MORE SENSATIONALISTIC WAR REPORTING
By Dave Hughes,
Since this allegation of a downright, ordered,
massacre by US troops of Korean civilians in the earliest days of the Korean
War in July, 1950, is such a smear against the
Anyone here
may forward this to anyone who cares.
Note the REPEATED references to the problems with refugees, the North
Korean cynical use of them, and the chaotic combat conditions and operations in
the FIRST SEVEN DAYS of the 7th Cav’s entry into that war.
Extracts of
Pages 244-247 from ‘Of Garry Owen in Glory’—the History of the 7th
United States Cavalry Regiment—which served in the Korean War from July 22nd,
1950 to December 20th, 1951, by Lt. Col. Melbourne Chandler, who
served in the Regiment as a Captain and Major during all the episodes detailed
below. These actions, highlight the
extreme problems that the 7th Cav had with tens of thousands of
refugees who were fleeing before the North Korean Army, which Army cynically
infiltrated the refugees columns with armed soldiers who fired on US troops,
and pushed civilians into the line of fire to break through to the American
rear, as well as infiltrating units on the refugee choked roads into the US
rear, which led the CG, 1st Cav Division to order that NO ONE be
allowed to pass through US military lines.
And of
course the Korean civilian and the American Army soldiers could not communicate
with each other over the language barrier.
Together with the state of training and poor equipment of the US troops
(note the arrival of the very first 3.5 inch rocket launcher, which were
required before US troops could defeat the T-54 tanks of the North Koreans)
hastily thrown into the battle from garrison duty in Japan against the highly
trained, well equipped, invading North Korean force, gives the reader the
background and context within which the alleged ‘massacre’ of Korean civilians
by American soldiers was supposed to have taken place.
Nowhere in
this eyewitness account of all the action by the 2d Battalion, 7th
Cavalry, does Chandler, who was a company commander right there, report any
incident at Nogun-ri where the AP report, 50 years later portrays 300 Koreans
slaughtered without cause, by American soldiers, under orders to kill them.
"At 1730 hours, July 22nd, the convoy anchored
in the vicinity of the make-shift harbor facilities of Pohangdong and debarking
began as planned. By 2230 all troops had
debarked and moved to a bivouac area four to six miles out of the town. Even though many of the men were happy to be
back on solid ground, they were curious and apprehensive as to what the future
held. As the men haphazardly dug in for
the night, the regimental commander and S-3 left for a conference with General
Allen. The 1st Battalion,
plus one platoon of the Heavy Mortar Company and one Medical Platoon relieved
the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, and was given
the mission of defending Pohangdong from the north. On the following day the regiment made plans
to move from the site of the original bivouac near Pohangdong to the
Taegu-Kumchon sector, a distance of 100 miles where the division was
assembling. The move was made by truck
and rail in three serials, as follows:
rail-transported troops, under the command of Lt. Col. Herbert B. Heyer,
included 20 officers, and 71 enlisted men from Headquarters and Headquarters
Company, four officers and 25 enlisted men from Medical Company, two officers
and 50 enlisted men from Service Company, plus the entire 2nd
Battalion. While plans called for
departure from Pohangdong around 1300, the actual move did not begin until 1830
due to the lack of rail transportation.
No such delay
was encountered by the truck-transported troops, who began their departure with
the Regimental Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon in the lead at 1030
hours. Colonel Cecil B. Nist and his S-2
and S-3 staff officers accompanied this group.
By 1100 hours all remaining troops who did not go by rail moved out in
the second serial under the command of Major Lucian Coft, regimental S-4.*
During the
early morning, hours prior to the move, a messenger from one of the outposts
came into the bivouac area and requested an interpreter. He had presented the regiment with a problem
which was to be repeated many times during the 7th Cavalry’s
operations in
The order of
formation for the Division in the Kumchon area—the destination—was given as
follows: 5th Cavalry, 8th
Cavalry, Division Artillery, and the 7th Cavalry less the 1st
Battalion.
After the 1st
Battalion arrived at its sector on the front lines in the Kumchon-Pohangdong
area, and had been assigned its mission of holding a first or second defensive
position as the situation might arise, another problem which was to be repeated
many times confronted the battalion.
Refugees and friendly Korean troops entered our defensive positions in
their march rearward and were fired upon by our own troops because they were
unable to establish their identity.
Minor enemy skirmishes developed, however, artillery and naval fire
support in this sector played the major role.
On July 24th,
the 1st Battalion’s command post moved forward to Changsa-dong,
north of Pohangdong. The enemy attacked during the early morning hours, but were
quickly repelled. During the greater
part of the day the enemy was steadily hammered by 4.2-inch and 81mm mortar
fire, field artillery, and naval gunfire, plus air strikes by the Fifth Air
Force. The enemy was forced to retreat
for a distance of approximately 2,000 yards.
Yongdok was leveled and left ablaze by continuous naval gun fire from
warships anchored in the harbor east of the town.
The main serial
from Pohangdong arrived at 0005 hours on the 24th and made contact
with the command group which had preceded it.
