By Troy Watson More from Troy...
I ARRIVED IN KOREA IN LATE JANUARY 1952 ON THE EAST COAST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. WE WERE A FEW MILES NORTH OF THE 38TH PARALLEL. WE GOT OUR GEAR AND BOARDED BIG TRANSPORT TRUCKS. IT WAS VERY COLD. THERE WAS LOTS OF SNOW AND ICE ON THE ROADS. AFTER ABOUT 20 HOURS OF SLOW, CAREFUL DRIVING, WE UNLOADED AT A STAGING AREA.
I WAS PUT INTO EASY COMPANY, 2ND BATTALION, 7TH MARINE REGIMENT OF THE Ist MARINE DIVISION. I INITIALLY BECAME AMMO CARRIER, 3rd MACHINE GUN SQUAD, ATTACHED TO THIRD RIFLE SQUAD OF THE THIRD PLATOON,. MY FIRST ASSIGNMENT WAS TO GO ON OUTPOST IN FRONT OF THE MAIN LINES. A SEASONED VETERAN OF KOREA, SGT OSBORN OF WICHITA FALLS WENT WITH ME. THERE WAS 6/8 FEET OF SNOW ON THE GROUND AND STILL COMING DOWN AND ABOUT 20* BELOW ZERO. WE COULD SEE FOR MILES AND WERE PRETTY COMFORTABLE THAT NO ENEMY COULD GET VERY CLOSE TO US WITHOUT BEING SEEN. IT WAS TRULY A BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE. EARLY THE FIRST MORNING, WHILE I WAS ASLEEP AND OSBORN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ON GUARD, I AWOKE TO A COMMOTION AND LOOKED UP JUST IN TIME TO SEE OSBORNE TAKE HIS RIFLE BUTT, THAT HIS HEAD HAD BEEN LAYING ON, AND BRING IT UP INTO THE FACE OF A POOR KOREAN SOLDIER WHO WAS DESPERATELY TRYING TO SURRENDER. HE FELL DOWN THE HILL ABOUT TEN/FIFTEEN FEET AND JUMPED UP SCREAMING AND HOLDING HIS HANDS IN THE AIR. HE WAS HEAVILY ARMED AND HAD A BURP GUN & GRENADES. HE HAD WAKED UP OSBORN BY SHAKING ON HIS SHOULDER. WE WERE INSTANT HERO’S. ANYONE WHO CAPTURED A KOREAN OR CHINESE SOLDIER WAS A BIG WHEEL. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER, WORD CAME DOWN THAT A WEEK IN JAPAN ON R & R WAS TO BE AWARDED TO ANY MARINE WHO CAPTURED ONE OF THE ENEMY. TOO BAD THE ORDER WASN’T RETROACTIVE. I WAS ALREADY READY TO GET OUT OF THAT MISERABLE COLD COUNTRY.
AFTER ABOUT TWO MONTHS, WE HEADED TOWARD THE WEST COAST OF KOREA. MY MACHINE GUN SQUAD WAS ASSIGNED TO A RIFLE SQUAD AND WE HAD THE JOB OF LOOKING FOR INFILTRATORS AS WE ALTERNATELY WALKED & RODE WEST ACROSS THE COUNTRY. MY FATHER HAD JUST SENT ME A “100 TEXAS BUCKS NOTE”. WE HAD NOT BEEN PAID IN WEEKS AND NO ONE HAD A DIME. WE CAME ACROSS A FEW KOREAN WOMEN WHO WERE WASHING THEIR LAUNDRY IN A SMALL STREAM. THEY WERE DELIGHTED AND AMAZED TO SEE US. WE COULD COMMUNICATE SOMEWHAT. WE WERE ALL FILTHY AND OUR CLOTHES WERE DIRTIER. I ASKED IF THEY WOULD WASH ALL OUR CLOTHES AND TOLD THEM THE ONLY MONEY WE HAD WAS THE TEXAS NOTE. AS SOON AS THEY SAW IT, THEY IMMEDIATELY AGREED TO WASH OUR CLOTHES AND EVEN THREW IN A FEW BEAUTIFUL SILK SCARVES. WE STRIPPED OFF AND BATHED AND ATE WHILE THEY DID THE CLOTHES, TOOK THEM HOME AND IRONED THEM AND BROUGHT THEM BACK. IT WAS A DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE AS THAT WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH THE KOREAN PEOPLE.
