6. Stamford, MS, with sketch map of east side of Chosin Reservoir, n.d., according to Stamford, prepared in January and early February, 1951 at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia at the request of the commandant, Marine Corps (see chap. 2, note 9). Stamford said that only two copies were made; one was given to him, and the other was marked "Secret" and held by the Marine Corps. Stamford's MS is one of the most valuable contemporary records relating to the action of Chosin. Stamford was in the movement of the 1st Bn. to Chosin and in the action thereafter from the beginning to the end. In comparison with all other relevant material examined, this document is of high quality and accuracy. It provides much information on some aspects not found elsewhere. In extensive interviews with Stamford I discussed the action east of Chosin in great detail. In 1979, Stamford was still a rugged, stocky man of evident physical strength and endurance. He still wore his hair crew-cut. He discussed battle with a no-nonsense, practical attitude, displayed intimate knowledge of his speciality, and took as a matter of course the need for physical and moral courage in meeting harsh battle conditions. These long discussions were supplemented when he and Mrs. Stamford visited me again on Oct. 28-29, 198o.
7. Stamford, letter to author, May 7, 1981, with three sketch maps showing the A Co. perimeter and the Chinese approach and penetrations of A Co.; Sgt. James J. Freund, Mortar Squad, Statement, attached to 7th Div., Command Report, Chosin Reservoir, National Archives, Federal Records Center, Record Group 407, Box 3172; Blumenson, "Chosin Reservoir"; Gugeler, Combat Actions in Korea, pp. 66-67; Stamford, Anglico Report. The Stamford, Miller, and Curtis MSS, all of which contain accounts of the beginning of the action and are substantially in agreement on the time it occurred, the main attack starting about 12:30 A.m., Nov. 28, 1950.
8. Stamford, letters to author, Apr. 7 and May 7, ig8i, with sketch maps; Stamford, MS; Stamford, Anglico Report, p. 74.
9. Stamford, MS, p. 3, and Anglico Report, p. 75; Stamford, letter to author, Apr. 7, 1981, with sketch map of A Co.'s position. An article entitled "There Are Always Miracles," said to be by Capt. Edward P. Stamford (as told to Capt. Hubbard Kuokka, USMC), appeared in Blue Book magazine, November, 1951. It purported to tell the story of Stamford's experiences at Chosin. Stamford was incensed by the article and asked me not to use it as a source for anything about him. He said that it was inaccurate and that he did not like its tone or rhetoric. He said that the article had not been cleared with him before publication.
io. Stamford, MS, p. 5; Lt. Col. Erwin B. Bigger and Miller confirmed that Stamford commanded A Co. after Scullion was killed during the night of Nov. 27- 28, ig5o.
it. Bigger, letter to author, July 6, t98o; Bigger, telephone interview, May 8, 1980.
12. Bigger, letter to author, July 6, ig8o; Bigger, telephone interview with author, May 8, ig8o. Bigger learned after the event that the unknown soldier whose challenge sounded like "Eeeya, eeya" was asking in Chinese Who is it?"
13. Blumenson, interview notes for "Chosin Reservoir," 1/32, July, 1951; Gugeler, Combat Actions in Korea, pp. 67-68; Curtis, interview with author, Curtis, May S, 1979; Curtis, MS, p. to; Bigger, letter to author, May u, 1981. Blumenson says that the mess sergeant who tried to rescue Haynes was Casey. Gugeler says that Faith ordered Haynes to go up to A Co. and take command. Bigger's testimony indicates that this was not the case; Bigger, letter to author, July 6, 1980; Bigger, telephone interview with author, May 8, 198o. The spelling of the battalion S-4's name is uncertain. Everyone consulted stated that his name sounded like "Voo-dray." I have not seen a battalion roster or any other official document containing his name. Col. Miller thinks that the spelling Vaudreaux is correct.
