Wells said that McBride followed him out of the airplane door, and when they hit the ground General Ridgway was seen standing near a jeep. Both Rangers headed toward the mountains and Hill 151, with Wells nursing a sprained ankle. He recalled another injury worse than his own: one of the men from the 187th, a Puerto Rican, was shot in the hand while in the air. Wounded or not, he was just ahead of them.
Over on the 2d Platoon’s aircraft, Paulding noticed that he had a black crew chief. It was the first time that he had seen one. The chief kept running up and down the aisle, passing out cigarettes. When the doors opened on the four-minute light, he took his position in the back of the aircraft, placed his headset on, and remained there. When the plane approached the DZ, each Ranger yelled “Buffalo” as he bailed out.
The jump was so low that after the shock of the chute opening and about two oscillations, the Rangers were on the ground. Once on the ground, the Rangers recovered their bundles without any difficulty.
The DZ was hot! After Posey and Anderson jumped from the 2d Platoon aircraft, both landed close together off the DZ, where an enemy’s mortar was set up. Some of the enemy were firing mortar rounds into the DZ, while others were firing small arms at the paratroopers. Posey and Anderson were removing their parachutes when Posey heard Anderson say, “We’re in the middle of this—let’s go to work.” Posey, armed with a BAR, and Anderson, with an M-1 rifle, concentrated their fire on the enemy’s position. After killing all five enemy soldiers and destroying the mortars, they continued to fight from their primary landing position to the assembly area. Working as a team, they overcame two other enemy rifle positions before reaching the assembly area. While First Sergeant West was assembling the company, Posey and Anderson took their positions with the 2d Platoon and prepared to move out for Hill 151.
By the time Weathersbee arrived at the assembly area, Rangers were knocking out one enemy emplacement after the other. Weathersbee remembers a machine gun nest on the edge of his platoon’s area that West knocked out personally. According to witnesses, he “tippy toed” up to the nest, pulled a pin on his grenade, and dropped it in the hole. Every enemy emplacement the Rangers encountered was destroyed or captured.
Johnson, in the 3d Platoon, was the last man in his stick. Cliette and Boatwright were the stick leaders for that group. After their aircraft cleared the runway they headed north and flew over the ocean. The plane made a turn and flew over Seoul, heading for the Drop Zone. When the turn was made, the Rangers were given the red light, indicating that exiting the aircraft would begin within the next ten minutes. The jump light panel was beside the door at a level of about 4 ½ feet. Its red and green lights were operated from the pilot’s compartment. It was the jumpmaster’s duty to check the aircraft in his vicinity and the ground for safety configurations.
“Cat Eyes” Jackson was in the left stick, which would jump from the door on the left (if facing the front of the airplane). The men went through the usual procedure before exiting: stand up, hook up, check equipment. They were ready to go as they watched the red light, waiting anxiously for the green.
When the green light came on Cliette, the jumpmaster, was having trouble with a bundle that got stuck in the door cross ways because of the wind. The right stick completely bailed out before the bundle was cleared from the left door. As soon as it was wrestled free, the left stick cleared the plane. (Black paratroopers were famous for exiting—or, in airborne slang, un-assing—the aircraft quickly.) Concerned that the delay caused by the bundle would mean his stick would either land on a hill occupied by the enemy or some other place off the DZ, Jackson completely unhooked and crossed over to the right door just as the other stick started to move. He rehooked on the run but didn’t have time to insert the safety pin in the static line snap fasteners. He moved to the door and jumped out.
According to Jackson,
in a C-46, you expect to get a good, sharp, hard opening shock with the T-7 type parachute, as you count: one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three. I don’t know whether I had a good or bad position, but when that chute popped out, I just felt good about it—until, when descending, I saw that I had a couple of bullet holes in my chute! I’m thinking that people are shooting at us because we were late getting out of the aircraft. I landed in either a peach or apple orchard and my chute was tangled up in small trees. I heard a couple of shots—they were firing at us. I crawled into a nearby shack and was able to get out of my harness. After removing my chute, I started down the field to get our mortars. I picked up a couple of men that jumped with me: Adell Allen, Anthony Andrade, David Lesure and some others.
