Edward L. Posey
Page 15
MORNING REPORT
[25 May 1951] Record of Events
Enemy killed 50. Enemy wounded approximately 90. 1 EM killed. Morale of troops excellent. Company attacked by Chinese troops estimated regiment size approximately 2300 hours 20 May 51. Fight continued until approximately 0545 hours 21 May 51. Estimated enemy killed 60 wounded. 10 EM wounded hill secured. Lt. Queen cited for heroic action in the face of enemy. Morale of troops excellent. Company relieved of Hill 581, 1300 hours 22 May 1951. Departed area 0630 hours by motor march for Honchon area. Arrived Honchon for Hill 246 mission to relieve elements of 7th Marine (Regiment). Mission accomplished approximately 1500 hours. Morale of troops excellent.
In Hindsight
Throughout the ensuing years, Queen has harbored some festering thoughts about what sparked him and the Buffalo Rangers in the battle for Hill 581. No doubt, many other participants have had some of the same thoughts. We know that the main thought of each infantryman in battle revolves around his desire to survive and to hope the same for his buddies. He wants to avoid becoming a coward, being injured or killed, except maybe to get the “million dollar wound” that doesn’t show or hamper any normal body functions. When the fight is over, he wants to be justly recognized and rewarded for his efforts. He feels a sense of elation and exhilaration when his unit accomplishes its objective. Queen recalls some of these same thoughts and others that have dwelt on his mind and come to the forefront during the company reunions since the war.
Chapter 7
Assault and Occupation of Hill 545, 11 June 1951
“The term ‘Rangers’ connotes small, highly trained elite units executing raids, patrols, or other operations behind enemy lines. The term also elicits images of intense esprit de corps and proficiency in unconventional warfare; it originated in the colonial period of US history when special troops ‘ranged’ between frontier posts.”
—Encyclopedia of the Korean War: A Political, Social, and Military History34
On 28 May, 2d Ranger Company departed Hill 246 with the mission to secure Hill 545 in the area around Yononchanga. The Rangers would do so without some of their key members. Badly wounded Sergeant Kirk P. Adkins would remain at 3d Station Hospital for an indefinite period, so he was dropped from the rolls. Sergeant William “Doc Rabbit” Thomas and Corporal Willie “Pretty Boy” Coleman went on R&R to Japan. Sergeant Clinton “Crying” Cleveland and Sergeant First Class Donald West were evacuated to the hospital on 1 June. On 4 June, Corporal Julius Victor, who had been a driver for Major Tenza, Executive Officer, 3d Battalion, and Corporal Ramon West, a member of Anthony’s replacement platoon who would become a damn fine BAR man, rejoined the company through the 7th Replacement Company’s normal procedures.
When the company left Hill 581 and moved on to Hill 246, records show that it was briefly attached to the 17th RCT, then the 2d Battalion, 32d Infantry. While with the 17th RCT, the same battalion that had suffered heavy losses at the Chosin Reservoir and Tanyang Pass, the Buffalo Rangers learned the good news that the severely wounded soldier who had been evacuated at Tanyang, by being carried on a pole, with his hands and feet tied like a hog ready to be roasted, had survived! The 1/32d now had many new replacement personnel, including the Battalion CO.
Morning Report
[4 June 1951] RECORD OF EVENTS
Reld atchd fr 2d Bn 32th RCT & atchd 1st Bn 32d RCT Departed area DS823133 2300 hours by mtr march arrived area DS860182 2400 hours distance trv 6 miles. Morale of troops excellent.
During the first two weeks of June, the company’s present-for-duty strength hovered between 100 and 104, less mess, supply, and motor personnel, or about ninety to ninety-five for duty in the trenches (counting West and the company clerk). The company was operating in the Sanying-ni area, northwest of the Hwachon Reservoir, near the Kansas Line.