14. Bigger, letter to author, May u, ig8i.
55. Capt. Hugh R. May, Report, Chosin Reservoir, Oct. 28, 1957 (hereafter cited as May, Report). This document is a 4-page typescript summary of May's experiences in the Chosin action. I have a copy of this document, courtesy of Col. Crosby P. Miller and subsequently courtesy of May. It is one of the valuable sources. May greatly expanded this account in two letters to the author, n.d., received in July and August, 1981, and two others to the author, Sept. S and Oct. 31, 1981.
i6. GHQ FEC, General Order No. 129, May 21, 1951, awarding the Distinguished Service Cross to Cpl. Godfrey; Lt. Col. Erwin B. Bigger, USA, Ret., letter to author, July 6, ig8o; Stamford, MS.
17. Col. James G. Campbell, USA, Ret., letter to author, May 3, 1981.
i8. Bigger, letter to author, July 6, ig8o.
19. 7th Inf. Div., Command Report, Chosin Reservoir; Blumenson, "Chosin Reserwir"; Gugeler, Combat Actions in Korea, pp. 67-68; Curtis, MS, pp. 10-11; Campbell, tape, Nov. 29-30, 1980.
20. Curtis, letter to author, Jan. 1, 1977, p. 4; Curtis, MS, p. u; Maj. Robert E. Jones, Report to Maj. Lynch, G-3 Sect., 7th Div., Dec. 4, 1950; Sfc. Richard B. Luna, B Co., 32nd Inf., Statement, n.d., but made the day after he escaped to Hagaruri, apparently Dec. 2 or 3, 1950, attached to 7th Inf. Div. Command Report, Chosin Reservoir (hereafter cited as Luna, Statement); Robbins, Breakout, p. i.
21. Stamford, interview with author, Oct. 1-3, 1979; Blumenson, "Chosin Reservoir"; Campbell, tape.
22. Capt. Robert J. Kitz, commanding officer of K Co., 3rd Bn., 31st Inf., Affidavit, presumably on Dec. 3, 1950, the day after his escape to Hagaru-ri. Kitz's affidavit is an attachment to the 7th Inf. Div. Command Report, Chosin Reservoir (hereafter cited as Kitz, Affidavit); M. Sgt. Ralph M. Payne, K Co., 31st Inf., Statement, Apr. 15, 1951; Sgt. John B. Gibbs, L Co., 31st Inf., Statement, Apr. 19, 1951.
23. Sfc. John C. Sweatman, K Co., 31st Inf., Statement, Apr. 19, 1951, copy in author's possession (hereafter cited as Sweatman, Statement).
24. 1st Lt. Thomas J. Patton, A Btry., 57th FA Bn., Statement, n.d., apparently prepared in April or May, 1951, copy in author's possession (hereafter cited as Patton, Statement).
25. Kitz, Affidavit, p. 3; Coombs, thesis, p. 35; Pfc. Lewis D. Shannon, I Co., 31st Inf., Statement.
26. GHQ FEC, General Order No. 172, July 2, 1951, Distinguished Service Cross award to Sgt. Stanford O. Corners.
27. Mrs. Celeste B. Reilly, widow of Lt. Col. William R. Reilly, letter to author, Feb. 11, 1977, citing a long letter she said Lt. Henry Traywick had written to her in December, 195o, describing the circumstances in which he rescued her husband from his CP on the morning of Nov. 28, 195o. I have tried unsuccessfully to find Traywick to obtain his recollections. Lt. Col. Earle H. Jordan states that he met Traywick near the Communications CP just after daylight on the 28th and that Traywick told him he had driven the last of the Chinese from the area.
28. Mrs. Reilly, letter to author, n.d., received Feb. 22, 1977; newspaper clipping, Barre, Vt., n.d., carrying a news story dated Dec. 21, 19So; copy of letter addressed to "Dearest Mother and Dad," signed "Bill, Jr." (Lt. Col. William R. Reilly), Dec. 17, 1950, from Osaka Army Hospital, Japan, in which he describes the nature of his wounds at his CP on Nov. 28, 1950. In this letter Reilly mentions the great number of Chinese dead in the 3rd Bn. position: "I never saw so many dead people before-far more than the Battle of the Bulge." Lt. Col. Earle H. Jordan, in a letter to the author, Feb. 28, 1980, and in another, Feb. 5, 1979, states that Capt. Adams and the assistant S-3 (Lt. Anderson) were killed or died of wounds received in the 3rd Bn. CP and that Reilly was wounded there. How many others were injured there or escaped from the CP is unknown to me.
