“Ranger Bill Weathersbee and some of his friends were cleaning their weapons when a rifle company from the 7th Infantry Division came through their positions to continue after the Chinese. The rifle company commander was astounded at the level of carnage he found. He halted his company and asked the Rangers questions about the action. The company commander then faced his unit and said in a loud voice, ‘I want all of you to look around. This is what happens to the enemy when soldiers don’t panic.’ The company commander then faced the Rangers and said, ‘Gentlemen, I salute you.’ With a snappy salute, he moved his men on.”
—Rangers in Korea32
The battle for Hill 581 was one of the largest that 2d Ranger Company participated in while attached to the 31st Infantry Regiment. The 31st was nicknamed “The Polar Bears” because its regimental crest contained a polar bear standing in the upright position, with the unit motto, pro patria (“for country” in Latin), inscribed below it.
During its first five months of service in Korea, the 31st Infantry had three commanders: Colonel Richard P. Overshine, who was relieved by General Almond; Colonel Allan D. MacLean, who was killed at Chosin; and Colonel John A. Gavin, a 1932 West Point graduate who didn’t appear to have the “fire and brimstone” needed at the time. In early March 1951, General Almond sent Colonel William J. McCaffrey, who had served on Almond’s staff in the 92d Infantry (Buffalo) Division in Italy during WWII, and was the current X Corps Deputy Chief of Staff, to command the 31st. Although the regiment appeared to be the weakest of the three, its regimental colors carried emblems of historic service from Philippines/Siberia (1916-1920), Philippines/Shanghai (19211945), and Japan/Korea (1946-1949, extended to 1953).
Second Company departed Hill 210, Chipon-ni, by foot march at 1700 hours on 17 May 1951. It arrived at the rear area at 0600 hours on 18 May. Its mission was to attack and hold Hill 581. The attack would begin at approximately 1500 hours. A roster of personnel departing on R&R leave showed only three officers, but actually four—Captain Allen and Lieutenants Pryor, Freeman, and Anthony—departed, with eleven enlisted men. This brought the strength available for line duty down to three officers (Queen, Cliette, and Wilburn) and fewer than eighty men. Wilburn remained with the unit rear detachment to coordinate all supply, mess, and administrative duties, and also to act as XO.
The Rangers were attached to the 1/31st for the attack. Queen doesn’t recall meeting the Battalion CO or anyone from his staff for the attack order. The terrain was familiar to Queen because this was the same hill from which he had executed a night withdrawal about two weeks earlier. The Rangers didn’t have any attachments from the Heavy Weapons Company or a forward observer (Artillery or Mortars). There was only enough manpower to form two platoons, each of approximately 32 men plus a Ranger medic; a 60mm mortar squad; and a small command group. Each platoon had a three-man LMG team with about six BARs per platoon. Queen put Cliette in the lead with his 3d Platoon, followed by the command group, then Master Sergeant George Rankins with a combination 1st/2d Platoon with the mortar squad in the middle of it. The point fire team in Cliette’s platoon contained Privates First Class Isaac Grasty, Jr., Winston M. Jackson, James Hardy, and William K. Mathis. Some of these men were part of the group of ten leg replacements General Ferenbaugh had allowed to be transferred in from the group of more than 400 who were sent to 2d Ranger Company for special training in early April. The ten who remained with 2d Ranger Company made up a fire team trained by Higginbotham. Grasty called Mathis “The Get-Away Man” because he could run so fast. Mathis had been a college track star before enlisting, and his speed made him an asset as a radio operator because his ability to outrun others helped keep the radio secure. Radio operators often had to be close to an advancing enemy force in order to radio their exact position back to other Army units, so they sometimes had to make a hasty escape after establishing their position in order to keep themselves and their radio out of enemy hands.
The advance was made in column of platoons. Sergeant Marion Alston, Communication (Commo) Sergeant, was carrying an SCR–300 on the battalion command net. Corporal Ray H. Rhone, Jr., radio operator for Cliette, was also on the battalion command net. During platoon-sized long-range patrol operations along the COPL (Combat Outpost Line), the platoons frequently operated in this manner because they were almost always out of Company range.
Queen remained near the combined platoon because it did not have an officer—not that he had any doubt about Rankins’ ability. But this was the first time that the ten new legs were going into heavy action. Thus far they had performed in a satisfactory manner.