LATER ON, WE CAME ACROSS A RED CROSS COFFEE & DONUT WAGON AND WERE TICKLED TO HAVE A CHANCE TO GET SOME FOOD AND COFFEE. THE SOB THAT WAS IN CHARGE SCREWED UP THAT NOTION WHEN HE DEMANDED .50 CENTS FOR THE COFFEE AND FOR EACH DONUT. TALK ABOUT PISSED OFF, I STARTED ROCKING HIS DAMNED WAGON AND THEN THE REST OF THE GUYS STARTED HELPING AND WE ALMOST TURNED IT OVER. I WISH WE HAD. A COUPLE DAYS LATER, WE CAME UPON A SALVATION ARMY WAGON AND ATE ALL THE DONUTS AND DRANK ALL THE COFFEE WE WANTED AND A REQUEST FOR MONEY WAS NEVER FORTHCOMING. CAPT. MAXSON CALLED US INTO HIS TENT AND TOLD US HE HAD HAD A COMPLAINT FROM THE RED CROSS ABOUT A SQUAD OF MARINES WHO ALMOST TURNED OVER A RED CROSS WAGON. WHEN WE EXPLAINED THAT MONEY WAS DEMANDED, HE WANTED TO KNOW WHY WE DIDN’T TURN THE DAMNED WAGON OVER!! ALL THE ABOVE TOOK PLACE IN ABOUT A TWO-WEEK PERIOD AND SOME OF THE PARTICULARS I’VE FORGOTTEN. ONE TIME, WE STOPPED TO GET A DRINK OUT OF THE STREAM AND THEN CONTINUED ON UPSTREAM. ABOUT 50 YARDS UPSTREAM, THERE WAS A DEAD NORTH KOREAN SOLDIER THAT HAD BEEN THERE QUITE AWHILE. WE DIDN’T GET SICK BUT WE WERE ALL AFRAID WE WOULD. ANOTHER TIME I REMEMBER WAS WHEN WE HAD SETTLED INTO A PART OF THE BACK UP KANSAS LINES AND IT STARTED TO RAIN AND FORGOT TO QUIT. THE TRENCHES WANDERED UPHILL AND DOWNHILL. THE WATER STARTED FILLING UP THE TRENCH. I ENDED UP GOING UP TO A BEND IN THE TRENCH, AT ITS HIGHEST POINT AND LAID DOWN AND WENT TO SLEEP, SOAKING WET AND COLD AND MISERABLE. I’M GLAD THE GOOKS DIDN’T DECIDE TO ATTACK DURING THIS TIME, SOMEBODY WOULD’VE HAD TO WAKE ME UP AND I DON’T THINK THEY COULD HAVE.
