This could be the last balloon launch for the Fighters for A Free North Korea for a while considering how the ROK government has put the clamps on their activities:
Police retrieve a balloon attached to a sign lampooning the North’s ruling Kim family that anti-Pyongyang activists floated toward North Korea on Monday evening, in defiance of the South Korean government’s attempts to stop them. [YONHAP]
A South Korean activist group released balloons containing anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border in the dead of night on Monday, in defiance of the South Korean government’s attempts to prevent such acts amid heightened tensions with North Korea.
Park Sang-hak, head of the organization Fighters for a Free North Korea, said six members of his group launched 20 balloons containing half a million leaflets, 500 books advertising the success of South Korea’s capitalist system, 2,000 one dollar bills and 1,000 memory cards across the border towards the North from a secluded location in Paju, Gyeonggi, from 11 p.m. to midnight.
One of those balloons was discovered stuck on trees on the banks of a stream in Hongcheon County, Gangwon, by police Tuesday afternoon.
“In order to evade [South Korean] police surveillance, I trained members unaccustomed to dispatching leaflets to send the flyers,” Park announced, before delivering a tirade condemning the Moon Jae-in administration for attempting to silence defector groups from speaking out.
The Ministry of Unification, South Korea’s top inter-Korean agency, on Tuesday expressed “deep regret” at the act, and announced it was taking “serious” measures to punish the group for violating the government’s ban on leaflet distributions.
“The government once again stresses clearly that it will strongly respond to the dissemination of leaflets and items towards North Korea, which raise tensions between South and North and endanger the lives and safety of local residents,” the ministry stated in a press release.
The ministry spokesman raised doubts, however, about Park’s claim that his group had released 500,000 leaflets Monday night, saying that based on investigations of the amount of leaflets the group prepared beforehand and the wind conditions that night, none of the released balloons appear to have entered North Korean territory.
After police confiscated the group’s hydrogen gas supplies used to fuel balloon launches in the past, the group apparently obtained only enough helium to float a single balloon — likely the one found at Hongcheon, the ministry said. The balloon that was retrieved did not contain books, dollar bills or memory cards, it added.
It appears that the Moon administration wants to treat the balloon launch human rights activists like they do conservative journalists by threatening them with jail:
Members of Fighters for Free North Korea, an organization of defectors from North Korea, send balloons carrying anti-North leaflets across the border from the South Korean border city of Paju, in this file photo dated April 2, 2016
The unification ministry said Wednesday that it will file a complaint with police against two North Korean defector groups for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border, a day after the North cut off all inter-Korean communication lines over such leafleting.
The ministry said that it will also take action to revoke business permits granted to the groups, Fighters for Free North Korea and Keunsaem, accusing them of putting the safety of people living in border regions at risk by sending leaflets into the North.
“They have violated public interests by heightening tensions between the South and the North and by running squarely against the agreements reached by the leaders of the two Koreas, and also caused danger to the lives and safety of residents in the border regions,” the ministry said in a press release.
You can read more at the link, but this is once again another example of how South Korea is a rule by law nation and not a rule of law nation. These activists have been doing this for years and one of their leaders Park Sang-Hak has faced assassination attempts by North Korean agents and had leftist thugs assault him to stop his balloon protests. Now with a change of government and complaints from North Korea, what they are doing is suddenly illegal.
I do find it interesting that the Moon administration is willing to send police to chase down these human rights activists, but they won’t send police to keep the road to the THAAD site in Seongju open:
Suzanne Scholte, chair of North Korea Freedom Coalition, speaks at an impromptu press conference on Saturday in Paju, Gyeonggi, after an attempt to send leaflets criticizing the Kim Jong-un regime across the border by a local civic group was blocked by police. [OH JONG-TAEK]A local civic group led by a North Korean defector attempted to send leaflets criticizing the Kim Jong-un regime across the border last weekend but was blocked by police, after both Koreas agreed at their latest summit not to disseminate propaganda material into each other’s country.
But Park Sang-hak, leader of Fighters for Free North Korea, claimed he already flew 150,000 leaflets into the North last Thursday from an undisclosed venue in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, accusing Pyongyang’s recent olive branch to Seoul of being a “disguised peace offensive.”
Park’s attempt to send more leaflets on Saturday noon from Paju, Gyeonggi, just south of the inter-Korean border, fell on the last day of the so-called North Korea Freedom Week, the last week of every April during which nongovernmental organizations promoting human rights in North Korea shed light on the regime’s atrocities. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
For those that don’t know Mr. Park Sang-hak the leader of Fighters for a Free North Korea, he is the person that the South Korean leftists have sent thugs to assault and the Kim regime has sent assassins to kill. Despite all of this Mr. Park continues to fearlessly launch balloons into North Korea. I think it is only a matter of time before the leftist thugs are sent after Park again.
For Suzanne Scholte pictured above I don’t know what visa she is on, but the Moon administration could try and silence her by claiming she is violating her visa by conducting political activity. It is pretty clear that for the next few years operations for these North Korean human rights organizations is going to be very difficult.
I would love to see what “evidence” the Kim regime has gathered on this supposed assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un to warrant an extradition request:
Pyongyang will seek the extradition of anyone involved in what it says was a CIA-backed plot to kill leader Kim Jung Un last month with a biochemical poison, a top North Korean foreign ministry official said Thursday.
Han Song Ryol, the vice foreign minister, called a meeting of foreign diplomats in Pyongyang on Thursday to outline the North’s allegation that the CIA and South Korea’s intelligence agency bribed and coerced a North Korean man into joining in the assassination plot, which the North’s Ministry of State Security has suggested was thwarted last month.
The North’s state media have been running stories about the plot since last week. The security ministry has vowed to “ferret out” anyone involved in the alleged plot, which it called “state-sponsored terrorism.” [Associated Press]
I am beginning to think that maybe the Kim regime is pushing this story for domestic consumption in order to make it appear that the CIA killed his older brother Kim Jong-nam? The defector groups have been sending balloons across the border informing North Koreans of the murder of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia.
By claiming the assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un used a bio-chemical substance that makes it appear the same group that killed his older brother was trying to kill him too. Though I think these claims are targeted towards a domestic North Korean audience, the claims may have some carry over effect internationally as well. Considering how there are still people who don’t believe the North Koreans sunk the Cheonan, there will probably be people who think the CIA is behind some plot to kill the Kim family as well.
Something many people may not realize is that the Korean War was the first conflict where the United States military fought with a policy of racial desegregation. The policy was passed by executive order by President Harry Truman who wanted all the old all black units of World War II disbanded and African-American servicemembers integrated throughout the ranks of all the services. This policy is what allowed Hero of the Korean War, Ensign Jesse Brown to become the first black US Navy pilot.
A 1950 image of Ensign Jesse Brown in his F4U-4 Corsair.
However, the policy was poorly implemented by some commanders, with segregation in the military really living on for another 10 years. Overall though, black servicemembers were given increased opportunities in the military after the issuing of Truman’s order. At the start of the Korean War there was roughly 100,000 black servicemembers in the US military, which composed 8% of the total manpower. By the end of the war over 600,000 black servicemembers would serve in the 3-year long war. It was one of these black servicembers Charles M. Bussey that would become one of the most recognized African-American servicemembers during the Korean War.
Charles Bussey Before the Korean War
Charles Bussey was born in 1922 and grew up in Bakersfield, California. After graduating from high school Bussey attended Los Angeles City College for two years before enlisting into the US military. Bussey was assigned to fly with the prestigious all-black Tuskegee Airmen who were tasked to defend US bombers during World War II. His commander General Benjamin O. Davis Jr. played a big role in shaping Bussey who he speaks very highly of in his book, Firefight at Yechon: Courage and Racism in the Korean War. For those that haven’t, I highly recommend reading up on General Davis because he may quite possibly be the greatest African-American servicemembers ever.
General Benjamin Davis
Following World War II Bussey left the Army and returned to Los Angeles where he became a policeman. He didn’t like the work and decided to return to college by enrolling at San Francisco State University. After graduating from SFSU in 1948, Bussey rejoined the Army and was eventually stationed in Japan on occupation duty. Here is what Bussey says occupation duty in Japan was like:
Well, there was no combat-readiness for sure. The lifestyle involved a lot of leisure, a lot of involvement with the native women. The officers were involved with buying furniture, buying fancy chinaware for their homes there was no concern whatever about combat-readiness. Absolutely none. Even in the manoeuvre areas the concern was the good life. A very leisurely life was not involved in any way with combat. There was just no concern whatever and it was our life there was lived through the Sears Roebuck catalogue who bought nylons and whatnot for the native girls and that sort of thing. It was a good life. [Charles Bussey – March 2, 1997]
What is funny I knew guys in Yongsan that still live like this.
