East of Chosin

by Roy Edgar Appleman

  After the remnants of the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, arrived at their reconstitution site near Taegu, Major Jones prepared an award citation for the Congressional Medal of Honor, Posthumously, for Lieutenant Colonel Faith. He initially submitted it to a higher headquarters in late December, 195o. The recommendation was returned to Major Jones several times for rewriting. Eventually it was taken over by a still higher headquarters and progressed from one headquarters to another yet higher one. Each in turn rewrote it to satisfy what it considered would meet the requirements of granting the award. The citation was still undergoing this process when Jones was rotated back to the United States in May, 1951. The final draft bore little resemblance to Jones's initial draft.

  Eventually President Harry S Truman awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, Posthumously, to Lieutenant Colonel Faith. The award was presented to Barbara Faith in Washington, D.C., by Gen. Omar N. Bradley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a ceremony on June 21, 19p. The official Department of the Army award and citation were published in its General Orders No. 59, August 2, I95I.41

  Survivors from Task Force Faith arrived at Hagaru-ri by the hundreds during the night of December 1-2. More arrived every day thereafter until the reassembled ist Marine Division and survivors of the 7th Infantry Division east of Chosin began their fighting withdrawal from Hagaru-ri on December 6. Most of the 7th Division troops came across some part of the Chosin Reservoir on the way.

  The first more or less organized groups of survivors crossed the ice from the vicinity of Twiggae, at the southwest foot of Hill 1221. From there it was a straight-line distance of about four and a half miles to the Marine perimeter north of Hagaru-ri. Survivors who escaped from the trucks at the last enemy fire block later had a straight-line distance of about three and a half miles to the Marine perimeter. These men went through or skirted the village of Sasu, and most of them went on the ice for only a short distance before they returned to land.

  The members of Task Force Faith who escaped to Hagaru-ri can be divided into two parts: (i) those who escaped in groups more or less organized under the leadership of one or more officers or noncommissioned officers during the period the task-force motor convoy was stalled at Hill 1221, from about 3:30 P.M. to about 7:00 P.M. (many of these groups left Hill 1221 while it was still daylight) and (2) those who escaped singly or in small groups after the Chinese halted the trucks at their fire block just north of Hudongni. The latter are the principal subjects of this chapter. Nearly all the men in this second category had wounds that did not render them completely immobile; they were able to walk or crawl away from the trucks to positions west of the road, where they found hiding places.

  Survivors of Task Force Faith moving south across the ice of Chosin Reservoir toward Hagaru-ri. A large group can be seen in the distance. They seem to be near the southern tip of the reservoir and the marshland just north of Hagaruri. The ridgeline beyond the men appears to be on the west side of the reservoir. Photographed in the late afternoon of December 1, 19so, by an unknown photographer. Photograph courtesy of Lt. Col. Ivan H. Long.

  The most reliable information on the time of arrival of several large groups of soldiers at Hagaru-ri from the 31st Infantry task force is found in the 1st Marine Division G-3 Journal and Message file. The first such message was a telephone call from the 1st Motor Transport Battalion to the Division G-3 at 1745 (5:45 P.M.), saying `About loo men remnants of 2 Army Bns are at 3/1 CP" (the "3/1 CP" refers to Lt. Col. Thomas L. Ridge's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment CP).

  The second message of consequence in the Marine G-3 Journal and Message file reads: "About 350 more army personnel came into perimeter. Came in over the lake." The message was dated 0120001 (8:oo P.m.). A third message came from the S-3 of the iith Marines (the Marine artillery regi ment) to the Division G-3 at 020200 (2 A.M. on December 2), reporting: "Approximately 200 more stragglers from RCT picked up by Dog Battery coming across ice on Chosin Reservoir. (Information given to Lt. Col. Anderson RCT 31 31st Hq and X Corps.)"

  Some men like Captain Stamford and Major Curtis came in alone during the night. Some of the officers tried to induce the Marines to send rescue parties to the convoy. Curtis, for instance, upon arrival at the Marine perimeter, asked to see General Hodes, whom he supposed to be at Hagaruri, to get help for the motor column. But ist Lt. Rollin W. Skilton, a 7th Division liaison officer with the Marines who went to the perimeter to give Curtis transportation, took him to an aid station and told him that "Hodes was attacking at sun-up."