29. Coombs, thesis, p. 35, citing correspondence with Lt. Col. William R. Reilly.
30. Capt. Earle H. Jordan, Jr., letter to author, Jan. 5, 1979. In this letter Jordan said, "The Chinese soldiers were dressed in white." Photographs in the author's possession showing enemy dead within the perimeter confirm that their uniforms were white. In all other places of enemy action east of Chosin the Chinese uniforms were green-brown.
31. Jordan, letters to author, Feb. 5, 1979, and Feb. 28, 1980.
32. Jordan, letter to author, Jan. 5, 1979.
33• Drake, letter to author, Jan. 10,1977; 7th Inf. Div., Command Report,
Chosin Reservoir, Nov. 27-Dec. 12, 1950, p. 3; Col. Carl G. Witte, USA, Ret., correspondence with author, 1978-80; Maj. William R. Lynch, Jr., letter to author, Dec. 19, 1976, and attached list of 31st RCT strength at Hagaru-ri, Dec. 3, 1950. The 7th Inf. Div. Action Report says that the Medical Co. left Hudong-ni about 1:00 A.M. on Nov. 28. Drake thought that it was about 3:00 A.M. when the Medical Co. first sergeant arrived back at his CP and told him about the ambush. The 7th Div. Action Report states that some members of the Medical Co. fought through to the 3rd Bn., 31st Inf.
34. Lynch, letter to author, Dec. 19, 1976.
35. Hodes died at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on Feb. 14, 1962. See also chapter 6, note 12.
36. Robbins, Breakout.
37. Curtis, letter to author, June 5, 1980.
38. Col. Ray O. Embree, USA, Ret., letter to author, Aug. 15, 1980. Embree, in his letter to the author, Mar. 18, 1979, discusses his reconaissance of the bivouac area during the day with Col. MacLean. Maj. James R. McClymont, USA, Ret., Statement (13 pages) and sketch map of bivouac area, on his experiences at Chosin Reservoir, n.d., prepared at the author's request and received by me on July 9, 1980 (hereafter cited as McClymont, MS). Enclosed with this narrative letter was a 4-page list of answers to specific questions I had asked in a letter to him of May 6, 1980. McClymont's statement and letter of answers to my questions are valuable sources on an important unit's actions east of Chosin Reservoir that are covered nowhere else to my knowledge, including the Army's official records, since no copy of the action of D Btry or that of the 57th FA Bn. could be found in the National Archives for the period in question-November and December, 1950.
39. McClymont, letter to author, July 7, 1980.
40. McClymont, MS, p. 4.
41. McClymont, MS, and letter to author, July 7, 1980; GHQ X Corps, General Order No. 74, Dec. 24, 1950, award of Silver Star to Capt. James R. McClymont for action Nov 28, 1950. McClymont in his narrative says that he found Major Tolly dead in the yard of the 1st Plat. CP. But Col. Embree assured me that it was Maj. Max Morris, the FA executive officer, who was killed there. Maj. Tolly survived the war. Capt. McClymont was not well acquainted with the officers of the 57th FA Bn., never having met any of them until the day before he started for Chosin Reservoir. Embree, letters to author, Mar. 18, 1979, and Aug. 15, 1980. See also Antiaircraft Journal, March-April, 1951, p. 21, for text of Silver Star Award, Posthumously, to Roscoe M. Calcote.
42. McClymont, MS, p. 6.
Chapter 6
i. Maj. Robert E. Jones, Report to Maj. William R. Lynch, Dec. 4, 1950; Lt. Col. Ivan H. Long, AUS, Ret. (intelligence sergeant, 31st Inf., NovemberDecember, 1950), letters to author, Mar. 21,1979, and Mar. 18, 1980; Robbins, Breakout.
2. Curtis, MS, p. u; X Corps, War Diary, Nov. 28, 195o, Periodic Intelligence Report No. 65, p. 3; Robert F. Futrell, The United States Air Force in Korea, 1950- 1953 (New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1961), p. 239 (hereafter cited as Futrell, US Air Force in Korea); Blumenson, "Chosin Reservoir."