Back to the fourth aircraft: Queen jumped with Anthony’s mortar section and six men from Headquarters and Headquarters Company from the 187th. Once the aircraft was loaded, they took off with the usual grunts and groans about getting the old, heavily loaded ship up and off the runway. Everyone yelled when they cleared the strip and the pilot raised the wheels. They joined the flight in a V-formation heading west out toward Seoul and the Yellow Sea. The airplane turned back east toward land after a couple of minutes over the water.
Queen was sitting in the rear of the aircraft near the radio operator’s table until the four-minute warning, and then he came up to help with jumpmaster checks on the troopers at the rear. The old C-46 slowed down to about ninety knots and held it pretty steady in formation. As the airplanes approached the drop zone (DZ), sporadic machine gun and small arms fire could be heard from the ground. Jets from the Air Force had gone in and done some strafing of the DZ and suspected troop locations. The XO from Headquarters Company got his radio bundle hung up in the door and they almost passed the DZ. Anthony pushed out his mortar bundles but he didn’t appear to follow them closely. Queen jumped last. He “swept the plane clean” to make sure no one was still aboard before bailing out.
By 0920 hours on 23 March, the whole company—six officers, two Korean officers, and ninety-five enlisted men—had landed via parachute north of Munsan-ni, Korea, with the mission of securing Hill 151. Hill 151 was approximately 2,000 yards north of the DZ, the dominating terrain feature in the zone of action of the 2d Battalion of the 187th. Queen policed the DZ for personnel and equipment and headed for the assembly area. There were only two noteworthy injuries among the members of the unit, all of whom had landed in the DZ. Queen found Corporal Jenkins unable to walk after badly spraining his ankle, and Private First Class Eugene Coleman had hit his head in some manner and lost his memory. The 2d Rangers, less their 60mm mortar section, were in their assembly area by 1000 hours and about seventy percent effective. Queen had landed near an orchard and picked up Lieutenant Lee, one of the Korean officers. Queen saw Allen on the road and sent Lieutenant Lee with him. Queen also saw Anthony, who had not recovered all his bundles but was trying to assemble his platoon.
In this jump Corporal Donald Wright, Company L, 187th ARCT, was also injured. Carrying the same heavy combat load as the Rangers—an SCR-300 radio, weapon, ammo, and combat pack with two days of C-rations—he landed against the wall of a stone dike. Jumping from an altitude of 600 to 800 feet, men were on the ground in twenty-seven to thirty-six seconds. With so little time to change flight direction and so many other jumpers to stay clear of, Wright had few options. He had intended to slip (change direction) and land on top of the dike. However, his sink (descent) rate was too fast and the dike appeared to move upward to meet him during his descent. He rolled down the dike and had to cut his way out of the chute. His injuries included a set of damaged and broken teeth as well as a busted hip and knee. But since he could still move, he continued to perform his function as radio operator.24
Jump and combat casualties were being handled by a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) unit on the DZ set up by the Indian Army. Queen, who would find Jenkins and Coleman later, did a quick check of the area but found no Buffalo Rangers at the MASH unit. Queen also saw General Ridgway on the DZ, with his grenades taped to his harness/suspenders, as was his usual style. Ridg
way was standing near an L-5 aircraft that appeared to have flown him into the air head. Queen stayed out of talking range because he didn’t want to get mixed up in any media coverage by civilian correspondents who might be traveling with Ridgway. Queen looked up in the air and saw General MacArthur’s C-54 or C-124 flying about 5,000 to 6,000 feet and circling the DZ on the south side of the Imjin River. Finally, Queen spotted the 1st Battalion jumping on the same DZ, when they should have jumped on another DZ about two miles south. Ridgway immediately caught the airborne operation errors.