  Corporal Alfonso Camoesas, 3rd Platoon, C Company, the medical-aid man who had bandaged Mortrude's head wound at the first blown bridge in the afternoon, brought in a party of 15 men carrying 6 wounded. They followed the shoreline of the reservoir for a time but walked on the rail track most of the way to Hagaru-ri.

  When the truck convoy came to its final stop, William J. Hingston, a wireman-runner with the Weapons Platoon, B Company, 32nd Infantry, was with the trucks. He had two leg wounds and shrapnel wounds in the face but was able to walk. He said that he had accompanied Captain Stamford when the latter reconnoitered the area of the second blown bridge near Twiggae. He tells of his escape from the trucks:

  The Chinese had us completely surrounded except for the way leading out onto the ice. At this time I was wounded in the face by shrapnel from a mortar round. I went back to the convoy and got mixed up with Chinese who were at that time all over the convoy. At that time, somewhere in there, I threw my rifle down for a few minutes rather than draw any more fire. No one was fighting back at this time. I thought twice about surrendering at this time, and began to think about escaping out onto the ice. The Chinese evidently had thought I had surrendered as I had thrown down my rifle. I picked my rifle back up and dived into a ditch. As I jumped into the ditch I resumed firing. I aimed between the back wheels of a six by 121h-ton truck]. I ran low on ammo and borrowed all that I could from the wounded on the truck. I let it be known that I was taking off as I considered it hopeless at this time to the men on the back of the truck, and that anyone who wanted to come could. I did not want to get captured and all resistance had stopped at this time except for myself and a few others. One person got off the truck and joined me in the ditch. I told him at that time that I did not want any moaning and groaning. We made a break for the ice. We got out maybe 200 yards and the bullets stopped coming at us from behind. The man who was with me was hit at this time, again, before firing ceased. He became troublesome at this time. I carried him across the ice, heading in northerly [southerly] direction I believe. There were all kinds of tracers down in that direction as that is where the Marines were. We reached the shore and moved up about 50 feet. There was snow on the ground and it was cold. The wind was blowing and I imagine it was around 50 below zero. I crawled around and saw that there was a house less than a hundred yards away.... I carried him towards the house, dropped him about 25 feet from the house and went down to the house by myself to check it out. I kicked the door open and was ready to fire if anyone moved, but there were several candles going. I saw several old men and women. I tried to convince them that I would not hurt them. Two of the old men helped me to carry the wounded man into the house. They helped him as much as they could. I fell asleep and in the morning they woke me up. They were completely trustworthy. Everything had quieted down by now. The old man hooked up the ox cart and we put the wounded man on it. They put all the blankets around him. We were drawing fire from a hill at this time, but we were far enough away so that they could not hit us. We made it to the Marines.

  After the Korean woman had dressed Miller's finger stumps in a house in Sasu-ri on the morning of December 2 and then hurriedly left, Miller lay quietly where he had slept some hours during the night. He continues his story:

  About 0900 (2 Dec) I heard shots in the village and realized that Chinese were searching houses. But I had no place to hide so I lay there. Two Chinese soldiers came in, one armed with a rifle and the other with a typical Russian tommy gun.
They each took a cigarette from me, laughed when I pointed out my wounds, and then left. Soon two more Chinese came in. These took all my cigarettes and lighter, ransacked the house and left. A third pair came in, took a can of meat and beans from my pocket, searched the house and left. Nothing more occurred until about 1200 when a young American soldier crept in the back door. No more Chinese were in sight in the village but we could see approximately a company size unit digging in astride the road on the high ground just to the south (5374). I decided to try to walk around their left flank, advised the soldier to get a stick and hobble as though he were wounded. I realize now that an attempt to get around the enemy left flank was a bad choice, but it was a short-lived attempt at any rate-we got no more than two houses down the street when two Chinese soldiers appeared, shoved me into a shed and marched the soldier with me off up the road to the troops on the hill. I heard no shot so I assume he was held a prisoner. I can only assume that I was not taken prisoner throughout the whole time because of my appearance. Unshaven, dirty, covered with blood and with frozen fingers now beginning to blister and turn black, I believe I was being left to die. By this time I was again exhausted so I crawled into a shed behind a pile of wood and again went to sleep. I was awakened by being dragged out of the shed by two more Chinks who took my wallet, tore up my ID card in half, but gave me back my folder of family pictures. One Chink threw a round into the chamber of his rifle, pointed it at me, and, after what seemed to be an eternity, turned and walked away. At a temperature of at least 20 below zero, I still wiped sweat from my face. I picked up the largest piece of my ID card, found another house back off the street, and, entering it, found two soldiers hiding there. One was wounded in the back and the other in the foot. Again I slept.

