Tag: Korean War

Basic Information

• Name: James P. Carne
• Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
• Born: April 11, 1906
• Battlefield: Battle of the Imjim River
• Date: 22-25 April, 1951

Introduction

In November of 1951 the Chinese military entered the Korean War and launched a massive invasion of the Korean peninsula in support of their communist ally North Korea. The overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces initially had a shocking effect on the US military and its United Nations allies. The Chinese military won victory after victory against the retreating coalition forces and eventually captured the then mostly destroyed South Korean capitol city of Seoul.

It wasn’t until February of 1951 that the 23rd US Infantry Regiment led by Colonel Paul Freeman and augmented by the French Battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Monclar, were able for the first time to stop the Chinese advance after the 23rd Infantry’s heroic stand at the Battle of Chipyong-ni.  In April of 1951 the United States military and its United Nations allies had begun to consolidate their gains against the Chinese Communist Forces by establishing a front line near the 38th parallel that had served as the pre-war border between the two Koreas. One of the United Nations forces manning this new front was the British 29th Brigade Combat Team commanded by Brigadier General Tom Brodie. The Brigade was composed of three British Battalions, the Gloucestershire Regiment, the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, and the Royal Ulster Rifles. Additionally the brigade was augmented with one Belgian battalion.

UN frontline prior to the Battle of the Imjim.

The 29th Brigade was tasked to man a frontline along the Imjim River that stretched for 12 miles. Due to the length of the frontline and the number of soldiers available, General Brodie could not deploy his force in one consistent front against the enemy; he instead deployed each battalion to hold a strategic piece of ground opposite of the Chinese force, but this left gaps in between the battalions for the Chinese exploit. On the farthest left flank of the brigade near the village of Jokseong was the Gloucestershire Battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Carne.

The 45 year old, tall, and pipe smoking LTC Carne had served with the Gloucestershire Regiment for 26 years before finding himself in command of the unit he had long been part of, now in the far distant hills of Korea. He lived and breathed the Gloucestershire Regiment, which was credited with being the most decorated regiment in the entire British military with campaign streamers from other far off distant places such as Waterloo, Quebec, and Gallipoli. April 23rd was the British holiday of St. George Day and LTC Carne had an elaborate celebration planned to honor the British patron saint. Unfortunately the British celebration would never materialize due to roughly 30,000 Chinese party crashers that day.
Tea time for the soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment.

The Chinese Spring Offensive

On April 21, 1951 the Chinese launched what has now become known as the Chinese Spring Offensive. This massive offensive operation launched by the Chinese had the overall objective of recapturing the South Korean capitol city of Seoul. The Chinese believed that if they recaptured the city it would break the will of the United States and its allies to continue fighting what was quickly becoming an unpopular war. Capturing Seoul would put them in a position of strength during ceasefire negotiations that were sure to follow such a military success.

The offensive was launched all along the frontlines but the two most important objectives that the Chinese needed to achieve in order to march on Seoul would be to capture the Kapyong Valley to the north east of Seoul and to secure a river crossing across the Imjim River to the north. It was here along the Imjim River that LTC Carne and his men of the Gloucestershire regiment would go on to fight a battle that would make the veterans of Rourke’s Drift proud, against the vastly superior Chinese forces that would ultimately live forever in the anals of British military history.

The Battle of the Imjim Begins

The modern day Imjim River Valley as seen from he summit of Kamaksan mountain.

The Battle of the Imjim officially began on April 22, 1951 when the Chinese 34th and 29th Divisions assaulted the US 3rd Infantry Division located to the east of the British 29th Brigade. The 29th Brigade would not be assaulted until midnight on April 22nd. On that night the Chinese 187th Division exploited gaps on each side of the Belgian battalion to surround them and completely cut them off from the rest of the brigade. The assault against the 29th Brigade continued to expand throughout the day and by the night of April 23rd the entire British frontline, including the Gloucestershire Regiment, were in full contact with the enemy.

The Gloucestershire Regiment initially enjoyed much success in rappelling Chinese attempts to ford the Imjim River at the one known crossing point. However, the Chinese discovered a crossing point to the northwest of the regiment that previous reconnaissance by the British had failed to reveal. The Chinese quickly took advantage of the undefended crossing point and poured troops across the river.

View from Kamaksan mountain of the Imjim River where the Chinese would have crossed north of Joeksong.

The troops of the Chinese 187th Division that had crossed the river were soon scaling the spurs of the hills being held by A Company soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment. Throughout the night and into the early morning hours the A Company soldiers held off the massive Chinese assault but they eventually had to withdraw from their position overlooking the river and back to a supplementary position on Hill 235 to the south. In the typical understated British way the company’s radio man radioed LTC Carne to inform him their position was overrun by declaring, “We are overrun. We’ve had it. Cheerio.”

D Company located on Hill 182 held against the Chinese assault, but with the withdrawal of A Company to their western flank D Company was also forced to withdraw towards Hill 235 as well so they would not be surrounded by the advancing Chinese. Their withdrawal was protected by heavy artillery and mortar fire as the British soldiers moved to Hill 235. The heavy artillery had stopped the Chinese momentum for the time being as they sought shelter from the incoming rounds. This allowed the Gloucestershire Regiment to consolidate a front line with two companies holding Hill 235 and the other two companies holding a ridgeline based around Hill 314 just to the east.

Throughout the rest of the day on April 23rd the Gloucestershire Regiment held their positions against the Chinese probing attacks. However, the Chinese had not committed themselves to a full scale assault on the regiment because they were waiting for soldiers from the Chinese 192nd, 187th, and 188th Divisions to cross the Imjim River. The single British Regiment of 750 soldiers now found themselves opposed by three Chinese divisions numbering roughly 30,000 soldiers. With such a disparity in numbers the outcome of this impending final battle was never in doubt, it was only a matter of how long the men of LTC James Carne’s Gloucestershire Regiment were going to make the Chinese earn every piece of ground they tried to take.

That night thousands of Chinese soldiers charged at the waiting guns of the Gloucestershire Regiment. Casualties were heavy on both sides with the Chinese taking the vast majority of the casualties. As the fighting continued through the night the soldiers began to run low on supplies and ammo. If they were not resupplied soon, they would be over run. LTC Carne had to organize a party of soldiers to assault into the Chinese lines to recover supplies from his regimental headquarters that had been over run by the Chinese earlier on the 23rd. The raiding party was able to successfully break through the Chinese lines and recover some supplies. The supplies ended up being enough to get them through the night.

The Fight for Hill 235

The morning of April 24, 1951, Lieutenant Colonel James Carne found his men of the British Gloucestershire Regiment in dire straits. They had survived a brutal night of fighting against the Chinese hordes and now found themselves with very few supplies left especially ammunition. They had one hope and that was an aerial resupply. LTC Carne organized by radio a mission by the US Air Force to resupply the regiment. At 0700 that morning the US Air Force tried to parachute in resupplies to the Gloucesters. However, as was often the case during the Korean War most of the supplies landed within the Chinese lines with little of it landing on Hill 235 for the Gloucesters. With a little luck the British likely hoped they had enough supplies to last them to the next morning; if they lived long enough to see it.

Soldiers from the Gloucestershire Regime battle Chinese troops during the Korean War.

During the day of April 24th, the Chinese continued to launch their assault on the British lines. The Chinese were unsure of the exact British positions and thus their human wave assaults were initially ineffective as the British riflemen carved up the Chinese that were advancing towards the British front lines. However, once the Chinese were able to accurately assess how the British defensive positions were deployed they quickly launched a massive attack on the C Company position near the road that ran in between the British regiment. The Chinese penetrated into the C Company frontlines and LTC Carne ordered C Company to withdraw from their positions on the east side of the road and consolidate into a final defensive perimeter on Hill 235. The withdrawal of C Company to Hill 235 across the road caused B Company to sit on top of a hill that was quickly surrounded by the Chinese after the pullout of C Company.

