“Marks leaned on his stick and went to a knee as the rest of us circled in around him. “Look men, I know this is the last thing you want to hear but we have to keep moving.”
“But sir, they went right past us. Doesn’t that mean we’re safe here?” Buddy asked.
“Marks shook his head and said, “We were safe here because its night and they couldn’t see us. First light they’ll be able to spot us right quick.”
“So you think they’ll stay in the area?” Avery asked.
“Marks shook his head to one side and said, “Most likely. Those were Koreans, not Chinese, which makes me think they’re going to be in the area looking for stragglers and looting the dead. If we’re here at dawn, somebody’s going to find us.”
“Marks looked around the circle, but nobody said anything. He glanced across each of our faces and said, “I damned well don’t want to do it either, but we’ve got no choice. Five minutes. Take a piss, grab your weapon, get ready to go.”
“We’ve already got our weapons and can’t nobody piss since we haven’t had water all day, let’s just go now,” I said. A few men nodded their heads and I even noticed Dwayne give a shrug of agreement.
“Marks leaned on his stick and rose to his feet. “You men grab those shirts from across the top, pull those sticks down from between the rocks. Somebody sees it in the morning; they’ll know we’ve been here.”
“We set off again sometime deep in the night. The sky was inky black and starless and moving was slow. We had to be sure to pick our feet up with every step and work in a single file line to make ourselves as small a target as possible.
“The Korean patrol was moving north to south in the same way we had been, so we set off at an angle towards the southwest. There wasn’t much of a trail and it was tough picking our way through the dense forest. Small pockets of snow dotted the forest floor and we had to be careful not to leave any footprints as we trudged along.
“We walked for several hours through the bitter cold, nothing to guide us through the night. With each step our feet grew wearier and our weapons heavier. Avery was the first to stumble, Caldwell soon thereafter.
“Another hour passed as we continued plodding forward, the single file line ditched in favor of the buddy system again. Many were dragging their feet and didn’t have the energy to avoid the snow lying on the ground any longer.
“Dawn had just broken into the sky when Jack said, “Sergeant, wait!” in a hushed whisper.
“Jack and I had been near the rear of the group and most of the men stopped and turned to us. The few who didn’t turn fell to their knees and sat panting in the morning air.
“I turned to Jack to see what was wrong, but he was already moving through the brush. His steps still seemed easy and I to this day have no idea where he found the energy.
“He walked off to our right thirty or forty yards and disappeared into a pine thicket. When he dropped from sight I walked over after him, but before I got there he emerged back through the pines.
“Waving his left arm in a circle motion he whispered, “Come on” through the trees.
“Many of the men stayed where they were as I walked forward to see what my brother had found. I walked past him through the pines and when I saw it, I almost cried out in excitement.
“Using a newfound strength I joined my brother and motioned for the men to come along. I was grinning as the men rose and began making their way towards us.
“Most of them looked at us like we were crazy as they walked past and I even heard Dwayne mutter, “This better be good” as he helped Marks along.
“When the last of the men had gone, Jack and I turned and followed them through the thicket. I had figured they would go on inside, but each of them stood looking at what Jack had found.
“A cave.”
My uncle paused again for another second and I had to turn my head towards him to make sure I had heard right. “A cave?”
My uncle nodded. “Yep.
“The twelve of us stood there for a moment looking at the mouth of the cave that opened from a small rise in the land. It was about four feet in height and the early morning light filtered in, revealing a wide opening inside.
“How in the hell did you find this?” Marks asked.
“Jack looked up to the sky and pointed at the trees. “Little trick I picked up back home. If you’re in a forest and see an opening, usually means something’s there. I was thinking it was a watering hole, got lucky with the cave.”
“The men stared at Jack for several seconds before I said, “Um, fellas, we going to get our asses out of the cold here or what?”
“The sound of my voice seemed to break the stillness of the moment and the men filed inside.
“As the day wore on, more natural light filtered in and the cave around us got a little bit bigger. As it did, we pushed further inside, making it over fifty feet back from the opening. Back there, it was almost six feet tall in places and the walls widened to ten feet in diameter.
“We built a fire and before long light was dancing along the cave walls. Avery, Sims and Caldwell fell straight to sleep and within minutes Francis and Buddy joined them.
“Jack and I took our turn to grab wood and by the time we returned the rest of the men were asleep around the fire. We added another armload to the flames and walked back towards the mouth of the cave to stand guard for awhile.
“We sat back about ten feet from the opening with our guns propped in our laps. We leaned against the wall of the cave and it was hard to fight off heavy eyelids as the warmth came towards us.
“It wasn’t until Manus shook me awake that I even realized I had fallen asleep. My eyes snapped open and I raised my gun towards the mouth of the cave. Jack was awake and watching me, a half smirk on his face.
“You boys have to come see this,” Manus said, slapping me on the shoulder and grinning.
“Jack and I exchanged quizzical looks and followed Manus back into the cave to find another fire sprang up near the first one. All of the men were awake and many of them wore smiles.