WE ARRIVED ON THE WEST COAST AND SETTLED INTO A CAMP IN THE KIMPO PENISULA. NATURALLY, THE FIRST THING THAT WAS ASKED WAS FOR VOLUNTEERS TO STAND DUTY AT AN OUTPOST, SO I VOLUNTEERED. THE VERY FIRST NIGHT, I WAS ON DUTY AND SAW SOMEONE LIGHT A MATCH DOWN BELOW ME AND I WONDERED “WHAT THE HECK”? I GOT THE OTHER TWO GUYS UP, ONE WAS PAUL PERDUE AND THE OTHER WAS CHARLES PHILLIPS. WE KEPT A LOOKOUT DOWNHILL AND THEN THE MATCH LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. HE KEPT GETTING CLOSER AND WHEN HE GOT 15-20 FT AWAY, I TOLD HIM TO COME ON UP AND TO KEEP HIS HANDS IN THE AIR – WHICH HE DID. IT WAS A FAIRLY YOUNG KOREAN LAD AND HE ASKED US IF WE WANTED SOME SHEBA-SHEBA GIRLS?? WELL, BEING HOT-BLOODED 18 YEAR OLD MARINES, WE SAID “HELL YEA”, SO HE BROUGHT THREE OF THE PRETTIEST YOUNG KOREAN LADIES I HAVE EVER SEEN UP THE HILL AND FROM THEN ON, THEY STAYED WITH US DURING THE NIGHT. WE PUT THE KOREAN LAD TO WORK KEEPING AN EYE OUT – FOR THE SGT OF THE GUARD. WHEN HE SAW HIM COMING UP THE HILL FROM THE CAMP TO SEE IF WE WERE BEING GOOD GUARDS, HE WOULD TELL US AND WE’D GET RID OF HIM & THE GIRLS TILL THE SGT CAME AND LEFT. DANG, THAT WAS REAL TOUGH DUTY. AFTER ONE WEEK, THEY TOLD US WE WOULD HAVE TO BE RELIEVED. I DID NOT WANT TO GIVE UP THE GREAT DUTY HAVE THE EARLY MORNING EXERCISES, SIT THROUGH THE STUPID WAR TRAINING FILMS AND GO THROUGH THE CRAP THEY WERE HAVING TO GO THROUGH SO I TALKED THEM INTO LEAVING US ON THE OUTPOST BECAUSE WE WERE DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB AND THEY AGREED. THAT WAS GREAT DUTY.
AFTER WE WERE IN CAMP ABOUT 3-4 WEEKS, EASY CO. HAD TO RELIEVE THE KOREAN MARINES WHO WERE ON THE HAN RIVER LINE ON THE RIVER. WE WERE TOLD THAT WE’D BE RIDING ALL THE WAY AND WE COULD BRING ALONG JUST ABOUT WHAT WE WANTED TO. ALL OF US LOADED UP WITH RADIO’S, ETC. AFTER A COUPLE HOURS, THE TRUCKS HADN’T COME AND WE WERE TOLD TO START MARCHING. IT WAS A TWENTY-MILE MARCH. IT WAS SUNSHINY AND NICE WHEN WE STARTED. AFTER A LITTLE WHILE, IT STARTED RAINING THEN SLEETING AND ICING. I WAS CARRYING THE A6 MACHINE GUN AND MY PACK. I THREW AWAY A COUPLE THINGS BUT MOST THREW AWAY EVERYTHING THEY DID NOT HAVE TO HAVE BEFORE IT WAS ALL OVER. RADIO’S WERE STREWN UP AND DOWN THE ROAD. THE MUD GOT 6/8 INCHES DEEP AND IT WAS VERY COLD AND GETTING VERY HARD TO KEEP MARCHING. THE MORE SLEET THAT FELL, THE HEAVIER OUR BACK PACKS BECAME. I ACTUALLY WENT TO SLEEP WHILE WALKING. LATE THAT EVENING, WE FINALLY MADE IT AND EACH OF US, ONE AT A TIME, WAS STARTING DOWN THE SIDE OF THE EMBANKMENT. JUST AS I STARTED DOWN THE HILL, I LOST MY FOOTING, FELL DOWN THE HILL PARTWAY AND SEVERELY SPRAINED MY ANKLE & RIGHT KNEE. A COUPLE OLDER KOREAN MEN OF THE KOREAN SERVICE CORPS (KSC) HAD TO CARRY ME UP THE HILL AND MY BOOT HAD TO BE CUT AWAY. I SPENT A COUPLE DAYS IN THE FIELD HOSPITAL. I WISH TO HELL I’D SPRAINED IT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MARCH.
