Scars and Stars

by Dustin Stevens

  “Our boys were taking fire. We should go help.

  “We got there a few minutes later to find Rollins and several others lying on their stomachs, peering out over the edge of the ravine.

  “What the hell’s going on?” I asked as we slid in alongside them.

  “Where in God’s name did you boys come from?” Rollins asked.

  “Does it matter?” I asked. “We heard shots and came running.”

  “More than I can say for most,” Rollins said and handed Jack a pair of binoculars.

  “Oh shit,” Jack muttered and handed them on to me.

  “Oh shit was right. At the bottom of the ravine Williams was huddled with a small group of men. Several other groups were pinned down under cover. More than a few dead bodies littered the trail.

  “Where they at?” I asked, checking the opposite hillside for North Koreans.

  “Everywhere,” Rollins said. “They knew we were coming and drew us in. They’ve got that side covered and this is the only vantage we have. The way the trail winds down through there, most of our guns are useless from here.”

  “What about the high ground?” Jack asked, motioning to a rock wall rising behind us.

  “Not unless you’re a damn mountain goat,” Rollins said. “It’s too high and too steep.”

  “I passed the binoculars back to Rollins and said, “So what's the plan?”

  “Hell if I know,” Rollins said, scouring the opposite side of the ravine. North Korean muzzle flashes continued dotting it and far below we could hear Williams yelling for someone to do something.

  “Sergeant Byrnes joined Rollins on his opposite side and said, "Were going to have send someone down in after them."

  “How the hell you propose we do that?” Rollins spat. "That's a suicide mission. Captain or not, he's not worth it."

  “Send a couple of men down as rabbits, couple more as shooters," Byrnes said. "Rabbits to draw out their fire, shooters to cover them. Work their way from hole to hole until everybody's out.”

  “Rollins turned his head and glared at Byrnes. "You know I can't give that order. Where the hell you going to find anybody crazy enough to volunteer for that?”

  “Byrnes matched Rollins stare, then cocked his neck past Rollins to Jack and I. We both knew what he was thinking, but neither one of us let on. We just kept watching the ravine below.

  “Them’s your boys there aren’t they?” Byrnes asked.

  “Rollins cast his eyes towards us and said, “The Roberts? Hell no. I'm not giving up two Corporals because Williams is a fool. Besides, one of them has half his face swollen shut right now. He couldn’t hit anything if he tried.”

  “Byrnes started to persist, but he didn't have to.

  “I’ll do it," Jack said. "But I don't want him coming with me. There are better shooters in the unit.”

  “If he was trying to make me mad, it worked. I was on my feet in seconds and checked the chamber on my rifle. Without asking, I snatched up Rollins' from the ground beside him and slung it over my shoulder.

  “I just said I didn’t want you going,” Jack said.

  “And I said I didn't want either one of you going!" Rollins said.

  “Sergeant Byrnes said we were going,” Jack said and in one fluid motion turned on the ball of his foot and bounded down the trail. It took just a split second for me to register what was happening and follow right after him.

  “The first cluster of men was holed up maybe twenty-five yards down from us. Jack was far enough ahead of me to draw most of the fire and as I ran I peppered anything moving on the hillside. The ravine was tight and more than once I heard cries of pain as I fired into the brush.

  “Jack reached the men a split second before me and slid behind the rocks. When I got there he took one of the rifles from his shoulder and exchanged it for the one in my hand.

  “He paused for a second to catch his breath and said, “They'll assume we're going after the Captain, so they'll follow Cat and I down from here. As soon as you guys hear firing, you get on up the trail as fast as you can.”

  “The men in the group were pale and sweating. Nobody said a word as they nodded their heads. Jack looked at me and said, “How about this time you try hitting a few of them?”

  "He was gone again before I had a chance to reply.

  “I plunged down after him, snapping off shots as fast as I could. There weren’t as many bullets flying at us this time, something I hoped meant I had taken out a few of their shooters and not that they were all firing at the men behind us.

  “We reached the second group about fifteen yards further down. Along the way we had to hurdle two fallen soldiers, neither of which were breathing.

  “This time we’re going to try something a little different,” Jack said. He signaled to Williams and the others below, then motioned to us. He pointed back up towards the trail and made a sweeping motion towards them.

  “You could tell Williams didn’t like being told what to do by a Corporal. He waved Jack off and began motioning in a manner none of us understood. Jack gave him a confused face and made the same set of signals he had before. Williams again tried to change the plan, but we both ignored him and went back up the trail in the direction we'd just came from.

  “I fired a couple of times, but for the most part we both just ran as fast as we could. Together we dove in behind the rock pile as bullets ripped into the sod around us.

  “When we got there we turned back to see that the bottom group had replaced us at the second rock pile.

  “Williams was furious, but he was there and alive just the same.

  “Got anymore ideas?” I asked as we sat trying to catch our breath, both tucked behind the rocks. Out of nowhere, the opposite hillside opened up in fire and we turned to see a group of men bounding towards us. We slid to the far side of the cover as a dozen bodies crowded in around us.

  “What the hell?” Jack asked the panting men.