  The next morning, 3 December, I crawled out and took a look at the hill (5374) to the south where the Chinese had dug in. There was no sign of an enemy soldier. I estimated they had pulled out straight south along the road to Hagaru-ri or had moved out around the east side of that town and the Marines there. I knew that the odds were in favor of the Marines having to pull out that I'd better get moving or get left behind. Considering the condition of my leg and hands, I decided to use the road and move south until I ran across the Marines or more Chinese. I told the two soldiers what I intended to do, but they would not come with me. I hobbled down the road past a knocked out T-34 tank, up the hill past two M4E8 tanks to the topno Chinese troops were in sight. I went down into the sawmill town of Sasu (5274). Here a North Korean man came out and led me into a house where another man and two women gave me some coffee (GI soluble) and gave me a pencilled note which said in both Korean and English, "Go to the edge of the reservoir and come down it to the Marines." One of the Korean men in broken English told me he would guide me down the road-that it was open. We started out but when we reached the south edge of the town, we spotted Chinese on the hill to the south. My guide left me and disappeared. I decided to go over to the railroad on the edge of the reservoir and try to get by the Chinese that way. As I reached the west side of the town, two corsairs made three passes at the town. I dropped into a ditch when 5o-cal slugs [Corsairs strafe with 20-mm guns] tore up the house behind me. One napalm bomb went over my head, hit about 30 yards behind me-took some of the chill out of the air.

  When the air attack was over, I moved on to the railroad and down the side of the reservoir, sweating out the high ground to my left-Hill 1203 (5273) [Pokko-chae]. I tripped and fell and almost quit because the snow seemed soft and warm. I felt as though sleep was all I needed. But I remembered a description of the symptoms of freezing told me by a friend of my father's who was an Alaskan expert. I realized I was freezing so I got up after what seemed hours of effort and stumbled on-I had lost my stick in the fall. Finally, I reached a point from which I could see Hagaru-ri with tanks spotted around it. This gave me enough strength to keep going until a jeep came out and picked me up.

  The rest is routine-treatment in the Marine Aid Station, where I saw Captain Stamford and was told that Major Jones and Major Curtis had gotten out, was flown out by a C-47 to Hamhung, then to Osaka, Japan, and then to Camp Pickett, Virginia, by ig December ig5o. Thereafter, it was just a long siege (q months) in hospital where the remaining fingers of the left hand and the first joint of all the fingers of the right hand were removed. The leg wound healed perfectly. Returned to duty at Fort Knox, Kentucky.2

  Dr. Lee Yong Kak, the South Korean assistant battalion surgeon, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, escaped from the final enemy fire block. Some days after his escape he wrote in part:

  There was a full moon and the enemy found it extremely easy to observe us.... We attempted to escape by running our vehicles through at the fullest speed possible but we were stopped. Many of us were killed and wounded.... We were able to return only a small part of the fire and soon even that ceased.... I gave my good M-i to a soldier and took his which failed to operate, wearing my white parka, I rolled about 20o yards to the edge of the reservoir and onto the ice. I found the southerly direction by the stars and from that direction observed red tracers first into the sky. These, I felt, came from our army so I walked on the ice in that direction. Soon, utterly exhausted, I fell upon the ice and ... slept until awakened, perhaps ten minutes later, by two soldiers who had escaped from our convoy. We again began our walk south and at about osoo on December 2, we arrived at the Marine base in Hagaru-ri. From that point, due to the annihilation of my own outfit, I joined with the 1st Marine Division.;

