"There are not enough Chinamen in the world to stop a fully armed Marine regiment from going where ever they want to go" (Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, military-quotes.com/chesty-puller). The men of Fox Company 2nd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment 1st Marine Division claimed their place in history 1950 during the Korean War. For their heroic actions that day on a small hill overlooking a narrow road many lives were saved. They have been immortalized in the stories that are passed down from one generation of Marine to the other. This is their story.
The Korean War began when the North Koreans invaded South Korea across the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950. The North Korean forces fought their way to Pusan at the southern edge of the Korean peninsula. With the North Koreans controlling most of the peninsula, General Douglas MacArthur landed an amphibious assault at Inchon on September 15, 1950 and wrested control of South Korea from North Korean forces. After MacArthur’s forces marched to the northern border of Korea, China entered the war. After a major Chinese attack and a major American counter attack, the front of the war had a new stage, the Chosin Reservoir (Henretta, Edwards & Self 768).
The Chosin Reservoir was a manmade lake where American forces set up defensive positions waiting for the Chinese. The Americans occupied three main villages around the reservoir: Yudam-ni to the west, Hagaru-ri to the south and Hudong- ni to the east. Late in the evening November 27th the Chinese launched surprise attacks from the west and north that successfully cut off the Americans at the Chosin reservoir from their UN allies further south. By November 28 Chinese forces had completely surrounded the Americans. To gain control of the road that lin...
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... United States. They are still honored and toasted at every Mess Night and Marine Corps Ball along with all of their fallen comrades who came before and will come after. These men are revered as gods and the battle fields where they fought and died are sacred grounds in the eyes of Marines. All the men who were at the Chosen Reservoir remember the bitter cold and fighting and are always remembered as the Frozen Chosin.
Works Cited
Drury, Bob and Calvin, Tom. The Last Stand of Fox Company. 1st ed. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009.
Edward, Rebecca and Henretta, James and Self, Robert. America A Concise History. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2012.
http://www.homeofheroes.com/brotherhood/chosin2.html
http://www.military-quotes.com/chesty-puller.htm
http://www.veteranshour.com/korea.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chosin_Reservoir
Eibling, Harold H., et al., eds. History of Our United States. 2nd edition. River Forest, Ill: Laidlaw Brothers, 1968.
Lieutenant Colonel Moore led his unit, the 1st Battalion, 7th U.S. Cavalry to South Vietnam, and led them in the famous Battle of Ia Drang. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, and with no clear landing zone that would allow them to leave, Moore managed to persevere against the overwhelming odds and complete his objective. Moore's dictum that "there is always one more thing you can do to increase your odds of success" and the courage of his entire command are given credit with the outstanding outcome (Galloway). Despite the fact that Moore's outstanding leadership and tactical prowess led to more than a 4-to-1 ratio between North Vietnamese casualties and U.S. casualties in their first major engagement of the war. Many consider this early battle a small preview of the U.S. tactics later in the Vietnam Conflict.
...ade it difficult to access the beach and also targets of opportunity for the airstrikes from the fighters and bombers of the Japanese. Many things were learned about operating in an island jungle environment. Neither side was prepared to deal with the numerous tropical diseases’ that were running rampant on both sides. The medical supplies that the marines were using and the availability of medicine was inefficient and led to numerous deaths that could have been prevented had there been adequate medicine and treatments available.
starts out with Marine Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith on the bridge of the command ship Mt. Olympus, off Iwo Jima on the morning of 23 February 1945 with Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal who said that the raising of our flag atop Mt. Suribachi means there will be an Marine Corps for the next five hundred years. Smith commented “When the war is over and money is short they will be after the Marines again”, and a dozen Iwo Jimas would make no difference. The resolute general was voicing the frustrations of the many generations of Marines before him who had learned through hard experience that fighting for the right to fight often presented greater challenges than fighting their country’s enemies.
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty for service as a machine gunner with Company I on Operation ALLEN BROOK. Company I was approaching a dry river bed with a heavily wooded tree line that borders the hamlet of Lee Nam, when they suddenly came under intense mortar, rocket propelled grenades, automatic weapon and small arms fire from a large, well concealed enemy force which halted the company’s advance and wounded several marines. Realizing that key points of resistance had to be eliminated to allow the units to advance and casualties to be evacuated. Pfc. Burke, without hesitation, seized his machine gun and launched a series of 1-man assaults against the fortified emplacements. As he aggressively maneuvered to the edge of the steep river bank, he delivered accurate suppressive fire upon several enemy bunkers, which enabled his comrades to advance and move the wounded marines to positions of relative safety. As he continued his combative actions, he located an opposing automatic weapons emplacement and poured intense fire into the position, killing 3 North Vietnamese soldiers as they attempted to flee. Pfc. Burke then fearlessly moved from one position to another, quelling the hostile fire until his weapon malfunctioned. Obtaining a casualty’s rifle and hand grenades, he advanced further into the midst of the enemy fire in an assault against another pocket of resistance killing 2 more of the enemy. Observing that a fellow marine had cleared his malfunctioning machine gun he grasped his weapon and moved into a dangerously exposed area and saturated the hostile tree line until he fell mortally wounded.