“You boys ain’t gonna believe what we just found!” Francis called and slapped down hard on a large stack at his side.
“Jack and I moved a little further forward to let the firelight illuminate what it was, then we both stopped cold.
“The room grew quiet around us and Marks said, “You boys know what that is?”
“I nodded and at the same time we both said, “Winn-Orr corn.”
“Every head in the room turned and a few jaws dropped.
“How in the world?” Avery said.
“I looked back at them and said, “Winn-Orr is the canning plant in Birch Grove.”
“Aren’t you boys from...” Manus started to ask, but let his voice trail off.”
I could tell when my uncle was breaking from the story because his voice changed. He went from being in the past to the present.
“Page twenty up there is a label from a can of Winn-Orr corn. Winn-Orr closed its doors in the forties and it wasn’t easy tracking that label down, but we managed to do it just the same.
“What in the world those cases were doing in that cave I’m not sure. They were dated 1941 so they had probably been stashed there by somebody during the Second World War. They might have been put there by American forces just weeks before and they might have been concealed there by Koreans that had taken them from an abandoned post, I just don’t know.
“What I do know that as long as I’ve lived since, I’ve never had a meal as delicious as that food from home.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
My uncle’s eyes went glassy as he remembered sitting in the cave and eating that corn. The corners of his lips played up into a smile and for a few moments the lines on his face framed a somewhat fond expression.
He rose and reached down for my hand. I gave it to him and he helped me to my feet. A small breeze crawled across the lake and washed over us and he said, “We should head back up towards
the house. I don’t want your folks worrying about you.”
We turned our backs to the sun as it dipped a little lower in the sky and followed the path back up through the tall grass. My uncle kept my left hand in his and with the right I played at the tops of the saw grass as it blew in the wind.
A few people wandered from the house and we could see them go to their cars and drive away. Many autos still lined the dusty driveway and the calls of voices and laughter grew stronger as we got closer to the house.
We reached the deck and together took a seat on the steps. My uncle patted my knee twice and looked out over the fields.
“All told, we spent three days in that cave. We’d take turns watching the opening in two hour shifts and the rest of the time we spent sleeping or eating every last can of that corn. We all ended up with the squirts from it and by the end that cave smelled something awful, but it didn’t matter. We’d go for firewood at night and for the first time in weeks if not months, we were warm and full and well rested.
“The third night we finished the last of the corn and Marks said we should be moving on. The cave had been a perfect place for us to stop and regain our strength and rest up, but it was only temporary.
“So long as we were in that cave we weren’t moving. Nobody knew we were alive and the only chance we had of help was if we found it ourselves.
“The last night we took some heavy branches and mosses and formed a half wall across the front of the cave. Behind the wall we lined all the empty cans so that if anyone came in they’d knock them over and alert us. We all slept deep and sound through the night and at dawn we collected our things and moved on.
“A couple of the men tried filling cans with hot coals and carrying them to keep warm, but the tin grew too hot and they were forced to abandon them. Within an hour of waking, it was just us and the elements again.
“For two days we moved at an angle across the terrain, a renewed spirit allowing us to move much faster than before. By day we covered better than twenty miles, at night we bedded down the best we could with no idea where we were.
“On the eve of the second day we heard the sound of gunshots in the distance. We had all taken on a dazed and glassy look from the two days of hard marching, but our nerves were on edge.
“Marks drew us into single file formation and as we moved forward we could smell gunpowder in the air. Moving through the forest we came across a small cluster of Marines. Five stood on alert spread in a half circle with their backs to us, their commander behind them barking orders into a radio.
“We drew up short and waited for several seconds before Marks moved forward and called out, “This is Sergeant Marks with what’s left of the 5th Division, United States Army.”
“At the sound of his voice, all of the Marines turned with weapons raised in our direction. The commander on the radio jerked his head towards us and said, “Step forward with weapons lowered and identify your numbers.”
“Marks had been holding his weapon in front of him in the ready position with his right hand on the butt and his left along the barrel. He grabbed hold of the weapon in his left and held it at his side and walked, hands raised on either side.
“Again, sir, my name is Sergeant Marks, 5th Division. I have with me eleven other men, the last of our regiment.”
“The commander looked him over for a second and called out, “The rest of you men come out where we can see you.”
“The others in his company continued to stare in our direction with weapons raised. Each of us moved forward as Marks had. As we did the Marines would shift their aim from one of us to another.
“The commanding officer watched as we all moved forward. After a moment he said, “You men return to your positions.”
“The Marines cast a quick glance at one another and turned back towards the sound of gunfire. The officer walked forward and stuck his hand towards Marks. “Lieutenant Colonel Jacobsen, 3rd Division, United States Marine Corp. You say you’re from the 5th Army?”
“Marks returned the handshake. “Yes sir.”
“Jacobsen shook his head and said, “We heard every last one of you had met your maker up at Chosin. How’d you boys get out of there alive?”
