Edward L. Posey

by Last;Only All-Black Rangers US Army's First

  The XO’s State of Readiness and Foresight

  The 2d Ranger Company’s XO took time throughout the week in San Francisco to prepare himself for combat in Korea. Few realized how cold and inhospitable Korea could be. The terrain was hilly, which would not only make it difficult underfoot but would add wind chill to temperatures that froze water in canteens, cut the battery life of both radios and vehicles in half, and made frostbite a constant reality. The weather would quickly dip to sub-zero temperatures, and blinding snow coupled with the cold would cause weapons such as carbines and BARs to freeze up, mortar tubes to crack, and blood plasma and rations to freeze. It was a heck of a place to fight a war.

  Queen, however, had done a two-year tour in the Aleutian Islands and Alaska before going to the 82d Airborne Division, so he knew how to prepare his clothing and equipment for fighting during the winter in Korea. He prepared as best as he could. He bought a pair of finger gloves to wear inside his mittens for added warmth, and purchased a good sewing kit and sewed the pile liner from his old Alaska jacket into the hood of the field jacket he would wear for the next eight months in Korea. He also bought a pair of hunter’s gloves (mittens) at a local Sears & Roebuck (mittens were warmer than gloves and could be worn over gloves). The hunting mitten had a slit cut in the palm of the right hand that would allow a hunter to reach through with his finger and pull the trigger of a weapon. Queen cut a slit in the palm of the left glove and sewed up the edges in a similar manner to match the right-hand mitten to allow him to load a magazine or clip with either hand, as needed. He sewed a half-inch-wide, one-foot-long, elastic tape to each mitten, then fixed a loop to it so that it could be attached to the sleeve/cuff button of the field jacket. That way, if he dropped a mitten or took it off, it would not be irretrievably lost in the deep snow. School kids would call these “idiot mittens,” but in the field they could save his fingers from frostbite.

  Queen also picked up extra white, civilian, woolen socks and placed one pair in his pack and another in the side pockets of his “jump pants.” Damp socks in cold weather also meant frostbite, and dry socks were more essential than rations. He padded the knees and seat of his jump pants and the elbows of his field jacket. With his sewing kit and extra large needles, he sewed extra pockets onto his pants and field jacket. He added an extra six inches to the bottom of his pants because regulation pants were too short to cover his long legs. As he made these alterations, Queen thought of how often he had been in trouble with his old battalion commander for modifying his field uniform and equipment. For example:

  —Queen preferred to wear buckled combat boots instead of jump boots in the field, because jump boots would get wet if you walked in grass heavy with dew. Combat boots had a better chance of keeping feet dry and of fitting his size 14E feet. The largest size Corcoran jump boot from the PX was a 12E or a 13E—if you sent away for it. Any infantryman and any Ranger will attest to how important it is for boots to fit.

  —Queen got an M2 compass, instead of the basic lensatic compass, for indirect fire with the 75 mm Recoilless Rifles.

  —He purchased a rucksack instead of a musette bag or a full field pack because the rucksack could carry more and be packed more quickly.

  As he made these preparations he still wore his insignia, in spite of warnings about snipers seeking to kill officers who wore outside insignia. However, he knew Koreans and Chinese did not shoot as precisely as Germans. Queen had that stereotypical view of all Asians wearing glasses—his own prejudice, perhaps. He still had a Red Cross knit scarf from his enlisted man days in World War II, and a wool knit sweater on which he reinforced the buttonholes so that things would not come open too easily during rigorous movements. He would wear these same clothes for the whole eight months he would spend in Korea, washing his clothing and waiting for it to dry whenever he reached a shower point because he seldom found his sizes in the available Quarter Master (QM) clothing table at the end of the shower line. He wouldn’t see his “B bag”—a duffle bag with extra clothing not needed in combat—until he returned to Japan with the 187th ARCT in August 1951—after the 2d Ranger Company was inactivated and the Rangers were reassigned as needed. He would later learn that the 7th Infantry Division had kept this gear some place in Taegu, at Division Rear, for the whole time he was in Korea.

