Medical Corps, US Navy gave first aid.
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Speaker 1: Chaplain Lieutenant J. G. Cornelius J. Griffin entered an ambulance
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Speaker 1: to console a dying Marine CCF machine gun bullet shattered
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Speaker 1: his jaw and killed Sergeant Matthew Caruso. At his side,
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Speaker 1: Lieutenant Colonel Harris and Major Road supervised the deployment of
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Speaker 1: how Company troops to beat off the attack. About zero
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Speaker 1: five thirty, Lieutenant Colonel Harris disappeared. A search was made
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Speaker 1: for him to no avail and he was listed as MIA.
16:29
Speaker 1: It was later determined that he had been killed. The
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Speaker 1: first Battalion of RCT seven, after a relatively uneventful march
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Speaker 1: over the high ground west of the river, moved down
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Speaker 1: the slope to join the regimental column. Major Warren Morris
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Speaker 1: assumed command of the third Battalion, which reached Cotoree about
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Speaker 1: zero seven hundred. At about eleven hundred, after a brief rest,
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Speaker 1: the men were ordered, together with Lockwood's troops to move
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Speaker 1: back up along the MSR to the north and set
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Speaker 1: up blocking between Cotoree and Hillol eleven eighty two to
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Speaker 1: keep the road open for other units of the division.
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Speaker 1: While carrying out this mission, the second Battalion helped to
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Speaker 1: bring in twenty two British Marines who had been stranded
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Speaker 1: ever since the Task Force Drysdale Fight on the night
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Speaker 1: of twenty nine to thirty November. Their plight was not
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Speaker 1: known until four December, when an OI pilot saw the
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Speaker 1: letters h ELP stamped out in the snow and air
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Speaker 1: dropped food and medical supplies advance of the division trains.
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Speaker 1: By seventeen hundred and seven December, all elements of URCT
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Speaker 1: seven were in the perimeter at Codo Ree. Division Train
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Speaker 1: number one was due next and the planners had hoped
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Speaker 1: that the rifle battalions would clear the way for the vehicles.
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Speaker 1: As it proved, however, the Chinese closed in behind RCT
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Speaker 1: seven and attacked the flanks of the convoy, with the
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Speaker 1: result that the service troops actually saw more action than
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Speaker 1: the infantrymen. One of the causes may be traced to
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Speaker 1: the fact that Division Train number one had to wait
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Speaker 1: at Hagarou until sixteen hundred on the sixth, before RCT
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Speaker 1: seven made enough progress toward Kotoree to warrant putting the
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Speaker 1: convoy on the road. About two thousand yards south of Hagaroo,
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Speaker 1: elements of the third Battalion, eleventh Marines were hit in
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Speaker 1: the early darkness by CCF mortar and small arms fire.
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Speaker 1: The gunners of George and how Batteries deployed as infantrymen
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Speaker 1: and repulse the enemy at the cost of a few casualties.
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Speaker 1: Upon resuming the march, a second firefight took place after
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Speaker 1: fifteen hundred more yards had been covered. Several vehicles set
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Speaker 1: a fire by Chinese mortar shells, blocked the road and
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Speaker 1: brought the convoy to a halt. At daybreak, the enemy
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Speaker 1: swarmed to the attack in formidable numbers. It was nip
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Speaker 1: and tuck, as all pieces of how battery and three
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Speaker 1: howitzers of George battery were in place between the trucks
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Speaker 1: of the first Mt Battalion. There was no opportunity to
18:54
Speaker 1: dig in the trails of guns. Employing time fire with
18:57
Speaker 1: fuses cut for ranges of forty to five five hundred yards,
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Speaker 1: but the Chinese were stopped cold by two hours of
19:04
Speaker 1: continuous fire after approaching within forty yards. All but about
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Speaker 1: fifty of an estimated five hundred to eight hundred enemy
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Speaker 1: were killed or wounded before the remainder fled. According to
19:15
Speaker 1: the estimate of the gunners, the convoy of the Division
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Speaker 1: Headquarters company also had to fight its way. Small arms
19:23
Speaker 1: ammunition had been distributed throughout the column, and light machine
19:26
Speaker 1: guns were mounted on top of truckloads. All able bodied men,
19:31
Speaker 1: with the exception of drivers and radio operators, walked in
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Speaker 1: single file on either side of the vehicles carrying the wounded.
19:39
Speaker 1: Progress was slowed with many halts caused by CCF fire.
19:43
Speaker 1: At zero one thirty, several trucks were set aflame by
19:46
Speaker 1: the enemy mortar shells and two point three six rockets.
