The Foundation of Freedom is the Courage of Ordinary People
History
On Line
Preface
* This book is a collection of accounts describing the combat action of small
Army units-squads and platoons, companies and batteries. These are the units
that engage in combat, suffer the casualties, and make up the fighting strength
of the battalions, regiments, divisions, corps, and finally, of the field army.
Combat is a very personal business to members of such a small unit. Concerned
with the fearful and consuming tasks of fighting and living, these men cannot
think of war in terms of the Big Picture as it is represented on the situation
maps at corps or army headquarters. Members of a squad or platoon know only what
they can see and hear of combat. They know and understand the earth for which
they fight, the advantage of holding the high ground, the protection of the
trench or hole. These men can distinguish the sounds of enemy weapons from those
of their own; they know the satisfying sound of friendly artillery shells
passing overhead and of friendly planes diving at an objective. They know the
excitement of combat, the feeling of exhilaration and of despair, the feeling of
massed power, and of overwhelming loneliness.
The author has tried to describe combat as individuals have experienced it,
or at least as it has appeared from the company command post. In so doing, much
detail has been included that does not find its way into more barren official
records. The details and the little incidents of combat were furnished by
surviving members of the squads and companies including painstaking interviews
and discussions soon after the fighting was over. Conversely, many facts have
been omitted from the narrative presented here. The accounts tell only part of
the complete story, intentionally ignoring related actions of cause and effect
in order to keep one or two small units in sharper focus. The story of action on
Heartbreak Ridge, for example, describes fighting that lasted only one or two
hours, whereas the entire battle for that hill went on for several weeks.
Sometimes there are obvious gaps because important information was lost with the
men who died in the battle. Sometimes e accounts are incomplete because the
author failed to learn or to recount everything of importance that happened.
The stories that follow have been selected as representative of the important
battles of the Korean conflict. In chronological sequence, they follow the
fighting ginning on the second day of the participation of United States troops
until the are settled into a static defense of fortified lines.
Because most of the peninsula is covered with an intricate mass of hills and
ridges, many of the battles in Korea took place on hilltops. The typical Korean
ridge rises from rice paddies and a stream at its base and slants upward at
angle of forty-five or more degrees. It takes an hour of steady climbing to
reach e top and, once they have reached the path-wide crest, the sweating
infantrymen see only another ridge ahead, and others beyond it, stretching in
row after row of the purple haze at the horizon. In the wintertime the hills are
windblown and harsh but when summer rains come to Korea and the morning mist
drifts along he ridgelines there is a fresh beauty to the land. The hills become
verdant and between them the rice paddies, in delicate shades of green, are so
neat they look as if someone had combed them by hand and set them out in the
sun. Other than the beauty of the landscape, American soldiers find little that
is desirable in Korea. It has always been a poor land, and the shifting combat
has reduced many of the villages to heaps of red ashes, many of the people to
destitution. In the combat zone only the hills seem unchanged, and even a few of
them are beaten up and bare from the fighting. This is the setting for the
stories that follow.
The preparation of this book has not been a one-man project. Major General
Orlando Ward, U.S. Army (now retired), is responsible for the book, having
planned it and furnished much of the enthusiasm and inspiration necessary to get
the writing done. It is a personal pleasure for the author to share the credit
for the book with nine officers with whom he worked and often shared tents in
Korea. These officers, members of historical detachments, were engaged in
collecting and preserving accurate historical records of the Korean conflict.
From the large number of accounts that they prepared, the author has included
eleven that were either partially or almost wholly prepared by them. To the
following officers the author is indebted for this valuable assistance and for
the pleasure of sharing the experiences of Korea: Major Edward C. Williamson,
Captain John Mewha, Captain Martin Blumenson, Major B. C. Mossman, Major Pierce
Briscoe, Major William J. Fox, Lieutenant Bevin R. Alexander, Lieutenant Edgar
Oenton, and Major Robert H. Fechtman.
The author reserves a special acknowledgment of indebtedness and an
expression of appreciation to Lt. Col. Roy E. Appleman. During both World War II
and the Korean War, the author benefited from Colonel Appleman's familiarity
with military history and from his sturdy judgment.
Except for one, the discussions following most of the action accounts were
compiled by Lt. Colonel Carl D. McFerren of the Office of the Chief of Military
History, and based upon comments from the Army schools at Fort Benning Fort
Sill, and Fort Knox. At the request of the Chief of Military History, Lieutenant
Nicholas A. Canzona, U.S. Marine Corps, wrote the discussion following "Attack
Along a Ridgeline." The discussions do not necessarily reflect the official view
of the Department of the Army, but are included to stimulate thought and promote
discussion. No attempt has been made to mention everything that is either good
or bad about the conduct of the battles described and, in many cases the obvious
has been intentionally avoided. Neither has there been any attempt to place
blame, since no one can claim that, have done better.
Miss Mary Ann Bacon has been generous in giving skillful editorial guidance
to the author. Mr. Alfred M. Beck accomplished the numerous tasks required to
convert the original publication into the present edition. Mrs. Vivian Brooks
prepared all maps illustrating the text, and Mr. Robert Johnstone prepared the
two pen-and-ink sketches. To them the author is deeply grateful. Finally, the
author is anxious to thank several hundred men and officers of the United States
Army who have been both patient and generous in furnishing the Information upon
which the accounts are based. Without their cooperation this book could not have
been written and eventually much of the information presented here would have
been lost, just as the dust and smoke disappear from the battlefield when the
fighting is over.
RUSSELL A. GUGELER Stuttgart, Germany 30 September 1969
Causes of the Korean Tragedy ... Failure of Leadership, Intelligence and Preparation
The Foundations of Freedom are the Courage of Ordinary People and Quality of our Arms
Combat Actions Index