Charles Tidwell

I was an 18 1/2 year old Marine, just six months out of recruit training, when I sailed aboard the U. S. Naval Service troop transport General W. F. Hase from San Diego on February 21, 1953. There were approximately 3000 Marines aboard this ship. Needless to say, the quarters were very cramped, as our bunks were stacked six high, one on top of the other, with approximately two feet between each bunk. The food was also not the greatest due to the number of troops aboard. I believe in the twenty-one days I was aboard this ship I had two fresh water showers. The rest of the time the body odor was pretty strong.

We arrived at the port of Inchon, Korea on the 11th of March 1953. March in Korea is still very cold. We were forced to crowd on the decks from approximately 0700 until around midnight that night, when we were finally able to get aboard a landing craft to take us from the ship to shore. The tides at Inchon are very treacherous and can rise and fall up to thirty feet. The landing crafts can only negotiate the channel during the high tides.

We were trucked to the Marine Corps supply base located between Inchon and Seoul (Ascom City), where we were able to get a few hours sleep and some chow prior to boarding a troop train for transport up to the 1st Marine Division Headquarters at Munsan-ni.

We finally arrived at the railhead at Munsan-ni, where we told which units we had been assigned. I was assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, which is an infantry unit. We were loaded aboard trucks to be transported to our different units. The trip was very dusty, as the roads in Korea in 1953, were not paved. We finally arrived at the Easy Company Command Post (located at Camp Rose) about dusk on a very chilly evening.

My company had just returned from the Main Line of Resistance (MLR) after having been there for ninety days. The company had been assigned to a sector of the MLR, near Panmunjon (where the peace talks were taking place) on Hill 229 (heighth of the hill in meters.)

I was assigned to the 2nd Squad of the 2nd Platoon. During the next five days all the new 30th Draft members were put through advanced training on how patrols are run, test firing our weapons and what we could expect once we were back on the MLR. Once this training was over, we settled into the every day routine of classes, close order drill, inspections. Once or twice, we went up to the Kansas Line, our alternate MLR, in case we were overrun and had to fall back, we repaired trench lines and bunkers.

During this period, I could constantly hear the artillery and mortar rounds exploding just to the north of us. This was very unsettling to a rookie, who had only been in the country for less than two weeks and had not had his "baptism of fire."

In the early morning hours of March 26th, the company was rousted out of our nice, warm sleeping bags and told to assemble on the company street with all our gear (weapons, cartridge belts, packs, flak jackets and helmets.) This meant only one thing, we were moving back up on the front line. Why, at this moment, no one knew!!

The company was loaded aboard trucks and we started north. The closer we got to the MLR, the louder the explosions were. We finally arrived at our destination behind the MLR and unloaded from the trucks. I had no idea where we were, but some of the veterans in the company obviously knew and I did not like the conversation that was taking place amongst the men.

We found an area just behind the MLR, where we could lie down and try to get some sleep. At daylight, we were fed and then called together for a briefing by the Company Commander (Captain Glen Rodney.) This was when I found out that my platoon had been chosen to go out to Outpost Reno (this outpost was farther from MLR than any other) and try to retake it from the Chinese forces now occupying the hill. At approximately 1600 the afternoon of the 26th, we left the MLR and started walking toward Reno Block. It was very quiet in the platoon as we continue toward the outpost, not knowing what to expect. We were about half way to the outpost, when the radio (PRC-10) crackled. We were told to return to the MLR. Without saying, the approximately fifty men in the platoon were very happy that we live to see another day. We later learned that a whole platoon of Marines from the 5th Marines, who were occupying the outpost at the time it was overrun, had either been killed or captured by the Chinese.

Later that night, we were loaded back aboard trucks and transported a short distance to the east, where we tried to settle down to get some sleep. That was not to be, as we had been ordered out to retake Outpost Vegas. The company passed through the MLR, then through the wire and started walking toward the outpost. We arrived at the base of the outpost and prepared to attack. The 1st Platoon had been designated the assault platoon, followed by the 2nd Platoon. Approximately half way up the hill, we started taking many casualties, but we were finally able to reach what was left of the trench lines and started to dig in. We had relieved what was left of Easy and Fox Companies of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. Around dawn, I was digging in an area of trench line, throwing the dirt over the forward slope instead of the reverse slope (as we had been taught in all our training), when a Chinese FO spotted my dirt flying. Anyway, a mortar or artillery round exploded on top of the trench line, directly above my head, caving the trench on top of me. I was buried, except for my butt sticking up in the air, until someone finally pulled me out. A little shaken, but still in one piece.

On April 9th, we were called out of reserves to retake another outpost. This time it was Outpost Carson. The action this time was not as fierce as the first time on Vegas, but we still took quite a few casualties. We then returned to our camp again on the 11th.

Later that month, we came out of Division Reserve and were assigned to a sector of the MLR, just to the left of Outpost Carson. We had Ungok (Chinese outpost) directly to our front Our position overlooked the main road from Seoul to Pyongyang (North Korean capital.) In this position, we were required to stay awake at night, on watch, or run patrols every third night in front of our position. We slept during the day, ate at the Company mess and walked to the shower unit. This was our routine, except for cleaning our weapons and gear.

In June, the First Marine Division was ordered into Corps Reserve. The whole division was relieved by elements of the 25th Infantry Division and the Turkish Brigade. During this time, we were able to eat decent chow (not a steady diet of C-Rations), take hot showers every day and sleep on a comfortable cot every night. We also had a movie every night and an occasional USO Show with real live women.

During this period, the monsoon rains started and it would rain several days at time without letting up. We were constantly out in the rain running training exercises. We finally got a break, when we did a MARLEX (Marine Landing Exercise) off the coast of South Korea. We went aboard ship and sailed south to the tip of Korea, where we did a mock landing with the Korean Marines. Definitely broke the monotony of every day camp life.

In early July, the Division returned to our sector on the Western Front. The company's sector was on Hill 111, just to the left of The Hook, occupied by the Commonwealth Division. The company then went on Outpost Boulder City, Outpost Berlin and Outpost East Berlin, where some of the heaviest fighting took place with many Marines killed or wounded. Finally, on July 27th, the cease fire went into effect at 2200. THE WAR WAS OVER!!!

For the next month, the company filled in our old trench lines and destroyed our bunkers, which had been the home of the First Marine Division since the division had moved to the Western Front. The division had to move back approximately 2500 meters. The Chinese had to do the same thing and this vacated land now became the Demilitarized Zone, which still exists to this date. My company occupied a hill that overlooked Liberty Bridge, which crossed the Imjin River.

During the following weeks, we worked very hard making our camp more livable. We built wooden frames and decks for our tents. We also worked very hard digging new trench lines, fighting positions and bunkers on our new MLR. This work took the rest of the summer and most of the fall. When we were not doing this, we ran training exercises, did close order drill and stood inspections.

If you have ever heard about the winters in Korea, everything is true. The winters are brutal with the winds coming down the peninsula from Manchuria and China and the temperatures dipped well below zero. We had an occasional snowstorm, which just added insult to injury.