121. "Testing of Gen. Keiser; A Soldier Remembered," three columns, in a clipping unidentified as to date or name of newspaper, copy provided by Maj. Gen. George B. Peploc, USA, Ret., in letter to author, 3 Feb 80. Keiser's physical disabilities led to his retirement from the Army in 1954. He died 20 Oct 69 in San Francisco.
122. Mrs. Margaret Almond, conversation with author, 28 Apr 77. At the time of this conversation, Gen. Almond, who was present, would not comment on the incident. He said he was not present when it occurred (he was in northeastern Korea with the X Corps), and he preferred that his wife tell the story as she remembered it.
123. Epley, interview with author, 13 Dec 51. Brig. Gcn. Bradley had come down with a bad cold also, and he was sent to Japan for hospitalization soon afterward. He had insisted that he would go only if returned to his position in the division. It turned out, however, that he returned to Korea as assistant division commander of the 25th Inf. Div. Subsequently, he became the division commander. In 1951 Gen. Keiser was given command of the 5th Inf. Div. It did not serve in the Korean War. See Register of Graduates, p. 338, Item 5719.
124. Epley, letter to author, 6 Dec 79.
125. Gen' Matthew B. Ridgway, letter to author, 12 Oct 79, and also in conversation with author.
Chapter 15
1. 2nd Logistical Command (C), Monthly Activ. Rpts., Nov 1950, Transportation, Water Div.
2. "Msgs. CINCUNC Tokyo, sgd MacArthur to DEPTAR Wash., DC for JCS, NR C-50107, 30 Nov 50; and CINCUNC Tokyo, Sgd. MacArthur to DEPTAR Wash., D.C. for JCS, 30 Nov 50, NR C 50095," in Pertinent Papers on Korean Situation, II, 356-57.
3. "Msg. JCS to CINCUNC Tokyo, 30 Nov 50, NR JCS 97772, in Pertinent Papers on Korean Situation, II, 356.
4. New York Herald Tribune, 2 Dec 50, p. 2, col. 7, citing MacArthur interview for US. News and World Report.
5. The brief discussion of the atomic bomb issue and British distrust of American policy in the Korean War is based on Schnabel, Policy and Direction, pp. 288-93. For Defense Minister Shin's statement, see New York Herald Tribune, 4 Dec 50, p. 1, col. 4, UP dispatch from Seoul, 3 Dec 50.
6. Gen. Charles L. Bolte, AC/S-G3, DA (deputy chief of staff for administration) for Gen. Ridgway, memorandum, US Army Capabilities, 1 Dec 50, in Ridgway Papers.
7. Eighth Army WD, Summ., Scc. 1, 30 Nov 50.
8. Eighth Army WD, G-3 Sec., 1 Dec 50, Box 1136.
9. 38th Inf. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 1-2 Dec 50, Box 2474; Bartlett, With the Australians in Kona, p. 49.
10. Bartlett, With the Australians in Korea, p. 55.
11. Malcolm, Ar,Nyhs in Kona, pp. 61-67; Linklater, Our Men in Kona, p. 29; Barclay, First Commonwealth Division, p. 34.
12. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt. G-2, PIRs No. 142,143,1-2 Dec 50, Box 1135; ibid., G-3 Sec., 1 Dec. 50, Box 1136; 1st Cav. Div. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 1-2 Dec 50, Box 4419.
13. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., Narr., pp. 44-45, 2 Dec 50, Box 1134; ibid., G-2, PIRNo. 143, Box 1135; ibid., G-3 Jnl. file, 2 Dec 50, and Briefing for CG, Eighth Army, 3 Dec. 50 (covering period 020001-030800), Box 1136; Gen. Harold K. Johnson (Army chief of staff), CO 5th Cav. Regt., Nov-Dec 1950, interview with author, 28 Apr 54.
14. New York Herald Tribune, 2 Dec 50, p. 3, col. 3, AP dispatch, datelined US 1st Cav. Div. CP, 1 Dec; 7th Cav. Regt. Comd. Rpt., Nan., 2 Dec 50, Box 4431.
15. 1st Cav. Div. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 2 Dec 50, Box 4419; Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-2 PIR No. 143, 2 Dec 50, Box 1135, and G-3 POR 431, 3 Dec 50 (covering action on 2 Dec), Box 1136.
16. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-2 PIR No. 144, 3 Dec 50, Box 1135.
17. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 Jnl. file, G-3 PORNo. 427, and G-3 Air Briefing Rpt., 1 Dec 50, Box 1136.
18. IX Corps WD, PIR No. 66, 1 Dec 50, Box 1767; FEC DIS No. 3006, 1-2 Dec 50, Box 99.
19. Radow, interview with author, 16 Aug 51.
20. Lt. Col. Edward McMakcn, 24th Inf. Div., G-3 Air Officer, 5 Aug 50-3 Jan 51, Debriefing Rcpt., No. 45, 13 Dec 51, Dept. of Training Publ. and Aids, Artillery School, Fort Sill, Okla.; 25th Div. WD, Bk. 1, G-4 Action Rpt., 30 Nov 50; I Corps WD, Ord. Off. Rpt., 30 Nov 50; Lt. Col. John W. Maclndoe and Capt. Andrew I. Wessling, Jr., G-3 Sec., I Corps, interviews with author, 27 July 51.
21. I Corps WD, Ord. Off. Rpt., 30 Nov 50, Box 1501.
22. 24th Div. WD, Lt. Col. S. D. Cocheu (24th Div. QM), Summ. Rpt., Nov 1950, Box 3513; 24th Inf. Div. WD, Bk. 1, Operational Highlights, 1-30 Nov 50, Box 3513. Col. Cochcu's Quartermaster reports in the 24th Div. records are the best and most revealing Quartermaster reports of any in Eighth Army for this period.
23. B. C. Mossman and Harry J. Middleton, "Logistical Problems and Their Solutions (EUSAK)," June 1952, pp. 91-92 (reproduced, Office Chief of Military History, DA).
24. Futrell, U.S. Air Force in Korea, p. 232.
25. James W. Spellman, exec. off., QMC, memorandum to G-4, 24th Inf. Div., 2 Dec 50, and included as enclosure in 24th Div. WD, G-4 Summ., Box 3512 (hereafter cited as Spellman, Memorandum).
26. Ibid.; 24th Div. QM Sec. Rpt., 1 Dec 50; 24th Inf. Div. WD, Bk. 1, Operational
Highlights, 1-30 Nov 50, and 24th Div. QM Summ., Bk. 1, p. 254, Boxes 3512 and 3513.
27. Futrell, US. Air Fora in Kona, p. 248.
28. Col. Henry Fisher, CO 35th Inf. Regt., review comments on "South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu" MS, 7 Nov 57 (hereafter cited as Fisher, Comments).
29. 1 Corps Comd. Rpt., Dec. 1950, pp. 5-6; Lt. Col. Maclndoe, G-3, I Corps, and Capt. Dunphy, I Corps historian, interviews with author, 25 July 51.
30. Lt. Col. Clarcncc E. Stuart, CO 555th FA Bn., interview with author, 9 Aug 51.
31. New York Times, 6 Dec 50, p. 1, col. 6, dispatch from Seoul, 5 Dec 50.
32. Lt. Col. Barton O. Baker, ord. off., 25th Inf. Div., "Division Ordnance Work," in Westover, Combat Support in Korea, pp. 127-28.
33. Eighth Army WD, Narr., Logistics Sec., 2 Dec 50, Box 1134; IX Corps Comd. Rpt., 2 Dec 50, Box 1505.
34. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 JnI. file, POR No. 430, and G-3 Briefing for CG, 2 Dec 50, Box 1136; 24th Div. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 2 Dec 50, Box 3522.
35. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 Air Rpt., 3 Dec 50, covering action on 2 Dec, Box 1136.
36. FEC DIS No. 3007, i-g, 2-3 Dec 50, Box 99.
37. 5th RCT, 24th Div. Comd. Rpt., 2-7 Dec 50, Box 4691.
38. 1st Cav. Div. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 3-5 Dec 50, Box 4419.
39. 24th Inf. Div. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 3-5 Dec 50, Box 3522; Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 Sec., 3 Dec 50, Box 1136.
40. 3rd Bn., 35th Inf. Exec. Off. Jnl., 3 Dec 50, in 35th Inf. Comd. Rpt., 3 Dec 50.
41. 9th Inf. Comd. Rpt., in 2nd Div. WD, 3-7 Dec 50, Box 2471.
42. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 Sec., G-3 Jnl. file, 3 Dec 50, Box 1136. The G-3 Daily Briefings for Gen. Walker, covering the actions for the previous day and up to 8 A.M. of the morning of the briefing, usually had excellent summaries. They also revealed that the Eighth Army had good information on what had happened in X Corps for the same period, and thus showed good radio and liaison communication between the two commands.
43. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., Narr., 3 Dec 50, Box 1134; Far Est Air Force Operations Hirmn, Vol. 2, 1 Nov 50-28 Feb 51, p. 84.
Chapter 16
1. Col. Albert K. Stebbins, Eighth Army G-4, was a close and loyal friend of Gen. Walker. In an interview on 4 Dec 53, he told me that Gen. Walker personally made the decision to abandon Pyongyang- that it was not ordered by Gen. MacArthur. After he made the decision, Gen. Walker informed MacArthur of it, saying he could not hold the city (also, Maj. Gen. Leven C. Allen, interview with author, 15 Dec 53).
2. Stebbins, interview with author, 4 Dec 53.
3. Ibid.
4. Col. Richard W. Stephens, interview with author, 8 Oct 51.
5. Barclay, First Commonwraltb Division in Korea, p. 35; Linklatcr, Our Men in Kona, p. 3, "The Retreat Southward." The 8th Royal Irish Hussars, an armored unit, included two squadrons of Centurion tanks, the largest tanks used in Korea. They were wider than the other t
anks, of a low profile, and carried 20-pounder guns. The Hussars also had a reconnaissance troop of light tanks, and C Squadron of the 7th Tank Regt.
6. New York Herald Tribune, 4 Dec 50, p. 3, dispatch from Tokyo, 4 Dec 50.
7. The reverse side of the Map of Korea, 1952 Chinnampo Sheet, scale 1:25,000, has a good outline map of Pyongyang and its main military facilities. Pyongyang is said to be the oldest city in Korea and for a long time was its capital. Probably no other Ko rean city has been so prominently identified with the ancient culture of Korea and its arts, developed over nearly 3,000 years. Pyongyang throughout most of its history was known as Heijo. As the course of history passed over this land in 1950, the United States was fated to control this ancient place for a brief period of about six weeks but left no permanent marks on the city.
8. I Corps Comd. Rpt., 5 Dec 50, Box 1502; Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., 5 Dec 50, Box 1134; FEC DIS No. 3009, 5 Dec 50, covering events on 4 Dec, Box 99; 24th Div. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 5 Dec 50, Box 3522; Antiairnuft journal 94, no. 1 (Jan-Feb 1951): 6, 24; Map of Pyongyang, reverse side of Map of Korea, Chinnampo Sheet, Aug 1952 ed., scale 1:25,000 (approx.).
9. Col. Emerson C. Ischner, "Engineers in Operation Bug-Out," Military Engineer 43, no. 294 (July-Aug 1951): 255ff. Most of the narrative covering Engineer demolitions in and near Pyongyang is based on this source, unless otherwise noted.
10. Ibid.
11. This picture was printed in many newspapers and magazines in the United States at the time. The picture was first published, I believe, in Lift magazine, 18 Dec 50. Newsweek republished it as late as 11 Sept 72 to illustrate the desperation of the Korean people trying to flee south on 3-4 Dec 50.
12. New York Herald Tribune, 4 Dec 50, p. 1, col. 8, Homer Bigart dispatch from Pyongyang, 4 Dec 50; ibid., 5 Dec 50, p. 1, col. 6, Bigart dispatch from Pyongyang, 4 Dec 50. Bigart was generally considered one of the most enterprising and reliable war correspondents in Korea.
13. Capt. B. C. Mossman, "Problems in Railroad Operation," in Westover, Combat Support in Kona, pp. 62-65; Capt. Max N. Brown, "Railroading in Korea," in ibid., pp. 65-66. For more detailed information on the Mukden cable, Korea's key telephone and telegraph system, see ibid., pp. 94-97.
14. Col Thomas A. Pitcher, "Signal Operations in Korea," in Westover, Combat Support in Kona, p. 97.
15. 35th Inf. Regt. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 4 Dec 50, Box 3771; 24th Inf. Regt. Comd. Rpt., Narr., Box 3766.
16. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-2 PIR No. 145, 4 Dec 50, Box 1135; and Eighth Army, G-3 Sec., JnI. file, G-3 Air Rpt., 4-5 Dec 50, Box 1136; 5th RCT, 1st Cav. Div. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 4 Dec 50, Box 4430.
17. 24th Inf., S-3 Jnl., 4 Dec 50, Box 3766; Maj. Gen. Basil A. Coad, "The Land Campaign in Korea," Journal of the Rawl United Servwe Institution 97, no. 585 (Feb 1952).