Deployment to Korea
On May 26, 1950 Captain Charles Bussey would become one of the few black company commanders in the US Army when he took command of the 77th Engineer Combat Company in Gifu, Japan. The 77th Engineers was an all-black unit that provided engineer support to the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment. The 24th Infantry was the only all-black subordinate unit of the 25th Infantry Division commanded by Major General William B. Kean. Here is how Bussey remembers taking command:
It was a time of my life when I had the maturity and the physical, mental, and emotional strength necessary to command a company of combat engineers. When the opportunity came for me to assume command of the 77th Engineer Combat Company, I reveled in it. I worked at it from sixteen to twenty hours aday. Fortunately, it was when I was overseas in Japan, and fortunately, my family had not joined me. I was free to work all the hours I needed or wanted, and I did. There was no better job for a workaholic. There was strong training requirements. …………… But the biggest demand on my time and attention came from the men. The men had problems of all kinds, and those who didn’t have problems usually generated some.
Sounds like the life of a Company Commander in 1950 is the same as one now a days. A month after taking command the Korean War would begin and shortly after the 25th Infantry Division to include Captain Bussey’s 24th Infantry Regiment would find themselves deployed to Korea in July 1950.
Engagement at Yechon
On July 20, 1950 Captain Bussey was running mail to a platoon in his company that was currently stationed in the Korean village of Yecheon.
Along the way Bussey heard some rifle file from the village just further up the road. Bussey stopped his vehicle and walked up a small hill that overlooked the village. Captain Bussey saw from his elevated position men dressed in white trying to outflank his men in the village. Bussey ran down the hill and rounded up three truck drivers from another unit that were parked along the road near the hill. Bussey had them carry a .30 and .50 cal machine guns up to the top hill. Here is Captain Bussey’s narrative from his book, Firefight at Yechon, that explains what happened next:
I watched the group of farmer-soldiers coming ever closer and reckoned that farmers scatter and tun if you send a long burst of machine-gun fire over their heads, but soldiers flatten out like quail and await orders from their leader…I sent a burst from the .50 caliber machine gun dangerously close above the heads of the approaching group…True to the form of soldiers, they flattened into the paddy as the bullets flew past them…Bullets raked and chewed the up mercilessly…The advancing column was under tight observation from somewhere on the mountain because large motar rounds started…overhead. I was knicked by a fragment. the gunner on the .30 caliber machine gunner was hit badly, and his assistant was killed. The enemy mortar was accurate. The shells were bursting about twenty to forty feet overhead, showering us with shell fragments. And we were now drawing small-arms fire from the rice paddies below…I chopped the North Korean troops to pieces…I was ashamed of the slaughter before me, but this was my job, my duty, and my responsibility. I stayed with it until not one white rag was left intact.
It is estimated that Bussey and his three men using these two machine guns killed approximately 250 guerrillas that day. What I find interesting about this battle is that revisionist historians today would probably declare his engagement against these people dressed in white clothes as a war crime. Bussey is lucky the Associated Press’s Charles Hanley and the Korean Truth & Reconcilliation Committee isn’t after him yet.
This engagement did happen just one week before the tragedy at No Gun Ri with civilians intermixed with guerrilla fighters. Plus Captain Bussey’s unit the 25th Infantry Division was located on the eastern flank of the 1st Cavalry Division that was involved in the No Gun Ri tragedy. Later on Bussey writes that guerrilla fighters would hide during the day in the farm houses to ambush his men at night. He even claims to have killed two guerrilla fighters during one of these ambushes who were as young as fourteen years old.
This is all just further evidence that guerrilla fighters were operating in the area of not only No Gun Ri, but throughout the frontlines of US forces wearing white Korean peasant clothes. This is contrary to what many of the current historical revisionists want to believe, but Bussey provides yet another account of this guerrilla infiltration of the American front lines.
After the Firefight at Yechon
Following the engagement at Yecheon the 25th ID moved further south towards the city of Sanju and then eventually even further south between Chinju and Masan where his unit held a frontline position along the Pusan Perimeter. Interestingly enough Captain Bussey would end up having a white lieutenant to become his executive officer as part of the slow integration of the ranks. This lieutenant, Paul Wells would be one of the soldiers in his book that he speaks the mostly highly of during his time in command.
However, there was plenty of white officers he didn’t speak fondly of because of tactical decisions that were made that led to the 24th Infantry Regiment retreating from their frontline positions. He feels very bitter that many people blamed the defeat of the 24th Infantry Regiment on the quality of black troops instead of the white officers that made the decisions that led to their retreat.
After the successful Incheon Landing Operation in September of 1950 the 24th Infantry Regiment found themselves on the offensive, pushing the retreating North Koreans farther north. After crossing the 38th Parallel, Bussey felt like they had won the war and remembers celebrating a festiv Thanksgiving to only be spoiled two days later by advancing Chinese troops. Bussey was very impressed with the Chinese troops, but would ultimately be more impressed with General Matthew Ridgeway who took over the command of the 8th United States Army and turned around the war effort.
Bussey After Retiring from the Military
Charles Bussey retired from the US Army in 1966 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He would work the next 20 years as a construction consultant before retiring and beginning work on his book about his wartime experiences, Firefight at Yechon: Courage and Racism in the Korean War. Bussey’s book was published in 1991.
Post-Korean War picture of Charles Bussey via SFGate.com.
In 1994 a campaign was launched to try and upgrade Captain Bussey’s Silver Star for his actions at Yecheon to a Medal of Honor. Captain Bussey is quoted as saying that the reason he didn’t get recommended for the Medal of Honor was due to racist reasons:
Well, I worked for a man whose name I guess I should not mention but he commanded the regiment and his attitude was — and he explained this to me — and this was a man with whom I drank a lot of whisky in those days — when he had whisky, he’d give me a call and come sundown, we’d toss a few and when I had whisky I did the same with him. And so we were drinking along, we were on the way into North Korea at the time and we stopped on the side of the road for something, that whole convoy had stopped, and we got to talking and he was saying ‘you know the general insisted that I put you in for a congressional medal for that thing at Yechon but I disagree with him.’ I said ‘oh, why?’ and he said ‘well you know how things are at home and you killed more than John Wayne and Audie Murphy and all these other guys and the American people wouldn’t like that. We don’t want black people to have heroes. Heroes are troublemakers and so if you had this medal then you’d be able to influence boy scouts and all kind of people and this is not good for us and I’ve been trained to not let these things happen and I can’t let it happen.’ [Charles Bussey – March 2, 1997]
Bussey still hasn’t had his award upgraded, but he has been recognized by the US military for his service during the Korean War all the way up to the Secretary of Defense:
Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (left) shows his wife Janet (right) a memento presented to him by members of the legendary Tuskeegee Airmen on May 16, 1998. With Secretary and Mrs. Cohen are from left to right Col. Lee Archer, Lt. Col. Howard Baugh, and Lt. Col. Charles Bussey. Cohen visited Norfolk State University to kick off the nation’s 50th anniversary observance of President Harry S. Truman’s executive order desegregating the armed forces. DoD photo by Helene C. Stikkel.
President Harry Truman vowed “to end to such evils,” and he did — with a bold stroke of his pen that changed the face of the military, and indeed the face of America, forever. Justice Thurgood Marshall, Sr., once remarked that “Sometimes history takes things into its own hands.” 1948 surely was one of those times, for Truman’s executive order that year could not have put it any plainer: “There shall be equal treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.” President Truman cleared a path by wiping out an overtly racist rule. But it would fall to many others over many years to brave that path and turn those principles into practice.