About 1000 hours, Battalion notified Queen that an air strike using P-51 or P-47 aircraft would hit the forward (northwest) slopes of Hill 581. The general direction of the attack was toward the southwest. Mathis put the air-ground identification panel on the back of his pack because his fire team was in the lead. “The Get-Away Man’s” task was to outrun any aircraft that came too close. The air strike was performed by three aircraft that came directly over the long axis of the company’s formation and advance. The air strike dropped napalm about a third of the way up the hill.
The company had worked its way about two-thirds of the way to the top when the point team was surprised by an outpost of two or three Chinese. The enemy popped up only forty yards away and managed to run over the crest and disappear. Queen looked at Mathis, the point man, and exclaimed, “Before the day is over, you are going to regret passing those enemy soldiers!”
When the Rangers reached the top of Hill 581, they reported in to Battalion. The firefight started a little after noon when both sides met at the top of Hill 581. The lead Ranger platoon pushed over the crest and was greeted by a fusillade of automatic fire, mainly from burp guns. The initial flurry of bullets skimmed through the trees at shoulder level, clipping off leaves and branches. The lead troops hit the ground and returned fire. Several men were wounded. The most seriously injured Ranger was Sergeant Kirk P. Adkins, who was hit in the chest and dropped to the right front of the command group. Queen rushed over and dragged him back while Alston ran up to the front, using his M-1 to provide covering fire. Sergeant Leroy White, who frequently carried a camera, also ran up to provide covering fire. Queen gave up Adkins when Rankins and Courts arrived to carry him away. Because 2d Ranger Company lacked attached forward observers, Queen would have handled the fire missions while Captain Allen deployed the company. Since Allen was absent, Queen performed both functions.
Queen got Alston back to his side and radioed Battalion. From a prone position with his field glasses he looked across the front and down into the valley falling away to the south. What appeared to be an enemy battalion was approaching the hill from the southwest. Doc Rabbit (Thomas), the company’s medic, was working on Adkins, whose chest wound was so severe that if he did not get back to the aid station for helicopter evacuation he would likely die.
The firefight continued with small arms through most of the afternoon. Neither side was able to advance, and the enemy seemed to be testing out the Rangers’s strength with advance units. The main force, estimated at battalion strength, was moving into an assembly area for the main attack. While simultaneously attempting to control and deploy the company, Queen called fire missions in to Battalion over the command net by relaying the coordinates and asking for harassment and interdiction fire to break up the enemy firepower.
Unable to advance, Queen was ordered to hold the company in position. He placed Cliette’s 3d Platoon up on the line to the right of the combination 1st/2d Platoon. The 1st and 2d Platoons were located in a heavily wooded area with dense undergrowth. Runners from the 1st Platoon reached the Company CP by walking behind their positions to the left because of the dense vegetation. Cliette warned Queen about an unmarked minefield in the right rear of his position. Cliette remembered the field from a previous mission when 2d Ranger Company had been a covering force for the withdrawal of another battalion. The 1st Platoon covered the left side of the hill. Since this area was open, the mortar squad was placed behind 1st Platoon within Queen’s voice range. The mortars were deployed on a shallow ridge on the reverse slope of the crest. There was no company reserve.
When the Rangers began running low on ammunition, Queen remembered that 2d Ranger Company had buried some extra ammo in the 60mm mortar pits on the hill about two weeks earlier. All he had to do now was find the pits and hope the ammo had not disappeared or been dug up by the enemy. While waiting for a re-supply from Battalion, some machine gun and mortar ammo was found and distributed. Queen told the Rangers hauling the wounded back to the aid station to return with ammo. He didn’t expect the laborers of the civilian Korean Army Service and Labor Corps (KASLC) to come up to their positions because they were non-combatants. He believed that when they saw all of the wounded 2d Ranger Company had suffered, non-combatants would balk at approaching the front unless they had some very close and forceful escorts. With his front spread thin and ammunition running low, Queen tried to organize the men in groups of two or three for mutual support, because no word of weapons attachment had been received or was really expected. Grenade booby traps were rigged to provide a warning to cover any remaining gaps in the line.
