part0024

I was with B-1-7, 1st Mar Div, from November, 1952 till November, 1953. Like all other marines and Navy corpsmen of that time and place, we spent a lot of time just trying to stay alive. I went to Korea with the 26th replacement draft. I was assigned to the 3rd platoon of Baker Company. Later I was transferred to the 60-mm. mortar section, but most of my time was with the third platoon. The 3rd platoon, reinforced, went on Carson Outpost sometime about April 1st, 1953. A horrible place. We took incoming seemingly all the time. We could not move during the day without being sniped at by the Chinese. Toilet facilities (even the field type) were non-existent. The Chinese were around us at night all the time—making small probes, all kinds of noise. It seemed they wanted us to know they were there. We knew they were going to attack us big time, but we did not know when. The CO of Carson was 1st Lt. George Yates, a real gung-ho guy. He should have been executive officer of B Co., but took outpost duty instead. The Chinese came in force at 0330 on April 9th. Estimates were 300-350 people hit us. Fighting went on in the trenches. Grenades were flying as all hell broke loose. We killed a large number of them before they withdrew. They took some of the dead, but several were left in the trenches. After they withdrew they plastered us with incoming mortar and artillery that seemed to last for hours. We lost 14 men (including Lt. Yates). Four were taken prisoner, and many of us were wounded. (I got my second Purple Heart here.) Other marine units held Carson, but when the 1st Mar Div went into reserve, the Turkish Brigade relieved us. They lost it. The outpost was in Chinese hands when the war ended at 1000, 27 July 1953. Chief, indications are that you were a Naval corpsman. My hat is off to you and all the corpsmen who have served so well with the marines in all wars. Good luck with your book. We all need to make everyone aware of the “Forgotten War.” The best of the Holidays.

…First a word about the time of the 27 July ’53 armistice. In a sense both of us are right. The signing was at 10:00 A.M. Korean time; however, the actual truce did not go into effect until 10:00 P.M. The war went on for this 12-hour period. What a day that was! Everyone (including the officers and NCOs) was very skeptical about this being real. Business went on as usual along the MLR. The planes still flew, artillery still fired, and everyone still kept a low profile in the trenches and bunkers. A 100% watch stayed in effect. Our mortar group had several fire missions that afternoon and on up until about 9:30 P.M. Finally, at 10:00 P.M. flares were fired all along the line by both sides. For the first time in Korea things were quiet. A somewhat eerie silence prevailed. No one slept that night. Everyone was on full alert. At dawn we could see the Chinese crawling out of their trenches and bunkers by the hundreds. We knew from the start that we were out-numbered, but we did not know by how much until then. We had four days in which all the fortifications were destroyed, until we pulled back to create the neutral zone that is still there today. Incidentally, the last marine to die in combat, in Korea, was from B-1-7, a PFC named Smith. He stepped on a mine at about 9:45 P.M. while on patrol, and died the following day. I did not know him. Duty in Korea was not as bad after the truce. How great it was to have warm and dry shelter and three meals a day. I suppose the best feeling was that now maybe we’d get back home in one piece. Being a front-line Mud Marine was quite an experience. It’s hard to describe just the conditions we lived under. We ran patrols every night, most ending in fire fights. I was involved in several encounters out in No-Man’s-Land. We always “won” these fights. By “won” I mean we killed more of them than they killed of us. I’ll never forget the first dead Chinese I saw. They seemed so small and wore tennis-type shoes. Their clothing was the quilted-type material. They wore no helmets. The sound of their burp guns up close is something that stays in your memory forever. No other sound like that in the world. Not wanting to brag or sound gung-ho, but the marines in Korea were so much better equipped and trained. The Chinese advantage was in sheer numbers. We always had to be careful of incoming mortar and artillery. We lost people all the time (both dead and wounded). This was the static, trench line, outpost phase of the war, but lots of people were still dying and continued to do so fighting up to the end. It’s hard to be philosophical about such an experience as Korea, but I believe in a strange sort of way it was beneficial to me. I quickly learned about life and death. I learned what is important and what is not in life. My experience over there serves as a barometer for events that helped shape my life in later years. I cannot but wonder why I was not one of the 54,000 men who lost their life over there, but in answer to my prayer and by the grace of God, I survived.