The regimental command post was established approximately two and a half
miles in rear of the front line occupied by the 5th and 8th
Cavalry. Prior to the arrival of the 2nd
Battalion, at 1420 hours, the regimental commander was directed to form two
provisional rifle companies from service and headquarters personnel due to a
serious breakthrough on the right flank.
Arrival of the train at 1420 hours with the 2nd Battalion
eliminated the requirement for the two provisional rifle companies and the 2nd
Battalion was alerted for combat within 20 minutes after arrival.
The 2nd
Battalion then went into position in the immediate vicinity of the regimental
command post where it remained for the remainder of the night. During the night, numerous enemy groups
attempted to infiltrate their positions.
This caused continuous firing throughout the night by the inexperienced
troops in their first night in combat.
During one engagement with a small enemy force in the Company E area, 2nd
Lieutenant Alan F. Plummer was killed and Private Willie C. Sanderlin
wounded. Thus, the regiment suffered its
first losses in the Korean War.
At 0005 hours
on July 25th, the 1st Battalion reported that a group of
ROK soldiers had attempted to bring a group of Korean civilians through a road
block in the Company A area. When challenged to halt, the Koreans
dispersed and fled in panic. Not knowing
who they were, our troops fired a volley of small arms and machine-gun fire
into the scattered group. 2nd
Lieutenant Francis J. Maloney, Jr. of Company D, with a small group of his men,
formed a patrol and went forward to contact the scattered Koreans who were
still believed to be enemy. Lt. Maloney
dispersed his men, warning them not to fire until a verbal command was given by
him, and then moved forward alone to make contact. [Footnote:
The first United Nations Command was born on July 24th, the
day General Douglas MacArthur assumed command of all UN Forces in
The 1st
Battalion was relieved in place by the 1st Battalion, 21st
Infantry, 24th Division at 2000 hours, and departed by motor convoy
at 2135 hours for Pohangdong, where rail transportation was waiting to take
them to the Yongdong sector to join the remainder of the regiment.
Back in the
regimental command post, a meeting of unit commanders was held to review the
situation, and the 2nd Battalion was alerted to pull in their
outposts in preparation for a move to the vicinity of Eido. During the morning of the 25th,
Mr. Jamieson, Australian delegate to the UN Commission, and Colonel Nayar,
Indian delegate to the UN Commission, visited the regimental command post for
an orientation as to the location of the front lines.
Late on the 25th,
the first of a series of withdrawals began.
These actions, difficult to execute even with trained troops, were
particularly costly to the inexperienced, undermanned regiment. The first of these withdrawals began under the
direction of Captain Charles E. Perez, commanding officer of the Service
Company, when the regimental service and supply trains were moved farther to
the rear. The 2nd Battalion
then moved out toward the front lines at 1850, followed by reorganized groups
from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, to relieve the pressure on the
hard-pressed 8th Cavalry Regiment’s positions. An estimated 2,000 enemy troops were directly
in front of these positions with tanks, artillery, mortars and automatic
weapons. Enemy patrols continued to
harass the flanks and rear, and enemy troops, posing as refugees, became a
considerable threat and caused numerous casualties.
Regimental
supply personnel had not been idle during this period. Major Croft reported that 15 of the vital
3.2-inch rocket launchers had been issued to the regiment. Captain Perez had organized
his kitchen trucks about 300 yards to the rear and prepared a welcomed hot meal
for the troops—the first since their arrival in
Of a more
somber nature was the necessary removal on this day of all identifying markings
on ambulances and other medical vehicles because enemy fire had been
intentionally directed against such vehicles evacuating wounded from the
front.
The regimental
trains with all other regimental vehicles were again withdrawn about 4 ½ miles
to the rear at 2000 hours, as all roads became seriously congested with
disorganized groups of vehicles from the 24th Division, combined
with masses of refugees and ROK troops.
By
A call from
Major William O. Witherspoon, the regimental S-3 then at Division headquarters,
ordered the immediate alert of all personnel for evacuation of their respective
positions, as a serious break-through had occurred in the sector to the right
of the Division. All elements of the
regiment were to begin an immediate withdrawal with the exception of the 2nd
Battalion, which was under attack.
During the
withdrawal which followed, the 2nd Battalion was under continuous attack and
the unit became scattered, out of communication with each other, many platoons
did not receive the order to withdraw, and general chaos and confusion resulted
as enemy tanks and "refugees" began firing wildly from the road leading to the
rear. The road soon became choked with
men—elements of the 8th Cavalry, the 24th Division, the 2nd
Battalion, 7th Cavalry, "refugees," and enemy troops—and vehicles,
both our own and those of the enemy.
The Company H command post was located along the railroad which ran
parallel to the troop-filled road. In an
effort to separate the troops of the 2nd Battalion from the surging
mass in the road, Captain Melbourne C. Chandler, commander of Company H, took
his small company headquarters group to the road in an attempt to separate the
friendly troops away from the column on the road and on to the railroad. After collecting approximately 300 troops of
the 2nd Battalion, he led them down the railroad toward the position
last occupied by the regimental command post.