  “Williams,” one of them muttered just as Williams and the last of the group spilled in.

  "The rocks weren’t really big enough for a group that large. We all knew it was only a matter of seconds before the North Koreans started picking men off the edges.

  “Since you two think you’re hot shit and like running so much,” Williams said, pointing at us, “you’re going back down the way you just came. You continue doing your little cat-and-mouse game until I can get us out of here.”

  “Many of the men around the group gave him a sour glare, but he paid them no heed. Jack matched his stare and said, “We’re out of ammunition.”

  “Without taking his eyes from us Williams said, “Someone give these two a gun.” A man handed one out butt first and without looking at it Williams grabbed it and thrust it towards me. “Now get your asses moving.”

  “This time, we both stared at him. Jack was the first one out, running back down the trail. I was right behind him and made a point of shouldering into Williams as I went. Probably not the smartest thing to do with a blowhard like him, but I didn't care.

  "The trail had several more bodies on it than just a few minutes before and it made for much tougher running. When we got to the next rock outcropping Jack muttered, “Ignorant son of a bitch. Look at all those boys he just got killed.”

  “He might have just gotten us killed,” I said.

  “Jack looked at me for a second and turned towards the bottom of the ravine. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Stay there! We’re coming to you!”

  “He turned to me and said, “Get ready to run,” turned back towards the bottom and yelled, “How bad is he hurt?” When the last syllable left his lips he lunged himself back up the trail, me right on his heels. I didn't even bother to shoulder a gun this time, we both just ran with everything we had.

  “We reached the last group of rocks before the ridge to see the trail had claimed a few more lives. “Hey Lieutenant, how about a little cover fire?” Jack called out.

  “A few seconds l
ater Rollins replied, “Estrada’s halfway up the trail and bleeding. You grab his ass on the way and we’ll give you all the support you need.”

  “We took off up that trail like the hounds of hell were on our heels. Estrada lay in the middle of the trail with blood running from his hip and as we passed he raised his arms towards us. Without breaking stride we each cupped a hand into an armpit and drug him backwards through the dirt.

  “The ridge above us ignited with gunfire, matched by North Korean bullets ripping into the ground around us. Estrada cried out as another slammed into his calf, but we didn't stop moving.

  “Cheers went up from the unit as we crested the ridge and all three of us dropped to the dirt. Men crowded around, some clapping, others reaching down to slap us on the back. Persyn slid in from nowhere and started working on Estrada while men continued cheering or tossing insults at the North Koreans.

  “That all came to a halt though with the arrival of Williams.

  “The crowd quieted as that smug prick pushed his way through to us. When he got there he didn’t thank us, he didn’t congratulate us, he said, “I’m going to have you two court-martialed for that little stunt.”

  “Rollins turned his head towards him. “Sir?”

  “Don’t sir me. These two disobeyed a direct order down there and they’re going to pay for it.”

  “They saved your life,” Marks said.

  “Williams shook his head and said, “That might be, but this is the Army and we have rules. They disobeyed a direct order and they will pay for it.” With that he turned and stomped off.”

  “It didn’t even matter that you saved him?” I asked, anger rising in my own young voice.

  “No,” my uncle said, shaking his head. “Jack and I rose to a seated position and each accepted canteens from some of the men. Rollins waited for Williams to leave and said, “That was the most heroic thing I’ve ever seen. There won’t be any court martial, I guarantee it.”

  “We each nodded as Rollins moved away to check on Estrada. “You alright?” Jack asked.

  “Yeah, you?”

  “Yeah. Some fine looking pants we’ve got on aren’t they?”

  “I hadn’t noticed until he said something, but the legs of our pants were torn to shreds. I ran my hands over my calves a few times to make sure they weren’t hit, but aside from a few small scratches they were intact.

  “Damn, that was close,” I said. My hands began to tremble and for a good while I sat there, staring at the ground, waiting for them to stop. “You want to explain to me what that up there was all about?”

  “All what?” Jack asked.

  “That whole, ‘There are better shooters’ thing you pulled up there.”

  “Jack drew a tight smile. "You do things better when you’re mad.”

  “I started to reply but caught myself mid-sentence. He was right, in a way only an older brother could be.”

  My uncle paused for several moments again before pointing back towards the house. “We both earned silver stars for the incident. Between extricating the men and pulling Estrada to safety, there wasn’t anything a few grumblings of one dead Captain could do to prevent it.”

  “One dead Captain?” I asked.

  “We’ll get to that,” my uncle said, returning his gaze back out over the water. “Trust me; we’ll get to it all before we’re done.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “The incident in the ravine soon became just another day in our life over the next several months. All told, it took us three more nights to finish our swing eastward across Pusan and we earned every inch of it.

  “Every tree, every hole, every dip in the landscape allowed for another ambush and the North Koreans took full advantage of them all. The arrogance of Williams seemed to grow every day, so we were always walking into traps. Poor formations, not enough sentries, you name it. I swear he did most of it just to prove he could.

  “After the ravine, Jack and I became both heroes and villains overnight. Many of the men admired us for what we did, some even came and thanked us for saving them or their friends. Others thought we were show-offs, glory seekers who needed to be reminded who we were and how long we’d been in the Army.

