Retreat, Hell!
Page 60
On 30 November, General Almond ordered General Smith to withdraw, and thus began the thirteen-day retreat in sub-zero temperatures from Yudam-ni to Hungnam, which deservedly has become Marine legend:
To move down the one-lane road, it was first necessary for the Marines to clear the Chinese from the ridges on each side of the valley.
The Marines did so, one ridgeline after another.
Marine Aviation flew close ground support missions whenever the weather permitted.
Marine Artillery provided what support it could.
For nine days, over the thirty miles from Yudam-ni to Chinghung-ni, where the 3d U.S. Army Infantry Division had established a line, the Marines were in constant combat with ten Chinese Communist divisions.
It was during this period that General O. P. Smith was quoted as saying, “Retreat, hell! We’re just attacking in another direction!”—although there is some doubt about the attribution.
The first “Retreat, hell!” comment came in France during World War I, when orders were issued for the Marines to retreat. “Retreat, hell! We just got here!” one said. The line was already part of Marine legend by 1950, and somebody certainly must have said it at the Chosin Reservoir.
During this period, too, the legendary Marine Colonel Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, who was then commanding the 1st Marines, did say something near the Chosin Reservoir about which there is no question:
“Don’t you forget that you’re 1st Marines! Not all the Communists in hell can overrun you!”
The Marines came out, bringing with them their weapons, their vehicles, their wounded, most of their dead, and a substantial number of Army soldiers they had rescued from certain capture or death.
The 1st Marine Division had suffered 718 Killed in Action, 3,508 Wounded in Action, and 7,313 “noncombat” casualties due to frostbite. There were 192 Marines Missing in Action.
Fourteen Marines were named Medal of Honor recipients.
The Marine Corps estimates 25,000 Chinese were killed and another 12,500 were wounded. The U.S. Army estimates there were 30,000 Chinese KIA and another 30,000 Chinese were frostbitten.
On Christmas Eve, 1950, the 1st Marine Division, with the rest of the X United States Corps, was evacuated by sea from Hamhung. X Corps took with it more than 100,000 Korean refugees. The only thing they left for the enemy were some engineering bridge timbers.
On Christmas Eve, 1950, Lieutenant General Walton H. Walker was killed in a jeep accident. Lieutenant General Matthew B. Ridgway was named to replace him.
On 11 April 1951, President Truman sent, through ordinary Army channels, a message to General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, which read:
“I deeply regret that it becomes my duty as President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States Military Forces to replace you as Supreme Commander.”
General Ridgway was named to replace him.
After he came home, was promoted, and retired, I had the unique privilege of coming to know Lieutenant General Edward M. Almond and of having him talk to me—usually in his basement office in his home—at length about his role in the Korean campaign, and his relationships with General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and other members of the Supreme Commander’s staff.
One day, when I—and if memory serves, my twelve-year -old Boy Scout son Bill—arrived for lunch at General Almond’s gracious hillside home in Anniston, Alabama, he met me at the door and handed me a letter he said he had just received.
General Almond was then well into his seventies, but his eyes were still a brilliant blue, and when I looked at him, I thought I saw the beginnings of tears.
The letter was on Marine Corps General Officer’s stationery. There were three red stars at the top.
The letter was from Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC.
It began:
MY DEAR GENERAL ALMOND,
ON THE OCCASION OF MY RETIREMENT FROM THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS, I FELT DUTY BOUND TO WRITE TO YOU TO TELL YOU THAT YOU WERE THE FINEST COMBAT COMMANDER UNDER WHOM I WAS EVER PRIVILEGED TO SERVE.
There was more to the letter, now long forgotten, but I shall never forget those opening lines, or General Almond’s reaction to them.
W.E.B. Griffin
Pilar, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
6 August 2003
1 Barrett was an infantryman who began his combat service with the Marines as a lieutenant on the beaches of Guadalcanal. “The Corps” is dedicated to his son, Second Lieutenant Drew J. Barrett III, USMC, who was fatally wounded in Vietnam while serving with the 26th Marines, then in combat beside the 9th Marines, which was commanded by his father. While commanding the 9th, Barrett chose a young officer to command one of its companies, making him the first black officer ever to command Marines in combat. In May 2003, as this book was being written, that officer, later Major General and Ambassador Gary Cooper, attended Colonel Barrett’s funeral, at which Marines of the 1st Force Recon, in dress blues, rendered full military honors and Barrett’s remains were covered with the National Colors he had flown at Khe Sanh.
2 A calfskin leather belt and holster, fastened with a gold-plated circular buckle.
3 Republic of (South) Korea—ROK—Corps were numbered, like U.S. Army Corps, with Roman numerals.
4 The acronym for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Army.