One of the first who did was Charles Bussey, a Tuskeegee airman who made history again in July of 1950 at the battle of Yechon, South Korea. First Lieutenant Bussey was returning to the front when he spotted an enemy unit attempting to outflank his all-black company. Only Bussey, a group of three truck drivers and two machine guns stood between his men and 250 advancing North Koreans. But when the dust settled and the smoke had cleared, there was only Bussey and his men and America had one of its first victories of the Korean War. Reflecting on his heroic service to a country still shackled by segregation, this Silver Star hero later wrote, “I loved my country for what it could be, far beyond what it was.” Lieutenant Colonel Bussey, thank you for helping America to realize what it could be and taking us beyond what we were. [William Cohen – May 16, 1998]
Here is why Charles Bussey says he wants his awarded upgraded to the Medal of Honor so badly:
“After 40 years the personal significance of this medal has largely deteriorated for me,” he said. “But the importance is that if I can earn one of these, other kids can earn one as well. I want to be able to tell them that they can be all that they can be in the Army and that the service is grateful. But I can’t do that now.” [New York Times]
What I don’t understand about Charles Bussey’s reasoning is that there was other black soldiers during the Korean War that did get awarded the Medal of Honor if he is concerned about young kids having servicemembers who did get the medal to look up to:
Numerous African-Americans were awarded medals including the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and Bronze Star for service during the Korean War. Two African-Americans, Private First Class William Thompson and Sergeant Cornelius Charlton were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Thompson was killed in action on Aug. 2, 1951, at a critical juncture in the 8th Army’s attempt to stop the North Korean Army’s southward movement. Charlton displayed extraordinary heroism in rallying his platoon to continue its assault on a hill near Chipo-ri, just north of the 38th parallel. [Korean War 50th Anniversary Site]
Whatever the motivation for trying to have the medal upgraded I think Charles Bussey probably was not awarded the Medal of Honor because unlike the other black servicemembers who were awarded the medal Bussey did not die. The vast majority of people who are awarded the Medal of Honor died conducting whatever heroic act they were recognized for.
However, Bussey does provide a little known, but interesting look at the service of black soldiers during the Korean War. Bussey shows that just like any soldier, proper leadership is what determines the effectiveness of a servicemember; not the color of their skin. Captain Charles Bussey was a commander that did provide that leadership and his actions at not only the firefight at Yechon, but throughout the war proved this, and that is why he is one of the Heroes of the Korean War.
Notable Battles: Battle of the Yultong, Chinese Spring Offensive
Korean War Service: Sept. 1950 – June 1951
Background
One of the first United Nations members to answer the call to deploy troops and would go on to make meaningful battlefield contributions to the war effort in Korea was the Philippines. The Philippine government deployed one regimental combat team to fight in the Korean War that became known as the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK). The PEFTOK soldiers arrived in Korea on September 19, 1950 at the port city of Pusan shortly after MacArthur’s successful Incheon Landing Operation that turned the tide of the Korean War.
During the nearly five years PEFTOK was deployed to Korea they participated in a number of heavy combat operations and established themselves a solid reputation as tough, tenacious fighters in the hills of Korea. Much of the tactical skills the Filipino soldiers used in Korea to great effect was honed during their own struggle against tyranny when the Japanese invaded the Philippines and Filipino guerrillas took to the hills to launch attacks against the Japanese. The Filipino military’s guerrilla warfare skills only improved when the military was called on to fight its own communist insurrection occurring in the highlands of the Philippines against the Hukbalahap which were guerrilla fighters aligned with the Philippine Communist Party.
PEFTOK 10th Battalion Combat Team patch
This communist insurgency in the Philippines was the deciding factor for the Filipino President Elpidio Quirino to deploy forces to Korea. President Quirino feared that if Korea fell to the North Koreans then the global communist movement would then be encouraged to aid the Hukbalahap guerrillas fighting to overthrow the national government of the Philippines. President Quirino decided the Philippines had to make a stand against global communist movement and Korea was going to be that place. Here is how President Quirino opened his address to the Filipino soldiers about to deploy to Korea:
“Poor as we are, this country is making a great sacrifice in sending you there, but every peso invested in you is a sound investment for the perpetuation of our liberty and freedom.”
And poor they were because the Filipino government was nearly bankrupt at the time of this deployment due to the destruction of World War II as well as the continuing counterinsurgency struggle against the communist guerrillas in the highlands. Despite this the government was committed to deploying troops to Korea.
Lieutenant Colonel Mariano Azurin Parades the 10th BCT passed Filipino President Elpidio Quirino
The Deployment of the 10th BCT
The military unit that heard this speech before they deployed was the 10th Battalion Combat Team (BCT). The Philippine military rotated combat teams to Korea every year with the 10th BCT being the first unit deployed to the peninsula which subsequently saw the heaviest combat of all the PEFTOK units sent to Korea. The 10th BCT was deployed with three infantry companies, a motorized reconnaissance company that was equipped with light M24 Chaffee tanks, a armored company with no tanks, and its own internal artillery battalion. The Filipinos were promised Sherman tanks from the US, but never received them to field the armored company with. In total the regiment was assigned approximately 1,400 men. An American trained tank commander, Lieutenant Colonel Mariano Azurin was chosen to lead this first PEFTOK unit into a war that would have great ramifications for his country if it was not won.
The 10th BCT was without a doubt a well equipped unit, but the UN command foundly them unprepared for combat in Korea and the unit spent it first weeks in Korea conducting pre-combat training in the city of Miryang. In October 1950, the 10th BCT received their first combat mission and was sent to the village Waegwan, which is the modern day home to the US military installation Camp Carroll. At Waegwan the 10th BCT’s reputation of being hardened anti-communist guerrilla fighters was put to the test. Throughout the hills in this area the Filipino soldiers worked with the US 25th Infantry Division to root out and destroy the remaining communists hiding in the hillsides.
Hunting Communist Guerrillas in the Hills of Korea
Before the Korean War South Korean communist guerrillas reinforced with North Korean infiltrators had tried to overthrow the ROK government and during the Korean War they were responsible for a number of attacks against the rear areas of American forces deployed to Korea. It was estimated that 35,000 communist guerrillas were operating in South Korea’s countryside and ironically enough it was up to a US trained tank commander LTC Azurin to help do something about it. The 10th BCT launched continuous small five man patrols during the day and at night to intercept the guerrillas trying to launch ambushes against UN supply lines in their area. The teams were small enough to avoid detection and sneak up and ambush the small guerrilla cells operating in the hills.
It was during this anti-guerrilla operation the PEFTOK would experience their first casualty with Private Alipio Ceciliano losing his life in defense of the Republic of Korea. However, the operation around Waegwon was a success with the 10th BCT killing large numbers of guerrillas in the hills and keeping the UN supply lines to Seoul open. The UN military leadership would turn to the Lieutenant Colonel Azurin again to lead another anti-guerrilla movement further north.
Example of 10th BCT soldier at Korean War Memorial in Seoul.
In late October LTC Azurin received orders that his men were going to be shipped north to the city of Kaesong to root out guerrillas harassing UN supply lines between Kaesong and Pyongyang. UN forces had moved across the 38th parallel and into North Korea to destroy the last remnants of the North Korean army and needed secure supply lines to support the offensive. LTC Azurin and his men would cross the 38th parallel themselves on October 31, 1950. The Filipinos were transported north by truck to conduct their operations in conjunction with the 65th Infantry which was an infantry regiment from Puerto Rico commanded by Colonel William Harris. The Filipinos were assigned to the 65th Regiment because of the mistaken belief that Filipinos spoke Spanish like the Puerto Ricans. Despite initial communication problems the two units’ leadership spoke enough English to coordinate operations between each other.
It was during this operation to secure the UN supply lines between Kaesong and Pyongyang that the Filipino battalion fought their first battle against a non-guerrilla unit. A battalion of North Korean soldiers ambushed the 10th BCT near the North Korean city of Muidong, but the hardened Filipino soldiers quickly counterattacked and killed 50 of the North Korean soldiers while only losing one Filipino soldier. Lieutenant Colonel Azurin continued his small team patrol tactics in this region to intercept guerrillas operating in the hills. Amazingly one of these small five man patrols was able to capture 77 North Korean soldiers that surrendered to them.
Relieving Colonel Azurin
It was during their anti-guerrilla campaign in North Korea that the bitter Korean winter hit the 10th BCT. The Filipino soldiers in the 10th BCT had never even seen snow before much less the extremely cold temperatures they found themselves in and were not properly equipped to deal with the cold. The 10th BCT was promised that they would receive cold weather gear from the American 24th ID regiment they found themselves working with in North Korea, but none arrived. Colonel Azurin fought bitterly with the American leadership to provide the clothing.
The 10th BCT’s first two commanding officers LTC Mariano Azurin and LTC Dionisio Ojeda.
The 10th BCT would eventually receive their cold weather gear, but not before many Filipino soldiers received cold weather injuries and Colonel Azurin was relieved of his command at the request of the request of Colonel William Harris who accused Azurin of being, “much of a protester and not a doer”. The fight over the cold weather gear was the tipping point to remove Azurin because Colonel Harris had also fought bitterly with Azurin over dividing the 10th BCT from one whole battalion to five separate companies to conduct separate guerrilla operations in five different North Korean towns. Azurin wanted to keep the battalion together so each company could support each other and he could better command and control of them. All indications are that Colonel Azurin was a good man trying to do his best for his soldiers, but as fate would have it, it ended up being a good thing for the 10th BCT to have Azurin relieved. The man who hand picked by Colonel Harris to replace Lieutenant Colonel Mariano Azurin would go on to become a great leader and a legendary hero of the Philippine military during the Korean War. This man was Lieutenant Colonel Dionisio Ojeda.