“Marks shook his head. “Damn Chinese mowed us down like we weren’t even there. They had the perfect ambush set up; we never saw it coming. The few of us here had to swim out of there and damn near died of hypothermia. We’ve been picking our way along, moving across the country ever since.”
“Jacobsen studied Marks for a moment before casting his eyes towards us. He was a solid man with close cropped black hair that was graying around the edges. His face wore the hardened lines of a man that was accustomed to this sort of thing and he wasted no movement in anything he did.
“I don’t know what your plans are, but I could sure as hell use some help here.”
“Where the hell is here?” Dwayne asked.
“Without turning his head Jacobsen said, “Hagaru, moving back towards Koto-Ri. The Koreans have amassed a hell of a force and are moving straight towards our rally point on the sea.”
“Rally point?” Marks asked. “We getting the hell out of here?”
“Jacobsen shook his head. “No, just trying to go about this a different way. The Koreans have put all their forces through here in the south. Plan is for us to get out to the sea and board some carriers, work our way up the coast and come back in above them from the North. Try to cut them off from both the Chinese and their own internal support.”
“So what the hell are we all doing here?” Buddy asked.
“We’re delaying them as much as we can until our side gets everything in order.”
“Everything in order?” Marks asked.
“We have to get all of our soldiers in the area evacuated out of here and we have to give our boys time to dispose of anything we can’t take with us. Can’t go leaving a stack of weapons for the Commies to use.”
“The circle fell silent for a moment as shots continued to ring out in the distance.
“What kind of numbers we up against?” Jack asked.
“They’ve amassed probably twelve to fifteen thousand,” Jacobsen said.
“And how many have we got?” Jack asked.
“Started with about five hundred, little over half of that remain.”
“Jack looked out towards the sounds of fire and said, “Regular old Battle of Thermopylae.”
“Jacobsen turned and studied Jack for a moment. “Not quite. Every last one of them died. I intend to make it out of here alive.”
“Jack matched his gaze. “So what can we do to help?”
“Jacobsen snatched up the radio again and barked, “I’ve got a dozen able bodied Army soldiers here ready to lend a hand. Who needs the most help right now?”
“The line returned nothing but static for a few seconds before a voice said, “Lieutenant, this is Rose over on the east flank. Half my men are trapped in a ravine under heavy sniper fire. I’ve got machine gunners trying to get them out, but we can’t find the damn shooters. Can these guys help us out?”
“Jacobsen turned his head to us and raised his eyebrows to ask if we could help them. Each of us raised our weapons and Marks said, “Just point us where to go.”
“You’re going to circle out of here due east for three hundred yards until you come to a ridge line. From there bear south-southeast two hundred yards until you reach a grove of pine trees. After that, just push east until you seem them.
“I’m going to get on the horn and alert everywhere between here and there you’re coming, so you boys can move fast. It’s over three-quarters of a mile, I’ll tell Rose you’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Without so much as a word, each of us took off double time in the direction Jacobsen said. As we moved the sound of gunfire grew louder and thicker around us and we could hear men yelling and crying out.
“We reached the ridge line in just over a minute and made the clump of pine trees in about three
and a half. An officer emerged from the trees long enough to point us on towards the east and without a word we turned and ran in that direction.
“By the time we reached Rose and the east flank, each of us had sweat running down our faces, panting hard. We found him lying along the top of the ravine on his stomach, his binoculars focused on the opposing wall. Each of us threw ourselves to the ground beside them and edged forward.
“Sergeant Marks, 5th Division, Army,” Marks said as he sidled up to Rose. “What’s the situation sir?”
“Sumbitches have us hemmed in something fierce,” Rose responded. “They have a major force on the far side of the ravine pushing towards us. They’ve got snipers and gunners over on the far wall picking us off every time we move. I’ve got machine guns over there on the rocks, but in this low light we can’t get a good bead on where the bastards are.”
“Rose handed the binoculars to Marks who studied the opposite wall. As he did, Buddy leaned towards Jack and I and said, “Looks a helluva lot like that last situation we were in doesn’t it?”
“Jack and I didn’t bother to respond, but we both had already been thinking the same thing.
“Marks finished looking over the grounds and said, “What do you need us to do sir?”
“Rose resumed looking through the binoculars and said, “We don’t have enough ammunition left to just fire blind at that side of the ravine. We do that; they’ll just wait us out and mow us down.
“We need someone to paint ‘em for us.”
“Paint them?” Dwayne asked.
“A man to Rose’s right tossed a box across Rose’s back that landed and sent bullets rolling in all directions. “.30 caliber tracer rounds,” he said. “Fire from an M-1 just like a regular bullet.”
“I’ll give my guys in the ravine the sign, and they’ll draw out enemy fire,” Rose said. “We need your best shooters up here to spot that fire and make an accurate return. From there, our gunner above can take care of them. Slow and tedious, but doing it piecemeal is the only option we’ve got.”
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