Literally with a sea of angry Chinese infantrymen surrounding them B Company continued to hold off the furious Chinese assaults on their hill. With little success from their full scale assault on all sides, the Chinese changed their tactics and decided to focus their assault on one location on the north of the hill. By focusing their forces on one location the Chinese through their human wave assaults were able to break through B Company’s perimeter. With their perimeter broken B Company had no choice but to try to make a run for Hill 235 where the rest of the regiment was located. LTC Carne ordered all the fire power he had available to lay covering fire with the mortars from his attached C Troop, 170th Independent Mortar Battery. Though the mortar battery provided plenty of suppressive indirect fire against the Chinese the withdrawal of B Company ended up being a disaster. Out of an entire company of about 150 men only 20 made the sprinting retreat to Hill 235 to rejoin the rest of the regiment. The rest of the men were either killed or captured by the Chinese.

Despite the Chinese success in removing the British from around Hill 314 they still needed to get them dislodged from Hill 235 before they could advance their main columns up the narrow valley towards Seoul. The stingy British defense had already cost the Chinese two days of time off of their scheduled offensive plan, thus they were eager to keep the momentum of the operation moving before the allies had a chance to regroup.

Even if the British wanted to retreat from the hill they had no choice due to the fact they were completely surrounded. Attempts were however being made to breach the Chinese lines and exfiltrate the regiment. Throughout the day of April 24th a platoon of British tanks and soldiers from the Philippine 10th Battalion Combat Team tried to breakthrough the valley where the Gloucestershire Regiment was located from the south.

The peak in the background is Kamaksan and the road leading towards it is the route the Filipino rescue team would have followed.

However, every time they tried to breakthrough they were held off by the Chinese troops that had completely surrounded Hill 235. The combined Filipino/British assault had actually come within two kilometers of Hill 235 but were unable to breakthrough the Chinese lines due to the steep terrain. Due to this, General Brodie ordered the Filipinos and the British armor platoon to pull back and hold a blocking position to the south of the valley and then requested help relieving the surrounded Gloucesters from the US 3rd Infantry Division. The 3rd Infantry Division Commander Major General Soule sent the 65th Infantry Regiment to aid in the offensive operation to relieve the Gloucesters.

However, the regiment would not be ready to execute the attack until 0630 on April 25th. General Brodie was confident that the soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment would be able to hold that long. However, this assumption was based off the ability of the Gloucesters to hold off the Chinese attacks during the day. The Chinese were in fact waiting until night fall on the 24th to launch a full scale attack to wipe out the British regiment. What the Gloucesters thought was a full scale Chinese assault already during the day was in fact only probing actions with no intent to over run the British positions; they would wait until night fall to do that.

Joeksong area as viewed from the slopes of Kamaksan mountain.

As soon as night fell the Chinese horns and bugles sounded and ferocious human wave attacks unlike the British had ever seen before fell upon Hill 235. LTC Carne personally led multiple counterattacks against the Chinese every time they overran a portion of the hilltop forcing the Chinese attackers back off the hill. The Chinese bodies continued to pile up next to the bones and skulls of prior dead soldiers that appeared all over Korea’s hill sides with the on set of spring and the melting of the winter snows.

Amazingly the Gloucestershire Regiment survived to see the sun rise on April 25th. However, there was only 350 men out of the 700 strong regiment left that could hold and fire a rifle, plus they now had no food, medicine, and very little ammo left. The bad news for the Gloucesters would only continue that morning as the attack to relieve the regiment by the 65th Infantry was cancelled because the regiment was redeployed to fill a whole in the defensive line elsewhere that the Chinese had penetrated through. Instead of an entire US infantry regiment trying to rescue the Gloucesters, the task fell on one company of American tanks from the 65th Infantry Regiment.

Modern Day Hill 235 outside Joeksong, South Korea

Due to the steep terrain and narrow road of the valley leading to the Gloucesters, only one platoon of American tanks were sent into the valley to try and break through the Chinese lines. How anyone thought that one platoon of American tanks could accomplish what a British tank company and entire battalion of Filipino infantrymen could not do is anyone’s guess. Predictably the tank platoon’s assault up the valley failed once they made heavy contact with the enemy. The tank platoon put up a furious fight, but were forced to withdraw when they ran out of ammunition and the Chinese infantry began to flank their column.

With the failure of the tank platoon’s attempt to penetrate the Chinese lines a battalion of Korean soldiers from the ROK 1st Division tried to breakthrough the Chinese lines that morning as well from the west. At 0900 on April 25th the ROK soldiers found themselves in heavy contact with the Chinese forces in their attempt to relieve the Gloucesters. At about the same time LTC Carne received his last orders from General Brodie before his radio batteries went dead and the final order was for his unit to conduct a fighting withdrawal from their position.

Preparing for the Escape

LTC Carne and his officers were left that morning to figure out how they were going to make an escape from the sea of Chinese soldiers that surrounded the British island on Hill 235. To make matters worse, LTC Carne did not know exactly where the units tasked to try to breakthrough the Chinese lines were located since the batteries in his radio went out. He decided that trying to make a break from Hill 235 using a saddle of land to his southwest to link up with soldiers of the 1st ROK Division that was located somewhere to their southwest was the regiment’s best chance.

 

However, the D Company commander CPT Mike G. Harvey felt that the Chinese would expect the Gloucesters to try and use the saddle as an escape route and may have set a trap there for them. He felt the best way to breakthrough the Chinese would be to do what they would never expect, assault down the steepest portion of Hill 235 to the north and keep moving north away from the Chinese front lines. Once away from the frontlines the soldiers would then try to infiltrate to the west toward the 1st ROK Division.

Since no one could agree on one course of action it was agreed upon that all the soldiers of the regiment besides D Company would make a break towards the southwest while the 100 men from D Company would try to penetrate the Chinese lines to the north. LTC Carne decided to stay on Hill 235 with the 50 wounded men on the hill. With that decision the regimental chaplain, the sergeant major, surgeon, and medics agreed to stay with LTC Carne as well and surrender to the Chinese.

Before surrendering the battalion chaplain had this to say to the remaining men of the Gloucestershire Regiment in memory of their fallen comrades, “They will remember for a little while in England. The soldier does have his day. I want to remind you this afternoon that it is not enough to remember now. We’ve got to show what we think of their sacrifice in the way we conduct ourselves in the days ahead.”

The Escape

With the decisions made and final farewells given, the remaining soldiers of the Gloucestershire Regiment made their break towards friendly lines, but not before the pipe smoking LTC Carne could hit up CPT Harvey one last time for some smoking tobacco. The soldiers that decided to try and run across the southwest saddle towards the 1st ROK Division were met with heavy machine gun fire from the Chinese the minute they exposed themselves on the saddle. Completely surrounded and being fired at from above the soldiers laid down their weapons and surrendered to the Chinese. Some other soldiers would leave the column to try and escape on their own but they to would eventually be rounded up and captured.

View of the valley leading to Joeksong from Kamaksan Mountain.

The column led by CPT Harvey would prove to be more successful. CPT Harvey’s hunch was correct about penetrating the Chinese lines to the north because they ran into only two Chinese infantrymen and quickly killed them. They moved about a mile north before changing direction and heading west. An American plane had spotted the British soldiers and began relaying signals to them where the the 1st ROK Division was located. The column began moving southwest towards a valley that would lead them to friendly lines.

They moved about one mile through the valley when they began to be engaged by Chinese machine gunners on the hills above them. The Gloucesters took cover in a ditch then ran through the valley and then began to make a desperate sprint through the gauntlet of fire towards friendly lines. Gloucesters were being shot on the left and right during this last desperate attempt to free themselves from the Chinese assault.

Gloucestershire Regiment escape routes on April 25, 1951.

