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12. Relief from Hell: Three Days before Operation Ranger
- The University of Alabama Press
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160 / Chapter 11 13 June 0212—CCF 100 yds from front of Harry. All available fire being placed. A short time earlier we had stopped an attack and cleared the trenches. Now the Chinese were starting again, and I was becoming worried that we wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. This was the fifth major attack. 13 June 0215—Enemy attack on left flank of Harry. CCF in trenches. Unknown number of enemy on right flank. Reinforcement on way. Request maximum illumination. The decision I had made earlier to seal the fighting bunker doors by placing sandbags in the entrance was a good one. The Chinese again breached our defensives and ran freely down the trenches until we could respond. Without the sealed bunker entrances, a grenade launched into each bunker would stop our defense and most likely would have killed everyone before help could arrive. 13 June 0223—OP reports enemy in trenches in from sector. Request FPF and increased illumination. 13 June 0225—OP under heavy barrage. Direct hit. After experiencing a very narrow escape when a shell hit within a few feet of the CP, and realizing the number of casualties we were taking, I was becoming increasingly concerned about being able to survive and hold Outpost Harry. Soon I would have no one left to fight the enemy. Apparently the senior officers monitoring the situation decided that help to defend the outpost was necessary. Another company to support Able Company received orders to move forward. 13 June 0230—2 Platoon, Co L being dispatched to reinforce. Left side is critical. All support fire is maximum. We had so many wounded I was told that a second personnel carrier had arrived to help transport the injured from the aid station to the MASH unit. Anyone who could possibly get down to the aid station under his own power used every effort to do so. Stretchers were necessary for the badly wounded. The medics were so busy that the walking wounded warriors volunteered to carry stretchers down the communication trench to the aid station. 13 June 0240—M39 from 2b Bn dispatched to Harry. Lieutenant Tolen and his team of warriors once again swept up the trenches to clean the hill. Every weapon was used in hand-to-hand combat in the trenches—bayonets, rifles as clubs, pistols and entrenching tools— anything that was available to kill the Chinese. The hand-to-hand fighting by the counterattack team cleared the trenches of any live Chinese. As the team moved toward the loop, the Chinese ran from the counterattack team. Again Chinese Attack / 161 we trapped and killed them. The trenches were filling up again with even more dead Chinese than we had found when we first got on Harry. Our counterattack plan worked and we restored control. 13 June 0243—Too much friendly fire in the trenches. Continue with FPF. 3rd platoon, A/5 counterattacks—reinforces Harry. All of a sudden all the lights went out. There were no flares or“moonbeams” (searchlights), so only the incoming artillery shells exploding gave any illumination . Along with the hand-to-hand fighting, Dog Company, 5th RCT, was firing all machine guns as fast as possible. 13 June 0245—Harry reports they are in total darkness. For some reason the flares all went out at the same time. The searchlights didn’t do a very good job trying to shine through the great amount of dust and smoke on Harry, as they could only penetrate a short distance. The flares, on the other hand, were doing quite well. They weren’t great, but they were at least good enough so that we could see and kill an attacking Chinese soldier. So with the flares out, the clouds thick, starlight weak, and moonbeams not doing much good, we were in trouble. 13 June 0249—1st and 3rd platoon of L Co arrived in the trenches at Harry. Company L arrived at the mess bunker some fifteen minutes after Lieutenant Tolen left leading another counterattack. Most of the trench repairs we had made were no longer functional, and several bunkers had been destroyed. The trenches were so full of dead Chinese we could hardly move. 13 June 0255—Harry requested more arty around right front and left front, more illumination. 13 June 0301—Moonbeam ordered to shift to Harry. Harry requests more ammunition. On the way. Request add 300 yds to all concentrations. During every break in the action, we...