It is called Chipyong-ni
It is an Epic War Drama
In the vein of Blackhawk Down
It is like Top Gun: Maverick meets Fury
It follows understanding military genius Lieutenant Colonel James W. Edwards
And personable intuitive cavalryman Lt. Col. Edgar J. Treacy, Jr.
As they fight off scores of attacking Communists, rescue besieged U.N. forces and turn back the tide of the Chinese army
Problems arise when Edward’s commander Freeman is removed from command due to an injury and Treacy’s commander orders his men on a suicide mission to relief besieged US forces
Together their courage and sacrificial commitment to their men will turn the tide of battle and secure South Korean freedom
The idea came to me when I was listening to an audiobook of The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam and heard how Treacy was denied his Medal of Honor due to animosity from his commanding officer
My unique approach would be following the besieged forces at Chipyong-ni and the infantry and tanks coming to relieve them while portraying every act of valor during the battle that resulted in a medal, star, cross or ribbon
A set piece would be when Treacy’s men, the men of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, are ordered to ride on top of tanks as they speed down a highway lined with ridges crawling with the enemy to rescue the besieged Americans at Chipyong-ni. Whenever the tanks are forced to stop, the infantry will jump off, clear the way free of enemy soldiers, then jump back on as the tanks continue. Due to animosity from his commanding officer, Treacy is ordered to remain behind. But he sees a disaster in the making, so he hitches a ride on a truck driven by South Korean soldiers. The race to Chipyong-ni is a hellish ride for the 3rd Battalion. A slugfest ensues as Chinese troops us captured US weapons and the Americans turned the rice paddies from which the red soldiers fire into funeral pyres. Every time the tanks are stopped by the interlocking fire of the Chinese machine guns and rocket launchers on the high ground at bends and cuts in the road, the infantry are forced to dismount and eliminate the enemy. The Chinese approach the tanks with pole charges and blocks of TNT, but the fire from the tanks and infantry cut them down. Many of the infantry are left behind as the tanks zip off toward Chipyong-ni. Soldiers are shot by the enemy as they climb back onto the tanks or are accidentally knocked off by the turning gun turrets or blown off by concussions when the barrels are fired. The column is passing a road cut just to the south of Chipyong-ni when the Chinese start exploding pole charges near the tanks. One tank is hit by a bazooka, killing everyone inside except the driver who despite being seriously injured guns the tank through the cut so the column will not be bottled up. Soon after the column became visible to all in the Chipyong-ni valley. The U.N. forces cheer as the French troops run and kiss the tanks. The Communists broke and run for the hills, abandoning their dead, wounded, and weapons and ignoring the orders of the political commissars. For the 3rd Battalion, it has been at a great cost. One hundred men have been left along the highway. One of them is Treacy who was last seen helping a wounded soldier despite his own flesh wound near the mouth. He dies in a POW camp and is never given the Medal of Honor his men believe he deserves
Target audiences would be military personnel and their families, military veterans and their families, Korean War veterans and their families, South Koreans, Korean Americans, fans of Top: Gun Maverick, video gamers, history buffs and men and women (teens to 60s)
[Note: You can read the first and second part of this series here and here]
The work for Colonel Paul J. Freeman, the 23rd Infantry Regiment and the French Battalion was not finished. They were ordered to advance to Chipyong-ni and hold the transportation hub to protect the flank of the 10th Corps as it launched its offensive, Operation Roundup. This operation was intended to destroy all enveloped all communist forces in the vicinity of Hongcheon. The Tomahawks’ mission was to hold the hill ground as the western anchor for a liner of the departure for the offense. What the Americans did not know was that the Chinese were also planning an offensive to destroy all U.N. forces north of Hoengseong. If the communists destroyed two ROK divisions in the line, they would have a clear shot to the south. The Chinese general Mishal Peng Dehuai assigned the 39th Army to deal with the 2nd Infantry Division. Two Chinese divisions would be ordered to cut off the American regiments at Chipyong-ni
As Freeman, the 23rd and the French waited at the crossroads, they were joined by a combat engineer company, 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion, and a battery of 15mms manned by a segregated black unit, the 503rd Field Artillery Battalion’s Baker Battery. They were also joined by the 1st Ranger Company, which was better suited for hit-and-run raids than defense. Freeman had the regiment strengthen their lines and plant boobytraps, like mines and tripwires, in the area in front of their positions. Some of these traps were fougasses, cans planted in or holes dug in the ground that were then filled with gasoline and then pointed toward the approaching enemy. Freeman also ordered patrols to maintain contact with the communist forces at all times so as not to be caught by surprise.
By February 12 it became clear all that Operation Roundup was a failure. Almond’s orders to push north had resulted in his line being overextended, allowing the communists to infiltrate his flanks. He ordered his forces to fall back and regroup. However, General Matthew Ridgway had other orders for the 23rd, a regiment he knew could stay and fight. While all units were withdrawing, they would stay at Chipyong-ni. He hoped that the communist’s advance would batter itself to a halt against their position. “We’re surrounded, but we’ll stay here and fight it out,” Freeman told his men, who greeted the news with enthusiasm. One sergeant declared that the Chinese had just started digging their own graves.
