Passing the Test: Combat in Korea, April-June 1951

3. CAUGHT IN A CHINESE AMBUSH

CAUGHT IN A CHINESE AMBUSH On the far western flank of the UN line along the Imjin River, due north of Seoul, a strong Communist attack hit the ROK 1st Division of the U.S. I Corps hard. One of the best of the ROK army divisions, the South Korean unit was reinforced by the U.S. 999th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, an African American organization . A combat historian, Capt. (later Maj.) Edward C. Williamson , who studied the action of one of the battalion’s firing batteries, describes the situation. In late April 1951 the 1st ROK Division anchored the western end of the U.S. I Corps front on the Imjin River, the MLR being on the south bank with the OPLR north of the river. The 999th Armored Field Artillery Battalion (155mm howitzers, self-propelled) had the mission of giving artillery support to the 1st ROK Division. Its Battery B, under the command of Capt. James Welden, was at the mud hut village of Taech’on, four miles south of the Imjin. In the vicinity of the settlement of Tuji-ri on the south bank of the Imjin, the commanding terrain feature is Hill 128. From its heights an observer has a clear view of the surrounding country, particularly to the north across the Imjin. Therefore, for that reason Battery B maintained an OP [observation post] on its northern slope.1 The forward observer assigned to Hill 128 was Warrant Officer (later 2d Lt.) David R. Reed. Reed describes his actions on 22 April when the enemy attack began. Chapter 3 Battery B, 999th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 22–24 April 1951 I m ji n R iv e r Nullori River Sindae Chajang-ni Tuji-ri Tojang-dong Oui-dong Taech’on Kumgong-ni Naptu-ri Pobwon-ni 128 180 496 276 B 1st Position 999 B 2d Position 999 A 2d Position 999 Ambush Site METERS 0 2000 1000 Area of operations, Battery B, 999th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 22–24 April 1951. (Original map by author, based on map in Army Map Service series L751.) 41 CAUGHT IN A CHINESE AMBUSH On 22 April 1951 I received the assignment of being forward observer on Hill 128. That afternoon I left the battery position at Taech’on at 1250. My party consisted of the radio operator, Cpl. Reece Andrews; the jeep driver, Pvt. Thomas McCall; and an ROK soldier attached to Battery B, Kim Yung Man. We carried two radios , one attached to the jeep and one portable. We followed a narrow Korean trail north to the base of Hill 128. There we dismounted and carrying our equipment climbed the hill, arriving at the OP at 1320. Capt. Deward Sims, Asst. S-3, was holding service practice [live fire training] for the 999th Armored Field Artillery Battalion at the OP; therefore I did not relieve Lt. George A. Buonocore, the Battery B reconnaissance officer, as forward observer until 1500, when the service practice ended. Capt. Sims and the other battalion officers then left the area, and I proceeded to police up around the OP. Andrews and I then checked communications, both wire and telephone, with Battery B, following the battalion SOP of checking in every thirty minutes during the night. Ten soldiers from the 12th Infantry Regiment, 1st ROK Division, were on the hill acting as a guard for our OP. From 1500 until 2000 there were no unusual incidents. However , at 2000 hours on my extreme right flank (to the east of Lt. Reed), four shells from a 150mm enemy artillery battery exploded. I immediately called battalion headquarters and informed it of what was happening. I was ordered to keep the front under sharp observation and report any more enemy action. During the next three hours an estimated 200 rounds of enemy artillery came in. At 2330 I heard machine guns on my left flank and to the front. From the flashes I estimated that the machine gun on my left flank was on the north bank of the Imjin, three hundred yards downstream from the Chajang-ni ferry site [about 4,000 yards to the west of Hill 128]. The second machine gun was in defilade and firing on the ferry site at Sindae [about 3,000 yards to the north of Hill 128]. Since the machine gun covering the Chajang-ni ferry site was out in the...