75% casualties had been suffered by three US Army battalions East of the Reservoir in five days of attacks. She represented their mother, their sister, their sweetheart, that's how it was. In addition, 546 civilians who died in UN prisoner-of-war camps were turned over to the South Korean government. [209][234], The Marines evacuated from North Korea and spent January and most of February 1951 rebuilding in the relatively secure South Korea, where they destroyed the well-respected but already weakened North Korean 10th Division in counter-guerrilla operations during the Second Battle of Wonju. Chosin was the place where the 1st Battalion 7th Marines, straggling into Hagaru-ri exhausted, ragged and half-starved after a week of last-ditch fighting, paused outside the town, dressed ranks, snapped their shoulders back and came swinging in as though on parade. So I opened up my 782 and pulled out two cans of chicken and rice which I hated anyway and gave it to the little girl and she put them in her apron. I had no idea." [153][160], As more reinforcements arrived from Hudong-ni on 30 November,[161] the garrisons attempted to recapture the East Hill. His request was strongly declined and led to his later dismissal. [172] As the 7th Marines pushed aside the PVA 76th Division south of Hagaru-ri, the 5th Marines took over the Hagaru-ri perimeter and recaptured the East Hill from the 76th Division. It was a desperate situation, the worst in my life. In this gallery, we share their portraits and personal stories. The CCF struck the 3/31 Infantry and two batteries of the 57th FAB, overrunning much of their perimeter. [43], As the US XCorps was pushing towards the reservoir, the Chinese formulated their strategy, based on their experiences in the Chinese Civil War. [78], While the battle was underway at Yudam-ni, the PVA 59th Division blocked the road between Yudam-ni and Hagaru-ri by attacking the defending Charlie and Fox Companies of the 7th Marines. He refused and continued his deliberate withdrawal, packing with snow the 12-foot holes blown in the road by the Chinese. [57] By the end of the battle, more Chinese troops had died from the cold than from combat and air raids. We couldn't get across the river because the current was so high we couldn't put a cable acrossI turned and looked and here's a little girl and a little boy standing there they looked like doll babies, hair was hanging down and water was dripping off. Machine gun bullets slammed into Cafferata's right arm. I was as close to him as you and I. More than 250 veterans of that fight held a reunion here this week, 34 years later -- retired generals with their trim bodies and clear young faces, meaty ex-sergeants, distinguished white-haired men in pinstripes and puffy-faced guys in T-shirts, gray men, past the hump of life, knowing and quiet and a little weary, some of them with hands that didn't work or legs that wanted to stay behind when they walked -- and they looked inquiringly into each other's faces and offered their names and handshakes as though searching for someone. Although both sides agreed that Maclean was shot numerous times while running towards the Chinese soldiers, Chinese sources claim that Maclean was shot dead on the spot, while UN POWs stated that Maclean later died from his wounds while being moved to a POW camp. "One of my sore points was my battalion being pulled out of the attack and put on defense. [227] Chinese historian Li Xiaobing acknowledges XCorps' successful withdrawal from North Korea, and writes that the Battle of Chosin "has become a part of Marine lore, but it was still a retreat, not a victory. Most of the senior officers were killed or wounded. Then, late in November, the 8th Army, approaching the border, was hit hard and pushed back in what some called a rout. Smith and 1st Marine Division headquarters were also located at Hagaru-ri. In the morning we found the whole hill black with Chinese bodies, thousands of 'em. You never forget some of that stuff. Almond ordered Colonel Allan D. Maclean, the commander of RCT-31, to resume the offensive north, while presenting Silver Stars to three of Maclean's officers. That was the hardest part of the whole war, that one night." Took it right off the rolls. The Chinese have remained vague on their losses in the battle, but their own records and UNC estimates put the Ninth Army Group's casualties in the range of 40,000 to 80,000, when one counts combat deaths and wounded plus deaths and incapacity from the cold. Ruthless: Monopoly's Secret History (espaol). [122], On 30 November, Major General David G. Barr, the commander of the 7th Infantry Division, flew into Sinhung-ni and met with Faith, who by now had assumed command of RCT-31. Chosin was the place where 13 Medals of Honor were awarded, nine of them to Marines, six of them posthumously, and the 1st Marine Division won a presidential citation for bringing out all its wounded, its guns and equipment, its prisoners, "decisively defeating seven enemy divisions, together with elements of three others.". And talk. Guns refused to work in the cold. At a hydroelectric plant above Chinhung-ni, the Chinese had destroyed the road over the spillway, but Smith had foreseen this and had ordered a portable Treadway bridge airdropped in sections. I had to stay in the goddam tent because it was the only communications I had. "A man had a desire to prove to himself and his buddies that he could do this. [101] Although the Chinese believed RCT-31 to be a reinforced regiment,[83] the task force was actually understrength, with one battalion missing, due to the bulk of the 7th Infantry Division being scattered over northeast Korea. [95] Relying on the element of surprise, they managed to destroy several Chinese positions along the road. After a short rest, the breakout began on 6 December, with the 7th Marines as the vanguard of the retreating column, while the 5th Marines covered the rear. At Taktong Pass one rifle company held out against a whole division for five days.". Phone: (703) 418-6800 or (800) 445-8667 Location: 2399 Richmond Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202 Reservation by Phone Please call the number above and reference "The Chosin