LTC Ojeda was a World War II veteran who fought on Bataan and Corregidor against the Japanese and was a survivor the Bataan Death March. He was tough, experienced and used to working with Americans which is what the 10 BCT needed at the time.
The Chinese Enter the War
On Thanksgiving of 1950 the Chinese military launch their massive sneak attack against the allied forces which found the PEFTOK soldiers retreating south with the rest of the UN forces to escape the nearly 300,000 marauding Chinese soldiers that were steam rolling down the peninsula.
The 10th BCT retreated with the rest of the UN forces in what became known as, “The Big Bug Out” as soldiers from all the various nations’ armies retreated from the Chinese enemy that in the minds of the soldier fighting them had taken on superhuman characteristics. The truth was that the Chinese were not superhuman and were in fact taking heavy casualties during the offensive sweep south down the peninsula from allied artillery and aerial bombing.
The UN forces were able to strengthen their frontlines just south of Seoul and the 10th BCT ended up spending their first Christmas in Korea in the walled city of Suwon. By February Lieutenant Colonel Dionisio Ojeda and his men of the Filipino 10th BCT were attached to the US 3rd Infantry Division. Following the Chinese defeat at Chipyong-ni by the US 23rd Infantry Regiment with support from the French Battalion, the 3rd ID was tasked to begin an offensive operation against the retreating Chinese forces. The 3rd ID aided by the 10th BCT helped the allies to push the Chinese out of Seoul and across the Imjim River.
The Chinese Spring Offensive
After the offensive operation the allies fortified their positions on the southside of the Imjim River while the Chinese reconsolidated their forces on the north side in preparation of a spring offensive to crush the UN forces once and for all. In April 1951 the 10th BCT was transitioned to the reserve of the US 65th Infantry Regiment, which would be the 2nd time the Filipinos worked with the Puerto Rican unit. The reserve duty was to allow the Filipinos some time to rest after the long offensive operation against the Chinese.
The 10th BCT is located on the above map between Highway 33 and the Imjim River on the north-central front.
However, rest for Lieutenant Colonel Ojeda and his men would not last long as on April 22, 1951 the Chinese launched a massive counterattack dubbed the Chinese Spring Offensive against the allied forces. LTC Ojeda received orders to deploy his men along Highway 33 running to Chorwon to reinforce the allied front lines along the Imjim River. The area they were to reinforce was a ridgeline to the west of the highway and bordered by the Imjim River on the location’s western flank near the city of Yeonchon. On the left flank of the Filipinos the Puerto Ricans had dug themselves in and even further west of the Puerto Ricans was the British 29th Brigade augmented with a Belgian Battalion that were also attached to the US 3rd Infantry Division just like the Filipinos. To the right flank and to the east, the 10th BCT was bordered by the Turkish Brigade that was just recovering from heavy losses inflicted on the brigade by the Chinese during the Battle of Kunu-ri a few months prior. Further to the east of the Turks were units from the US 25th Infantry Division that the Turks were attached to.
Battle of the Yultong
Directly opposite of the Filipino positions were four Chinese division numbering about 40,000 men. The 10th BCT did not receive contact from these Chinese units until just after midnight on April 23rd. The Chinese opened their attack with a heavy artillery barrage before advancing on the Filipino defenders in the darkness of the night which they preferred to fight in. Once the artillery barrage ended it was clear an assault on the 10th BCT’s fortified ridgeline was coming because of the loud noises from the Chinese’s bugles, gongs, and drums that they used to communicate between their units. The first Chinese assault on the 10th BCT position was from the east side of the ridgeline. Baker Company of the 10th BCT successfully defended the east side of the ridgeline and inflicted heavy casualties on the Chinese aided with mortar and artillery support from the Filipino artillery battery.
However, during the massive Chinese assault on the east side of the 10th BCT the Chinese were able to push the Turkish Brigade from their positions and began to envelope the eastern flank of the Filipino battalion. LTC Ojeda was aware of the danger to his flank by the Chinese trying to surround Baker Company. To fortify his flank Ojeda organized and led a makeshift unit of the battalion’s clerks and cooks to form a defensive line on Baker Company’s flank. This makeshift unit with help from the M24 light tanks and the battalion’s own internal artillery support, was able to hold off the Chinese.
An M24 “Chaffee” light tank with a 75 mm gun belong to the 10th BCT.
However, the situation only got worse for the 10th BCT as the Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment on their western flank began to fallback from the Chinese attack on their exposed flank because of the withdrawal of the Turks. The Chinese attackers had gone behind the 10th BCT’s lines and attacked the Puerto Ricans. As the Puerto Ricans began to fall back to reconsolidate another defensive line to fight the Chinese from, the Chinese then turned their attention towards the Filipinos. The Chinese began to advance up the exposed Filipino flank and Lieutenant Colonel Ojeda used the men of his tank company that were supposed to receive tanks from the US but didn’t, as infantrymen to stop the Chinese advance. The Chinese began to attack a platoon of soldiers from the Tank Company that had just positioned themselves on a small hill on the 10th BCT’s flank overlooking the Korean village of Yultong.
The platoon was commanded by Lieutenant Jose Artiaga who refused to have his men abandon their positions despite the overwhelming Chinese numbers advancing up the hill at them. The platoon stood and fought heroically against the Chinese. This stubborn stand by Lt. Artiaga and his men bought time for his company commander Captain Conrado Yap to mount a counterattack to save the platoon of soldiers from the Chinese onslaught. Captain Yap led the counterattack against the Chinese and would die in the fight. Likewise his platoon leader Lt. Artiaga would also go down fighting, but the counterattack proved successful in saving the platoon from total annihilation by extracting them from the hill and stopping the Chinese advance from reaching the exposed flank of the battalion.
Picture of CPT Conrado Yap and 1LT Jose Artiaga before they were killed in action during the Battle of the Yultong.
At first light Lieutenant Colonel Ojeda used his light M24 tanks to launch another counterattack against the Chinese who were trying to regroup on the hill they had just ceased from the Filipino defenders at great cost. The Chinese were surprised by the sudden counterattack and the 10th BCT was once again able to drive the Chinese back off the ridgeline.
Despite the success of the counter attack LTC Ojeda found himself with a major problem on the morning of April 23rd; his unit was completely surrounded by the Chinese due to the withdrawal of the units positioned to his left and right flanks that night. Being a soldier from an island nation it was a tad bit ironic that from his battalion’s fortified ridgeline position LTC Ojeda found himself literally as a Philippine island in the middle of a sea Chinese infantry swarming past them. However, to hold this Filipino island, the 10th BCT had 10 soldiers killed, 14 missing, and 26 wounded in action after the battle that night, which wasn’t to bad of a result considering how out manned the battalion had been.
Withdrawal from Yultong
By mid-day Lieutenant Colonel Ojeda’s unit still firmly held the ridgeline and the Chinese had pretty much quit fighting to capture the ridgeline. Instead they continued to flow around the ridge and press their attack against retreating allied units. The commander of the 3rd ID, General Soule saw how his attached Philippine battalion was surrounded and alone, north of his front lines and ordered it to conduct a fighting withdrawal south to link up with the rest of the division. The division had another unit, the Belgian Battalion, that was also surrounded north of friendly lines it was trying to extract as well. General Soule ordered the Puerto Rican 65th Infantry and the 64th Tank Battalion to occupy blocking positions north of the Han-tan River along Highway 33 to cover the withdrawal of both the Belgian Battalion and the 10th BCT. LTC Ojeda led his men off the ridgeline and fought through light Chinese contact before linking up with the allied units positioned at the Han-tan River. The extractions of both the Filipino and Belgian Battalions had been a success.
June 9, 1951 article in the Stars & Stripes newspaper describing a commendation from the 3rd ID commander MG Robert Soule.
Once LTC Ojeda linked up with his American counterparts, he received orders from General Soule to lead a withdrawal south with the 65th Infantry in order to link up with the commander of the British 29th Brigade, Brigadier Tom Brodie in order to fill in gaps in the British unit’s frontline. Starting at 1400 on April 23rd, the 10th BCT led a withdrawal down Highway 33 and then turned down Highway 11 to link up with the British 29th Brigade. However, due to light contact along the way Colonel Ojeda was not able to link up with Brigadier Brodie’s unit until 20:00 that night. Brigadier Brodie figured it would be to difficult for Ojeda to get his men organized and dug in during the night on the brigade’s frontlines and decided to keep the Filipinos in reserve until the next morning.
