Voices from the Korean War - Douglas Rice [130]
We took our first objective, along with capturing twenty-two enemy soldiers. We were to send two rifle squads down into the valley, and come in around the back of the enemy, thereby cutting of their escape route.
My squad was hit by mortar fire. I was behind our point man, with the rest of the men following. The mortar shells hit between me and the number three man—PFC Wayne Holland. Out of the ten men in our squad, seven were wounded and PFC Holland was killed in action. I was one of the wounded.
Before returning to my unit, during the first week of January, 1952, I had been to a M.A.S.H. unit, the 121st Evac Hospital, the USS Consolation, and the 279th Army General Hospital, which was located in Osaka, Japan. During this time I underwent three surgeries to remove all the pieces of metal from my body.
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I was relieved from active duty on October 8, 1952.
The U.S. Army was one of the greatest teachers I ever had in my life. When I bleed—my blood is green.
~~Forty-Two~~
Rexford Glass
7th Cavalry Regiment
1st Cavalry Division
U.S. Army
On the 19th of June 1951, I arrived at Inchon, South Korea. From there I went to the 15th Replacement Company where I was assigned to Company D, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. When I arrived at D Company, on the twenty-first, they were located on the Imjin River.
From the 27th to the 29th of June we were on the first line position at Uijongbu, South Korea. On the thirtieth we moved to the second line position on Line Utah, where we remained until the 14th of July. Then on the fourteenth we moved to Line Kansas, which was in the Iron Triangle. The following day we moved into division reserve.
General Palmer rotated back to the States on the 17th of July and Brigadier General Thomas L. Harrold assumed command of the 1st Cavalry.
Four inches of rain fell on July 20, causing severe flooding and some units were cut off by the high water. Men from D Company ate corn and potatoes from the fields of a nearby farm. And we used the water from the flooded river until supplies could reach us. Our unit was able to return to action six days later.
The Division held a ceremony on July 29 to unveil a granite monument that marked the point where the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel to start the war. It also marked the spot where the 1st Cavalry had crossed the line—for the third time—going into North Korea in May of 1951.
The 7th Cavalry Regiment replaced the 24th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division, on the August 1st, completing the division’s return to action.
During the month of September we fought on Hills 313 and 418
Operation Commando started on October 3rd on Hills 230, 250, 287, 313, 346, and 418. These were west of Chorwon, North Korea. The 7th Cavalry’s 1st BN gained a foothold on Hill 287 on the sixth, and on the seventh we cleared out the entire enemy. On the fifteenth the losses on Hills 199, 200, and 346—Old Baldy—were so heavy in the 1st BN that a third of all rear echelon personnel was put on the front line.
The 1st Cavalry Division received word on the 20th of November that they would be leaving Korea—we were headed for Japan. On December 18th, the 7th Cavalry Regiment left Inchon arriving on the island of Hokkaido, Japan later that month.
I remember getting a pass to go into town on New Years Day—it was twenty-two degrees below zero.
~~Forty-Three~~
Raymond Reilley
7th Cavalry Regiment
1st Cavalry Division
U.S. Army
I come from the small town of Byrnesville, Pennsylvania, which consisted of thirty homes. Due to the underground coal mine fire in Centralia, the town is now gone.
I was inducted into the U.S. Army on January 3, 1951. After arriving at Fort Dix, New Jersey my first order of business was a little white lie. I told them that I was raised by my grandparents, so I received a three day pass to attend my grandfather