  Queen cut a slit in his long johns and two pairs of boxer shorts, so his butt would not freeze when heeding nature’s call; nor would he ever be caught with his pants completely down and unable to haul out in a hurry. He took a pair of pack suspenders and hooked them up to an M1 pistol belt so he would be able to drop his pack quickly and still have a rifle–pistol belt carrying a .45 (with two extra magazines), compass, grenade pouch (with two grenades), bayonet and scabbard, canteen, binoculars, first aid kit, and poncho. He also would sling an extra bandoleer of six clips of eight rounds each across his chest so he would have more ammunition for combat.

  Travel to Japan and Preparation at Camp Zama

  As the troops of the 2d and 4th Ranger Companies were arriving at Camp Stoneman, California, their advance party headed for Camp Zama, Japan. After their week of preparations in San Francisco, both officers believed they had done a good job getting equipment for their units. Queen and Warren boarded a Trans World Airlines plane at Travis Air Force Base bound for Japan. The XOs flew on a civilian aircraft similar to the C-54 (four props, non-jet) with female hostesses.

  The first stop was at Honolulu Airport, Hawaii, for refueling, where they landed in daylight and stayed on the ground about an hour. The weather was delightful, with a slight breeze, but no young ladies in hula skirts met them with leis. During the long flight from Hawaii to Wake Island, they got up and walked around the plane. Both XOs kept thinking about what would happen if the plane went down. They were flying in a prop-driven aircraft because in 1950 commercial jets were not yet flying that route. This was a regular flight with a civilian crew, a few Marines, and some Red Cross workers. There was emergency equipment (rubber life rafts, buoys, radios) stowed on the floor in the rear. Both XOs lay down on the pile of emergency gear, which made a better bed than folded-out web aircraft seats along the inside of the fuselage.

  After several hours of sleep they landed at night on Wake Island, part of the Marshall Island group in the northern Pacific. This American territory had a combination military/civilian airport and was used mainly as a refueling stop and weather station. After leaving Wake they headed to Tokyo, Japan, without stopping at Okinawa or Formosa, and landed at Okida Airport in the morning. Although crossing the International Date Line was an unusual event in 1950, there were no special ceremonies, although both XOs made sure to reset their watches.

  As they circled Tokyo in preparation to land, they could see Yokohama Harbor and Mt. Fuji. Queen thought about how far away they were from Fort Benning. After landing, both XOs were taken to Camp Zama because billets in Yokohama or Tokyo were very unusual without special circumstances or VIP status. Camp Zama was a small Army base near Yokohama used for the staging of units and replacements.

  At that time Camp Zama held a group of former POWs from the 1st Cavalry Division. These soldiers had been captured by Chinese forces when the Chinese entered the war and overran the 8th Cavalry Regiment. Some had been released by the Chinese without being taken to POW camps; some had escaped in the confusion of the battle. This group was being debriefed by the Military Intelligence personnel at Camp Zama and processed for return to the States, because under the Geneva Rules of Land Warfare those prisoners released voluntarily could not be returned to combat against the same enemy in the same theater of operations.

  In talking to several of the officers, both XOs soon realized the magnitude of the equipment that had been lost, destroyed, or abandoned in the fighting. The officers told of huge waves of Chinese attacking with bugles and whistles blowing. They talked of the very cold weather and the lack of proper winter clothing; some had frostbite. They told of atrocities committed by both the Chinese and Koreans. (Very much lat
er, several boards of inquiry would conduct postwar investigations, though without detailed findings.) None of the officers had been taken to any of the rear POW camps, and they considered themselves to be very lucky and were glad to be leaving. None of them seemed to have been tortured or had any real horror stories to relate. Both the 2d and 4th Ranger Companies would later attend escape and evasion (E&E) orientations held by the cadre at Zama. The release of these prisoners was seen as a propaganda ploy, because later captives were not released until 1953, after the Armistice.