Once Jackson oriented himself and got out of his harness, he began looking for the bundles marked with blue ribbon. He couldn’t find them. Instead, he found two bundles with machine guns in them. When he and several others from the mortar section reached the assembly area, they picked up the rounds of mortar ammo each Ranger had dropped there. Every man in the company parachuted in with at least one round in his pack. When they passed through the assembly area, they dropped that round, to be picked up by mortar section personnel such as Jackson. The mortars were to be mounted first in the assembly area, and then to support the company in the attack on Hill 151, as necessary. In the assembly area, Jackson and others put the machine guns down and found their mortars; other members of 2d Ranger Company had found the mortars and taken them off the DZ. There was plenty of ammo, and they loaded up. Jackson met Hargrove, a squad leader from the 2d Platoon, which had knocked out a Russian 82mm mortar by dropping an incendiary grenade in the tube to destroy it—but the men had kept the Russian sight. Hargrove gave Jackson the sight which, unlike its U.S. counterpart, was capable of rotating the full 360 degrees. This meant the mortar crew only had to set out one aiming stake. The mortar section fell in behind 3d Platoon. When they reached the first ridge, Captain Allen was there with the company command and Lieutenant Anthony.
Queen had joined Cliette, who was with the 3d platoon on a small knoll just off the road on the north side of the DZ. Most of the 3d was there and Cliette was concerned about an enemy soldier lying beside a 50-caliber machine gun mounted on an anti-aircraft tripod in an emplacement about four feet deep. Queen fixed the bayonet on his rifle and jumped in the hole, punching the soldier in the ribs. The soldier jumped up—to the surprise of everyone, who seemed to think he was dead. He was immediately taken prisoner and Queen manned the weapon. When he spotted North Korean soldiers fleeing up Hill 151 while being pursued by the remainder of the company, Queen fired the remaining ammo in the enemy machine gun in their direction. The heavy machine gun (HMG) was very primitive, with a rotating barrel like the old gattling gun of the Civil War era. The firing made a hell of a racket. Queen didn’t think that he hit anyone because he didn’t see anyone fall. When Hill 151 was captured, no one was found torn up by HMG fire.
The platoon moved behind a barrage of Anthony’s mortars. The company was now attacking from the base onto the forward slopes. The order of the attack was 1st Platoon leading, with Headquarters Company following, 2d Platoon next, and 3d Platoon in the rear.
According to Jackson, the 3d Platoon crossed two small rice paddies to get to the upgrade slope of Hill 151. The 3d Platoon was hitting the left flank of Hill 151 at the same time the 1st and 2d Platoons were fighting for the top of 151. Captain Allen told the men to get those mortars into action to support the 3d Platoon moving across the rice paddies.
The Mortar Section mounted its mortars quickly and fired at a range of some 400 yards. Jackson stripped off all of the propellant charges except one, because the distance was so short. Each 60mm mortar round came with four propellant charges attached to the shell fin. The gunner would remove the extra charges according to the data specified on the mortar firing table. As a safety measure, the extra charges were usually placed in a storage pit about ten to fifteen yards away from the immediate gun position.
The Mortar Section dropped its rounds right in front of the 3d Platoon. They came pretty close, and Jackson was sure that 3d Platoon was thinking the Mortar Section didn’t know what it was doing, and that some of the charges might fall short. Actually, the Mortar Section was watching from its position on the ridge and could see where every round landed. Its members fired a round from each mortar in sequence, then went down turns. “Drop two turns, fire!” “Drop two turns, fire!” They walked the fire uphill, just in front of the 3d Platoon.
After part of Hill 151 was captured, the mortars shifted position forward—almost to the top of the hill. By now they were receiving some sniper fire as well as five or six rounds of artillery fire. Thankfully, the artillery fire ended quickly.
First Sergeant West had been one of the first to arrive in the company assembly area. He and about five of his men ran into two enemy-manned 50-caliber, AA-mounted machine guns overlooking the area. (See Sketch A.) Realizing that this fire could stop the company from assembling and organizing, West charged the position. At the same time, Cliette arrived with his platoon to help. (West was supposed to be recommended for the Bronze Star for his decision and bravery, but was overlooked.) The company took two prisoners from this position, including the one who faked being dead until jabbed in the ribs by Queen with his bayonet. Two others were killed. Concurrently, Allen, with another squad, came across a group of enemy soldiers trying to change into civilian clothing.