WE WENT ON THE FRONT LINES, EAST & WEST OF THE ROAD TO PANMUNJON IN EARLY MAY. AFTER A FEW DAYS, THE THIRD PLATOON & THIRD SECTION OF MACHINE GUNS WENT OUT INTO THE ‘NO FIRE’ ZONE ON THE ROAD TO PANMUNJOM AND THE THIRD SQUAD OF RIFLEMEN AND THIRD SQUAD OF MACHINE GUNS WERE DETAILED TO GO OUT TO A DINKY LITTLE HILL CALLED “OUTPOST WHITE AND TO DIG IN.
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF MAY 13, 1952, WE HEARD VOICES THAT SPOKE IN A LANGUAGE I’D NEVER HEARD AND THEY WERE COMING FROM AN AREA DIRECTLY BELOW US ABOUT FORTY FEET, MY MOUTH DRIED COMPLETELY UP IN A MATTER OF SECONDS AND FEAR LIKE I DIDN’T KNOW COULD EXIST MOUNTED IN MY MIND. MY SQUAD LEADER WHISPERED, “GET READY” AND I PUT MY A6 MACHINE GUN ON FULL LOAD WITH ONE QUICK PULL. HE THREW AN ILLUMINATION GRENADE HIGH IN THE AIR AND WHEN IT EXPLODED, WE COULD SEE THEM IN A BUNCH STANDING THERE. I PULLED THE TRIGGER ON THE GUN AND HELD STEADY UNTIL THEY WERE ALL DOWN. WE UNDERWENT FIRE AND ATTACK FROM CHINESE COMING FROM IN FRONT, ON THE SIDES AND FROM BEHIND US. MY SQUAD LEADER WAS CORPORAL RICHARD SCHUCKMAN OF ILLINOIS AND AMMO CARRIER WAS HARRY LEVITT. AFTER WE SURVIVED THE FIRST ASSAULT, CPL SCHUCKMAN DECIDED THAT WE HAD TO MOVE THE GUN SO WE RAN AND CARRIED THE GUN AND A BOX OF AMMUNITION IN A WIDE OPEN AREA FOR ABOUT FIFTY FEET, WE REACHED THE COMMAND BUNKER WHERE TWO MORE MARINES (AND ONE BADLY WOUNDED AND ONE DEAD) WERE HOLDING FIRM. THE CHINESE HAD ALREADY ATTACKED AND OVERRAN THEIR COMMAND BUNKER BEFORE WE ARRIVED AND COMMUNICATIONS HAD BEEN KNOCKED OUT. A SATCHEL CHARGE HAD BEEN THROWN INTO THE BUNKER. SGT HUEY P. NELSON WAS 3RD SQUAD LEADER. THEY CAME AGAIN MOSTLY ATTACKING THE AREA WE HAD DEPARTED FROM. I USED UP ALL BUT A FEW OF THE 500 ROUNDS WE HAD BROUGHT SO WE HAD TO GO BACK TO OUR ORIGINAL POSITION, UNDER INTENSE FIRE, WE HAULED BUTT BACK TO IT AND MY SQUAD LEADER WAS SHOT AND KILLED AS HE & I JUMPED INTO OUR 24” DEEP FOXHOLE. I WAS PRETTY SURE HE WAS ALREADY DEAD BUT NOT BEING 100% SURE, AND KNOWING OF SEVERAL MORE WOUNDED AND NEEDING AID DESPERATELY (WE DID NOT HAVE A CORPSMAN WITH US), I WENT FOR MEDICAL HELP. I RAN TILL I COULD NOT RUN ANYMORE THEN I WALKED THE LAST FOUR-FIVE HUNDRED YARDS TO OUR FRONT LINES AND DEMANDED IMMEDIATE MEDICAL HELP AND WENT BACK WITH THEM. IN OUR LITTLE FOXHOLE, I FOUND TWO GOOK UNEXPLODED HAND GRENADES. ONE WAS CONCUSSION AND THE OTHER A FRAGMENTATION GRENADE. I GUESS GOD TURNED OFF THE FIRING MECHANISM. THERE WAS NO BODIES OF CHINESE STILL AROUND. I DID FIND A BURP GUN AND A WALLET IN ONE OF THE AREAS I HAD BEEN FIRING. I WAS PROUD OF THE MEMORABILIA UNTIL I OPENED THE WALLET AND SAW THE PICTURE OF A YOUNG CHINESE SOLDIER AND HIS FAMILY OF A WIFE AND TWO KIDS. MY WAR AGAINST THE TERRIBLE CHINESE ON A PERSONAL LEVEL WAS OVER. I STILL HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT HIM AND THE OTHER CHINESE SOLDIERS I PROBABLY KILLED AND MY FELLOW MARINES THAT WE LOST THAT NIGHT- - AND IT HURTS.