  “That was nothing compared to what we got from Williams though. We took twice as many guard duties and scout positions as others, lugged more water than any five men put together.

  “Through it all we never said a word, a fact which only irritated him further.”

  My uncle again paused for a moment and watched the sun slide a little lower in the sky. For a moment his face was impassive.

  “After we liberated Pusan, word came down that MacArthur himself had ordered all available personnel north to the 38th parallel. That was the official boundary between North and South Korea and we were going to try and regain control of all of South Korea.

  “Bit by bit we pushed north as the dog days of summer gave way to fall. Around us the torrid heat and humidity receded, shifting to chilly mornings and cold nights.

  "Not a single day passed without shots being fired and good men around us falling. On paper, there was no way the North Koreans could match up with us. They were out manned, out trained and out classed in every way possible. Instead, they used guerrilla tactics and a familiarity with the landscape to slowly chip away at us.

  "The fact that we had a stubborn ass like Williams at the helm sure didn't help us much either.

  “Given our position against the coast, it was impossible for reinforcements to reach us. The shoreline was too treacherous to get aid by sea, the area too hostile for airborne and overland support. Each day our forces grew a little smaller and by the time November rolled around we were at less than half the original force that landed together.”

  My uncle again paused and I could tell by the slow demeanor and quiet tone that he was preparing himself for what lay ahead. I wanted to move closer to him and tell him it was okay, he could finish the story later, but I knew I couldn’t.

  He sensed what I was thinking and looked over at me. A half smile crossed his face and he nodded his head once. “You'll have to excuse me. We're coming to a part of the story that still keeps many good soldiers awake at night.

  “The Chosin Reservoir is a manmade lake about seventy miles south of the Yalu River, which was important for two big reasons. First, the Yalu was where we believed the strength of the North Korean Army was holed up. If we could get a foothold on the Reservoir, we had a place to launch an attack.

  "Second, and maybe even more important, Chosin served as the boundary between North Korea and Red China.

  “Like North Korea, Red China was under the control of a communist regime that hated America and everything it stood for. It held no pretenses about its support of the North Koreans, and offered generous verbal and monetary aid to them.

  "On the night of November 27th, that support grew to include their military as well.”

  My uncle placed a hand on his knee and swung his hips out from under him. He brought one leg up and steadied himself, then climbed to his feet and looked down at me. “Let’s walk for a spell.”

  I sprung up and hurried to his side as we made our way down the sandbar and back through the tall grass dancing in the breeze.

  “The night of November 27th was our second at Chosin. We had arrived the day before after fighting our way north for over two months and the entire camp was exhausted beyond belief. Each man there had seen enough death and despair to last them a hundred lifetimes.

  “Each day the officers pleaded with Williams for a break to allow the men to recuperate and each day Williams refused and ordered us north. In his mind, he would be recognized as the officer that was the first to reach the North Koreans.

  “All it really meant was when we got there, we would have had to face them alone.

  “We came upon Chosin late on the 26th, worn out from marching all day. Harsh cold had moved into the country and while we took whatever we could find along the way, it wasn't enough to
keep us warm. Every day we trudged forward into a wind that sapped us of our strength and each night we huddled tight around fires in an attempt to get warm.

  “When we arrived on the shores of the Chosin, the officers demanded we stop for a few days. There was plenty of water and its beaches offered us the protection we hadn’t had in a long time.

  “There wasn't any vegetation for several hundred yards down to the water's edge, just rocky shale that became sand. By putting our backs to the water and staying in the trees, we only had to watch one direction. Many of us had lost vast amounts of weight and our feet bled from marching in the unforgiving Army issue boots.

  "If Williams didn't stop, he wasn't going to have a unit left. Even still, it took over two hours of heated debate for him to relent and grant a day of rest. That was on the night of the 26th.

  “The next day we hunkered down in the forest. We built fires, cooked dehydrated meals and slept for hours on end. Late that afternoon Jack and I took our turn as guards to find the forest devoid of activity. I mean any activity.

  “After growing up on the bottoms, we were pretty attuned to the sounds of woods. Let me tell you, it was unnerving to hear the world so still.

  "That evening, neither one of us was able to sleep. Everybody else was well into their third or fourth nap of the night, but we remained awake and alert with our backs to the fire.

  "Exhaustion still gripped both of us, but we couldn't let ourselves fall asleep. Years of listening to the forests back home and now months of tromping through the Korean countryside had honed our senses razor sharp. Even at that, already feeling that something was out there, we didn't hear them until they were almost on top of us.

  “I had no idea an encroaching Army could be so silent.”

  We came to an old sycamore log, trunk worn smooth from the elements. My uncle walked right up to it and patted it, signaling the end of our path. He turned us back the way we’d came and didn’t speak again until we were halfway across the sand bar.

  When he did, his voice was cold and distant.

  “Two hundred thousand Chinese soldiers got within a few hundred yards of us without making a sound. We were sitting with our backs to them and didn’t even know they were there until they let out the fiercest shout I ever heard and charged right for us.