  The day after both XOs arrived at Zama they took a short trip to the depot near Yokohama to check on their equipment requisitions. They found everyone to be cordial, but Jim Queen was a little afraid of Japan and its people. He had read about earthquakes in Japan, and the ground didn’t seem too solid to him when he got off the airplane. The myth of the invincibility of the Japanese soldier was lingering in Queen’s mind, which was filled with images of the bloody battles on Iwo Jima and Okinawa as he headed back to camp. On his way, a young Japanese man stopped him to ask if he wanted a silk screen painting. The offer was not what he had expected, and the eager young artist was also far from what Queen had expected. The sample the artist showed him looked very nice, and Queen had some Japanese money, which he had not learned to count too well. So Queen took a photo of his wife, Phyllis, out of his wallet and gave it to the young man, with the money that he counted from the handful that Queen showed him. Queen gave the artist his wife’s name and their address in Raleigh, North Carolina. The artist didn’t give him a receipt, and Queen soon forgot all about it. Later, Queen thought that he had just gotten ripped off, but true to his promise the artist made an excellent painting and sent it to Queen’s wife, Phyllis. Queen didn’t see it until over two years later, when he rotated back to the States in March 1952.

  Chapter 3

  The Company’s Trip to Korea

  “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency or morale.”

  —Executive Order 99813

  [2 Dec 1950] RECORDS OF EVENTS SECTION

  Reld fr asgmt 3d Army to 6th Army with station at Camp Stoneman, Calif, per Inf Cen Ltr dtd 15 Nov 50 departing 3 Dec 50 permanent change of station Ft Benning Ga 5 Off EM 117.

  On Sunday, 2 December 1950, the Buffalo Rangers prepared to leave Fort Benning for the 29-day journey to Korea. The trip would take them by bus to the train station in Columbus, Georgia, and then across the country to Camp Stoneman, California, from which they would board the USS General H.W. Butner to Yokohama, Japan, with a stop in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and then, finally, proceed by air from Japan to K-2 Airfield in Taegu, Korea. Once in Korea, the 7th Infantry Division (ID) would send deuce-and-a-half trucks to pick up the Rangers at K-2 to shuttle them to the division assembly area by truck convoy.

  From Benning to Stoneman

  On this particular day at Benning, as the 2d Platoon fell out for reveille, SFC James “Dude” Walker noticed that Corporal William F. Washington was absent without leave (AWOL). Apparently he had slipped off to Columbus and not returned. Someone in the rear ranks told Platoon Sergeant Walker that Washington had been arrested several times during the night but had escaped from the Columbus police and the MPs each time. It was well known that the local police gave blacks a hard time because a civilian fine would be levied in addition to any military punishment. The Rangers of 2d Company fully believed that the Columbus police had the power, from the state of Georgia, to take your life if they desired to do so. During the previous week a man from 2d Ranger Company had been jailed in Columbus. When Lieutenant Warren Allen, the Company Commander, went to the jail to arrange for the man’s release, Allen was jailed as well. The post commander—who was white—and Colonel Van Houten both had to go to Columbus to arrange for their release from jail. Usually, if the CO signed, a soldier was released and both would appear later at trial, or the civilians might let the military handle the whole problem. So the idea that a black Ranger was dodging the local police all night came as a shock to no one, considering that the domineering attitude of the Columbus police was well known.

  At the time of reveille it was still dark, and the Ranger who spoke assured Sergeant Walker that Washington would make shipment. In the vacant spot where Washington should have been was all of his equipment, which had been brought to the formation by his fellow squad members. Behind Washington’s equipment and the rest of the first squad was Ranger William Weathersbee, a member of second squad. Sergeant Walker solved the immediate problem with a concise order: “Weathersbee, pick up his mother fucking shit and you’ll be responsible for it.” The post band was playing across the field. It was dark as hell and Weathersbee had a feeling that the members of the band would all rather be in bed sleeping. Walker had just doubled Weathersbee’s load, and had given his order to a Ranger who was not even in first squad. Although Weathersbee was furious that first squad was not going to take care of its own member’s equipment, he did what a Ranger is supposed to do and carried out the order without saying a word. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hopefully, that would not be the case in combat.