Rescue of the Gloucestershire Battalion
After the fight on the Battle of the Yultong, the PEFTOK soldiers once again found themselves in the reserve. However, the rest for the Filipinos in the reserve would be short lived as the British Gloucestershire Battalion located on a ridge along the frontlines of the 29th Brigade became surrounded after desperate battle that night. British 29th Brigade Commander Brigadier Tom Brodie, was looking for options to extract the British soldiers from their isolated position and decided to have the 10th BCT’s Commander Lieutenant Colonel Dionisio Ojeda take his men north with a column of British tanks and infantry in order to try and rescue the Gloucestershire Battalion.
April 28, 1951 edition of the Stars & Stripes newspaper features a full page article on the “Fighting Filipinos” of the 10th BCT.
The combined Filipino-British rescue team left at 0730 on April 24th and traveled up Highway 5Y towards the Gloucestershire Battalions positions. However, once the road entered a mountainous valley it became very narrow and uneven. As it turned out the British Centurion tanks were too heavy and wide to use the road and only four light M24 tanks that the 10th BCT had could traverse the road. Once Brigadier Brodie was informed of the problem, he ordered the unit to establish a blocking position approximately 2 miles short of the Gloucestershire Battalion while he decided with his staff how best to proceed to rescue the surrounded battalion.
After conferring by radio with the Gloucestershire Battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel James P. Carne, Brigadier Brodie decided that the Gloucesters were too weak to mount a fighting withdrawal and needed an allied unit to clear the Chinese from the surrounding ridgeline in order to save the battalion. Brodie decided to send the 65th Infantry and the 64th Tank Battalions to clear the ridgeline with the Filipinos following behind them to protect their flanks from a Chinese counterattack. The attack was to begin at 0630 on April 25th, which meant that the Gloucesters were going to have to survive yet another night of Chinese attacks on their position.
However, as the Glosters fight on the hill became more desperate Brigadier Brodie decided to see if the Filipinos could be able to extract the surrounded battalion. He ordered Colonel Ojeda to move his unit up the road and see if he could complete the link up with the Gloucestershire Battalion. Ojeda’s tanks moved up the narrow valley and the first tank in his column struck a land mine destroying it. An ambush from entrenched Chinese on the hillsides followed and the Ojeda’s men found themselves in full contact with the enemy. The British centurion tanks down the road could see the ambush taking place and began firing into the hillsides at the Chinese infantrymen. The fire from these tanks allowed Ojeda to get his wounded men extracted from the tank destroyed by the landmine. Ojeda then has the three remaining tanks act as a rear guard as his unit withdrew back down the valley to link up with the British tanks. Colonel Ojeda radioed back to Brigadier Brodie to inform him that there was no way his men could extract the Gloucesters by themselves. They needed help and no help came.
Kamak mountain valley that the PEFTOK soldiers traveled up to try and rescue the Gloucestershire Battalion.
During this fight to relieve the Gloucesters Brodie was informed that the allied leadership had decided to pull the UN forces’ frontline further south to all UN units to reorganize their frontlines. Due to this, the attack the next morning by the 65th Infantry Regiment was called off and only one platoon of tanks from the regiment was assigned to try and breakthrough to the Gloucesters which of course the next morning failed because approximately an entire Chinese division had moved into the valley by this time. On the western side of the ridgeline a combined US-ROK assault had also failed to reach the trapped unit but they were able to rescue a few stragglers that were able to evade the Chinese when they overran their position.
Colonel Ojeda’s unit was also called off from any counterattack and likewise were ordered to redeploy south to the new frontline. Ultimately the rescue of the Gloucestershire Battalion would end unsuccessfully and the unit was completely destroyed with only a 67 men able to make it off the mountain that day with the rest of the 700 man unit either dead or captured. Out of all the units that tried to rescue the Glosters, the 10th BCT came the closest to them by having the Chinese turn back their rescue effort a mere 2 kilometers from the surrounded battalion.
Aftermath of the Chinese Spring Offensive
In an investigation into the loss of the Gloucestershire Battalion, the I Corps Commander General Frank Milburn drew particular attention to how the attack by the LTC Ojeda’s 10th BCT was not followed up on by more allied units to break through the Chinese lines to reach the lost battalion. Colonel Ojeda’s men had opened up a wedge into the Chinese frontlines but without more follow on forces to fight the entrenched Chinese, there was no way the Filipinos could break through themselves. Brigadier Brodie would later explain that he decided not to send more forces to aid the Filipino rescue attempt because he thought the Gloucestershire Battalion could hold out until the next day when his planned operation with the 65th Regiment could rescue them, but the withdrawal order and the fact that the Glosters were in worse shape then Brigadier Brodie believed all combined to cause the loss of the unit. Sadly in the failed attempt to reach the trapped unit, Ojeda had five of his soldiers killed and more wounded by the Chinese.
When the Eighth Army Commander General Matthew Ridgeway read the results of the investigation he concluded the loss of the Gloucestershire Battalion was the fault of Brigadier Brodie not knowing his men. Ridgeway felt Brodie should have known the Glosters commander Lieutenant Colonel Carne had a habit of understating things and should have moved more soldiers in sooner to aid the 10th BCT’s rescue effort.
Overall the Chinese Spring Offensive was a failure and the allies ultimately reclaimed the lost territory with an offensive operation that Lieutenant Colonel Dionisio Ojeda’s 10th Battalion Combat Team participated in. After the battle the allies estimated that 75,000 enemy soldiers died during the Spring Offensive with 50,000 of them dying in the Seoul corridor where the Battle of the Imjim occurred.
The Roman Catholic men of PEFTOK attend mass at the county of Chorwon.
The Chinese would never truly recover from this defeat and after their failed second spring offensive two weeks later the communists initiated ceasefire negotiations after even more heavy losses. The ceasefire negotiations caused the war to turn into a hill top war for the next two years until a final ceasefire had been declared. Without the heroic fighting of LTC Ojeda’s 10th BCT along with the rest of the allied forces that fought tenaciously in the Seoul corridor, the ceasefire may have come much sooner with the communist controlling Seoul and in a position of strength to dictate the terms of the ceasefire. As it turned out the allies were in the position of strength during the ceasefire negotiations in part due to the actions of what the US command began calling the “Fighting Filipinos” of the 10th BCT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iZm15cmYSc
Remembering the PEFTOK Soldiers
Lieutenant Colonel Ojeda changed command in June 1951 and the 10th BCT redeployed from Korea soon after him in September 1951 and were replaced by another Filipino PEFTOK unit. The Philippine government maintained their PEFTOK troop commitment to Korea until May 1955, two years after the Demilitarized Zone was established with the signing of the armistice agreement. Overall 7,420 Filipino soldiers fought in the Korean War making the Philippines the fourth largest contributor of combat troops to aid in the defense of Korea. 112 soldiers died and approximately over 400 were wounded during the PEFTOK participation in the Korean War. The “Fighting Filipinos” would receive many combat decorations during the Korean War to include Lt. Artiaga posthumously receiving the US Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Yultong. The Tank Company received a 8th Army unit citation for their actions at the Battle of the Yultong as well. The PEFTOK units were also awarded the Presidential Unit Citations from South Korean President Syngman Rhee.
To this day the Korean government honors the veterans of the Philippines who fought in the Korean War with a memorial located near the location of the Battle of the Yultong:
Additionally the PEFTOK soldiers are memorialized in the Korean War memorial in Seoul where reunions for Filipino veterans are held and have even been attended by prior Korean presidents. Without a doubt the person that brought out the best of the first PEFTOK battalion sent to fight in the Korean War and set the standard for all follow on PEFTOK units was Lieutenant Colonel Dionisio Ojeda. Because of his leadership and combat ability LTC Ojeda is truly a hero of the Korean War.
Note: You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:
Battlefield: Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, CCF Spring Offensive
Date: Sept. 1950 – June 1951
Background
The American territory of Puerto Rico has a long and valiant history of providing soldiers to fight in every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to the present day War On Terror. However, despite Puerto Rican soldiers making steep sacrifices and showing exceptional valor in all these conflicts, one war rises above all the rest in terms of its deadliness and the bravery shown by the Puerto Ricans and that was the Korean War. No conflict in Puerto Rican history had soldiers receive more combat honors and claim the lives of even more Puerto Ricans than the Korean War.