CPT Harvey and the remaining men that made it to the end of the valley saw a platoon of American tanks in the clearing ahead that were supporting the ROK 1st Division. The British soldiers attempted to sprint towards the tanks, but the tanks opened fire on them mistaking them for Chinese since they were covered in mud and were not wearing their customary British berets. Six British soldiers were killed in the friendly fire incident before the spotter plane dropped a note down towards the American tanks letting them know they were British. By this time Chinese infantrymen were screaming down the hillsides and bayoneting British soldiers who had long since run out of ammunition.

By the time the American tanks and ROK infantrymen could rescue CPT Harvey’s column at around 1400 hours on the 25th, only CPT Harvey, three officers, and thirty-six men for a total of 40 soldiers out of the 100 who had began the D Company escape attempt had made it out alive. Sadly beside the D Company soldiers few others escaped the envelopment, the rest were either dead or captured including their commander LTC Carne who had volunteered to stay behind to care for the dying and wounded.

Final roll call of the Gloucestershire Regiment following the Battle of the Imjim.

Only 67 men had escaped with 59 men dieing that day on the mountain. In all 526 men had been captured out of a regiment of 700 men. Of the captured men 180 of them were wound and 34 of them would die in captivity. LTC Carne’s men would be held in Chinese re-education camps for the rest of the war while he instead was held in solitary confinement during his entire time in captivity. After the war was over and the British POWs were returned LTC James Carne would receive the Victoria Cross, the highest military honor in the British Empire for his actions during the Battle of the Imjim as well as honourably surviving captivity for so many months.

The Return Home

Upon his return to Britain LTC Carne told British intelligence that during his time in solitary confinement that the communist had experimented on him with drugs. He feared the drugs may have been introduced into him in order to turn him into a communist sleeper agent. This story by LTC Carne would go on to live in the popular imagination with the release of the Manchurian Candidate years later based off his story.

James P. Carne in 1953 after his release.

Also back in the Britain, the loss of the Gloucestershire battalion made huge headlines and the commander of allied forces in Korea, General Matthew Ridgeway ordered an investigation into how the regiment was lost. The investigation concluded that everyone had done what they thought was reasonably possible to relieve the Gloucestershire Regiment and that the strength of the Chinese attack was what was overall responsible for the regiment’s loss.

Privately General Ridgeway blamed the 29th Brigade Commander General Brodie for the loss of the regiment because he had never made it clear to US forces how desperate the situation was for the Gloucestershire Regiment and did not adequately use the Filipino infantry battalion and the supporting British tanks to relieve the regiment. Brodie took 50% responsibility for the loss and believed that the 3rd Infantry Commander General Soule should have shown more initiative in learning the true state of the Gloucesters himself and sending a larger rescue force. Nevertheless it is clear the Gloustershire Regiment should have never been lost on the hill that day.

I think a strong case can be made that LTC Carne should share in some of the blame himself considering how he allowed the regiment to be enveloped instead of falling back sooner. The Gloucestershire Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry regiment commanded by LTC J.R. Stone during the Battle of Kapyong faced exactly the same conditions as the Gloucesters and yet the results were vastly different. The Canadians stopped the Chinese at a loss of only 10 people while the British stopped the Chinese at the cost of the entire Gloucestershire Regiment. The Gloucesters fought very valantly, but I think it is pretty clear that if their commanders made some slightly different decisions the regiment could have been saved. I think another strong case can be made that the Gloucestershire Regiment became something of legendary proportions simply to cover up the bad decisions that led to the regiment’s destruction in the first place. Despite this LTC Carne’s brave actions under fire as well as the heroic conduct of himself while imprisoned still makes him a hero of the Korean War.

However, the loss of the regiment was not for nothing, it is estimated that the Chinese battle against the British Brigade had cost the Chinese 11,000 casualties with the stubborn defense of Hill 235 by the Gloucesters costing the Chinese something even more precious than their manpower, time. The time bought by the Gloucesters was used to fortify the allied frontlines which made any further Chinese attempts to advance on Seoul from the north across the Imjim River, impossible. Seoul had been saved by the successful defense of the Imjim River and the Kapyong Valley plus the Chinese had been dealt a great defeat with the number of Chinese soldiers killed across the allied frontlines during the First Chinese Spring Offensive.

The Chinese would never truly recover from this defeat as the allies would eventually push the Chinese back across the Imjim River which after their failed second spring offensive two weeks later caused the communists to initiate ceasefire negotiations. 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 brave sacrifice paid in blood by the men of the Gloucestershire Regiment 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 large part due to the incredible stand for four days by the men of the Gloucestershire Regiment.

Note: You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:

Basic Information

• Name: Dionisio Ojeda
• Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
• Country: Philippines
• 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:

Basic Information

• Lewis Millett
• Rank: Captain (during Korean War)
• Born: December 15, 1920
• Battlefield: Battle of Hill 180
• Date of Battle: February 7, 1951

Introduction

The Korean War featured some heroes that had colorful life stories such as the Frenchman Ralph Monclar & the Turk Tahsin Yazici before finding themselves in the frozen rice paddies of the Korean peninsula. However, probably no American combat hero from the war had as unconventional military career as the legendary Lewis L. Millett.

Millett was born in Mechanic Falls, Maine, on December 15, 1920, but spent the majority of his childhood growing up in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. He left high school at Dartmouth after his junior year in 1938 to enlist in the state’s National Guard. Millett wanted to fight the fascism he saw threatening the world that was rising from Nazi Germany and thus left his National Guard unit and joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. However, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that he United States would not enter the war against the Nazis, Millett deserted the US Army and hitchhiked to Canada where he enlisted in the Canadian military.

In the Canadian Army Millett was selected with one other American to attend “Top Secret” training in radio location in what later became known as radar. It was a bit ironic that one US Army deserter and the other American a Marine that was released from service for a bad conduct discharge were now receiving “Top Secret” training in Canada. However, Millett would never serve as a radar operator because of the aerial gunnery training he had received in the Army Air Corps. The Canadian Army decided to put these skills to use by deploying him to England to man an anti-aircraft artillery gun during the bombing blitz of London.

Service During World War II

In the aftermath of the bombing at Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war against Nazi Germany. In early 1942 as US troops began to flow into England, Millett took this opportunity to leave the Canadian Army and re-enlist in the US Army. In August 1942 Millet was deployed to North Africa where his first combat action ironically enough involved fighting not the Germans, but the French. The Vichy Regime forces that were allied with the Nazis were guarding the French colonial possessions in North Africa. When Millett’s unit conducted an amphibious landing at Oran, Algeria his unit suffered a number of casualties from the fight against the French forces.

Millet would go on in North Africa to be awarded the Silver Star for driving a burning half track filled with ammunition away from his unit and bailing out just before it exploded. Millet would also serve in the invasion of Italy to include the Battle of Anzio. It was here that his prior desertion caught up to him and the then Sergeant Millett was court martial by his command. He was found guilty and ordered to pay a $52 fine. He was angry about the court martial, but his command told him that they conducted the court martial now in order to prevent him from receiving greater punishment in the future. A few weeks later Millet was awarded a battlefield promotion to 2nd Lieutenant.

Combat Actions In Korea

When the war ended Millet left active duty, joined the Maine National Guard, and eventually enrolled at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He attended school for three years before being called up for duty in Japan in January 1949. The now Captain Millet was assigned as a battery commander in a field artillery battalion that was part of the 25th Infantry Division.

The 25ID saw heavy combat during the Korean War and Millet was of course in the thick of it. When the company commander of the E company, 27th Infantry Regiment Captain Reginald B. Desiderio was killed on November 27, 1950 he would posthumously be awarded the nation’s highest award for combat valor, the Medal of Honor. The regimental commander needed a new commander to replace the heroic CPT Desiderio and the person he recommended wasn’t even an infantryman, it was the unit’s forward observer, CPT Lewis Millett.

Picture of Capt. Regniald B. Desiderio via the VictoryInstitute.net.