ON THE EVE OF JULY 4TH, THE 3RD PLATOON (3 RIFLE SQUADS AND 3 MACHINE GUN SQUADS) OF US WENT ON A NIGHT MISSION TO ATTACK A CHINESE HELD OUTPOST ABOUT A MILE IN FRONT OF OUR LINES. I HAD BEEN ON MANY NIGHT RECON & COMBAT PATROLS BEFORE THAT AND WE WERE ABLE TO KEEP THE NOISE DOWN BUT WITH A PLATOON OF MARINES, IT WAS A NIGHTMARE. THE CHINKS PROBABLY HEARD US BEFORE WE HAD GOTTEN FIFTY YARDS IN FRONT OF THE LINES AND THEY WERE WAITING FOR US. WE STARTED UP THE HILL AROUND MIDNIGHT AND RAN INTO INCOMING MORTARS, MACHINE GUN FIRE AND HAND GRENADES LONG BEFORE WE GOT ANYWHERE NEAR THE TOP OF THE HILL. WE WERE PINNED DOWN FOR QUITE AWHILE AND A YOUNG MARINE LAID RIGHT NEXT TO ME, ABOUT FOUR/SIX FEET AWAY, ON TOP OF THE GROUND TRYING TO KEEP AWAY FROM THE FLYING SHRAPNEL OR A DIRECT HIT FROM THE MORTARS. I HEARD A LOUD EXPLOSION AND HEARD HIM YELL OUT AND LOOKED OVER AT HIM AND THE BOTTOM HALF OF HIS BODY WAS GONE. I GOT TO HIM IMMEDIATELY AND HE ASKED IF HE WAS HIT BAD AND I TOLD HIM HE’D BE OK AND THEN HE DIED. HIS NAME WAS CHARLES FLORA. HE SEEMED TO ME TO BE VERY YOUNG, BUT WAS PROBABLY OLDER THAN ME. IF YOU WERE NEW ON THE LINES, YOU WERE YOUNG. HE WAS A SNIPER FOR US AND A VERY GOOD SHOT BUT HAD ONLY BEEN ON THE FRONT LINES WITH US FOR A COUPLE WEEKS. MY GUN LAID DOWN COVERING FIRE THEN US & THIRD SQUAD HEADED TO THE CHINESE TRENCHES. THE CHINESE HAD STRUNG CONCERTINA WIRE ABOUT TEN/FIFTEEN YARDS FROM THE TOP AND I BECAME ENTANGLED AND FELL DOWN. I WAS TRYING TO GET LOOSE WHEN A HAND GRENADE ROLLED WITHIN A COUPLE FEET FROM MY HEAD. I WAS KNOCKED SEVERAL FFET AND UNCONCIOUS FROM ITS CONCUSSION. THE NEXT THING I WAS AWARE OF, IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF DAYLIGHT AND CORPORAL CHARLES PHILLIPS (OF CARLSBAD, NM) WAS GETTING ME UNTANGLED FROM THE WIRE AND THEN HOISTED ME ONTO MY FEET AND LITERALLY CARRIED ME OFF THE MOUNTAIN. I FOUND OUT LATER THAT AFTER THE RAID WAS OVER AND WHEN THEY ALL RE-ASSEMBLED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HILL THEY REALIZED THAT I WAS MISSING AND PHILLIPS SAID HE WAS GOING BACK TO GET ME. THE LT. TOLD HIM IT WOULD BE SUICIDE FOR HIM TO GO BACK UP THAT HILL BECAUSE I WAS EITHER DEAD OR CAPTURED. PHILLIPS