By this time, rumors that nine troopers had been captured were starting to circulate. Supposedly, they had jumped late and landed past the DZ. Men from 2d Ranger Company saw some chutes in the hills to their flank, in the zone of the 4th Ranger Company. Also, the artillery had lost a few guns and trucks from the heavy drop due to malfunctioning chutes. There were riggers—troopers whose main task was to repair and pack all parachutes—out on the DZ after the heavy drop to recover parachutes for return to supply channels. Some riggers claimed to have accidentally fallen out of their aircraft during the heavy drop operations.
The company now prepared to attack and capture, as quickly as possible, a village named Sangdokso-ri, about one-third of the way to the main objective. (See Sketches B through D.25) The company moved out with two platoons abreast about 1030 hours, with Headquarters Section in support because the men had not seen Anthony with the mortars for about an hour. Freeman’s 1st Platoon cleaned out the slopes leading down into the village, killing six and taking about twenty prisoners. Here they ran into Anthony and the Mortar Section, which had come around the first knob and taken the road into the village. The houses and dugouts were searched, as were the slopes of the hill to the rear of the village. The two ROK officers, Lieutenants Lee and Pak, questioned and helped control the civilians found.
Two- or three-man fire teams from the assault platoons called to enemy personnel who might have been hiding in the dugouts to surrender. If no one appeared, the Rangers threw in a grenade to ensure that the dugout was empty or nothing dangerous was left waiting inside. They had learned that during fluid fighting, enemy soldiers would remain holed up unless forced out. Then, hours after being by-passed, they would creep out during the night to attack American positions or CPs.
After a brief reorganization, the company started its final assault toward Hill 151. (Sketch B) The Mortar Section took position on the high ground behind Sangdokso-ri village. The company moved out with Wilburn’s 2d Platoon on the left and Freeman’s 1st Platoon on the right. Queen started to go forward with Wilburn’s platoon, but Allen called him to come back to the mortars. Wilburn’s platoon advanced about 100 yards. He set up his LMG Team to cover his advance. Freeman was to the right and a little to the rear, but he quickly brought his platoon into line.
When the assault platoons were approximately 750 yards short of their objective, enemy troops estimated at company strength were seen withdrawing across the positions on the knobs, just ahead of the main objective. Queen called into the 2d Battalion’s Fire Direction Center (FDC) radio net and put some 81mm mortar fire on the objective to hurry the enemy along. At the same time, 2d Battalion notified 2d Ranger Company that it had four P-51s on call, and asked Queen if he co
uld use them. Queen directed them to strafe the back side of Hill 151 and the village behind it. Within a few minutes, the P-51s were screaming over their target, causing Queen to lift the mortar fire for fear it might hit the planes. (See Sketch C) The Company advanced rapidly under this cover, and soon the P-51s had to be called off because their runs were too close to the advancing Rangers. The Tactical Air Control Point (TACP) or Forward Air Controller (FAC) had a little trouble contacting them because he was on low ground and his radio transmissions were masked. The Rangers had their fingers crossed for a while because some remembered the 1949 accidental bombing of Combine II at Eglin AFB, Florida, by B-29s. The company moved over the forward slopes of the hill and cleared it, finding six dead enemy soldiers there. An estimated twenty to thirty enemy soldiers were killed in the combined action this day.
Native American Private First Class William Van Dunk, a medic from 2d Platoon, was killed while clearing the forward slopes of the objective. He was one of the replacements brought over by Anthony in early March. Van Dunk was one of the first men on the objective when he was hit in the left hip/buttock. This was his first combat action, and it seems he got too excited. He was out in front of everyone else. Shock set in when he found out he was unable to move. His comrades only saw a small wound, but the bullet may have traveled up and hit his spine and caused internal bleeding. Van Dunk died on Hill 151 in less than ten minutes.
Edward L. Posey Page 10