19:50
Speaker 1: Headquarters troops deployed in roadside ditches, while two machine guns
19:54
Speaker 1: manned by bandsmen kept the Chinese at a distance. At
19:58
Speaker 1: zero two hundred, the cloud it cleared enough to permit
20:01
Speaker 1: strikes by night hecklers of VMFN five thirteen. They stopped
20:06
Speaker 1: the Chinese until just before daylight, when a company sized
20:09
Speaker 1: group penetrated within thirty yards of the convoy. During this fight,
20:14
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Charles H. Sullivan, who measured six feet four and
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Speaker 1: weigh two hundred and forty pounds, emptied his car being
20:20
Speaker 1: at advancing Chinese. Then he hurled it like a javelin
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Speaker 1: to drive the bayonet into the chest of an opponent
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Speaker 1: at fifteen feet. Under the coaching of the m tax
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Speaker 1: Commander Major Lee, two more night fighters, Major Albert L.
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Speaker 1: Clark and First Lieutenant Truman Clark pinned the Chinese down
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Speaker 1: with strafing runs as close as thirty yards from the
20:42
Speaker 1: Marine ground troops. At dawn, Major Percy f Avont Junior
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Speaker 1: and his four plane division from VMF three twelve dumped
20:50
Speaker 1: about four tons of explosives and napalm on Chinese, who
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Speaker 1: broke and ran for cover. The firefight at costs Headquarters
20:57
Speaker 1: Battalion six KIA and fourteen WA. The MP company just
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Speaker 1: forward of headquarters company had the problem of guarding about
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Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty Chinese prisoners. Captives unable to walk
21:11
Speaker 1: had been left behind at Hagarou, where Lieutenant Colonel Murray
21:15
Speaker 1: directed that the wounded be given shelter and provided with
21:18
Speaker 1: food and fuel by the departing Marines. The prisoners escorted
21:22
Speaker 1: by the MPs were lying in the middle of the
21:24
Speaker 1: road during the attack when the enemy seemed to concentrate
21:27
Speaker 1: his fire on them while shouting in Chinese. A scene
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Speaker 1: of pandemonium ensued as some of the able bodied prisoners
21:34
Speaker 1: attempted to make a break. Now the Marines as well
21:38
Speaker 1: as the enemy, fired into them, and one hundred and
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Speaker 1: thirty seven were killed in the wild melee. When the
21:43
Speaker 1: convoy got under way again, two Communists were captured and
21:47
Speaker 1: fifteen killed after being flushed out of houses in the
21:50
Speaker 1: village of pousong Nie at daybreak, a halt was called
21:54
Speaker 1: in hell Fire Valley for the purpose of identifying bodies
21:57
Speaker 1: of MPs and headquarters troops killed in the Task Force
22:00
Speaker 1: Drysdale Battle, which were to be picked up later. Attempts
22:05
Speaker 1: to start the looted and abandoned vehicles met with no success,
22:08
Speaker 1: and the convoy continued the movement to coto Ree without incident,
22:12
Speaker 1: arriving about ten hundred on the seventh. At this hour,
22:15
Speaker 1: the last Marine troops had not yet left Hagaroo, so
22:18
Speaker 1: that the column as a whole extended the entire eleven
22:21
Speaker 1: miles of the route. Division Train number two had formed
22:25
Speaker 1: up during the afternoon of the sixth, but was unable
22:28
Speaker 1: to start until after dark. At midnight, the train had
22:31
Speaker 1: moved only a short distance out of Hagaroo. Lieutenant Colonel
22:35
Speaker 1: Milne requested infantry support and three to five was given
22:38
Speaker 1: the mission of advancing at the head of the column
22:41
Speaker 1: along with the fifth Marin's Regimental train to eliminate enemy resistance.
22:46
Speaker 1: Taplet had only two companies, one of which proceeded astride
22:50
Speaker 1: the road, while the other echelon to the left rear.
22:54
Speaker 1: The late start proved to be a blessing, since the
22:56
Speaker 1: Division train number two completed most of its movement by
22:59
Speaker 1: daylight under the umbrella of marine air, and met only
23:02
Speaker 1: light and scattered resistance. The head of the column reached
23:06
Speaker 1: Codoree at seventeen hundred, and at twenty three hundred. All
23:09
Speaker 1: the major division units were in the perimeter except two five.
23:13
Speaker 1: The rear guard. Both one five and three one had
23:16
Speaker 1: formed up in Hagaroo on the morning of the seventh
23:19
Speaker 1: and moved out as rapidly as traffic would permit, which
23:23
Speaker 1: was slow. Indeed, they were accompanied by the forty first Commando,
23:27
Speaker 1: which had earned the esteem of all US Marines by
23:30
Speaker 1: valor and combat. British imperturbability was at its best when
23:34
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Colonel Drysdale held an inspection shortly before departing Hagarow.
