Voices from the Korean War - Douglas Rice [17]
I immediately went down to the aid station to look for his body. When I found him, I just sat down and cried. He was my foxhole buddy from the first day I transferred from the 37th FA. For six months we had been through hell together, now we would never get to go on that deer hunting trip we had always talked about.
We lost half of our company; either wounded or killed. Three platoon sergeants were killed, among them was ours; he was a swell guy. Two lieutenants were killed, and one wounded.
I returned to my foxhole and took the letter G.W. wrote my mother out of his pack. I also took the letter he wrote to his mother and sent it with the next outgoing mail. Then I took the rest of his belongings to the supply sergeant so they could be shipped home.
I found the body of my drill sergeant that I had during my basic training at Fort Knox. I never knew he was in Fox Company, but I wish I had—I sure would have liked to thank him for all he taught me. That night, while alone in my foxhole—I cried again. Every year on a special day, I remember G.W. by standing up and saluting him. Then I thank him for being my buddy.
On the sixteenth they began cleaning up the frozen, dead bodies. The local civilians were paid to bury them. It was a sad sight seeing all those bodies lying all along the perimeter; it was said they numbered in the thousands. The following day a convoy started coming in and we were able to get new clothes. I also received a new BAR, which I had to disassemble and clean the grease out of.
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On March 1, 1951, Baker and Charlie Companies were to lead an attack with artillery support. An L-5 spotter plane flew overhead to call in air support, if we ran into trouble. As two tanks and two twin-40’s advanced along the road, their color panels got screwed up and the wrong panels were placed on the tanks; the jets came within a hair of firing on them, but pulled up just at the right moment.
Our objective was to take a hill where the Chinese had already dug in. As Charlie Company came under heavy fire, both companies withdrew. So, the L-5 called in some jets, which strafed the hillside, and dropped some napalm. Then the artillery was called in and they fired for an hour.
Later that afternoon, with few casualties, the hill was secured. We were told to set up a perimeter and be ready for a counterattack. Baker Company began receiving artillery fire on their position during the early hours of March 2nd. When the shelling stopped, the blowing of bugles and whistles, along with the screaming began, which was accompanied with small arms fire. Then Charlie Company came under fire; which lasted until daybreak. Both companies held their ground with very few casualties; Baker Company had six and Charlie Company had nine. There were enemy bodies lying all over the place.
After the fighting had stopped we began searching the bodies of the enemy, some of which had property belonging to GI’s. Items such as wallets, watches, and rings—you name it, they had it. Some even had on GI clothes. Men were so outraged at the sight of the enemy wearing rings that belonged to GI’s. They had cut off their fingers to retrieve the rings. Needless to say, Military Code 20-4 had gone out the window.
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War in Korea was going from one mountain to another. Along with the French, the 2nd Infantry Division moved in the Marines position on this one particular hill. The 2nd placed men on both sides of a road, with the tanks and twin-40’s on the road. On the 4th of April, all hell broke loose in the valley. Artillery shells started raining down on the mountain to our front, as the 2nd and the French began their attack through the mountains. Soon, the