However, Millett couldn’t immediately take command because he had been wounded in the same battle that CPT Desidero had been killed. While he was recovering from his wounds Millett was assigned to fly as an observer in an L-5 observation plane. It was during this time that Millett was awarded his most unusual combat award. The plane was flown by a fearless pilot by the name of Captain James Lawrence who witnessed a South African fighter plan make a crash landing behind enemy lines. Lawrence skillfully landed his plane to evacuate the injured South African pilot by the name of John Davis. The L-5 was only a two seat aircraft and Lawrence asked Millett if he wouldn’t mind jumping out of the plane while he evacuated Davis back to the rear. Most people probably would have minded being left behind enemy lines especially when injured yourself, but Millett jumped out of the plane while Lawrence loaded up Davis and evacuated him to the rear. Lawrence flew back and picked up Millett just in time because they flew out in a hail of bullets from a Chinese patrol that detected his landing. For volunteering to jump out of the plane while Davis was evacuated the South African Air Force awarded Millett a bottle of scotch. Millett would remember years later how ironic it was that Davis a white man of apartheid South Africa would ultimately give his life a few months later flying air support for the all-black US 24th Infantry Regiment.

After recovering from his injuries Millett then took command of E Company. Millett knew he had a tough task on his hand trying to live up to the Medal of Honor bravery of his predecessor, but it didn’t take long for him to prove he was up to the task. On February 7, 1951 Millett’s undersized company of about 100 men were traveling north up an ice covered road near the small hamlet of Soam-ni supported by two tanks. While advancing up the road his unit was engaged by a patrol of Chinese infantrymen located on Hill 180 overlooking the road. One of Millett’s platoons was penned down by automatic weapons fire and Millett could not extract them. This is when Millett made the decision that became one of the most recognized combat actions of the Korean War, he told his men to fix bayonets.

Painting of CPT Millet and his men conducting their famous bayonet charge via the VFW Post 10216 website. 

Millett had heard that the Chinese were passing around propaganda leaflets saying that the US soldiers were afraid to fight up close with bayonets and because of this Millett had begun training his men long and hard on close combat fighting. Ironically Millett being an artilleryman never received any bayonet training in the US Army, but during his time in the Canadian Army he did he receive this training and after all this years he was able to put those skills to use training his company.  This training ultimately paid off for Millett and his men because he felt that the only way to extract his trapped platoon was to lead the rest of his company up the hill with a bayonet charge that the Chinese would have never expected. Just three days before this engagement Millett had led another bayonet charge against a Chinese ambush that caused them to flee, which Millett was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for. Millett found himself now in almost the same identical situation and he was betting that the result would be same.

Millet order his men to run across a frozen rice paddy to the base of the hill. From here Millett with his big red handle bar moustache decided to lead the charge himself up the hill. Unlike the bayonet charge three days prior, these Chinese decided to stay and fight. Millett half way up the hill noticed that not everyone was advancing up the hill and that was when he made his now famous quote of, “C’mon you sons of bitches and fight!” Maybe not all of Millett’s American soldiers were following him up the hill, but at least one Korean Augmentee to the US Army (KATUSA) soldier did. Millett directed him to place covering fire at the Chinese while he advanced further up the hill and assaulted a foxhole that had an anti-tank team in it. Millett bayoneted and killed all three men in the foxhole who were so surprised to see him that they had no time to react.

Millet continued to assault through the position and engage more Chinese infantrymen when he was wounded by shrapnel from a grenade blast, however Millett refused to be medically evacuated until his men had secured the hill top and defeated the Chinese attack.

Picture of CPT Millett after the Battle of 180 via the VFW 10216 website.

A few weeks later Millett would be removed from his command, but it wasn’t from his grenade shrapnel injuries. His regimental commander told him he was being removed from command because he couldn’t afford to have him get killed when he was going to be awarded the nation’s highest award for gallantry, the Medal of Honor.  A few months later on July 5, 1951 Captain Lewis L. Millett was awarded the Medal of Honor at the White House by President Harry Truman. Here is the text of Millett’s Medal of Honor citation:

Capt. Millett, Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action. While personally leading his company in an attack against a strongly held position he noted that the 1st Platoon was pinned down by small-arms, automatic, and antitank fire. Capt. Millett ordered the 3d Platoon forward, placed himself at the head of the 2 platoons, and, with fixed bayonet, led the assault up the fire-swept hill. In the fierce charge Capt. Millett bayoneted 2 enemy soldiers and boldly continued on, throwing grenades, clubbing and bayoneting the enemy, while urging his men forward by shouting encouragement. Despite vicious opposing fire, the whirlwind hand-to-hand assault carried to the crest of the hill. His dauntless leadership and personal courage so inspired his men that they stormed into the hostile position and used their bayonets with such lethal effect that the enemy fled in wild disorder. During this fierce onslaught Capt. Millett was wounded by grenade fragments but refused evacuation until the objective was taken and firmly secured. The superb leadership, conspicuous courage, and consummate devotion to duty demonstrated by Capt. Millett were directly responsible for the successful accomplishment of a hazardous mission and reflect the highest credit on himself and the heroic traditions of the military service.

Post-Korean War Service

After returning from Korea Millett would go on to become an aide-de-camp to General John R. Hodge. Hodge used to be the commander of US forces in Korea prior to the Korean War before he was forced out due to his poor relationship with South Korean President Syngman Rhee as well as General Douglas McArthur. After completing his aide duties the now Major Millett was then sent to Greece as a military adviser to the Greek Army. Following his assignment in Greece Millett then attended the advanced infantry course at Ft. Benning, Georgia. Due to his battlefield commission and postings he had never attended this course that young captains are required to attend. I can only imagine what the captains in this course thought of having a veteran of two wars and a Medal of Honor awardee as a classmate?

In 1958 Millett would also attend and graduate from Ranger School where he would ultimately go on to establish the first Ranger school in Vietnam in 1960 as well as serving two years in Laos between 1968-1970. In 1970 he was transferred to Vietnam to work with the infamous Phoenix Program that was killing or capturing Vietcong leadership operating in various villages. Incredibly he was able to bring his wife and kids over to Vietnam and even had his kids participate in some patrols with him. By 1972 Millett had felt they had won the war and he and his family returned home. However, in 1973 Millett retired from the Army as Colonel because he felt that the US government had quit on the Vietnamese after what he felt was a US victory just a year earlier.

After retirement Millett worked as a deputy sheriff in Tennessee before moving out to California where he spent the rest of his life being active in various veterans groups. Millett was married for forty years to his wife Winona Williams who he met in 1951 at an event celebrating his awarding of the Medal of Honor. She died in 1993 after giving birth to four kids with Millett. Tragically one of Millett’s sons, John an Army Staff Sergeant, would die in the Arrow Air Flight 1285 crash in Gandar, Newfoundland that claimed the lives of 240 members of the 101st Airborne Division that were returning home from a peacekeeping mission in the Egyptian Sinai.  Colonel Lewis Millett would eventually pass away himself on November 14, 2009 at the age of 88 thus ending the incredible life of an extraordinary man who was clearly a Hero of the Korean War.

Further Reading:

• History.net
• NBC Nightly News

Note: You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:

Basic Information

• Name: Gloucestershire Regiment Memorial
• Where: Jokseong, Gyeongi-do Province
• Cost: Free
• More Info: Cultural Heritage Admin. Korea

Narrative

For those that have read my posting about the Hero of the Korean War, Lieutenant James P. Carne and his men of the Gloucestershire Battalion during the Korean War, you may be interested in seeing what the battle site looks like today.  Fortunately the area that the battle took place has turned into the nicest memorial of any other Korean War battle field I have seen yet.  The memorial is located below the large Kamaksan mountain and just outside the village of Jokseong on Highway 56:

It takes less than hour to drive to the site from both Dongducheon and Uijongbu on Highway 56.