  Ivan Long, the intelligence sergeant of the 31st Infantry Regiment, who was wounded during the afternoon of December 1, was captured, and later escaped, as previously described, reached the convoy after the Chinese had just stopped it at the final fire block. He saw the enemy's initial closing on the truck column rear and decided that he had to make an effort to get away to the reservoir. He wrote:

  The loss of blood was beginning to have its effect. I felt light-headed and dizzy and felt I had better head for some medical attention. I crossed a swamp, drawing some fire, and headed across the reservoir. The snowcovered ice was trampled with hundreds of footsteps, leaving no doubt in my mind as to the destination of the troops assigned to protect the convoy.

  My strength by now, as I approached the Marine perimeter, was about gone and I folded and was carried to the aid station by the biggest Marine I ever saw. During my brief stay I was visited by Maj. Witte, but at this point I was not much help. My boots were cut off my feet and I was flown to a hospital in Japan. Subsequently I spent 9 months in the hospital.4

  After watching Chinese grenades hitting the rear vehicles, Campbell fired off the remaining rounds in his carbine at the muzzle flashes on the nose of high ground east of the road. He then hobbled west across the low ground, crawled through the railbed culvert under fire, and came out on the other side of the track. There he encountered several wounded, mostly artillerymen and men from the 31st Infantry. A 17-man group soon gathered there and, with Campbell at the point, moved out onto the ice of the reservoir and started south. Being unable to fashion any kind of litter, Campbell insisted that the group carry and drag with them a man wounded in both legs who could not walk. The group left the ice and returned to the shore where the land flattened out south of Pokko-chae, near the small village of Mulgam-ni, about a mile north of the Marine perimeter at Hagaru-ri. Campbell's comments on the group he led describes well numerous small groups of survivors:

  I clearly recall that from where we started on the road [near Mulgam-nil to the Marine outpost, it was essentially flat.... We encountered no trucks or other vehicles ... and we were on the road less than half an hour or so before reaching the Marine outpost. Considering the somewhat cautious and slow movement of this group of walking wounded, we probably could not have been on the road for much more than a mile. The Korean house we entered shortly before starting on the road was one of a small cluster. As an aside, the discussion of the group in the house is perhaps an indicator of the degree to which the T.F. ceased to func
tion within the accepted structure and roles of a military unit. Up to that time I had unofficially assumed control of the group simply by being at "the point" and by directing that the wounded soldier incapable of walking be dragged with us. Getting people to help each other was difficult because of the lack of group structure and the prevalent "each man for himself attitude"; however, it appeared that anyone at all who was able to exercise leadership would get a response. In the shack when one of the group suggested resting there until daylight, I briefly and forcefully vetoed the idea. I was challenged by an older member of the group who asked if I was an officer. I replied to the dissenting soldier giving my rank, name, and unit. The soldier replied, "That's OK for now but well have an election later." I didn't reply except to say "Let's move out now," and all did so including the dissenters.... Until reaching the marine lines, this group, and possibly others, thought of themselves as the sole group of survivors, functioning in isolation....

  After passing through the Marine outpost, we were helped back to a 21/z ton truck about ioo yards down the road from the outpost which transported the group to an aid station where wounds were dressed and antibiotics administered and hands and feet checked for the extent of frostbite. I was then taken [to] a pyramidal tent, already filled with wounded. We were given hot soup and rested until taken out to the airstrip in a Marine Ambulance truck that afternoon, where we joined a queue of ambulances waiting to load wounded aboard C-47s. After about an hour's wait, which seemed interminable- although the ambulances' engines were kept running because of the bitter cold, we were loaded on board for a quick flight to Hamhung, where we were quickly processed through an Army evacuation hospital near the airfield. Our wounds were again checked and in less than three hours we were on our way to Osaka, Japan. Looking out the window of the ambulance bus enroute to the 35th Station Hospital in Kyoto, it seemed unreal to see the lights, civilization and tranquility of Japan after having experienced the decimation of a fine unit in the frozen hell of Chosin less than 24 hours before, and you couldn't help but reflect on the hundreds of brave men who were still lying out there near that God forsaken reservoir.f