First Lieutenant, Burns, Matthew J., “Revisiting the Battle of Little Big Horn”, ( Master’s Thesis, Naval Post Graduate School, Monterey CA, 93943-5000, December 2000)
Exemplary performance has always attracted accolades and numerous prices; this gives morale and vigor for everyone to achieve their best. In the disciplined forces, particularly the marine, the service members always receive a major reward that elevates them in rank; this is the medal. This rewards them for their bravery and contribution in the missions they are involved in. Indeed, they contribute a lot to the peace and security of the world at large and they truly deserve these medals for recognition (Tucker, 2011). This has been a practice for the U.S. Marine to issue Corps medals since the Civil War to present day. Among the Corps Medal categories include American Defense Medal-WWII, Armed Forces Civilian Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, and Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal among others. Since the Civil War there have been over 120 U.S. Marine Corps Medals. This paper identifies Lieutenant General Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller and describes why he has been one of the most decorated marines in the history of the U.S.
Divine, Robert A. America past and Present. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education/Longman, 2013. 245. Print.
The Battle of the Chosin Resevoir was a pivotal battle in the Korean War. The battle was a brutal 17 day fight in bitterly cold weather fought from 27 November to 13 December 1950. During the battle the United States X Corps was attacked by the Chinese 9th Army in the vicinity of Changjin lake, which was refered to as Chosin reservoir on the US maps. The Chinese forces quickly surrounded the US troops and forced them to fight a retrograde attack in order to fight their way out to friendly lines to the south.
The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir was a pivotal battle in the Korean War. The battle was a brutal 17 day fight in bitterly cold weather fought from 27 November to 13 December 1950. During the battle the United States X Corps was attacked by the Chinese 9th Army in the vicinity of the Chosin reservoir. The Chinese forces quickly surrounded the US troops and forced them to fight a retrograde attack in order to fight their way out to friendly lines to the south. Due to poor Chinese intelligence on UN forces and logistical shortcomings the UN forces were able to evade total annihilation and were able to retreat to safety with the majority of their men and equipment intact.
American ground troops go into battle against Northern Korean forces at Osan. The Americans suffer 150 casualties in the battle and fail to halt the North Koreans' southward advance.
George Browm Tindall, David Emory Shi. American History: 5th Brief edition, W. W. Norton & Company; November 1999
3. Divine, Breen, Fredrickson, Williams, eds., America Past and Present Volume II: since 1865 sixth edition (New York: Longman 2002).
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Commanding Officer of Company C, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division, during the action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu Island, Palau Group, on 19-20 September, 1944. Subjected to point- blank cannon fire which caused heavy casualties and badly disorganized his company while assaulting a steep coral hill, Captain Pope rallied his men and gallantly led them to the summit in the face of machine-gun, mortar, and sniper fire. Forced by wide-spread hostile attack to deploy the remnants of his company thinly in order to hold the ground won, and with his machine-guns out of action and insufficient water and ammunition, he remained on the exposed hill with twelve men and one wounded officer, determined to hold through the night. Attacked continuously with grenades, machine-guns, and rifles from three sides and twice subjected to suicidal charges during the night, he and his valiant men fiercely beat back or destroyed the enemy, resorting to hand- to-hand combat as the supply of ammunition dwindled and still maintaining his lines with his eight remaining riflemen when daylight brought more deadly fire and he was ordered to withdraw. His valiant leadership against devastating odds while protecting the units below from heavy Japanese attack reflects the highest credit upon Captain Pope and the United States Naval Service.”
By the summer of 1950 after the successful landing at Inchon by the US X Corps which led to the destruction of the North Korean Army, the Korean War seemed to be in the final phases of completion. United Nations (UN) forces spearheaded by the US Eighth army and X Corps were advancing northward with the goal of completely reuniting North and South Korea. The Taebaek Mountains which are an extremely rugged north –south oriented mountain range divide Korea. The UN forces split in to two groups during their advance with the Eighth Army advancing along the west coast and the US X Corps moving north along the east coast. On 19 October 1950 after repeated warnings to the United Nations Massive amounts of Chinese Forces crossed the border into North Korea.[2] After several minor skirmishes with X Corps, the Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army (PVA) decisively engaged the US X Corps in the vicinity of Chosin Reservoir.