The volume of enemy fire and length of contact convinced the experienced Queen that he was facing a reinforced regular enemy battalion and not a guerrilla battalion, and that the enemy was employing a two-company pronged attack. Reinforcements and artillery support would be needed if the enemy mounted a sustained or heavier attack. The ridge was too narrow and steep for a jeep to climb, and it would take another company two to four hours to make a flanking move to support 2d Ranger Company. There was, however, another rifle company behind 2d Ranger Company’s position, and some of the enemy small arms fire was passing over the 2d’s position and hitting the rifle company and Battalion Headquarters strung out behind them lower down on the ridge. Queen contacted Battalion and called in artillery fire to defend the 2d’s flanks. Supporting artillery positions were situated in the valley to their left flank, meaning they fired at a right angle to the 2d’s position. A lot of this fire was either too long or short because of the steep and narrow ridge line where the Rangers had set up their positions. Queen tried to plot pre-arranged defensive concentrations, but to do so he had to close the sheaf (concentrated) or zero in one gun and then have the remainder close on it. Otherwise, the result would be a scattered battery time on target (TOT) that would almost certainly rain friendly fire into the company perimeter. By dusk, Queen had made good adjustment of fire to cover the front and right flank of the 2d’s positions.
During the fighting, Corporal Ralph W. Sutton was shot in the left side of his chest. He died quickly. Sergeants Posey and Weathersbee were detailed to remove Sutton’s body from Hill 581 and take it to the aid station. When they arrived with Sutton’s corpse, they found a re-supply point next to the aid station and a number of Korean laborers with carrying racks—A-frame packs used to carry items on their backs. Posey and Weathersbee loaded the laborers with small arms ammunition, machine gun ammunition, grenades, mortar rounds, and C-rations and departed for Hill 581. When they arrived at the company’s position, they passed out ammunition and food just before dusk fell and returned the Korean laborers to a safe point away from the firing line. The enemy started a series of probing attacks just as the sergeants regained their former positions. The attacks would continue all night with great severity.
About dark (1900-2000 hours), a sergeant from the Battalion Weapons Company reported into the Company CP (a two-man foxhole) with a Machine Gun Section of about eight men. He either had two LMGs or one LMG and one HMG with LMG tripods. Queen told him to take a position in the center between the two platoons along the hill’s crest. During the first hours of darkness, the enemy continued to probe 2d Ranger Company’s lines, mainly on the right in Cliette’s platoon area. Cliette needed help and called for it, so Queen moved the artillery rounds closer and closer until the shell bursts sent shrapnel into the trees in their immediate area. Although pressed hard, Queen hesitated to call for an air burst because they had not had time to dig in very deep—just slit-trench positions—or to erect overhead shelter. Despite the intensity of the fighting, the 2d suffered only a few light small arms casualties. Not everyone was so fortunate. By midnight, the sergeant from the Battalion Weapons Company made his way to Queen, told him all of his men were wounded, and that he was pulling out.
About 0300 hours, Cliette reported that the enemy had infiltrated into some of his positions. Queen ordered him to pull back to the ridge line by going to the left behind the combined 1st/2d Platoon. Queen then ordered 1st Platoon to draw back on a line with the Company CP (about twenty yards). The enemy was mounting an all-out attack, but without mortar support. Earlier, Queen had gone down to the 60mm mortar position and told Andrade to drop some rounds to the immediate front and over to the front and flank of the 3d Platoon. The mortarmen fired so rapidly that the base cap on the mortar tube blew off and disabled it. Wells, a light machine gun man, discovered his weapon was so hot that the rounds went off as soon as they entered the chamber—without his having to pull the trigger. Wells had fired his weapon from the hip and most of his ammunition was now gone. With his position in peril, Queen gave the word for the company to withdraw down the ridge line to Company A’s area because it was time to call artillery fire in on their current position. All this time Queen’s calls for artillery were being sent over the Battalion Command Radio Net and relayed to the Artillery Liaison Officer. Queen knew he was located close by because he could hear him repeat what he had said. The lieutenant, into whose area Queen had withdrawn, seemed a little frightened by the chaotic nighttime events. Queen’s withdrawal might have looked to him as if the Chinese had broken through. The unnamed lieutenant told Queen that he had taken some casualties from the enemy fire that passed above 2d Ranger Company. Corporals Jacob Mason and Carl Hall manned an LMG on the right flank of 3d Platoon and provided covering fire for the platoon during the Chinese assault and subsequent platoon withdrawal.