The memorial is easy to spot due to this large sign on the side of the highway:

Besides the sign the prominent flags also give away the fact that this area is a Korean War memorial site.  The flags were backdropped by Gloster Hill which is where the Gloucestershire Regiment made their final last stand during the Battle of the Imjim:

I have been to the site three times and each time the site has been well maintained and very clean which is not always the case with other Korean War memorial sites I have been to.  The memorial is divided in half with a park on one side of the river and the actual memorial on the other. The park is actually a popular picnic area for Korean locals. There are even restaurants and cafes adjacent to the park for visitors to use.

To reach the actual memorial you have to cross over the creek with the use of this bridge:

The bridge is specially decorated with British flags:

Seeing so many British flags just seems so odd considering you are in Korea, but their are many more Union Jacks on display here than Taegukis. Near the bridge is also a plaque and map describing to visitors the Battle of the Imjim:

Just across the bridge and at the base of Hill 235 is this memorial carved in the rock face:

Here is how the memorial looks up close:

Here is a close up look at the inscriptions on the plaques:

Conclusion

The site may be easy to find, but it can be a bit difficult to get to if you don’t have transportation. Buses from Dongducheon run to Joeksong regularly and from Joeksong the site is only a short cab drive away. This is how I first visited the site but I had to walk back to Joeksong afterwards to catch the bus again.  I later led a group of Soldiers to the site for a leader development session that I did.  This battle has a lot of interesting lessons learned and leadership examples that make for a great professional development opportunity.  Ultimately I recommend this memorial to anyone with an interest in Korean War history.

This would be a great memorial to see built one day to commemorate this mostly forgotten but important event from Korean War:

Lee Gyeong-pil was born aboard the last escape vessel out of Hungnam Port in North Korea during the mass evacuation known as the “Miracle on Christmas” in 1950, in the midst of the Korean War. He is a living embodiment of Deok-soo, the protagonist in the popular movie “Ode to My Father” (2014), which depicts the evacuation.

Lee was born on the SS Meredith Victory, the last ship out of Hungnam, as it reached Jangseungpo Port in Geoje, South Gyeongsang. During the evacuation, the ship carried about 14,000 refugees in a space originally built for 60 people.

Born last among five babies on the ship, Lee is nicknamed “the last Deok-soo.”

But at the time of his birth, Lee had another nickname; he was called “Kimchi-5” by the crew members, who named newborn babies aboard the ship “Kimchi-1,” “Kimchi-2” and so on, by order of birth.

The 66-year-old director of the Peace Livestock Hospital in Geoje is also director of the “1090 Unification Movement,” which raises awareness on and supports peaceful unification process.

He is currently raising support for the establishment of a monument for the Hungnam evacuation at Jangseungpo Port.
[Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

Basic Information

• Name: William W. Harris
• Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
• Born: 1902
• 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.

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.

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.

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:

A U.S. veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War views a stone monument listing those killed in the conflict during a visit to the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul’s Yongsan Ward on Feb. 2, 2016. He is part of a group of 40 people comprising veterans affiliated with the California National Guard’s 40th Infantry Division and their families. During the three-year conflict, the veterans helped build Gapyeong High School in Gapyeong, northeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)

Basic Information

• Name: Jesse L. Brown
• Born: Hattiesburg, Mississippi
• Battlefield: Battle of the Chosin Reservoir
• Date: December 4, 1950

The Early Life of Jesse Brown

The US military has seen many African-American war heroes over the years that have in recent times finally been appreciated by the American public at large and even dramatized by Hollywood in movies such as Glory and the Tuskegee Airmen. However, the Korean War had its own African-American war heroes just like other American conflicts, but similar to most heroes from this war, they have been largely ignored. One of these heroes is US Navy Ensign Jesse Leroy Brown.

Brown was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1926 as the son of a poor sharecropper. His home had no electricity, running water, or indoor plumbing. Young Jesse Brown growing up in 1940’s Mississippi also had to deal with more then his fair share of racism. However, despite all the adversity facing Brown he was inspired at a young age to be a pilot one day. Young Jesse’s love of aviation began when he used to stare fascinated at airplanes that would fly over his head as he worked in the cotton fields.

His dream of being a pilot motivated him to do well in school and he did so well in fact that he finished second in class at Eureka High School and was accepted into Ohio State University in 1944. This was a big deal for Brown to be accepted to Ohio State because at the time most African-Americans were regulated to attending black colleges. At the time less then 1% of Ohio State’s student population was considered black and Jesse Brown was one of them.

Following His Dream

Brown did well in college where he studied engineering and in 1946 enlisted into the US Navy ROTC program in order to pursue his childhood ambition of being a pilot. At this time there had never been a black US Navy pilot and there were still plenty of people in the Navy interested in keeping it that way. Brown’s own ROTC instructor at Ohio State used racial slurs against him and discouraged him from trying to be a pilot.

Captain William L. Erdmann gives the oath office aboard the USS Leyte to Ensign Jesse Brown.

Despite this Jesse Brown entered US Navy flight school in Pensacola, Florida. He was the only African-American in a class of 600 students. Brown worked hard at flight school and fought through adversity like he had his entire life and was rewarded by achieving his life’s ambition of being a pilot when he was issued his flight wings in October 1948. He had in fact become the US Navy’s first African-American pilot. The following year he would receive a naval officer’s commission as an Ensign. By this time the new Ensign Brown had married to his wife Daisy and shortly after had their first daughter Pamela. Life for Brown was good, but unfortunately this isn’t where this story ends.

Air Combat in Korea

In 1950 Ensign Brown was assigned to the USS Leyte. In October 1950 the USS Leyte received orders to deploy to the Sea of Japan as part of the United Nations response to the communist North Korean attack against South Korea. Ensign Brown was assigned to the 32^nd Fighter Squadron flying F4U-4 Corsairs while assigned to the USS Leyte. In the skies of North Korea, Brown went on to win air combat medals for his part in leading his aircraft section in air attacks against enemy positions in 20 air combat missions. His last mission would prove to be his most heroic of all.

USS Leyte at port in Sasebo, Japan in November, 1950.

In late November, 1950 the communist Chinese had launched their surprise offensive against the advancing UN troops in North Korea. US Marines and the US 7^th Infantry Division in eastern North Korea had found themselves surrounded and cut off by the advancing Chinese hordes in an area known as the Chosin Reservoir. On December 4, 1950 Ensign Brown’s section was flying reconnaissance around the Chosin Reservoir area looking for any targets of opportunity to destroy. It they saw any enemy troops or equipment they would strafe them. The Marines and soldiers fighting in the Chosin Reservoir were greatly outnumbered and their air superiority was the one advantage they had against the huge Chinese force they encountered.

Ensign Jesse Brown aboard the USS Leyte.

Corsairs from the 32^nd Fighter Squadron swooped down low and fast and strafed every enemy position they could find in support of the soldiers and Marines on the ground. It was after one of these strafings that Ensign Brown called on his radio to say that he was losing oil pressure. Apparently during the strafing one of the enemy’s guns had collected a lucky hit that knocked out his airplanes oil pressure.

The Last Fight of Jesse Brown

The area around the Chosun Reservoir is highly mountainous and thus Brown was going to be in for a hard landing and the condition of his airplane was going to make it only worse. Brown crash landed on the snowy slopes of steep-mountain at about 5,300 feet in elevation. His plane broke apart on impact and the his fellow Corsair pilots initially thought he had to have died in the crash. However, that was not the case as incredibly the hatch of what was left of his plane slowly opened and Brown started waving at the other pilots to send him help. Brown didn’t exit his airplane so this caused the other pilots to realize he must be either pinned in the wreckage or too injured to get out.

A 1950 image of Ensign Jesse Brown in his F4U-4 Corsair.