It was here that Joe Russo, 35 aid man with A Battery, 15th AAA Weapons Battalion, 7th Division, joined the Buffalo Rangers. Russo arrived in Korea in May 1951. He got into the service by lying about his age and joining his neighborhood buddies in the 696th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 112th Field Artillery Group, part of the New Jersey National Guard. Russo was nineteen years old when he arrived in Korea. Here is how he described what he found when he arrived:
The Kansas Line was being reinforced and bunkers were being built. I didn’t have too much to do and I don’t know if we were in the IX or X Corps area. I was placed on DS with the 2d Rangers. I asked our Company Clerk, “What does that mean?” and he said I was attached to them for medical support in camp. It also included going on patrol if I was needed. The Ranger Company’s CP was located across a stream that ran off the Pukhan River. Battery A was on one side of the stream and the Rangers on the other side. A detachment of the 7th Signal Battalion and 17th RCT were also nearby. A temporary POW compound was set up near Battery A’s CP. We experienced a lot of monsoon rain during this time.
It was during the period June-July when I put in for the Soldiers Medal for saving the life of a cook who was asleep in a burning tent. Myself and another fellow drove a jeep through the enemy area at night to evacuate him because he was that badly burned. Many years later, after I was discharged, I did receive the Army Commendation Medal.
Movement North and Combat Action
The Morning Report of 4 June shows the company’s senior aidman, Doc “Rabbit” Thomas, going on R&R to Japan, and Russo joined the Company to replace Thomas during this time.
Second Company was constantly on the move, creeping northward. On 5-6 June, the company moved to the vicinity of Yunokchong at 1100 hours, a distance of some ten miles. The Rangers were in a stand-down condition when word was received to secure the high ground to the north, which was covered with heavy forest and Chinese troops. This was a joint mission with the 1/32. The Rangers were to attack up the left (west) ridge while Company C attacked up the right (east) ridge.
The 2d Platoon, led by Freeman, was the lead platoon, with the Company Command Group following in single file. The ridge line was very narrow, heavily wooded, and steep, consisting of red clay-like soil similar to that found at Fort Benning. The Chinese were very well dug in, and our artillery shells were bursting on treetops because of the heavy vegetation. This was old growth forest, and the tree trunks were anywhere from one to three feet thick.
Second Company and Company C were almost abreast of each other during the attack. Queen, who was listening to the battalion command net, knew what was happening in Company C almost immediately. The lieutenant in the lead platoon had been a Platoon Sergeant in Company C, just like Freeman, before receiving a battlefield commission. He was using the fire support of the 4.2-inch mortars to support his assault. A couple of short rounds fell in the platoon area and the Lieutenant was seriously wounded in both legs. He took off his belt and tied a tourniquet around his legs, saving his own life.
There was a narrow, uphill ridge that sloped down on the left and right sides of the hill. The 2d Platoon attacked from the bottom of the hill while the enemy was throwing grenades and firing down on the platoon. Private First Class James Peteress, Jr., led the attack, pressing forward using fire and movement, vigorously employing his BAR. The enemy was dug in and using American-made Thompson submachine guns and 60mm mortars against the Buffalo Rangers. Peteress was wounded and instinctively tried to fall to the prone position. The extra pair of pack suspenders attached to his heavily laden BAR belt caught on a branch of the tree that he was leaning against and hiding behind. Others tried to pull him down, but the limb would not immediately give or break. He was hit multiple times while caught in that position and died shortly after evacuation. In a company formation the day before, Queen had awarded Peteress, an extraordinary BAR man, his third Purple Heart.
With Peteress dead, Posey moved off to the left of the ridge in the hope of getting into position to relieve the enemy pressure from the attacking 2d Platoon. Once in position Posey opened fire on the enemy with a carbine. The enemy immediately picked up on Posey’s pos
ition and responded with grenades and return fire that struck Posey in the right arm. The wound rendered his arm useless and he was unable to fire his carbine, which fell to the ground and tumbled down the hill. Thinking fast, Posey used his left hand to pull his .45 out of its holster. With this as his only weapon, he charged the enemy from the left side as his squad charged forward from the right. Behind Posey, the squad routed the enemy from their positions, killing all enemy soldiers in the area. Only after checking the men in his squad did Posey allow his wounds to be treated. For these heroic actions, he was later awarded the Silver Star.
Queen was using artillery to suppress the enemy fire on their ridge line. The short rounds on Company C threw an air of caution into the situation. Queen was notified that no TOTs of battalion size would be fired closer than 500 yards to the unit’s front line. This was a problem, because he knew that the artillery unit firing his missions was a National Guard or Reserve Corps Artillery Unit, and he didn’t trust the firing accuracy of these groups.