Few." Reservation Online Hotel Reservation Form Group Name: Chosin Few Reunion Dates: September 7 - 11, 2022 Price: $129/person, including breakfast (+14.25% sales tax) And I just looked in his eyes and he looked in mine, and he ran that way and I ran the other way." "Once you're in combat you get that feeling. The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Changjin Lake Campaign (Korean language: Chinese: ; pinyin: Chng Jn H Zhny ), [lower-alpha 4] was a decisive battle in the Korean War. [118], While RCT-31 was under siege, Almond finally instructed the 1st Marine Division to rescue it by breaking out of Yudam-ni, an impossible order for Smith to implement. [109] As morning came on 28 November, the 3/31st Infantry counterattacked the PVA 239th Regiment at the inlet, driving the surprised Chinese back in a complete rout. He threw two grenades back at the enemy, lost a finger when the third blew up in his hand. The Chosin Few They came from everywhere: California, Alabama, Wyoming, and Texas, to name a few. He'd jump out of the jeep, grab his rifle, grab his medical kit, and take off with the marines there, fighting the Chinese to get through the roadblock. But this other guy, if he can get to a hospital ship or get to Japan, he's got a chance of living. [207][210] On 15 September 2010, the Veterans of the Korean War Chosin Reservoir Battle memorial was unveiled by the United States Marine Corps Commandant General James T. Conway at Camp Pendleton. That I didn't share any of the bad stuff I was going through before." On 24 December 1950, MacArthur submitted a list of "retardation targets" in Korea, Manchuria and other parts of China, and requested 34 atomic bombs from Washington with the purpose of sowing a belt of radioactive cobalt to cease further Chinese advances. Marine Pvt. The best thing you remember is the guys you served with. With nine Chinese divisions now looming on all sides, headquarters authorized General Smith to abandon his equipment and just get out of there. At Hagaru-ri, engineers dug a landing strip out of iron-hard ground in 20 hours. The 1st Marine Division lost 4,385 men to combat and 7,338 to the cold. And the regiment kept saying we were going to continue the attack next morning. Despite being badly reduced by combat, hunger and frostbite, the PVA 59th Division sent in its last five platoons and refused to yield. As for the UN forces, the 1st Marine Division had an effective strength of 25,473 men at the start of the battle,[53] and it was further reinforced by the British Royal Marines unit 41 (Independent) Commando and the equivalent of two regiments from the 3rd and 7th Army Infantry Divisions. [248][249], American veterans of the battle are colloquially referred to as the "Chosin Few" and symbolized by the "Star of Koto-ri".[249]. [15] One of the first Chinese units to reach the Chosin Reservoir area was the PVA 42nd Corps, which was tasked with stopping the eastern UN advances. I didn't think about it I'd seen them John Wayne movies." During the winter of 1950, a Chinese army over 120,000-strong surrounded the 1st Marine Division in the mountainous region of North Korea known as the Chosin Reservoir. Some scholars even go back to Xenophon's in 400 B.C. I was a Navy doctor, but there I was with the Marines. if ( 'querySelector' in document && 'addEventListener' in window ) { [109][110] In the afternoon, Almond flew into the Sinhung-ni perimeter of RCT-31, convinced that RCT-31 was strong enough to begin its attack north and deal with whatever "remnants" of Chinese forces were in their way. Only 385 of the 1,000 survivors from the original 2,500 of Task Force MacLean/Faith were able to be added to the defenders of the Hagaru-ri perimeter. And laughter. It brings back memories." In the words of Commanding General Oliver P. Smith: "Retreat, hell.. [107] As the night's fighting ended, RCT-31 was split into three elements. [143] Almost everyone, including rear support units with little combat training, was pressed into service on the front line due to the manpower shortage,[144] and the entire perimeter was on full alert by 21:30. [194], By the time the UN forces arrived at Hungnam, MacArthur had already ordered the evacuation of the US XCorps on 8 December in order to reinforce the US Eighth Army, which by then was badly depleted and retreating rapidly towards the 38th parallel. This was eventually recognized in September 1999 when, for its actions at Chosin, Task Force Faith was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, an award that General Smith blocked when it was first proposed in 1952. However, US XCorps disputed the number by only recording 393 killed, 2,152 wounded and 76 missing for the 1st Marine Division. After the successful Inchon landings in August 1950, just two months prior to the confrontation with Chinese forces at the Chosin Reservoir, it appeared that . [34], The battle was fought over some of the roughest terrain during some of the harshest winter weather conditions of the Korean War. My job as a Navy chaplain was taking care of the wounded. We thought we were okay when we got to Hagaru-ri, but then we saw the planes strafing on the other side of town. Col. Robert Taplett of Arlington, commanding the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines, was stationed in reserve behind the road junction, a couple of miles back from the first shooting. By the fall of 1950 the invasion of South Korea had been stemmed and the daring flank landing at Inchon had broken the North Korean army. Some stayed in the military, most went back to their homes. Each of its three corps had four divisions instead of the regular three; thus it had 12 divisions, with 10,000 men per division. Never said a word to me. [89] The breakout was carried out under the air cover of the 1st Marine Air Wing. Theres no comparison between the two where physical hardship is concerned. But there never was another action quite like Chosin, in which 15,000 Americans, mostly Marines, were surrounded by 120,000 Chinese at the climax of the Korean War and fought their way out over 78 miles of a one-lane dirt road writhing giddily between chasms and 2,500-foot cliffs, in blizzards and 30-below cold.