3. Miller, MS, pp. 6-7; Stamford, MS, p. 6; see also Gugeler, Combat Actions in Korea, pp. 68-69; Stamford, review comments on "East of Chosin" MS, Apr. 7, 1981; Bigger, review comments on "East of Chosin" MS, Mar. 29, 1981.
4. Mortrude, MS, pp. 3-4, with letter to author, Oct. 23, 1980. In his tape Col. Campbell confirms the loss of this high ground at C Co.'s right flank.
5. Miller, MS, p. 7; Bigger, review comments on "East of Chosin" MS, Mar. 29, 1981.
6. Stamford, MS, p. 6. The tank was a Soviet-built T-34 that retreating North Koreans had apparently left in the possession of the CCF. Miller refers to two truckloads of Chinese soldiers in this approaching column. The Chinese were about two to three miles north of A Co. when the Corsairs and the F-5is hit them. Stamford, interview with author, Oct. 28-29, 1980.
7. Curtis, MS, p. 12; Jones, Report, to Maj. Lynch, 7th Div., G-3 Sect., Dec. 4, 1950.
8. X Corps, War Diary; Almond, Diary, Nov. 28, c95o, in GHQ X Corps, Special Report on Chosin Reservoir, Nov. 27-Dec. io, c95o, p. 15; Curtis, letter to author, Jan. 30, 1977; Lt. Gen. Edward M. Almond, USA, Ret., interview with author, Apr. 28-29, 1977; Blumenson, "Chosin Reservoir"; Gugeler, Combat Actions in Korea, pp. 69-70. In his review comments on "East of Chosin" MS, Mar. 2, 1981, Col. Jones explains how he arranged to have the three awards citations formally issued in 1951. Gugeler's account, Combat Actions in Korea, pp. 69-70, of the Silver Star award incident is based on Blumenson, "Chosin Reservoir," and his own correspondence with one eyewitness, but this version, as well as Blumenson's, that Smalley threw away his Silver Star, is rebutted by Col. Jones's comments. Blumenson bases his statement that Smalley threw away his Silver Star on an interview with ist Lt. Cecil G. Smith, who said that Smalley told him about it. There seems to be no doubt that Lt. Col. Faith threw away his Silver Star. Col. Curtis also confirms that he saw him do so.
9. Bigger, letter to author, July 6, 1980; Jones, review comments on "East of Chosin" MS, Mar. 2, 1981; Maj. Hugh R. May, letter to authors, n.d., received July 24, 1981, p. 3.
io. Lt. Gen. Edward M. Almond, USA, Ret., interview with author, Apr. 28- 29,1977; Almond, Diary, Nov. 28-29, 1950; Almond, letter to author, Dec. 21, 1976.
It. Col. Robert E. Drake, USA, Ret., letters to author, June 28, 1978, Jan. 10, 1977, Feb. 17, 1977, and Feb. 1, 1977, and review comments on "East of Chosin" MS, Feb. 22, 1978; Brig. Gen. William R. Lynch, letter to author, Jan. 21, 1977; Lynch, interview with author, June 12, 1978.
12. Both Drake and Hodes had distinguished careers in the Army after the Korean War. Hodes rose to four-star rank and was commander-in-chief of the United States Army in Europe (USAREUR), 1956.