Queen spread the company out in front of the new position. He had his platoon CP in a shallow hole about 4 × 6 feet and put his two-man command group (Alston and himself) in the hole. Queen redistributed weapons and ammunition, giving his M-1 rifle to someone whose weapon had jammed. Queen still had his .45-caliber pistol, which he would later use to lead the counterattack.
Queen passed the word that they were going to mount a counterattack to take back the hill at first light (about 0500 hours), about an hour before the official dawn (0600). He knew that the members of 2d Ranger Company couldn’t afford to fail, regardless of their small numbers present on the line. They had to dispel and kill forever the myth that had hung over “black combat soldiers” about their willingness and inability to fight. They were not going to be pushed off that hill because it would have meant that they would have to retake it the next day. The shame of losing the hill without being annihilated would be too much to bear. Queen hated the idea of prepping for another attack after the loss of so many men in the initial assault, but he called for artillery on their old positions to prevent them from being overrun by enemy forces as they moved out to retake the high ground. Adjusting the artillery fire to brush up against 2d Ranger Company’s position was a risk worth taking to hold enemy forces back.
The platoon from Company A remained in position as 2d Ranger Company rushed back up the hill in a walking firefight. A distance of forty to fifty yards separated 2d Ranger Company from Company A. During this assault Sergeant First Class Eugene Jennings was wounded and evacuated.
When 2d Ranger Company retook Hill 581, the early sunlight revealed scattered enemy corpses in their former positions on the reverse slope and crest of the hill.
Hill 581 was where I had my first big combat action or exposure. A couple of nights before the action, we had to withdraw from the same hill. We ran an all-night “strategic retreat,” as we called it. On May 20th we went to retake the hill. We received no enemy heavy fire from the side we went up, even though we expected heavy fire. Once we reached the top and got halfway down the backside, all hell broke loose. We hit the ground right where we were. Legree Aikens was to my right sitting in an upright position about three yards away, firing his BAR, resting it on his knees with the bipod folded back. The main reason I was so near Aikens was that I was his assistant, with extra magazines for the BAR. Aikens was hit in the legs during the exchange of fire. Corporal Ralph W. Sutton was to my left in a standing position behind a tree. He asked me and Aikens to cover him while he went down the hill a little farther so he could get a better firing position. After Sutton left Aikens told me that he had been hit again. He handed me his BAR. About this time, we were ordered to pull back to the top of the hill.
I got the order to go down and help bring a wounded man back up. I got down there with three men and found that Sutton was the wounded Ranger. Each of us grabbed a limb in order to carry him. I had his left arm, under which there was a hole big enough to put your fist in. He had been killed instantly! After we got him to the top and covered him with a poncho, we were told to dig in for the night. Usually Aikens, Sutton, and I would dig in together, but this night I don’t remember who was with me.
The firing started again just before daybreak. Lieutenant Queen called in artillery and told everyone to pull back. When I got out of my hole to do so, I was hit in the upper left arm and shoulder.
Because of bad weather at this little airfield somewhere in South Korea, I could not immediately be evacuated to a hospital for proper treatment. This was on May 21st. By the time I could be airlifted gangrene had set in, and it required an emergency operation. They saved my arm but left me permanently disabled, with only partial use of the limb. About ten days later I was evacuated to the USAF Hospital in Nagoya, Japan.
If there was anyone deserving an award, I would say Sutton did. Too bad he never got a chance to start the chicken farm he had planned when he got back home.
We had buried some ammunition on Hill 581 before but we didn’t know that one day we would return and use it. We had been patrolling when they decided to give us rest. This was a short rest period when we pulled back from the line.
They put up these showers, like we had never seen before. They had a pile of clean clothes on the ground when you came out of the shower. You could pick out anything decent to wear that would fit. We had been in the mountains so long that our clothes were shredded. It was a relief to get some clean clothes; some of the uniforms were in good shape.
We had put up a supply tent and several Rangers were cleaning weapons. We had some extra weapons on the supply truck that had to be cleaned. We started cleaning the weapons after taking a shower and changing clothes.