Brown’s commander Lieutenant Commander Richard Cevoli radioed in for a helicopter rescue of Brown, but in the meantime the remaining Corsair pilots had to do their best to protect Brown from the Chinese hordes that were swarming over all the hillsides in the area. The Corsairs circled Brown’s wreckage and strafed any soldiers in the area. After a half hour one of the Corsair pilots, Lieutenant Thomas Hudner decided to take matters into his own hands. Hudner became a good friends with Ensign Brown during the year they were assigned together on the USS Leyte. Hudner had been greatly impressed with Brown’s life story as well as his flying skills. Lieutenant Hudner just couldn’t let his good friend die alone on that hillside before the rescue helicopter arrived. It had been thirty minutes and the temperature outside was well below zero. Somebody had to help Brown or he would die before the rescue chopper ever arrived.

Lieutenant Thomas J. Hudner picture via Wikipedia.

In an attempt to save his friend, Hudner without asking permission from his commander, decided to crash land his own plane onto the mountain. Hudner flew his plane into the wind in order to slow his descent as much as possible and then crashed onto the same hillside about 100 yards from Brown’s crash site. Hudner’s slower descent by flying into the wind had caused him to land his plane without it breaking fully apart like Brown’s had. This is what Lieutenant Hudner had to say years later about the decision to crash his air plane:

The Navy Public Affairs Library records Hudner as having said in an interview with Jax Air News, the newspaper at the Naval Air Station at Jacksonville, Florida, “I knew what I had to do. I was not going to leave him down there for the Chinese. Besides, it was 30 degrees below zero on that slope, and he was a fellow aviator. My association with the Marines had rubbed off on me. They don’t leave wounded Marines behind.”

The Rescue Attempt

After the landing, Hudner ran over to Brown’s plane to check on his condition. He found Brown still alive but near death from the cold. His hands were completely frozen and he was shivering uncontrollably. He was also in extreme pain from the crash. His Corsair’s control panel during the wreck has buckled forward and smashed into his legs pinning him into the aircraft. Hudner gave Brown what extra clothing he could to keep warm and then proceeded to try to extract him from the plane. Hudner did everything he could to try and free Brown, but was unsuccessful. He ran back over to his plane and radioed that the rescue helicopter needs to bring an axe with them to help free Brown from the wreckage.

Matt Hall’s artist depiction of the crash of Ensign Jesse Brown’s Corsair.

To make matters worse smoke started coming from the wreckage which threatened to engulf into flames what was left of the plane. Lieutenant Hudner left Brown to try and put out the fire by throwing snow on it which he was only able to minimize, but not stop the fire with. About an hour after the wreck the Marine rescue chopper finally arrived and they had brought an axe with them. Hudner worked with the rescue team to free Brown from the wreckage, but even with the axe they could not get Brown’s legs unpinned from the wreckage.

It was approaching sunset and the Marine rescue team informed Lieutenant Hudner that their helicopter was not equipped to fly at night and that they would have to leave now. By this time Jesse Brown was barely conscious and the last thing he told his good friend Thomas Hudner was to tell his wife Daisy that he loved her. Hudner and the rescue team flew off and when Hudner reported back to his Captain about what happened he ordered a napalm airstrike on the crash scene of the two Corsairs. A few hours later the two crashed Corsairs were burned with napalm and the frozen body of Ensign Jesse Brown the first African-American Naval pilot was incinerated with it.

The Aftermath

Hudner after the failed rescued figured he would be reprimanded and his Naval career ended for crashing a perfectly fine Corsair aircraft in a failed attempt to save one man, a black man at that. However, Lieutenant Hudner’s command did something totally unexpected, they instead recommended him for the nation’s highest combat award, the Medal of Honor. Additionally the deceased Ensign Brown was awarded the second highest honor for combat pilots, the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Lieutenant Thomas Hudner is awarded the Medal of Honor by US President Harry Truman.

Lieutenant Hudner was awarded his Medal of Honor on April 13, 1951 by President Harry Truman during a ceremony held at the White House. Among all the mostly white Americans that had congregated at the White House to award a white man the Medal of Honor was a lone young, black female, Daisy Brown. She stood next to Lieutenant Hudner as he was awarded his medal where he relayed to her the message that her husband Jesse Brown wanted him to tell her, that he loved her.

Remembering Jesse L. Brown

Today the story of Ensign Jesse Brown is largely forgotten like most of the heroes from America’s Forgotten War. Despite this there are a few reminders of Jesse Brown’s legacy. In 1972 the a Knox Class Naval Destroyer was named the USS Jesse L. Brown in honor of the Korean War hero. Both Daisy Brown and Thomas Hudner were on hand for the commissioning ceremony for the ship. The ship remained on active service until 1994 when the ship was decommissioned and in 1998 it was sold to the Egyptian Navy. There are plans in place by the Navy to possibly name another ship after Jesse Brown in the future, hopefully this happens.

Daisy Brown and Thomas Hudner attend the commissioning ceremony for the USS Jesse L. Brown.

Besides the ship, Jesse Brown has had a barracks building at a Meridian, Mississippi Naval Base named after him along with a county tax building in his hometown of Hattiesburg. Finally in 1998 a book, The Flight of Jesse Leroy Brown was written with the help of Daisy Brown to further increase awareness of the short, but incredible life of Jesse Brown.

Recently there was controversy at the Cannes Film Festival when Spike Lee some what accused Clint Eastwood of racism for not including any black soldiers in his two films about the Battle of Iwo Jima. I have watched both movies and never even noticed that there was no black soldiers in them, however if Spike Lee wants to increase awareness about the service of African-Americans in wartime then instead of attacking Clint Eastwood how about he make a movie based on the life of Jesse Brown? The story of Jesse Brown is one literally just waiting for a Hollywood film to be made. With all the crap war films out there like Rendition, In the Valley Elah, Stop Loss, and the rest of the anti-military films being released by Hollywood, the story of Jesse Brown is one that needs to be told and one I am willing to bet that millions of Americans would line up to see at the box office as well.

A Black History poster featuring Ensign Jesse Brown and the destroyer named after him.

Ensign Jesse Brown was a true American success story. He overcame poverty and racial discrimination to follow his life’s dream to become a pilot. Through hard work and dedication he completed college became a Naval officer and a pilot. Not only was a pilot but he was a great one as well that excelled in combat and ended up paying the ultimate price for defending his country that had earlier treated him as a second class citizen. For his inspiring life story as well as his combat heroism during the Korean War, Ensign Jesse L. Brown is without a doubt a Hero of the Korean War.

Temporary lodging facility at Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi named after Ensign Jesse L. Brown.

You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:

Basic Information

• Name: Subayya Kadenera Thimayya
• Born: March 30, 1906
• Died: December 17, 1965
• Korean War Service: Commanded the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC)

Introduction

The Korean War began when communist North Korean troops invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. The war on the Korean peninsula would eventually draw in multiple United Nations countries to defend the South as well as the Chinese in defense of the North. The war would ultimately last for just over 3 bloody years when the armistice agreement was signed at Panmunjom between the combatants on July 27, 1953. However, something that few people realize is that the war could have likely ended in early 1952 if it wasn’t for one issue that had the negotiating parties deeply divided; the repatriation of prisoners.

The peace talks at Panmunjom began on October 25, 1951 after the Chinese had launched their 2nd Spring Offensive in April of that year and were soundly defeated by the United Nations forces. That summer the Chinese had not been able to make any gains as the UN forces had hardened their defensive lines along the vicinity of the 38th parallel after the Chinese offensive. This caused the war to turn into a fight to hold strategic hill tops that would cost a huge amount of casualties for offensive forces to capture. So by that fall it was in each sides interest to enter into peace talks to end the war since both sides were not willing to accept the huge casualties it would take to try and win the war through military means.

Geoje-do Island POW Camp.