Picture of Charlie Company 1st BN 295th IN in Iraq back in 2005. Photo from ElBoricua.com.
The origins of Puerto Ricans fighting for the United States began in 1899 when an act of Congress was passed to create a military force to defend Puerto Rico in peace time after the US gained possession of the territory following the Spanish-American War. This fighting force was officially formed in 1901 and composed entirely of locals and called the “Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry”. During World War I this unit saw its first deployment when it was sent to secure the Panama Canal Zone from any enemy attack. Following the war the unit was renamed the 65th Infantry Regiment in 1920.
65th Regiment Coat of Arms
At the start of World War II the regiment was once again sent to secure the Panama Canal Zone, however in 1944 the decision was made to deploy the regiment to North Africa and then eventually Europe where the 65th would see its first major combat operations. When the unit arrived in France they interestingly enough relieved the primarily Japanese-American 442nd Infantry Regiment that was a highly decorated unit from the war that included Korean born Hero of the Korean War Captain Young-oak Kim. During World War II the regiment would suffer 47 casualties and had two soldiers receive Silver Stars, and 22 more Bronze Stars. In one battle during the Korean War the 65th Infantry Regiment would suffer more casualties and be recognized with more combat heroics than all of World War II.
Article from the December 9, 1950 Stars & Stripes newspaper that describes the history of the 65th Infantry Regiment.
Deployment to Korea
LTC Harris was a 1930 West Point graduate who had served in the European theater during World War II. He assumed command of the 65th Infantry Regiment on July 26, 1949. According to the book, Honor and Fidelity: The 65th Infantry in Korea, 1950-1953, LTC Harris at first was not happy with the assignment because he felt it was a career ending assignment due to the perception the military had of the 65th Regiment which was known as the “Rum and Coca-Cola” outfit. To win the confidence of his men Harris rescinded an order that forbid the men of the 65th Regiment from speaking Spanish. However, he did specify that all military communications would be in English. Though LTC Harris was apprehensive at first of the assignment he soon came to enjoy the outstanding training available to his unit in Puerto Rico due to easy access to the training area in Vieques. Eventually Harris felt that the 65th Regiment was as well trained as any unit he had been with. It did not take the Pentagon long to notice this as well.
Due to an exceptional performance during a training exercise with the US 82nd Airborne & 3rd Infantry Divisions at Vieques, the Pentagon felt the 65th Infantry Regiment was ready for deployment to Korea despite being an understrength at the time. According to the book MacArthur’s War : Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero, the soldiers of the 65th Infantry Regiment were upset about being sent to Korea because they had enlisted with the promise that they would not be deployed from their home island any farther than the Panama Canal Zone. Despite the protests, the Puerto Ricans set sail for Korea on August 25, 1950 and on their way to Korea the 65the Regiment’s ship passed through the Panama Canal, which was the area the Puerto Ricans had long defended through two World Wars. However, the regiment didn’t just simply pass through the canal; in order to make up for their shortages the regiment stopped in Panama to be augmented with soldiers from the US Army 33rd Division stationed at Ft. Kobbe in Panama. The 33rd’s commander augmented the Puerto Ricans with mostly blacks, Hispanics, and Asians he no longer wanted.
By the time the 65th Infantry Regiment left Panama it was composed of a motley crew of Puerto Ricans, black Virgin Islanders, African-Americans, Japanese, and Hispanics who manned three infantry battalion, one artillery battalion, and one tank company all under the command of non-Spanish speaking white officers led by Lieutenant Colonel William W. Harris.
Article in the July 20, 1951 Stars & Stripes newspaper about the deployment of the 65th Infantry Regiment to Korea.
It should come as no surprise that such a motley crew as this began to call themselves the “The Borinqueneers” which is the combination of the words “Borinquen” (which was what the Tainos called the island before the arrival of the Spaniards) and “Buccaneers”. When these Borinqueneers left Puerto Rico they fully expected to see heavy combat in Korea because the North Korean and United Nations forces were still engaged in a do or die conflict along the Pusan Perimeter. However, when they arrived in Korea on September 22, 1950, the Incheon Landing Operation had already been executed followed by the capturing of Seoul. Like many of the UN forces that arrived in the Port of Pusan during this time period it appeared that the war was nearly over and they would just see some mop up duty at best.
There is however a famous story that shortly after arriving at Pusan, Colonel Harris was approached by Eigth Army commander Lt. Gen. Walton Walker. The general asked LTC Harris, “Will the Puerto Ricans fight?”
“I and my Puerto Ricans will fight anybody,” replied Harris proudly.
Walker then pointed to a waiting northbound train and ordered, “Get on, and then go that way.”
And north they went, but not too far north because like most of the newly arriving units the Puerto Ricans were tasked with anti-guerrilla operations in southeast Korea. To cause further communications problems between the English speaking white officers and the mostly Spanish speaking soldiers, Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA) soldiers were added to the unit. According to MacArthur’s War : Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero, the 65th Regiment had even lower morale with the arrival of the Koreans, which many of the Puerto Rican soldiers felt were cowardly soldiers because of their reputation for running from the advancing North Koreans, while the Americans had to stand and fight in their place. Whatever the truth may be one thing is for sure, there couldn’t have been a unit in the Korean War that was more difficult to command and control then what LTC Harris had to deal with commanding the 65th Infantry Regiment.
Early Operations In Korea
The first area the 65th Regiment was tasked to conduct anti-guerrilla patrols was around the city of Yongdong, which was believed to the be center of guerrilla activities in the southeast. Some readers may remember that Yondong is where the highly controversial No Gun Ri incident occurred in July 1950 that continues to be a subject of controversy to this day. It was in this area that the Puerto Ricans would suffer their first fatality only a week after arriving in Korea when on September 29, 1950 communist guerrillas ambushed a Borinqueneer patrol and killed one soldier and wounded three more. By October 9th the 65th Regiment had suffered 17 fatalites in the Yongdong area, but had killed 105 guerrillas and captured 500 more. Throughout the rest of the month of October the 65th Regiment continued to patrol the sector and twice repelled attacks by over 500 guerrillas against them.
3rd Infantry Division Commander General Robert Soule on the left stands next to 65th Infantry Regiment Commander Lieutenant Colonel William Harris.
By November the Borinqueneers were attached to the 3rd Infantry Division commanded by Major General Robert Soule, which served as the regiment’s higher headquarters unit. Soule was familiar with LTC Harris and his 65th Regiment since they had trained together back on the island of Vieques prior to their deployment to Korea. The 65th Regiment crossed the 38th parallel via ship and entered North Korea. By November 7th they were tasked to conduct patrols around the North Korean port city of Wonsan on the peninsula’s east coast in order to secure the port for the arrival of the 3rd Infantry Division.
The Borinqueneers were the first elements of the division to arrive at Wonsan. The 65th Regiment held off a number of Chinese probing attacks around the city as they secured the port for the arrival of the rest of the division. However, according to MacArthur’s War : Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero, LTC Harris was criticized by X Corps Commander General Ned Almond when he said that his 65th Regiment “had not been energetic in its movement west”. Almond had tasked a battalion of the 65th Regiment to move west 50 miles across steep mountains with poor roads while being attacked by bands of North Korean guerrilla fighters to link up with advancing 8th Army units. Harris would send another battalion to assist, but the best the 65th would do is make radio contact with the advancing 8th Army units to their west. This is just one of many examples of how clueless the upper echelons of command were in regards to the situation that front line units found themselves up against in Korea. This lack of appreciation for the terrain and enemy would ultimately lead to a massive defeat of the UN forces in North Korea.
Taskforce Dog & the Breakout From the Chosun Reservoir
As the Chinese intervention escalated the 3rd Infantry Division soon found themselves tasked to move north to assist the breakout of the US 1st Marine Division and the US 7th Infantry Division from the Chosun Reservoir after a massive Chinese military force surrounded the Marines and Soldiers deep within the mountains of North Korea. General Soule needed to send a unit up into the valley towards the Chosun Reservoir to secure an avenue of retreat for the Marines and Soldiers still fighting their way out of the reservoir. He chose the 2nd Battalion, 65th regiment augmented with the 999th Field Artillery Battalion and designated them as Taskforce Dog.
The Bornqueneers underneath Taksforce Dog were dubbed Taskforce Childs because they were commanded by Lt. Col. George Weldon Childs, the 65th Infantry regimental executive officer. Task Force Childs was given the mission of defending the town of Maijong-Dong, clearing the division main supply route of enemy forces from Maijong-Dong to Sudong-ni and protecting the withdrawal of the 1st Marine Division from Hagaru-ri.