18. 2nd Inf. Div. Comd. Rpt., Narr., 2-7 Dec 50, pp. 3-4, Box 2436; Capt. Fred Myers, 2nd Div. historian, Diary, 2-7 Dec 50 (used by me at 2nd Inf. Div. CP in Korea, 14 Aug 51). Myers wrote the data in his diary for 2-7 Dec during the train trip from Pyongyang to Yongdong-po, as a member of the 2nd Div. Rear. Most of the details are from his diary.
19. New York Times, 2 Dec 50, p. 5, col. 2, UP dispatch from Pyongyang, 1 Dec 50.
20. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 Sec., Jnl. file, and POR No. 436, 4 Dec 50, Box 1136.
21. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-4 Sec., and G-3 Jnl. file, 4-6 Dec 50, Box 1138, and Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 and G-3 Jnl. file, with enclosed "Report of Liaison Visit to Turkish Brigade 5 Dcc 50, to G-3 and Chief of Staff, Eighth Army," Box 1136. The liaison report copy I found in the Army official files in the National Archives was unsigned, but I believe it was written by Lt. Col. Frank to Col. John A. Dabney, G-3, Eighth Army.
22. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-4 Sec., G-4 Jnl. file, entry No. 26, at 1700, 6 Dec 50; ibid., G-4 Jnl. file entry no. 10, 2155, 7 Dec 50, Box 1138.
23. "Division Supply Operations," in Westover, Combat Support in Korea, pp. 141-50.
24. 1st Lt. Francis G. Nordstrom, D Co., 89th Tank Bn., attached to 25th Div., interview with author, 31 Aug 51.
25. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 Sec., G-3 Jnl. 5 Dec 50, Box 1136; 25th Div. Comd. Rpt., 24th Inf. S-3 Jnl. msg. from 3rd Bn., 8th Cav. Refit., 5 Dec 50, Box 3766.
26. Nordstrom, interview with author, 31 Aug 51.
27. Futrell, US. Air Font in Kona, p. 248.
28. Mossman and Middleton, "Logistical Problems and Their Solutions (EUSAK) June 1952," p. 93.
29. Capt. Edward C. Williamson, "Evacuation of the 44th Ordnance Company from Pyongyang 30 Nov-4 Dec 50," No. BA73 (Mimeographed MS, in Office Chief of Military History, DA). Williamson's MS is based on interviews with Capt. Robert M. Elser, exec. off., 44th Ord. Co., and with other officers and noncommissioned officers of the company in Oct 1951, in Korea.
30. Ibid.; Capt. Edward C. Williamson, interview with Capt. Gentle J. Banks, No. BA-69 (MS copy in Office Chief of Military History); "Attempted Tank Evacuation," in Westover, Combat Support in Korea, pp. 132-35.
31. Williamson, "Evacuation"; Capt. Elser and Sfc. John H. Wright, interviews with author, 5 Oct 51.
32. The account of the 57th Ord. Recovery Co. to evacuate 17 disabled tanks from Pyongyang is based on Capt. Edward C. Williamson, "Attempted Evacuation of Disabled Tanks by Rail by 57th Ordnance Recovery Company During the CCF Offensive 29 Nov-6 Dec 1950," No. BA-69 (Mimeographed copy MS, in Office Chief of Military History, DA). Williamson held extensive interviews on this subject with Lt. Col. Herbert W. Wurtzler, I Corps ord. off., 5 Sept 51; with Capt. Gentle J. Banks, 57th Ord. Recovery Co., 4 and 6 Sept 51; and with 1st Lt. LeRoy Ingram, 4 Sept 51, and several noncommissioned officers of the 57th Ord. Recovery Co., including M. Sgt. William T. Wilson, Sgt. Richard L. White, and Cpl. Earl M. Friday. A partial account of this episode is given in "Attempted Tank Evacuation," in Westover, Combat Support in Kama, pp. 132-35. It differs in some details from that given in the narrative. I have followed Williamson's MS wherever there are discrepancies.
33. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., Narr. 45, 3-4 Dec 50, and G-4 Logistics Narr., 4- 5 Dec 50, Box 1134; Map of Pyongyang and vicinity, 1952 Chinnampo Sheet, scale 1:25,000. This map shows the two principal airfields at the northeast edge of Pyongyang and cast of the Taedong River.