Determining the demarcation line between the two countries and the rules and regulations of the armistice was the easy part of the negotiations. However, what was not easy was how to handle the issue of prisoners of war that did not want to return to their home countries. At the time of the peace talks the United Nations forces held up to 170,000 communist prisoners at the Geoje Island POW camp. Of these prisoners tens of thousands of them were either former Chinese Nationalist soldiers or South Koreans that were forced to join the Communist ranks during the war. These prisoners as well as others that were convinced of the validity of the democratic side of the conflict did not want to be returned to China or North Korea. The United Nations side did not want to be in the position of having to forcibly repatriate these prisoners to the Communist side because morally this was not the right thing to do, but also it would have been political suicide for the leaders that approved it.  You can read more about the Geoje POW camp at the below links:

• Heroes of the Korean War: Brigadier General Haydon Boatner
• Places In Korea: Geoje POW Camp

So the UN continued to negotiate with the Communists in order to get them to agree that prisoners should not be forcibly repatriated. Unfortunately this caused the Korean War to be extended for two more years largely over this issue. In 1952 as the Communist negotiators continued to demand that all the prisoners be sent back to North Korea and China , the Geoje Island POW camp uprising happened. The Communist POW’s were able to forcibly detain the camp’s commandant US Brigadier General Francis Dodd. The general was only released after the prisoners were able to get General Dodd to sign a statement saying that the US would stop torturing and abusing the prisoners. The US was not torturing the prisoners but the Communists were able to score a major propaganda victory with the statement.

At the armistice talks whenever the UN side claimed that some of the prisoners did not want to be repatriated, the communist negotiators would counter that the prisoners only say that because they are being inhumanely tortured on the island. Fortunately by June 1952 under the leadership of Brigadier General Haydon Boatner the uprising was put down, but the propaganda damage done to the UN was enough to damage the peace talks for the rest of the year. In fact it wasn’t until March 1953 that a breakthrough was made in the armistice talks when the Communists agreed to a Red Cross sponsored idea to exchange injured and sick prisoners. The Communist side also went as far to say that the successful conclusion of the prisoner exchange would open the door to a wider agreement on the POW repatriation issue. The transfer of wounded and sick prisoners became known as Operation Little Switch and was executed between April 20 to May 3, 1953.  Throughout the operation the Communists claimed that their prisoners were tortured and brainwashed, but ultimately it was completed successfully despite the usual Communist propaganda games. The Communists turned over 684 soldiers which included 149 Americans, 471 South Koreans, 32 British, 15 Turks, 6 Colombians, 5 Australians, 2 Canadians, and 1 prisoner each from the Philippines, South Africa, Greece, and the Netherlands. The UNC transferred over 1,030 Chinese and 5,194 North Koreans prisoners plus 446 civilians for a total of 6,670 people .

With the successful conclusion of Operation Little Switch the negotiations at Panmujom continued until a final armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. The armistice stipulated that a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission would be formed to handle the transfer of prisoners between the combatants. The nations selected to form the NNRC was Czechoslovakia, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and India. It was agreed by the negotiators that the NNRC lead country would be India since they were tasked to provide a brigade of soldiers to provide security for the prisoner exchange. Not only would the Indians provide security, but they would also be responsible for carrying out the entire prisoner exchange which become known as Operation Big Switch. The operation would not be something as easy as ensuring prisoners were handed back to their home countries. Due to the repatriation issue it was agreed upon that all the prisoners would have the option of choosing which side they wanted to be repatriated to. However, the soldiers that did not want to be repatriated to their home country would have to wait 90 days in a holding camp located in the newly created Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) before being released in order to give them time to change their minds.  The prisoner exchange was going to be a difficult mission for the Indians that had the attention of the entire world watching how it was carried out. The Indian government wanted to make sure that they had the best person possible in charge of such a sensitive mission and the person they turned to was Lieutenant General Subayya Kadenera Thimayya.

LTG Thimayya Before the Korean War

Subayya Kadenera Thimayya who was called “Timmy” by his British colleagues, was born March 30, 1906 in the city of Madikeri in the district of Kodagu in India.  He was the son of a wealthy farmer who’s family had a long line of military service.  Thimayya would eventually continue this tradition of military service, but not before beginning at the age of 8 to attend private foreign run schools.  After his schooling was completed, in 1922 at the age of 16 he enrolled into the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College.  After graduation Thimayya was one of six Indian cadets chosen to attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.  Thimayya graduated from Sandhurst in 1926 and received a commission into the British Indian Army.  His older and younger brothers would also go on to join the Indian Army as well.

One of his assignments during his early military career was with the Scottish 2nd Highland Infantry Regiment stationed in Baghdad, Iraq.  He achieved some acclaim when he led an operation into King Feisel’s palace to rescue a group of women that were supposedly being victimized within the palace.  He would then go on in 1930 to spend a few years in the Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province in Pakistan battling the Pashtun tribes that continue to plague the area to this day.

General Thimayya would then go on to distinguish himself during World War II. During the war India was still part of the British empire and General Thimayya was part of the British colonial military in India battling the Japanese. During the war General Thimayya had the distinction of being the only Indian to ever command a British combat brigade as part of the British offensive into Japanese occupied Burma that became known as the Battle of the Arafan. He received the British Distinguished Service Order for his service for the British military during World War II.  At the end of the war General Thimayya would then go on to be an Indian signatory to the Japanese surrender at Singapore

After World War II, India was divided when the British carved out Pakistan as its own country and granted India its independence. However, this division led to new fighting that General Thimayya took part in as he led Indian military forces in defeating its Pakistani rivals and holding Kashmir as part of India during the first Kargil War of 1948.

The Indian Military During the Korean War

After the Korean War started in June 1950 the Indians were not eager to get involved in another shooting war when they were already facing hostilities at home from Pakistan as well as border disputes with China. The Indians however wanted to show support for the new United Nations and decided on deploying medical support personnel only to support the international effort in Korea. The Indians deployed the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance unit that consisted of 627 medical personnel under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Rangaraj.

Indian Army medical troops during the Korean War. Picture via the Chosun Ilbo.

The unit arrived in Pyongyang on December 4, 1950, just in time to take part in 8th Army’s withdrawal out of North Korea. On December 14, 1950, it formally became the medical evacuation unit for the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade (later redesignated the 28th British Commonwealth Brigade.) It supported this unit throughout the war and became well known for the quality medical care they provided to the British Commonwealth Brigade.

Indian Army medical unit encampment during the Korean War. Picture via the Chosun Ilbo.

However, with the signing of the armistice agreement the Indians were actually going to deploy a far larger 5,000 man combat brigade to the peninsula than what they had in country during the actual war. This brigade sized element was called the Custodian Force of India (CFI) and by assigning Lieutenant General Thimayya to lead this force India was clearly signaling to both the UN and the Communists that they were sending their best to execute this mission. General Thimayya was under strict orders from the Indian government to be impartial during all his dealings as the head of the NNRC which caused accusations from both sides that he was bias. This perception of bias immediately caused problems for General Thimayya with the ROK government. The South Korean President Syngman Rhee who was opposed to the armistice, forbid the Indian troops from landing in South Korea. Thus the United Nations Command (UNC) had to coordinate to fly the Indian soldiers assigned to the DMZ by helicopter which at the time was the largest helicopter airlift operation in history. The Indians named the camp they stayed at in the DMZ, Camp Nagar which meant “Indian City”. The other camp that housed the soldiers from the other four NNRC countries was called Shanti Nagar which meant City of Peace”.

In this map of the repatriation camps notice that the southern camp the Indians maintained was much larger than the northern camp because of the difference in POW’s held between the two sides. Map via the Korean War Educator.