The sun was out and it was very hot. Captain Allen came in the tent and he saw this Korean sitting down. I don’t think that he knew who the Korean was. Anyway, this Korean was helping us clean weapons, and that didn’t seem too strange. We had a couple of young Korean boys working in the field kitchen with Sergeant First Class Parks. Just about every outfit had a few Koreans, somewhere. This Korean person had a field jacket on and the hood over his head, in the tent, on this hot day! Captain Allen said, “It’s hot. How in the world can you sit there wearing that field jacket?” Captain Allen reached over and pulled the hood down, and all this hair fell down! It was a woman! Boy was Captain Allen surprised! He pitched a bitch! We all had a laugh, but the company commander didn’t think this was very funny. He had her kicked out of the area and we finished cleaning the weapons ourselves.
On our way back to Hill 581 we climbed the mountain and saw some Koreans below us. As we passed toward 581 our pilots were bombing in the vicinity. Fighting was going on everywhere. As soon as we got to the top we made contact with the enemy. We were leap-frogging platoons into position. After we completed one leap, we ran into heavy rifle fire.
I remember Corporal Sutton was with me during this time. He climbed a doggone tree to get a clear vision of the enemy. I was about five yards from him, as I had just moved forward. I said, “Come on. Let’s get these mother f***ers!” The next thing that I remembered is that I was hit! I was hit in the stomach, the right thigh, and right wrist. I fell forward to the ground. In just a minute or so Doc Rabbit (Thomas) came up. Rabbit said, “Damn, Jack, you are hit pretty badly!” He gave me a shot of morphine. As a matter of fact, he gave me two more shots. I guess he thought I would die in comfort. Rabbit cut my cartridge belt off me. I had two pouches of grenades and I was carrying an M-1 rifle. Rabbit cut off all the stuff that I was carrying.
I started moving back a little piece, then some medics came up and started walking me down the hill. They walked me to the aid station where I was placed in an ambulance and went to Division Evac. From there I was moved to a MASH unit. While there, I was surprised to see some Korean or Chinese being treated. They operated on me and I was moved to another MASH unit, and from there I was moved to a hospital in Japan.
I remained in Japan for some time. They were getting ready to return me to 2d Ranger Company in Korea. We went before a board of medical officers, test-fired our weapons, and were ready to leave for Korea. As we approached the time to move out, a sergeant told me and another soldier to wait. He ordered us to turn in our equipment. “You are going home!”
On Hill 581 we took a pounding but secured the hill. Sergeant Aikens got hit, he was taken down; but we continued on the attack. Our platoon pushed through the 3d Platoon on the way to engage the enemy, who was preparing to do battle. As members of the 2d Platoon, we did not hesitate; we were committed. We fixed bayonets. One of our men did battle with an enemy using the bayonet, killing him. I cannot remember the name of the Ranger. We charged up the hill screaming, “Buffalo—Mother——!” This was our battle cry throughout our stay in Korea.
After securing the hill, we began to dig in, expecting the Chinese to counterattack. They did counterattack, and they seemed to bring every small-arms weapon and ammunition, including the kitchen sink, toward our hasty defensive positions. We could see the Chinese marching in column, coming toward us. Lieutenant Queen called in artillery fire from division. The enemy still continued to move forward.
Sutton was hit just before dusk. When one of the enemy dead fell nearby, we knew he was Chinese by the strong smell of fish and garlic. We knew they were nearby because of that smell.
My BAR fire team’s mission was to protect the machine guns. My BAR team was dug in beneath the machine gun manned by Wells. The enemy tried many times to knock the machine gun (s) out, but we kept grenades raining down on them. A few of them got killed or wounded and pulled back. They couldn’t stop our machine guns. I know that he [Wells] killed ten to thirty. Orders were passed down not to fire until we had a target. The enemy had overrun some of the 3d Platoon positions and wounded Rangers. But all of our people walked out or were helped out. We were told by our platoon Sergeant, Dude Walker, to hold our positions, and to cover the withdrawal of the 3d Platoon.
By daylight the enemy had faded away, taking what wounded or dead were left. The 2d Ranger Company would not budge! We sent out contact patrols but located no living enemy soldiers. We, as a fighting unit, had fought with regiment after regiment in the 7th Division. We had fought with all three outfits (17th, 32d, and now the 31st Regiment). What we saw was living proof that the 2d Ranger Company had held and could hold its own with any fighting machine that they threw at us.