  Brand new city buses lined up on the parade field to take the troopers to the train station in Columbus. Corporal Fields remembers getting on the buses and being faced with the signs that said “COLORED,” placed where blacks were to be seated—from the rear forward. As a farewell statement, the Rangers took the signs with them. The bus ride to Columbus was uneventful, but boarding the train brought another racial indignity. The white troops of 4th Company had no problem—they could walk through the main train station—but the Station Master didn’t want the black troops of 2d Ranger Company to do likewise. To make matters worse, the white train porters led the members of the 2d Ranger Company into the station when they knew the Station Manager would have the black troops go back outside and come into the station from the side entrance. Even though the 2d and 4th had trained together, had equal skills and expectations, and would bleed the same red blood in combat, they had to proceed through the Columbus, Georgia, train station via different paths toward combat in Korea. At the time, it was simply how segregation laws worked. Looking back, it was absurd, but local laws governed the situation.

  The train was delayed approximately ten minutes, just long enough for Ranger Washington, followed closely by several police cars with their red lights flashing, to appear at the station and catch up with his platoon. As the train started moving, Washington was running down the railroad tracks alongside the train, with Sergeant Walker yelling for the 2d Company Rangers to “get up and help him!” The Rangers opened the train door so Washington could leap on board.

  In the safety of the train, he leaned from the still-open door and gave his pursuers a farewell salute before slumping down in the seat in front of Weathersbee. Exhausted, Washington put his head on the armrest and fell into a deep sleep. Sergeant Walker looked down at Washington and smiled, because Washington had gotten away and made the shipment; after all, Rangers were supposed to be the best at infiltrating and escaping. It had been the right call to bring his equipment along, and the men had been right to think that Washington would show up. From that day forward he was nicknamed “the Ghost” because of his ability to get in and out of tight situations. Later, after 2d Ranger Company left Korea and was sent to Japan to the 187th ARCT, Washington was assigned to Battalion Headquarters. In a few short months, while working with Japanese civilians at the camp, Sergeant Washington became fluent in Japanese.

  [3 Dec 1950] RECORDS OF EVENTS SECTION

  Departed Ft Benning, GA. Company en route to Camp Stoneman, Calif 0630 arr New Orleans, LA 2400 distance travel 434 miles per Hq Trp Inf Cen Ltr dtd 16 Nov 5 Company Strength: 5
off and 117 EM

  3 Dec left Ft Benning Ga enroute to Camp Stoneman Calif 0530 arr New Orleans 2[4]00 distance travel 434 miles—The In Cen Ltr dtd 14 Nov 50

  It took five days to get to Pittsburg, California, and Camp Stoneman. The train had Pullman railcars and porters. The men rode in double seats with their packs in the overhead racks. In the evening the porters changed the seats into double bunks. The 4th Company rode at the front of the train, followed by the kitchen cars, and then 2d Ranger Company. Once again we were seated from the rear to the front. On the long ride many Rangers wrote letters, played cards, or just looked out the windows when not napping. There were the usual high jinks—practical jokes, gambling, drinking, arguments on things like seating and bunk selection—that accompanied any long train ride for young soldiers with little to do to pass the time until the combat duty that lay ahead of them. Whenever the train stopped for servicing or to let civilian trains pass by, the Rangers had PT to ensure that they arrived at the battlefield in top condition.

  In Texas, at one of the short watering and refueling stops, some local Indians put on a tribal dance for the Rangers. During another stop Ranger Weathersbee gave $20 to a porter to buy items for sandwiches at a store that would not serve blacks. The porter liked Weathersbee’s idea so much that he returned his $20 and decided to use the sandwich makings he had bought to make and sell sandwiches to the Rangers at rip-off prices back on board the train. Incidents like this were yet another reality of Jim Crow days.

  During the trip, Walter “Iron Head” Gray saw a huge cow standing in a corral. Iron Head called out loudly, “Look at that big cow!” Someone called to him, “That’s a buffalo, Iron Head!” This added more lore to the Buffalo nickname, and was talked about by both 2d and 4th Companies.