TOLD HIM HE WASN’T GOING TO LEAVE CORPORAL WATSON. WITHOUT HIM AND HIS INCREDIBLE COURAGE, I WOULD HAVE EITHER BEEN DEAD (PROBABLY) OR A POW FOR THE REST OF THE WAR. WHEN I TRIED SEVERAL TIMES TO THANK HIM, HE TOLD ME TO STUFF IT, BECAUSE HAD THE SITUATION BEEN REVERSED, I WOULD HAVE COME AND GOT HIM. HE WAS RIGHT. I WOULD NEVER IN A THOUSAND YEARS HAVE LEFT HIM. HE LATER WAS KILLED DEFENDING OUTPOST RENO, REPORTS CAME BACK THAT HE HAD USED UP ALL HIS AMMO AND HAD BURNT OUT HIS MACHINE GUN AND WAS SHOOTING GOOKS WITH HIS PISTOL WHEN HE WAS KILLED. TRULY, A BRAVER MARINE HAS NEVER LIVED. EARLIER, RIGHT AFTER WE GOT TO THE FRONT LINES, WHILE WE WERE DIGGING A BUNKER FOR OUR GUN, A SNIPER STARTING SHOOTING AT US AND EVERY FEW MINUTES, A ROUND WOULD FLY BY US OR LAND VERY CLOSE. EACH TIME, ALL OF US WOULD HIT THE DECK BUT NOT CHARLES, HE STOOD UP THERE AND WAVED HIS ENTRENCHING SHOVEL AND HOLLERED AT THE SOB CALLING HIM EVERY NAME IN THE BOOK.
I WAS ON ANOTHER OUTPOST ONLY A FEW HUNDRED YARDS FROM PANMUNJOM DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST. IT WAS A VERY VOLATILE OUTPOST. ATTACKS AND MORTARS COULD COME AT ANY TIME. THE SITUATION WAS ALWAYS VERY TENSE. AT NIGHT, DURING OUR TWO HOURS OFF, WE WOULD SLEEP IN A BUNKER JUST BEHIND THE LINE AND WE WERE EXPOSED FROM THE REAR. I JUST KNEW THAT SOME NIGHT, THE CHINESE WERE GOING TO WISE UP AND ATTACK FROM THE REAR SO I WAS ALWAYS READY. ONE TIME, WHEN IT WAS MY TIME TO GO ON WATCH, I WAS BEING WOKE UP BY A MARINE SHAKING MY BOOT AND I HAD MY CARBINE IN MY HANDS AIMED RIGHT AT HIM WHEN I GAINED CONSCIOUSNESS. THE WEAPON WAS “OFF SAFETY” AND FULLY LOADED. IT SCARED ME TO DEATH THINKING WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED. I NEVER TOLD HIM HOW CLOSE HE CAME TO DYING.
I WAS A VERY FRIENDLY PERSON WHEN I GOT TO KOREA AND MADE A LOT OF FRIENDS. AFTER I LOST A FEW OF THEM, I DID NOT MAKE ANY MORE FRIENDS. I DID NOT WANT ANY MORE. THE ONES I LOST WILL FOREVERMORE BE 19 OR TWENTY OR TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD. I GUESS WE STOPPED NORTH KOREA FROM TAKING OVER SOUTH KOREA. WE DIDN’T WIN THE MISERABLE WAR, BUT WE DIDN’T LOSE IT EITHER.
TROY WATSON
E 2 7, 1ST MAR DIV
KOREA, 1952