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By Root 1501 0

As we passed through the village we looked for the North Korean civilians we had met the day before. We found the elderly man with his hands tied behind his back and a wire wrapped around his neck. Both of the women had their throats cut, and the two boys were sitting by the mother—crying. We looked for the little girl, but couldn’t find her. As we came to the end of the village we saw her standing by a tree. However, as we approached her, we noticed her feet were about six inches off the ground. Her hands were tied behind her back, leaves had been shoved in her mouth, and her beautiful coal black hair reached about her head as it wrapped around a limb.

After we cut her down, we placed all the bodies between the two little shacks they lived in and covered their bodies with our ponchos. We took the two little boys with us and turned them over to the chaplain, who placed them in an orphanage. Apparently some North Korean troops came into the village during the night, and these innocent people would not tell them of our location. This is how they treated their own people.

The following day we moved out again—this time to the 38th parallel. As we walked along on a curvy mountain road, one of the guys in front yelled out that something was moving in the bushes. With our rifles ready, one of the guys pulled back a bush noticing a hole in the side of the mountain. Crawling in, he found fourteen kids living there. We asked the kids were they got the American trenching shovels they used to dig the hole. They informed us that three American soldiers had been ambushed and killed by North Korean troops. They told us that they had buried the three Americans, and had hidden their rifles and ammo. The kids led us to their graves and helped us dig up the bodies. Along with the bodies of the three GI’s, we sent the kids back to the rear.

Finally, we made our way to the Chosin Reservoir where the temperature was dipping to thirty-five to forty below zero. We thought we were going to be home by Christmas, but that all changed after Thanksgiving—the Chinese entered the war.

After ten days of fighting at the Chosin, of the 3,200 men of the 31st Infantry Regiment only 385 came back alive. The rest had either been killed, frozen to death, captured, or were missing. We returned south of the 38th parallel.

* * * * * *

Around the end of August, 1951, my lieutenant told me I was going home. I felt both excitement and sadness. I wanted to go home and see my family, but at the same time I was saying bye to men that I had lived with, and fought with, for the last two years.

Arriving in Japan, I was able to take a hot shower, get clean clothes, and enjoyed a good meal, and then I boarded a ship headed for California. From there I took a troop train to New York where I grabbed a cab from the train station to home.

As I opened the front door, I could smell the freshly brewed coffee; boy did it smell good.

On August 4, 1952, I was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army

~~Nine~~

Richard “Joe” Johannes

17th Infantry Regiment

7th Infantry Division

U.S. Army

I dropped out of high school during my sophomore year. I was still living at home, and unable to find a job that paid anything, my dad began to get upset with me. So, I decided to join the Air Force. However, without a high school diploma, they wouldn’t take me. This left me with only one choice—the U.S. Army. On April 10, 1951, at the age of seventeen, I enlisted in the Army. Due to my age my parents had to sign for me, which my father was all too happy to do.

Two days later, I left Denver, Colorado, via train, headed for Fort Ord, California. As I recall there were four of us and the trip took five days. We had Pullman berths, but we were issued army meal tickets for our food. With the prices being what they were, we ate omelets three meals a day.

When I enlisted, I was so thin I could have hidden behind a telephone wire—seriously. I arrived at Fort Ord weighing in at 118 pounds. I have to say, at the beginning of basic training I didn’t know “come here” from “sic ‘em.” When