13. The identity of the Medical Co. first sergeant is not known to me. He may have been Ernest J. Fontaine, Medical Co., 31st Inf., who is listed as killed in action in a memorandum of Feb. 24, 1951, from the Office of the 7th Div. Quartermaster to the 114th Graves Registration Sect., listing personal effects of the deceased. This document does not name the several sergeants in the list as other than simply "Sergeant." Col. Carl G. Witte, 31st S-2, 1950, provided me with a copy of this memorandum. Drake, letter to author, Jan. 10, 1977; Capt. Robert E. Drake, CO, 31st Tank Co., Memorandum, Dec. 12, 1950, to CO, 31st Inf., attachment to 7th Inf. Div. Action Report, Nov. 21-Dec. 20, 1950, National Archives, Federal Records Center, Record Group 407, Box 3172; Lynch, letter to author, Jan. 21, 1977, and interview with author, June 12, 1978; Col. Carl G. Witte, letter to author, May 26, 1980. The 7th Div. Action Report, made up after the event, indicates that about a platoon of improvised infantry from Engineers and miscellaneous service troops at the 31st Rear CP accompanied Drake's tanks on the 28th. But Drake, Lynch, and Witte, all at Hudong-ni at the time, agree that no such troops were with the tanks on that day. I have used Drake's original map, along with a 1969-72 data map, to describe the terrain approaching Hill 1221. At two places on this map blood from the Medical Co. sergeant's head wound had rotted holes in the Drake map and had discolored many other places on it-a poignant map that carried one back to the scene. Drake, letter to author, Feb. 24, 1981.
14. Lynch, letter to author, Jan. 21, 1977, and interview with author, June 12, 1978. Lynch told me that he heard Gen. Hodes give this order to Hensen and that he watched Hensen make one attempt that failed and then set out on a second one.
15. Lynch, letters to author, Dec. 19, 1976, and Jan. 21, 1977, and interview with author, June 12, 1978.
16. Drake, letters to author, Jan. 10, Feb. 1, and Feb. 17, 1977; Lynch, letters to author, Dec. 19, 1976, and Jan. 21, 1977, and interview with author, June 12, 1978.
17. Drake, letter to author, May 6, 1980; Lynch, letter to author, Jan. 21, 1977; Sgt. Jimmy P. Howle, letter to Col. Robert E. Drake, Feb. 8, 1986, copy in author's possession.
18. Witte, letters to author, May 26, 1980, and Dec. 15, 1978; 31st Inf. Command Report, November, 195o. Troop numbers at Hudong-ni are based on Lynch's memorandum of Dec. 3,195o, and his report to X Corps (telephoned from Hagaruri to Maj. Gen
. Clark Ruffner, chief of staff, X Corps), Dec. 3, 195o, copy of handwritten memorandum in author's possession.
19. Drake, letters to author, Feb. 1, 1977, Jan. to, 1977, and Jan. 12, 1977.
20. Jordan, letter to author, Feb. 28,1980; Futrell, US Air Force in Korea, p. 239.
21. Patton, Statement; 1st Lt. Paul C. Smithey, B Btry., 57th FA Bn., Statement, Apr. 18, 1951, copy in author's possession (hereafter cited as Smithey, Statement).
22. Smithey, Statement; ist Lt. Edward L. Magill, with B Btry., 57th FA Bn., at Chosin, Statement, Apr. 17, 1951, copy in author's possession; Sfc. Carroll D. Price, GHQ Btry., 57th FA Bn., Statement, Apr. 18, 1951; 2nd Lt. William N. Eichorn, GHQ Btry., 57th FA Bn. (Security Plat., B Btry., at Chosin), Statement, Apr. 18, '95'; Pfc. Grover H. Powell, GHQ Btry., 57th FA Bn. (radio operator, Fire Direction Center), Statement, Apr. 18, tgst. Most of the statements and comments by artillerymen of the 57th BA Bn. quoted in the narrative and cited here were made in April, igsi. All of them refer to Goss as "captain." Harold Hodge, CO of A Btry., is also referred to as "captain." However, a roster dated Oct. 15, ig5o, and provided to me by Col. Embree gives the rank of first lieutenant for both Hodge and Goss. Both officers were promoted between Oct. 15, igfo, and April, ig5i, but it appears that at Chosin Reservoir both officers held the rank of captain.
23. Author's correspondence with Jordan, Mrs. Reilly, and Curtis.
24. McClymont, MS, and letter of answers to author, p. 2.
25. McClymont, letter of answers to author, p. 2. In preparing the account of events during the daytime on Nov. 28, I have consulted the 7th Inf. Div. Command Report, Chosin Reservoir, Nov. 27-Dec. 12, 195o, copy in author's possession, but it has not been cited because it contains many errors and omissions.
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