Voices from the Korean War - Douglas Rice [139]
As I sat there alone in the dark, shivering from the cold and shaking from fear, my mind began to race. With no one to talk to, I looked to the heavens. Suddenly, it didn’t seem to be as dark. I had no religious training, but I remember mother telling me the Bible was a sacred book. And there was a God who would look after us. So, I began to talk to Him; telling Him how I felt. When I finished I was no longer cold, and had become calm.
Higgins had joined me for the rest of the night, when just before midnight the night came alive with the clatter of machine gun fire from K Company. Even though it didn’t last long, it definitely kept us on our toes. The next morning we found out that the Chinese had sent out a patrol to see if we were alert; it cost them several men.
That same morning we found another shell hole further up the hill, which was a better place to set up our machine gun. It was hard rock and the shell didn’t penetrate very deep, so we had to dig. We ended up with a hole big enough for two guys to squeeze into, and we stacked rocks along the sides. Then we covered the top with branches and dirt. It wouldn’t stop a mortar shell, but at least our position was concealed. Swede and Chyzy set up in a bunker about thirty feet to our left. Carl and “Chief” (William Whistler) were down the hill a little and to our left.
To this day, I still remember what Swede told me on that day as I set up my machine gun.
He said, “Don’t worry; I’ll be right here if you need me.”
Our right side was open, and K Company was above us—on the other side of the hill. We had heard that the Chinese had caught Charlie Company while many of them were asleep in their bags. Carl and I didn’t want this happening to us, so we devised a way to communicate with each other. We strung communication wire between our positions, and tied empty C-ration cans to each end. To get each others attention, we pulled on the wire; then to communicate we made short jerks on the wire.
A few days later, we finally got some protection on our right when men from K Company put up some barbed wire. They also put in some trip flares, which we were unaware of.
Having been here for several days, we were taking casualties every day. One afternoon we received a lot of mortar fire, and then it finally stopped. So, I decided to take a break and walk to the backside of the hill. I came upon a trench that I had taken shelter in on the first day we arrived. As I looked down, there were two almost decapitated GI’s—it was a terrible sight. They were two medics who had apparently laid down to rest and had put their stretchers over the top to shield themselves from the sun. The trench had taken a direct hit from a mortar shell.
This one particular night started like all the rest, one hour on and one off with heavy mortar bombardment. Then shortly before midnight, as I was looking forward to my hour rest, the shelling stopped. Suddenly, the hillside came to life with what sounded like a thousand pair of feet charging up the hill. Quickly, I jerked my C-ration can to warn Carl; he too, was warning me. Then came those blood curdling screams, which sent cold chills up my spine. I pulled back the bolt on my gun, and squeezed the trigger.
I was very thankful for the barbed wire and trip flares that K Company had placed on my right. The flares lit up the area, catching eight-or-ten Chinese in its light. I watched as the red tracer bullets, from my gun, caused them to fall out of sight. As I fired in the direction of the screaming, I soon went through the first can of ammo. As Higgins was putting the second ammo box on the gun, he said, “You are shooting to fast!” And I was. I had just recently learned that Higgins was only fifteen. How he was able to enlist was beyond me.
After he finished putting the cover back down, I pulled back the bolt to resume firing; I pulled the trigger and it only fired one round. Panic began to race through me as I pulled back the bolt and it only fired one shot again. The only