There was no communication by radio with any units at this time, and the
location of other friendly units was unknown.
After traveling approximately seven miles with this disorganized group,
dodging enemy tank fire, and avoiding contact with the human mass on the road,
the group was met by Major William O. Witherspoon who directed them into an
assembly area near the new location of the regimental command post. The exhausted men fell to the ground
immediately; however, rest was short-lived, as it was imperative that units be
regrouped in order to form some semblance of a defensive position, and to
establish communications.
Much equipment
and many weapons were lost during this chaotic withdrawal, and the following
morning small groups went forward to recover as much as possible which was
strewn along the road and railroad.
The strenuous
climb over mountainous terrain during the withdrawal necessitated the
evacuation of five men. Additionally,
the regiment suffered one killed, six wounded, and 119 missing.
By 0800 hours
on the 26th, units of the 2nd Battalion moved astride the
road into defensive positions.
Troops of the 1st
Battalion arrived at 1200 hours by train just south of the Hwang-gang rail
station to rejoin the regiment.
The 2nd
Battalion, which was to relieve the 1st Battalion, 5th
Cavalry, by extending the line to the left, reported that unit in contact with
the enemy, and a reconnaissance force was immediately organized and
dispatched. Meanwhile, all bridges and
trestles forward of the position were destroyed, and mortar fire and patrols
engaged enemy guerrilla forces in the nearby villages.
The morning of
July 27th found the 5th Cavalry Regiment located to the
left and rear, and the 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th
Division, on the right of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, with the 77th
Field Artillery in support. Division
reported that there were no friendly troops to the southwest of the regiment’s
position. The lack of sufficient
supporting artillery and the 270’ perimeter being covered by artillery fire, required each piece in the batteries to be laid
separately in order to deliver immediate fire on call. When a volume of fire was required it was
necessary to shift the trails of the other pieces in the battery.
Press representatives Tom Lambert of the Associated
Press, Davis Warner of the Daily Telegraph and London Herald
in Melbourne, Stanley Massey, of the Consolidated Press in Sidney, Mr.
Christopher Buckley of the London Daily Telegraph, Alan Humphrey of the
London Daily Mail, Ian Morrison of the London Times, and Bill Hudons of
the Australian Associated Press, visited the regimental command post
during the day.
The day was spent in consolidating positions, extensive patrol activities, and skirmishes with small, scattered enemy groups and patrols. The regiment lost two killed and four wounded during the day’s activities.
With the 2nd
Battalion spread to the right and the 1st Battalion to the left,
activities for the 28th were marked by efforts to establish rapid
communication and liaison with the supporting artillery. By 0615, the snarled communication system had
been improved and a message from the 1st Battalion confirmed enemy
flanking movements as well as intensified attacks against the front lines which
threatened both 1st and 2nd Battalion sectors. Messages at this time also revealed that the
1st and 2nd Battalions were in contact with each other,
but that the 2nd Battalion’s right flank had been penetrated by a unknown number of enemy troops. Lt. Col. Pete D. Clainos, commanding the 1st
Battalion, reported that an attempted penetration of the right and left flanks
of this battalion had been turned back momentarily. The enemy was following typical pattern of
attack by forcing mobs of civilians ahead of their troops into the line of
fire.
The regiment
was informed of a potential means of emergency withdrawal by Colonel Rosenberg,
regimental commander, 5th Cavalry, who visited the command post at
0730 to discuss the situation on the right flank. He had utilized bulldozers during the night
to prepare a new route of withdrawal.
At 0900 General
Frank Allen and his aide, followed by Lt. Col. J.H. Michaelis, commanding
officer, 27th Infantry Regiment, arrived at the regimental command post. General Allen presented the following current
plan: the 8th Cavalry was to
move up, the 7th Cavalry to hold the position while the 2nd
Battalion attacked to close the gap between the 27th Infantry and
the 7th Cavalry Regiments.
The 8th Cavalry was to locate one battalion on the forward
ridge and one battalion behind the 27th Infantry to occupy the
critical ground on their left flank, while plans were being made to withdraw
the 27th Infantry to the rear.
At 0330 hours
on July 29th, the 2nd Battalion received orders to
withdraw in the following order—Companies F, Headquarters, H, G, and E. The withdrawal was made down a valley of
terraced rice paddies filled with water.
Enemy troops occupied the ridges on each side of the valley and were
racing parallel to the withdrawing column in an attempt to cut them off. A heavy volume of small arms fire poured in
on the column from either side from the closely pursuing enemy while artillery
and tank fire further hampered movements.
The blackness of night was continuously shattered by red, white, and
green signal flares fired over the heads of our troopers by the pursuing
enemy.
By 0830 on the
29th, elements of the 1st and 2nd Battalions
had passed the Hwang-gan railroad station and taken up new positions. Extensive patrols to the front and flanks
were initiated during the day while refugees streaming to the rear continued to
cause the troopers considerable trouble."
So went the FIRST SEVEN DAYS of the entry of the 7th
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