Taskforce Dog fought their way through light Chinese resistance to the village of Chinhung-ni with the assistance of their attached field artillery battalion. Once at Chinhung-ni the Borinqueneers secured the village which allowed Marine elements already at the village to launch a counterattack up the ridgelines along Funchlin Pass to clear it of Chinese to allow the trapped US elements further up the valley at Koto-ri to withdraw to Chinhung-ni and then ultimately to the waiting boats at Hungnam. It must have been some sight back then for the Marines & soldiers who spent days in heavy combat against the Chinese to cross into friendly lines and be greeted by the motley crew of the US 65th Infantry Regiment.
Taskforce Dog continued to hold the village and once all the trapped US forces had retreated through the hamlet they moved down the valley themselves and took up positions around the coastal plains that surrounded the city of Hungnam. With the port secured by the 3rd Infantry Division and their attached 65th Regiment, the exhausted Marines and soldiers who had been trapped in the Chosin Reservoir were able to conduct an orderly amphibious withdrawal from Hungnam that included the evacuation of thousands of North Korean refugees. Before the Borinqueneers departed Hungnam an award ceremony was held to honor the various heroes of Taskforce Dog that had helped evacuate the Marines & soldiers from the Chosun Reservoir. One of those awarded was Lieutenant Colonel William Harris. He was pinned with the Silver Star by X Corps Commander General Almond. LTC Harris is reported to have said that he wished he could break the Silver Star apart and give a piece of it to every Borinqueneer dead or alive that had made the evacuation of Hungnam such a success. The unit would also be awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal for their part in the evacuation of Hungnam.
General Ned Almond Pins Lieutenant Colonel William Harris with the Silver Star.
Here is an amazing conversation from the book Honor and Fidelity: The 65th Infantry in Korea, 1950-1953 that General Almond had with Harris that really shows how the men of the 65th Infantry Regiment changed the perceptions that many senior leaders had at the time of colored soldiers:
The Borinqueneers ultimately ended up being the last unit to evacuate the city with LTC Harris being the last American to board a outbound boat. When their ship left Hungnam the port and the city was shelled by the US Navy to where it would be of no use to the advancing communist forces. When the 65th Regiment arrived in Pusan, here is how one company commander from the unit described the combat actions of the regiment:
Capt. George F. Ammon of Vicksburg, Miss. who has commanded a compny of the 65th for two years, said the youngsters “crowned themselves with glory and proved themselves a well trained combat unit” in their baptism of fire on the frozen northeast coastal front. “They were a well-disciplined outfit with that devil may care attitude.”
Capt. Ammon said, “When they were sent to drive back the Chinese they moved out aggressively and carried the fight to the enemy every minute. When they were on the defensive they stayed in their foxholes even when their positions were over run and picked off the commies with the cooolness and precision of season veterans.”
The Puerto Ricans had made a name for themselves for their actions in North Korea and they would have plenty more combat action to come as the new 8th US Army Commander General Matthew Ridgway was determined to end the massive UN retreat that was threatening to end the war as a US defeat. Ridgway had taken over for General Walton Walker who had been killed on December 23, 1950 in an auto accident just south of Uijongbu. He had plans on how to turn the tide of the war in the favor of the UN forces and the 65th Infantry Regiment would go on to be a key part of this plan’s success.
The Borinqueneers On the Offensive
In the first three months of 1951, the 65th Infantry Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William W. Harris was kept busy as it spearheaded a number of division operation to include in early February, when its 1st and 2nd battalions conducted the last battalion-sized bayonet assault in U.S. military history, leading to the capture of P’ajang-ni, a fortified hilly village south of Seoul.
South Korea, Feb. 2, 1951 Puerto Rico’s 65th U.S. Infantry Regiment. The battle portrayed in the painting was the last recorded battalion-sized bayonet attack by the U.S. Army. The painting by J. Andrea was done in 1992, was commissioned by the National Guard Heritage Foundation.
It was during this timeframe that the LTC Harris’ 65th Regiment was augmented with the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) because it was mistakenly believed the Filipinos spoke Spanish. LTC Harris had a growing feud with the PEFTOK commander Lieutenant Colonel Mariano Azurin. Ultimatey LTC Harris was able to get LTC Azurin replaced with fellow Hero of the Korean War LTC Dionisio Ojeda. Harris and Ojeda would go on to be a formidable leadership team for the 65th Regiment.
The victory of the US 23 Infantry Regiment at Chipyong-ni in February 1951 led by fellow Heroes of the Korean War Colonel Paul Freeman & Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Monclar opened the door to a peninsula wide 8th Army offensive that by mid-month, the 65th Regiment had become the first United Nations unit to reach the Han River. By mid-March, it had become the first element to re-cross the Han in the 8th Army’s final drive north. The motley crew of the 65th Regiment received the ultimate accolade for their battlefield performance when Douglas MacArthur’s said, “Give me Puerto Rican soldiers like those of the 65th and I will invade China.”
Stopping the Chinese Spring Offensive
It would seem strange at first that soldiers from a tropical island in the Caribbean would find themselves become battled hardened warriors in the frozen mountains of Korea, but that is exactly what happened. The Borinqueneers soon found themselves advancing north of Seoul and took up positions on the western front near the village of Yoncheon. When the Chinese Spring Offensive began on 22-30 April 1951, the 65th Regiment with their attached Philippine battalion were located between the British 29th Brigade to the west and the Turkish Brigade to the east that was just recovering from heavy losses inflicted on the unit by the Chinese during the Battle of Kunu-ri a few months prior.
Directly opposite of the 65th Regiment’s positions were four Chinese division numbering about 40,000 men. The 65th Regiment did not receive contact from these Chinese units until just after midnight on April 23rd. The Chinese opened their attack with a heavy artillery barrage before advancing on the regiment in the darkness of the night, which they preferred to fight in. Once the artillery barrage ended it was clear an assault on the regiment’s positions was coming because of the loud noises from the Chinese’s bugles, gongs, and drums that they used to communicate between their units. There was even a report that the Chinese may have initiated the attack by releasing water from a dam up river that allegedly killed many Puerto Ricans.
During the massive Chinese assault on the east side of the 65th Regiment the Chinese were able to push the Turkish Brigade from their positions and began to envelope the eastern flank of the Filipino battalion. The situation only got worse as the 65th Infantry Regiment began to fallback from the Chinese attack on their exposed flank because of the withdrawal of the Turks. The Chinese attackers had gone behind the PEFTOK’s lines and attacked the Borinquneers. LTC Harris had his men fall back to reconsolidate another defensive line to fight the Chinese from. As they fell back the Chinese then turned their attention once again towards the Filipinos. Lieutenant Colonel Ojeda and his men were able to hold out against the Chinese attacks on the ridgeline they controlled. Due to the withdrawal of both the Turks and the Puerto Ricans, the Filipinos found themselves trapped on their hill top fortress and surrounded by the Chinese.
Like Ojeda’s Fighting Filipinos another unit attached to the 3rd Infantry Division, the Belgian battalion was likewise trapped north of enemy lines and the 3rd ID commander General Robert Soule decided their was only one unit that could get them out, the Borinqueneers. General Soule ordered the 65th Regiment augmented with tanks from the 64th Tank Battalion to counterattack north and link up with the Filipinos and Belgians and then conduct a fighting withdrawal south. By mid-day on April 23rd, LTC Harris moved his men north and took up blocking positions on the north side of the Hantan River. Once in position the Filipinos and the Belgians counterattacked south through the Chinese lines and linked up with LTC Harris and his men. The 65th Regiment then covered the withdrawal of both units as they moved south to link up with the British 29th Brigade.
Once the 65th Regiment linked up with the 29th Brigade they were tasked to fill in holes along the Brigade’s front line in the vicinity of Kamak Mountain while other brigade elements tried to extract the trapped British Gloucestershire Regiment that was commanded by Hero of the Korean War Lieutenant Colonel James P. Carne. By the night of April 24th the 29th Brigade was still unable to extract the Glosters and thus turned to the 65th Regiment to help.
The 65th Regiment was tasked to scale the ridgelines of Kamak Mountain and clear it of Chinese in order to help rescue the trapped Glosters at first light on April 25th. However, before the 65th Regiment could launch their attack, the 29th Brigade Commander General Tom Brodie decided to send the PEFTOK battalion augmented with a British tank platoon to advance up a narrow valley to link up with the Glosters in a last gasp effort to rescue them. This effort ended up being a failure because the ridgelines were filled with hardened Chinese soldiers firing down on the Filipinos.