The opposing two sides were so close that Queen could hear the enemy’s 60mm mortars’ propellant shell cartridges fire when the shells were dropped in the tube. The shells were falling to the side of the very narrow ridge because of the lack of clearance for firing. Both sides were handicapped by the lack of overhead clearance for mortar firing. Queen’s dilemma was to get artillery onto a hilltop less than 100 yards from his lead squad. He called in the coordinates but neglected to provide the location of the company’s front. When asked, he replied “five hundred yards,” and asked, with Allen’s permission, for battalion TOT. Because the attack was stalled on the right ridge, the mortar fire support was approved. Actually, on the Ranger ridge, both U.S. units were occupying the same elongated, waist-deep trenches that crisscrossed the hill. The TOT came in on time and the company moved forward and captured the hill.
The unit took a couple of prisoners. The first man captured asked for an American cigarette and a chance to go to Formosa to join Chiang Kai-shek’s army. His face was pocked with bumps, and it was one of the few times during the war that Queen felt like abusing a prisoner. Peteress—a damn good man and the second most-wounded Ranger—was dead because of his aggressiveness, and this POW had the audacity to ask for a cigarette while offering to change sides, all with the same breath.
Post-Battle Events
The lightly wounded Rangers in the action on Hill 545 were Sergeant Edward L. Posey, Sergeant Henry Wilson, Sergeant First Class Jack Murphy, Corporal Homer Bush, Corporal George Bynum, Jr., and Private First Class Otis Williamson, Jr.
As the company moved north, a few promotions followed:
James E. Freeman, First Lieutenant
David “Tank” Clarke, Sergeant
Jose A. Escalera, Jr., Corporal
Otis Williamson, Jr., Corporal
Lester Garland, Corporal
Scherrell Smith, Corporal
The Morning Report for 23 June reflects that 2d Ranger Company made another move within the 32d RCT at this time.
[23 June 1951] RECORD OF EVENTS
Reld fr atchd 1st Bn 32 Inf Regt on OP Hill 660 Approx 20 enemy troops sighted 19 Jun 51 enemy dispersed by artillery barrage no further contact with enemy Morale of troops excellent
Starting in late June the records began to include additional information about all of the men returning to 2d Ranger Company from the hospital: their dates of arrival in Korea, and their dates of eligibility for rotation (usually six months later, regardless of hospitalization periods). For example:
James R. Murray RA45 041 010 Cpl. MOS 34745
Race Negro, term of enlistment 3 years, Expiration of term of enlistment April 1954. Date arrival Korea, 30 December 1950. Date of eligibility for rotation to US June 1951. Assigned and joined from 3d Station Hospital, APO 301, paragraph 1, Special Order 176, Headquarters 3d Station Hospital, APO 301, effective 25 June 1951.
The Buffalo Rangers of 2d Company had a relatively easy time in comparison to some of the other Ranger companies. Over in the 24th Division, the 8th Rangers were part of Task Force Byrum, riding in M-39 personnel carriers with the 6th Medium Tank Battalion. On 19 May, the Task Force met a Chinese battalion that closed with and attempted to destroy the tanks in a defile. The Rangers, in conjunction with a company from the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry Battalion attached to the 24th, fought them off.
Reports of these types of operations disturbed Colonel Van Houten. Although the Rangers’ intended purpose was to operate behind enemy lines, they were being used by other units to spearhead their attacks for them—a function the units were supposed to perform for themselves. The mixed reports he received from the divisions to which the Rangers were attached were also disturbing.
For example, around IX Corps, 4th Company on many occasions was split into platoons or even squads to handle assignments. Sometimes its members unknowingly bivouacked within artillery gun placement areas, or filled in gaps between units, leaving their flanks exposed and vulnerable to attack. They were even attached to the 1st Marine Division, and a few individuals were sent to the 8240th AU (A US Army advisory and intelligence element supporting Korean partisans) for a short time for duty.