With the soldiers and logistics in place, General Thimayya set forth to accomplish his mission of repatriating the prisoners. Operation Big Switch began on August 5, 1953 and this would be the easiest part of the operation. The UNC held 132,000 prisoners while the Communists held 12,773 prisoners. All of these prisoners had the choice of whether or not they wanted to be repatriated. The vast majority of prisoners wanted to return home and each side had 60 days to hand the prisoners over. The UNC handed over 75,823 (70,183 North Koreans and 5,640 Chinese) while the Communists handed over 12,773 prisoners. (7,862 South Koreans, 3,597 Americans, 945 British, 229 Turks, 40 Filipinos, 30 Canadians, 22 Colombians, 21 Australians, 12 Frenchmen, 8 South Africans, 2 Greeks, 2 Dutch, and 1 prisoner each from Belgium, New Zealand, and Japan).

All the remaining UNC prisoners were then handed over to the NNRC and housed in two camps within the DMZ in October 1953. At the camps the prisoners would be held for 90 days where each side would be able to send representatives to persuade the prisoners to return home. The UNC held 22,604 prisoners in the camp being guarded by the Indians. Most of these prisoners were former Chinese Nationalist soldiers who wanted to be repatriated to Taiwan. The Chinese had until December 23, 1953 to try and convince these prisoners to return home. The first day of trying to convince Chinese prisoners to return to China was held on October 15, 1953. The Chinese efforts were not successful since they were only able to get 10 prisoners to change their minds. The next day the Chinese requested a thousand Koreans to talk to, but the Indians could not get any Koreans to agree to meet with the Chinese representatives.

Picture of what appears to be Chinese POW’s.  You can see more pictures from the photographer Jerry Rosenstein at this link.

The next day the Chinese wanted another 1,000 Chinese, but the Indians could only get 430 to attend. The Chinese could see they were having little success in their efforts to change the minds of the prisoners and began a new tactic of demanding that the Indians force the prisoners to attend the meetings. The next day the Chinese also demanded that the Koreans be forced to attend the meetings as well. The demands were likely a tactic by the Chinese to get the Indians to use force to move the prisoners which could have turned into a riot that may have led to the death of Korean prisoners. If this happened the South Korean government may have turned on the Indians.

Indian Army soldier responsible for guarding North Korean POW’s. Picture via the Korean War Educator.

The controversy lasted for two weeks until General Thimayya refused their demands to force the prisoners to attend the meetings. However, General Thimayya was also clever enough to get the Korean and Chinese prisoners to voluntarily agree to attend the meetings in order to keep the perception of Indian impartiality and to allow the Chinese to save face. However, that is not what happened as the Chinese over the next few days were only able to get a few more of the prisoners to change their minds. The Chinese had hoped to provoke discord between the UN countries with their demands as well as make the UN look like obstructionists by not having the prisoners attend the meetings and instead they ended up losing face by only being able to persuade a few of the thousands of POW’s to return to their home countries.

What appears to be an American prisoner is talked to by a South Korean delegate to return to the United States while watched by Indian troops.  Picture via the Chosun Ilbo.

Interestingly enough during this timeframe the Indians took possession of the only American POW to change his mind; on October 21, 1953 Corporal Edward S. Dickenson was handed over to the Indians who proceeded to hand him over to the US military.  Interestingly enough 22 American POWs refused to be repatriated despite General Thimayya’s best efforts.

December 15, 1953 Stars & Stripes newspaper article.

The only other UNC prisoners who changed their minds were seven ROK POW’s. Four of these prisoners were a husband and wife with two small children who agreed to be repatriated on November 16, 1953. When the UNC began their attempts to convince Communist held prisoners to return to their home countries they held brief to the point speeches in order to avoid allowing the prisoners to give propaganda speeches back at the presenters. The UNC believed that the Communists only brought hardcore communists to the northern camp that could not be convinced to go back to their home countries. The remaining POW’s were held in North Korea and the ROK Ministry of Defense has estimated that up 20,000 South Korean prisoners were not given the option of repatriation by the Communists. The missing POW’s continues to be an issue even today where the ROK government has made demands that the North Koreans return former POW’s forcibly held in North Korea. Because of the shortness of the speeches and not giving the prisoners the opportunity to make propaganda speeches the Chinese had the prisoners refuse to attend any more meetings.

General Thimayya meets with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. Picture from Frontline.

When the December 23, deadline passed, of the 22,604 prisoners the UNC held, only 137 had their minds changed. Over 22,000 Communist forces soldiers wanted to voluntarily leave their home countries while the Chinese were only able to get 359 UNC prisoners to agree to stay in either China or North Korea (335 Koreans, 23 Americans, and 1 Briton). The large discrepancy of soldiers who did not want to return to their homelands was a huge propaganda blow to the Communist forces. The Chinese had hoped to embarrass the UNC by getting more prisoners to return home and they even stacked the deck by only bringing hard core communists to the repatriation camp. Despite this only 1.14% or the UNC’s prisoners decided to change their minds and return to their home countries while 2.23% of the 359 Communist held prisoners changed their minds.

Chart from “The Korean War, Volume 3″ by the Korea Institute of Military History.

Once the exchange was complete General Thimayya then had to hold the remaining prisoners for another 30 days by agreement. On January 18, 1954 General Thimayya notified the UNC and the Communists that the remaining prisoners were ready to be turned over to the countries they wanted to be repatriated to. On January 23, 1954 the remaining prisoners officially became civilians and a reception was held in South Korea to honor the freed anti-communist prisoners that was attended by officials from the ROK, Taiwan, and the UNC. After the ceremony the Chinese prisoners were loaded up into boats and transported to Taiwan under the guard of the 4th Regiment of the 3rd US Marine Division. Upon arrival in Taiwan the anti-communists prisoners were treated as national heroes.

Chinese Nationalists soldiers waving Republic of China flags and holding a picture of Chang Kai-shek begin the long journey to Taiwan.  You can see more pictures from the photographer Jerry Rosenstein at this link.

General Thimayya however would see no party when he left South Korea because of his tense relationship with the ROK that became even tenser when he said voluntary repatriation was “abhorrent to me as a military man”.

February 24, 1954 Stars & Stripes newspaper article.

Despite General Thimayya’s friction with the ROK government him and his troops were thought highly of by their American counterparts who held farewell ceremony in February 1954 to thank the Indians for their service in South Korea.

Post-Korean War Service

After the Korean War General Thimayya would later go on to be the Chief of Staff of the Indian military from 1957-1961. He went into retirement, but volunteered for UN service in 1964 when the organization needed an impartial leader to command UN troops operating on Cyprus. Due to his reputation of impartiality from his Korean War service General Thimayya was a logical choice. He once again showed himself to be an impartial and competent leader during his time in Cyprus. However, the work must have took its tool on the General as he would die of a massive heart attack on December 17, 1965 at the age of 59. Today General Thimayya is widely thought of as an Indian military hero, but his competent handling of the UNRC mission clearly makes him a Hero of the Korean War as well.

February 24, 1954 Stars & Stripes newspaper article.

More Information:  

The Korean War Educator has an excellent site up that goes into great detail explaining the repatriation issue to include having pictures and text of flyers that were handed to the prisoners before being transported to the DMZ camps.  The site  also has the text of the Rules of Engagement (ROE) used by the troops handling the prisoners which is all interesting reading.  

Note: You can read more of the ROK Drop featured series Heroes of the Korean War at the below link:

A box of remains returned to US investigators back in 1994 has been identified through DNA analysis as Private First Class David S. Burke and is set to be buried this week with full military honors:

The remains of a soldier declared missing in action 65 years ago during the Korean War will be buried this week with full military honors.

Pfc. David S. Burke, 18, of Akron, Ohio, will be laid to rest Friday in Rittman, Ohio, according to a statement by the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

On Nov. 25, 1950, Burke was among 136 soldiers and four officers taken prisoner from Company C, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, after an attack near the China-North Korea border. The unit, which suffered heavy casualties and was surrounded by Chinese troops, was forced to surrender, the statement said. Burke was declared missing in action after the battle.

Prisoners of war who returned to America in September 1953 reported that Burke had died of malnutrition between March and May 1951, and his status was amended to deceased.  [Stars & Stripes]

You  can read more at the link.