[Note: Ranger Small was wounded at Tanyang Pass and returned to the company after getting a ten-day R&R from the Osaka hospital. He said that he got a twice-daily massage with oil from the nurse because of his extremely dry skin. He went higher in “Buffalo Heaven” for ten days while on R&R from the hospital: “You should have seen me,” he said, “a black man horseback riding in Japan!”]
On 20 May, the entire 2d Ranger Company was in a firefight. Hill 581 was a tough hill to take. I think that we slept on the forward side of the hill. I dug a spot and covered up with my parachute because of the rain. We went over the hill that afternoon and dug in to defend our positions. We got attacked for about six hours. To me, this was the longest engagement with the enemy that we had. It was a rough time for me because I had diarrhea and I couldn’t leave the foxhole. Bullets were flying everywhere. I was firing my rifle and shitting at the same time. It was quite an ordeal!
They were overrunning our position. We were forced to pull back and set up on the opposite side of the hill. Lieutenant Queen called in the artillery. He kept telling them: “Drop closer! Drop closer!” until the enemy was forced back.
At daybreak we went back and cleaned up and secured the hill. We found out later that 2d Ranger Company was the only outfit that stayed on Hill 581.33
[Note: Sergeants George Rankins and Curtis Courts were the two Rangers responsible for saving Kirk P. Adkins’ life, along with a medical miracle.]
All hell broke loose! Shortly thereafter, Lieutenant Queen ordered us to rejoin the main group at the top of the hill. When we arrived at the top he conversed with Lieutenant Queen, who asked: “Rankins, are all your men present?” I replied, “Yes, sir, except [Kirk P.] Adkins. He is at the bottom of the hill dead!” Lieutenant Queen snapped back, “I don’t give a damn if he is chopped up into little pieces. You get him and bring him up here!” This was a little scary because Queen never used profanity. I replied, “Yes, Sir!” and hauled ass back down the hill with Curtis Courts and Iron Head Gray.
We found Kirk there, alive, though shot to pieces. His intestines were spread out on the ground. We actually pushed parts back inside and securely wrapped him, as best as possible, with my field jacket. We started to drag him up the hill, then down toward the aid station. A helicopter landed close to us. The pilot was slightly lost and looking for a certain unit. We told him that this was not the unit, but we did have a comrade who was very seriously wounded. We wanted him to take him to get medical aid. He replied, in no uncertain terms, “NO!” I insisted, and he again said, “NO!” I put my .45 to his neck and informed him that Kirk was going in that chopper, or else! We loaded him into the chopper. There was no doubt in my mind that the pilot tried to turn us down because of color.
We went back up to the company and were hit hard that night. The enemy tried to walk into and around our positions. Read military history and you will find a West Pointer received the Medal of Honor in ’Nam for the same type of action.
Within the next twenty-four hours, Captain Allen and the large group on R&R returned for duty. They hurried to the top of the hill because the battle news had spread. Nonetheless, the number of our men present for duty in the foxholes dropped by almost twenty-five percent in just one day! In the battle of Tanyang Pass, the 2d Ranger Company had suffered more killed in action casualties, but not as many wounded in action. By the beginning of June all those seriously wounded had been transferred to station hospital, put in temporary rehab programs, or moved stateside and dropped from the rolls.
There may have been Purple Hearts for Rangers who were treated on the spot and remained in position until 2d Ranger Company was relieved. In any case, on 19–20 May 1951, the following Rangers of 2d Ranger Company received the Purple Heart:
Private First Class Legree Aikens—Seriously Wounded in Action
Sergeant Kirk P. Adkins—Seriously Wounded in Action
Sergeant Eugene V. Arnold—Lightly Wounded in Action
Sergeant Clinton Cleveland—Lightly Wounded in Action
Private First Class James K. Conway—Lightly Wounded in Action
Corporal Donald L. Felder—Lightly Wounded in Action
Sergeant John E. Ford, Jr.—Lightly Wounded in Action
Corporal John W. Gould—Seriously Wounded in Action
Private First Class Isaac Grasty, Jr.—Lightly Wounded in Action
Corporal Walter S. Gray—Lightly Wounded in Action
Private First Class James Hardy—Lightly Wounded in Action
Private First Class James E. Harvey—Seriously Wounded in Action
Sergeant Herman C. Jackson—Seriously Wounded in Action
Corporal Emmett L. Johnson—Seriously Wounded in Action
Private First Class Ralph Leggs, Jr.—Seriously Wounded in Action
Corporal William G. Rhodes—Lightly Wounded in Action
Corporal Jude P. St. Martin—Seriously Wounded in Action
Corporal Ralph W. Sutton—Killed in Action
Corporal William Tucker—Seriously Wounded in Action
Private First Class Joseph Whitmore—Lightly Wounded in Action
Sergeant Henry Wilson—Lightly Wounded in Action
The subject of criteria for awards was totally neglected in Ranger orientation. The company executive officers performed both administrative and combat duties while on the line. The fact that Rangers could recommend others for awards was never broached. Almost all of the awards in the company were recommended by the 2d’s officers. At no time did battalion, regiment, or division turn down an award that was recommended; however, no utilization was made of the Bronze Star for meritorious service or the Commendation Medal for outstanding service. There were too many Rangers who didn’t receive awards, but should have. BAR men, such as Sergeant Culver Gibson, were the firepower backbone of the unit on Hill 581.