23:40
Speaker 1: Disdainful of the scattered shots which were still being heard.
23:43
Speaker 1: The officers moved up and down the rigid lines, and
23:46
Speaker 1: men whose gear was not in the best possible shape
23:48
Speaker 1: were reprimanded. By ten hundred, nobody was left in the
23:52
Speaker 1: battered town except Royce's Battalion, First Lieutenant Von R. Stewart's
23:56
Speaker 1: tank Platoon, and elements of Able Company, first Engineered Italian
24:00
Speaker 1: commanded by Captain William R. Gould. This unit and Chief
24:05
Speaker 1: warn Officer Willie S. Harrison's Explosive Ordnance Section of Headquarters.
24:09
Speaker 1: Company Engineers were attached to the fifth Marines for the
24:11
Speaker 1: mission of the demolitions at Hagaroo. Gold had formed five
24:16
Speaker 1: demolition teams, each composed of an officer in four to
24:19
Speaker 1: six men. On the evening of six December, they began
24:23
Speaker 1: preparations for burning stockpiles of surplus clothing and equipment along
24:27
Speaker 1: with the buildings of the Hagaroo train yard. There was
24:31
Speaker 1: also the duty of placing charges in the dumps of
24:34
Speaker 1: mortar and artillery ammunition, which could not be transported to Hagaroo.
24:38
Speaker 1: One of the main problems was the disposal of a
24:41
Speaker 1: small mountain of frozen surplus rations. A team of engineers
24:45
Speaker 1: spent hours on the sixth that the task of smashing
24:48
Speaker 1: cans and crates of food with a bulldozer and saturating
24:51
Speaker 1: the dump with fuel oil. The Able Company Engineers came
24:55
Speaker 1: under the operational control of the second Battalion after the
24:58
Speaker 1: other units of the fifth departed. Demolitions were to await
25:03
Speaker 1: the order of Lieutenant Colonel Royce. On the morning of
25:05
Speaker 1: the seventh Hagaroo was full of combustibles, however, and fires
25:10
Speaker 1: of mysterious origins sent up dense clouds of smoke before
25:13
Speaker 1: the engineers touched off the oil soaked food supplies and
25:16
Speaker 1: the buildings of the train yard. As the Marines of
25:20
Speaker 1: two five pulled back towards the southern tip of East Hill,
25:23
Speaker 1: smoke blotted out the surrounding area so that enemy movements
25:26
Speaker 1: could not be detected. Worse yet, premature explosions sent up
25:31
Speaker 1: fountains of debris just as the engineers were setting up
25:34
Speaker 1: their fuses for a twenty minute delay. Detonations shook the
25:38
Speaker 1: earth on all sides, Rockets sliced through the air, shell
25:43
Speaker 1: shattered into vicious fragments, and large chunks of real estate
25:46
Speaker 1: rained down everywhere. Royce was understandably furious since his troops
25:52
Speaker 1: were in danger during their withdrawal. By a miracle, they
25:55
Speaker 1: came off East Hill without any casualties, and the engineers
25:59
Speaker 1: were the last Marines left in Hagaroo. Soon the entire
26:03
Speaker 1: base seemed to be erupting like a volcano. Visibility was
26:07
Speaker 1: reduced to zero when the engineers pulled out after setting
26:11
Speaker 1: a last tremendous charge to blow the bridge. So compelling
26:15
Speaker 1: was the lure of loot that small groups of Chinese
26:18
Speaker 1: came down from the high ground toward the man made
26:20
Speaker 1: hell of flame and explosions. Between clouds of smoke, they
26:24
Speaker 1: could be seen picking over the debris, and the marine
26:27
Speaker 1: tanks cranked off a few rounds at targets of opportunity.