Medical Coverage
The Rangers were authorized only one aid man per company headquarters, with additional duty as “driver, truck, light” (i.e., jeep driver). Each platoon also had an aid man, and all were authorized a medical kit, as well as an individual and folding splint set. But no special training was provided for the aid men, in contrast to what is now done in the Army’s Special Forces units, in which they receive at least one year of training before being awarded that MOS. Luckily, 2d Ranger Company received some medics who had already received basic aid man training while in the 558th from Sergeant First Class Baker, or in the 3d Battalion Medical Platoon under Lieutenant John Cannon and Master Sergeant Frank Barbee.
Several of the Rangers, including Corporal Donald Felder, one of the youngest and most inexperienced troopers taken into 2d Ranger Company, have felt a twinge of guilt since their days with 2d Ranger Company. Felder, who was a machine gunner in Pryor’s 1st Platoon, puts it this way:
I became fascinated with airborne after watching the newsreel of the first black troopers in the military. Some troopers tried to discourage me from joining the Rangers. I saw my first action at the schoolhouse [Tanyang Pass] where I killed my first enemy. The experience had a devastating effect on me and triggered internal conflicts. I recalled on that same night moving away to be by myself, so I could pray and resolve my feelings about what I had done that day. I never knew that this internal conflict would rumble and roar within me for many years to come.
The next firefight was in the valley where Lawrence Williams, Charles Scott, J.T. Holley, and Herman Rembert were killed. [Eight Rangers were KIA in this battle, these four plus Corporal Richard Glover, Corporal Milton Johnson, Private Frank King, Jr., and Private First Class Robert St. Thomas.] The enemy was practically invisible, concealed on the high ground. It was during this battle that I witnessed the most heroic acts of my tour during the Korean War. One of the acts I observed was a Ranger—Lawrence “Poochie” Williams—who realized the situation the Company was in, and moved from a position of cover into the enemy’s field of fire with a mortar tube minus its base plate, using the snow as a [base] plate and firing mortar rounds in the direction of the enemy’s position. After firing several rounds, Williams was wounded.
Realizing this, Ranger Charles Scott immediately went to his side. Scott examined Williams’ body, giving the sign that Williams was dead. It seemed Scott’s next step should have been to take cover himself, but instead Scott continued going from body to body seeking out wounded soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division and administering medical attention to those soldiers who had been wounded but were still alive. He continued for some time until he, himself, was fatally wounded.
The heroic acts of these two Rangers were very obvious, as they were witnessed by many Rangers. I could never understand w
hy these two Rangers never received any recognition for their heroic acts. As noted previously, the matter of awards was a neglected area of all the Rangers’ orientation. The company’s members’ mental concept going into battle was to prove themselves as a group. The idea was that most of these acts were routine duties—until they saw the awards being made to many others—wheels—for far less audacious acts of bravery. In almost every war there are many who are not fully rewarded or recognized for their deeds. [The later revelation of these acts has been a catharsis for many Buffalo Rangers. It is currently impossible to rectify these omissions because the dates for recommendations have long passed.] I participated in most of the firefights where Rangers were recognized for their heroic acts; however, in my judgment the selfless acts of Williams and Scott were incomparable. They feared not for themselves, but for the safety of their fellow man.
My Ranger experiences made me think as an individual. However, I realized that becoming a professional soldier was not in the cards for me. It also made me realize how easily a life could be taken and how disgusting wars are. How can one justify the loss of so many lives and the suffering of so many human beings?
The most important lesson I learned from my Ranger experiences was never to let anyone become the master of your fate. And that education is the only route one can take to successfully take his place in society.
In that same vein of mature moral interpretation, some of the Buffalo Rangers have felt a twinge of guilt because they were wounded or injured early in Korea and did not return to the company for more combat. Ranger James Fields, a light machine gunner in Cliette’s 3d Platoon, was in the Army for three years, nine months, and sixteen days. He was evacuated immediately after the Tanyang Pass–Majori-ri firefight for frostbitten feet. During those days, Fields recalls, “we were young men trying to find ourselves in a racist, segregated society. I don’t know why it has been so difficult for me to write about my experiences in the military. I had set some high standards for myself and I met none of them,” he continued. “Perhaps a feeling of guilt or a sense of failure for not completing the tasks I had set out to do: I had to leave the fight [in Korea] before it was finished. Perhaps, I let down some of my comrades.”