Many times Rangers—such as Sergeant First Class Orrie Tucker, Supply Sergeant; Sergeant First Class Nathan Parks, Mess Sergeant; Sergeant George Jackson, Jr., Personnel Clerk; and Corporal Glen Jenkins, Jr., Motor Corporal/ Mechanic—operated without close supervision. Their successes at keeping the unit supplied, fed, and rolling, regardless of the mode (including moonlighting without being apprehended), were miracles because of the many frequent attachments and moves.
Many Rangers were cited for bravery for their actions on Hill 581. General Ferenbaugh came down to the company area and bestowed the awards personally. The following Rangers were recognized for bravery:
First Lieutenant James C. Queen—Silver Star
Master Sergeant George Rankins—Silver Star
Sergeant Curtis Courts—Silver Star
Corporal Anthony Andrade—Bronze Star with “V” Device
First Lieutenant Albert D. Cliette—Bronze Star with “V” Device
Sergeant Culver V. Gibson—Bronze Star with “V” Device
Corporal Joseph J. Wells—Bronze Star with “V” Device
Wells’ Bronze Star states that he distinguished himself by heroic achievement near Sang-Kwiryang, Korea, on 21 May 1951:
On this date, when the left flank of the 2d Ranger Company was overrun by a numerically superior enemy force, Corporal Wells, light machine gunner in the company, and his assistant were directed by the platoon leader to cover the withdrawal of the 3d Platoon to high ground within the 1st Platoon’s positions. The machine gun had been damaged in a previous firefight and was low on ammunition. In spite of these obstacles Corporal Wells effectively covered the withdrawal of his unit. While in his exposed position, he was subjected to fire from three enemy machine guns, but he remained in position, constantly applying immediate action to his gun to keep it in operation until all ammunition was expended. Corporal Wells then threw hand grenades at the enemy until told to withdraw by the commanding officer. The heroic actions displayed by Corporal Wells reflect great credit on him and the military service.
MORNING REPORT
[25 May 1951] Record of Events
Enemy killed 50. Enemy wounded approximately 90. 1 EM killed. Morale of troops excellent. Company attacked by Chinese troops estimated regiment size approximately 2300 hours 20 May 51. Fight continued until approximately 0545 hours 21 May 51. Estimated enemy killed 60 wounded. 10 EM wounded hill secured. Lt. Queen cited for heroic action in the face of enemy. Morale of troops excellent. Company relieved of Hill 581, 1300 hours 22 May 1951. Departed area 0630 hours by motor march for Honchon area. Arrived Honchon for Hill 246 mission to relieve elements of 7th Marine (Regiment). Mission accomplished approximately 1500 hours. Morale of troops excellent.
Throughout the ensuing years, Queen has harbored some festering thoughts about what sparked him and the Buffalo Rangers in the battle for Hill 581. No doubt, many other participants have had some of the same thoughts. We know that the main thought of each infantryman in battle revolves around his desire to survive and to hope the same for his buddies. He wants to avoid becoming a coward, being injured or killed, except maybe to get the “million dollar wound” that doesn’t show or hamper any normal body functions. When the fight is over, he wants to be justly recognized and rewarded for his efforts. He feels a sense of elation and exhilaration when his unit accomplishes its objective. Queen recalls some of these same thoughts and others that have dwelt on his mind and come to the forefront during the company reunions since the war.