During this fight General Brodie was informed that the allied leadership had decided to pull the UN forces’ frontline further south so all the allied units could reorganize their frontlines. Due to this, any attack to clear Kamak Mountain by the 65th Infantry Regiment was called off and only one platoon of tanks from the regiment was assigned to try and breakthrough to the Glosters, which ended up being a failure as well because approximately an entire Chinese division had moved into the valley by this time. On the western side of the ridgeline a combined US-ROK assault had also failed to reach the trapped unit but they were able to rescue a few stragglers that were able to evade the Chinese when they overran their position. Ultimately the Glosters were completely destroyed with only a 67 men able to make it off the mountain that day with the rest of the 700 man unit either dead or captured to include their commander LTC Carne.
Aftermath of the Chinese Spring Offensive
Overall the Chinese Spring Offensive was a failure and the allies ultimately reclaimed the lost territory with an offensive operation that Lieutenant Colonel William Harris’ 65th Regiment participated in. After the battle the allies estimated that 75,000 enemy soldiers died during the Spring Offensive with 50,000 of them dying in the Seoul corridor where the Battle of the Imjim occurred.
The Chinese would never truly recover from this defeat and after their failed second spring offensive two weeks later the communists initiated ceasefire negotiations after even more heavy losses. The ceasefire negotiations caused the war to turn into a hill top war for the next two years until a final ceasefire had been declared. Without the heroic fighting of the 65th Regiment along with the rest of the allied forces that fought tenaciously in the Seoul corridor, the ceasefire may have come much sooner with the communist controlling Seoul and in a position of strength to dictate the terms of the ceasefire. As history turned out the position of strength the allies ended up negotiating from during the ceasefire negotiations was in part due to the actions of the fighting Borinqueneers.
Remembering the 65th Infantry Regiment
Following the Chinese Spring Offensive the first batch of soldiers that composed the 65th Infantry Regiment were rotated out to include their commander LTC Harris. When the 65th Regiment entered the war, many leaders questioned the combat abilities of this motley crew of soldiers from around the world. However, after their actions in North Korea and along the Imjim River there was no doubt that this unit had become one of the best of all the United Nations forces deployed to Korea.
Article from the June 21, 1951 Stars & Stripes newspaper describes LTC William Harris’ Change of Command on June 20, 1951.
LTC Harris, told them in 1951 after he changed command, “there were many who under-rated you when you first came to Korea. I can assure you now that there is no one who does not agree that you have proved yourselves as fine combat soldiers. You are damn good and I’m proud of you.”
In a total of three years of fighting in some of the toughest battles of the Korean War, the 65th earned two U.S. Presidential Unit Citations, two Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations, two U.S. Meritorious Unit Commendations and the Greek Gold Medal of Bravery. Four of its soldiers were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award for valor. In total Puerto Ricans that served in the Korean War were awarded 10 Distinguished Service Crosses, 256 Silver Stars, and 606 Bronze Stars. This is far more than the 24 medals awarded to Puerto Ricans during World War II. However, the 65th Regiment soldiers that would follow LTC Harris and his men never quite lived up to the heroics of that first group. In fact 95 65th Regiment soldiers were court martialed in 1952 for cowardice after losing key positions to the Chinese in the Chorwon Valley. The 65th Regiment would go on to redeem themselves in 1953 for exceptional combat actions during the Battle of Outpost Harry.
An article in the March 3, 1953 edition of the Stars & Stripes newspaper describes how non-Puerto Rican replacements would be assigned to the 65th Regiment for the first time.
In all, some 61,000 Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, the bulk of them with the 65th Infantry Regiment. Some 743 were killed and 2,318 wounded. In 1954 the 65th Regiment returned to Puerto Rico and lives on today as the Puerto Rican National Guard.
Note: You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:
This photo, taken on Sept. 20, 2015, by the Fighters for Free North Korea, an anti-Pyongyang activist group, shows a balloon that contains leaflets denouncing the hereditary power succession in the North, flying toward North Korea in the South Korean border city of Paju. The group said the next day it sent 200,000 leaflets on 10 balloons to protest against its moves to launch nuclear and missile tests amid opposition from the international community. (Yonhap)
According to the below article there is not much that the South Koreans can do in regards to the recent mine attack that wounded two South Korean troops. I disagree, just for starters the ROK government should have Park Sang-hak and his team on speed dial to go launch some of their propaganda balloons with DVDs of “The Interview” on them. Announcing government funding for defector radio stations is another option. The biggest trump card the ROK government has is to end the near-slave labor operation going on at Kaesong that is a major Kim regime cash cow:
South Korea announced a series of measures this week aimed at deterring another North Korean land mine attack, from broadcasting anti-Pyongyang messages across the Demilitarized Zone to changing patrol times for its soldiers.
But in a climate where military officials fear that even the smallest exchange of fire could escalate into a full-blown conflict, there might be little Seoul will do to punish the North or discourage further provocations, some experts say.
Two South Korean soldiers were maimed Aug. 4 after triggering several recently planted land mines during a routine morning patrol at the DMZ, near Paju. The blasts happened about 1,440 feet south of the Military Demarcation Line, which marks the actual border between the two Koreas. One of the soldiers lost his legs, and the other lost a foot.
The land mine attack, while tragic, is a relatively minor incident in the larger picture of inter-Korean relations, and the appropriate response for Seoul is unclear, said Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.
“It’s this real kind of gray area that doesn’t rise to the level of triggering some kind of military counter attack,” he said.
South Korean forces will vary patrol times so they cannot be tracked by North Korea, and will increase the number of search and reconnaissance missions along the DMZ. Troops will also conduct a sweep for additional land mines this month, and will toughen engagement rules for North Korean troops who cross into the South’s territory, according to South Korean media reports Tuesday. [Stars & Stripes]
This just shows that North Korea’s threats work and that is why they continue to make them:
A defector-turned-activist said Monday he will halt his campaign of sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda via balloons over the demilitarized zone into North Korea after it caused escalating military tension at the inter-Korean border.
“I can see the North’s fear of the leaflets,” said Park Sang-hak, founder of the rights group Fighters for a Free North Korea. “We won’t send the leaflets for some time.”
Earlier this month, the group said it would send leaflets carrying messages critical of the Kim Jong-un regime and 5,000 DVDs of the Hollywood comedy “The Interview,” which depicted an assassination of the young ruler, over the border by balloons sometime around Thursday. Thursday is the fifth anniversary of the North’s sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, although Pyongyang has denied responsibility.
Park demanded Monday that the North apologize for sinking the Cheonan, and if it doesn’t, his group will eventually dispatch the leaflets and DVDs.
Tension between the two Koreas’ militaries reached a new peak over the weekend as a result of Park’s plan. On Sunday, the North threatened to use “all the firepower means” to destroy the balloons. The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency released a warning from frontline units of its military. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I am sure Park Sang-hak was under a lot of pressure from the South Korean government to suspend the balloon launches due to the talks over the Kaesong Industrial Complex they are trying to have with the North Koreans.
![Police retrieve a balloon attached to a sign lampooning the North's ruling Kim family that anti-Pyongyang activists floated toward North Korea on Monday evening, in defiance of the South Korean government's attempts to stop them. [YONHAP]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2020/06/23/d53ca11f-2b16-4948-b6c8-3ecb4406cf74.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
, LTC Harris at first was not happy with the assignment because he felt it was a career ending assignment due to the perception the military had of the 65th Regiment which was known as the “Rum and Coca-Cola” outfit. To win the confidence of his men Harris rescinded an order that forbid the men of the 65th Regiment from speaking Spanish. However, he did specify that all military communications would be in English. Though LTC Harris was apprehensive at first of the assignment he soon came to enjoy the outstanding training available to his unit in Puerto Rico due to easy access to the training area in Vieques. Eventually Harris felt that the 65th Regiment was as well trained as any unit he had been with. It did not take the Pentagon long to notice this as well.
, the soldiers of the 65th Infantry Regiment were upset about being sent to Korea because they had enlisted with the promise that they would not be deployed from their home island any farther than the Panama Canal Zone. Despite the protests, the Puerto Ricans set sail for Korea on August 25, 1950 and on their way to Korea the 65the Regiment’s ship passed through the Panama Canal, which was the area the Puerto Ricans had long defended through two World Wars. However, the regiment didn’t just simply pass through the canal; in order to make up for their shortages the regiment stopped in Panama to be augmented with soldiers from the US Army 33rd Division stationed at Ft. Kobbe in Panama. The 33rd’s commander augmented the Puerto Ricans with mostly blacks, Hispanics, and Asians he no longer wanted.