26:31
Speaker 1: It is not likely that any of Royce's wary troops
26:34
Speaker 1: paused for a last sentimental look over their shoulders at
26:36
Speaker 1: the dying Korean town. Hagaroo was not exactly a pleasure resort,
26:41
Speaker 1: and yet hundreds of Marines and soldiers owed their lives
26:44
Speaker 1: to the fact that this forward base had enabled the
26:47
Speaker 1: division to evacuate all casualties and fly in replacements while
26:51
Speaker 1: regrouping for the breakout to the sea coast. If it
26:54
Speaker 1: had not been for the forethought of the division and
26:56
Speaker 1: wing commanders with a concurrence of General Almond, there would
27:00
Speaker 1: have been no R four D air strip, no stockpiles
27:03
Speaker 1: of ammunition, rations and medical supplies, And though the Marines
27:08
Speaker 1: might conceivably have fought their way out of the CCF
27:11
Speaker 1: encirclement without Hagaroo, it would have been at the cost
27:14
Speaker 1: of abandoning much equipment and suffering much higher casualties. Only
27:19
Speaker 1: a few weeks before, this Korean town had been merely
27:22
Speaker 1: an unknown dot on the map. But on seven December
27:26
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty the name was familiar to newspaper readers and
27:29
Speaker 1: radio listeners all over the United States as they anxiously
27:32
Speaker 1: awaited tidings of the breakout. Already it had become a
27:36
Speaker 1: name to be remembered in US Marine annals, along with
27:39
Speaker 1: such historical landmarks as Bellow Wood, Guadalcanal, Pelelou, and Iwo Jima.
27:46
Speaker 1: Prospects of a warm meal and a night's sleep meant
27:48
Speaker 1: more than history to Royce's troops. When the column moved
27:51
Speaker 1: out at last shortly after noon, with the engineers bringing
27:55
Speaker 1: up the rear to blow bridges along the route, a
27:58
Speaker 1: pitiful horde of Korean refugee followed the troops, thousands of men,
28:02
Speaker 1: women and children with such personal belongings as they could carry.
28:06
Speaker 1: Efforts on the part of the engineers to warn the
28:09
Speaker 1: refugees of impending demolitions were futile. Although these North Koreans
28:13
Speaker 1: had enjoyed for five years the blessings of communist government,
28:18
Speaker 1: the prospect of being left behind to tender mercies of
28:21
Speaker 1: the Chinese Communists was so terrifying that they took appalling risks.
28:26
Speaker 1: Knowing that a bridge was about to be blown up
28:29
Speaker 1: at any instant, they swarmed across in a blind panic
28:32
Speaker 1: of flight. Never did war seem more harsh or its
28:36
Speaker 1: victims more pathetic. The rear guard had less error and
28:39
Speaker 1: artillery support than any of the preceding troops, yet CCF
28:43
Speaker 1: opposition was confined to scattered small arms fire all the
28:46
Speaker 1: way to hell Fire Valley. There the enemy lobbed over
28:50
Speaker 1: a few mortar shells during the long haul at dusk,
28:53
Speaker 1: but the rest of the advance was uneventful. Gould's engineers
28:57
Speaker 1: took chances repeatedly of being cut off off when they
29:00
Speaker 1: fell behind to burn abandoned vehicles or blow bridges. On
29:05
Speaker 1: several occasions, a small group found itself entirely isolated as
29:09
Speaker 1: the infantry and even the refugees pushed on ahead. Luckily,
29:13
Speaker 1: the engineers made it without any casualties, and by midnight
29:17
Speaker 1: the last troops of the first Marine Division had entered
29:20
Speaker 1: the perimeter at Codo Ree. Thus the first stage of
29:23
Speaker 1: the division breakout came to a close. In proportion to
29:27
Speaker 1: total numbers, the service troops of Division Train number one
29:31
Speaker 1: had taken the heaviest losses, six killed and twelve wounded
29:35
Speaker 1: for the Division Headquarters Company, one killed and sixteen wounded
29:39
Speaker 1: for the Military Police Company, four killed and twenty eight
29:42
Speaker 1: wounded for the First Motor Transport Battalion, one killed and
29:46
Speaker 1: twenty seven wounded for the First Ordnance Battalion, and three
29:50
Speaker 1: killed and thirty four wounded for the third Battalion. Of
29:52
Speaker 1: the eleventh Marines Battle. Casualties for the entire first Marine Division,
29:58
Speaker 1: including those of the East Hill Battle, were as follows.
30:01
Speaker 1: KIA eighty three DOW twenty MIA seven WIA five hundred
30:09
Speaker 1: six total six hundred sixteen. About thirty eight hours were
30:14
Speaker 1: required for the movement of some ten thousand troops in
30:17
Speaker 1: more than one thousand vehicles. The new arrivals filled the
30:21
Speaker 1: perimeter at koto Ree to the bursting point, but there
30:24
Speaker 1: was to be no pause at this point. Division Operation
30:28
Speaker 1: Order twenty six TOSH fifty, issued at eighteen fifteen on
30:31
Speaker 1: the seventh, before the last troops had arrived, provided for
30:35
Speaker 1: the advance to be resumed from coto Rea at first
30:38
Speaker 1: light the following morning. End of Chapter thirteen, Part two,
30:43
Speaker 1: read by Aaron Bennett