34. "Msg. NR. C-50371, 4 Dec 50, From CINCFE (signed Collins) Tokyo, Japan: to DEPTAR for JCS for Haislip," in Pertinent Papas on the Korean Situation, II, 373; Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., 5 Dec 50, reporting on Gen. Collins's meeting with Walker on 4 Dec 50, Box 1134; Schnabcl, Policy and Direction, pp. 282-83. Maj. Gen. Doyle Hickey, MacArthur's acting chief of staff, FEC, had given Gen. Collins on 4 Dec 50 a memorandum outlining Gen. MacArthur's view that Pyongyang could not be held and that Eighth Army would have to fall back to Seoul-Inchon (copy in Ridgway Papers, USMHRC).
A. Gen. Collins reported to the JCS on his Korean visit in a memorandum for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 8 Dec. 50. See Schnabel, Policy and Direction, pp. 283-84.
36. 1 Corps Comd. Rpt., Engineering Sec., 4-5 Dcc 50, Box 1503; Marquat, "Automatic Artillery in Korea," p. 6.
37. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., G-3 Jnl. file, 5 Dec 50, Box 1136.
38. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., Narr. 5 Dec 50, Box 1134; Eleventh Report of the United States Command in Korea to the Security Council, United Nations, 31 Jan 51, Dept. of State Publication 4108, p. 4.
39. Eighth Army Comd. Rpt., Narr., 5 Dec 50, Box 1134; Field, Naval Operations, pp. 271-74. Most of the account of the evacuation of Chinnampo is based on Field.
40. Lt. Col. Ralph L. Foster, letter to author, 11 May 54.
41. Appleman, South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu, pp. 649-53; Cpl. Randle M. Hurst, "The History of the 502nd Reconnaissance Platoon in Japan and Korea, 1950," 99 pp. (Typescript MS, Aug 1977, copy in author's possession; hereafter cited as Hurst, MS). Hurst, a guard at Gen. Walker's CP in Pyongyang and often posted inside or outside Gen. Walker's office, said Stalin's picture was still in the room when he left the building on the morning of 4 Dec 50. There is a picture of the North Korean
capitol building on p. 651 in South to the Naktot, North to the Yalu, and on p. 653 is a picture of Kim II Sung's room (and Gen. Walker's office while his CP was at Pyongyang) with Stalin's photograph on the wall.
42. Hurst, MS. Hurst has a schematic drawing of the second floor of the North Korean capitol building and Walker's CP office in Pyongyang, in binder 1, p. 57. I learned in 1977 in correspondence with Hurst that he had been a member of Gen. Walker's personal guard detail in Korea and knew the details of the general's death. I urged Hurst, then long a civilian living in Fresno, California, to write all he could remember of his experiences in Korea. Blessed with a retentive memory and using a series of letters to relatives he had written from Korea, often on the same day as some important event, Hurst produced a fascinating and extremely readable account of experiences in Korea that differs widely from those of the ordinary soldier. It becomes clear in Hurst's often modest and deprecatory narrative that he was an extremely good soldier and an expert with the weapons he might be called on to use: the M-3 submachine gun, the M-1 rifle, the BAR, the .45-caliber pistol, and the .30- and .50-caliber machine guns. In addition to his 99-page typescript MS covering the period up to the end of 1950, there are a number of letters written to me that supplement his MS on such matters as Gen. Walker's death, the general's habits of command, and the nature of guard duty at Eighth Army Headquarters at Taegu, Seoul, and Pyongyang. Hurst subsequently wrote another 100-page MS covering the period of Gen. Ridgway's command and part of Gen. Van Fleet's in 1951. I have these manuscripts in my possession.
43. Hurst, MS, binder 1, pp. 66-67. Hurst is confused in his MS as to dates in early December. But tying in his sequence of events with the big explosions he heard about midnight or later the last night he was in the North Korean capitol building, and associating these explosions with the burning and destruction of the British ASP 16 near the K-23 airfield on the night of 3-4 Dec, I place the date of Hurst being relieved of guard duty at Gen. Walker's residence in Pyongyang as about noon on 3 Dec. I have edited the excerpt from Hurst's MS only to reflect what I believe are the correct dates. Hurst's 30 Nov becomes 3 Dec, and 1 Dec becomes 4 Dec. One of Hurst's letters to his family confirms the dates I have used in the narrative (letter to his "Aunt Nettie," 11 Dec. 50; see n. 44).
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