The Chinese attacked on the night of February 13th, signal lights, bugles and whistles announcing their arrival. They yelled “Manzai!” And then tried to push Bangalore torpedoes, long pipes filled with explosives, through the American lines to blowup the barbwire defenses. The Chinese also had artillery which rained down inside of the perimeter, setting American halftracks on fire, silhouetting the Americans and giving the enemy better targets. Because the Americans were completely surrounded, they could only be reinforced by air drop. The question became, would the Americans runout of ammunition or the Chinese out of bodies first?
The Americans fought back bravely. A bazooka team crawled forward and took out a Chinese machine gun. Without their support-by-fire, the Chinese attack in that sector collapsed. Men waited until the enemy was almost on top of them before opening fire. Others preferred to toss grenades, so the flash of their rifles would not give away their position. The French Battalion cranked up an air raid alarm to unnerve the Chinese and disrupt their communication system of bells and whistles. They would also lure the Chinese into ambushes by pretending to retreat and then counterattack the advancing communists while wielding machetes, axes, clubs and knives. At some places the fighting became hand-to-hand combat.
Lieutenant Charles H. Davidson ran back and forth with ammo, refusing medical aid despite grenade wounds. Corporal Roland J. Jarvery crawled out of his foxhole to find a better firing position to fight off an outflanking attack. Despite wounds from grenades, mortar rounds and bullets, he kept plugging away until he was killed. Private First Class William G. Mason ran much needed ammo to his machine gun team despite a gauntlet of enemy fire. Private First Class Lawrence Numkena waited until a group of communists were almost on top of him before opening fire with his BAR gun. He killed sixteen of them before crawling out of his hole to get a better position on them, driving them off by firing from the hip. Sergeant First Class George H. Glassman was resupplying his men when he found a hole in the line and personally plugged it by driving off twenty enemy soldiers. Sergeant Leo Blevins skirted an enemy attack and opened fire with his rifle, taking out seventeen Red soldiers. All of them would receive the Silver Star.
By morning the fighting had slackened. From prisoners captured by the French, Freeman learned that he was facing elements of five Chinese divisions, with a total strength of 30,000 men. Later, when trying to get some rest, a mortar went off near Freeman, hitting him just above the ankle with shrapnel. The medic who examined the wound said that under normal circumstances he would be evacuated but these were no normal circumstances and he would not recommend evacuation. However, when General Almond learned of Freeman’s wound, he sent a replacement officer. This was probably due to personal animosity between the two officers. Freemen was furious since it was a disgrace and demoralizing to the men for a commander to be replaced before a fight was through and refused to be evacuated.
There was more bad news. It was forecast that there would be nine straight hours of rough weather that would ground the supply aircraft in Japan and on the offshore carriers. The Americans were winning a great victory at Wonju on the same day with a tremendous display of airpower, but unfortunately for the 23rd, this meant that few planes could be spared to supply them. Even when supplies were dropped, some would be damaged upon landing.
As night fell on February 14th the Americans could see the Chinese coming out of hiding and forming up. They heard their bugle calls and other forms of communication. Then wave after wave of communists crashed against the perimeter. The Chinese used small arms fire and grenades to keep the GIs pinned down as others used poles to push satchel charges through the barbed wire and into the foxholes of the Americans. The Chinese used captured American artillery pieces and ammunition. Green and red tracers arched through the sky as U. S. airplanes dropped flares to light up the outside of the perimeter. Gun barrels glowed red as they burned out. The artillerymen of Baker Company and the Rangers were forced to fight like infantrymen. Every time a Bangalore blew a hole in the wire, the Chinese poured through.
By 3:00 in the morning, the Chinese had captured the important McGee and Curtis hills. Second Lieutenant Paul J. McGee and Sergeant Billy C. Kluttz, commanders of 3rd Platoon, Georg Company and a few survivors, including only two men from McGee’s platoon, fought their way off the hill after throwing all their grenades. According to Lieutenant McGee, the men who stayed in their fox holes where heroes. Privates Burl J. Mace, Paul C. Baker, and Bruce M. Boyles stayed in their holes and fought to the death; their bodies were later found surrounded by those of the enemy. Corporal Hal McGovern was manning his machine gun when the Chinese surged past him. He ordered his team to retreat and covered then by firing his light machinegun like a rifle. His blistering fusillade saved his comrades lives but not his own. Private Paul Stamper ran around the battleground repairing the signal wire so the platoons could communicate, only stopping to destroy a Red machinegun team with a grenade. Private Albert H. Enger, jumped on an abandoned machine gun, mowing down wave after wave of communists. Private Richard L. Svitck continued to return to the hill to carry injured comrades to the aid station, even after the Chinese had captured some of the hill. Private Delmar Patton from Ohio was an ammo bearer, but when he saw wounded men returning from the ridgeline, he grabbed his rifle and headed up the help plug holes in the line. They would all received posthumous Silver Stars.
Private First Class Harry L. Nace crossed four hundred meters of open ground four times to retrieve two .30-caliber machine guns, not even letting a wound stop him. Private First Class William D. Gilliland from Iowa dashed out into the open to repair a break in the wires from the command posts. He also carried a wounded comrade and ammunition across open ground. Private First Class Pete Lucas, Jr continued to fire rounds from his 60mm mortar until everyone had withdrawn from McGee Hill. Corporal Joe E. Halbrook led his unit of Filipino-Americans and a Korean on a mission to destroy enemy mortars. Despite enemy tracers filling the air around him, he used a recoilless rifle to destroy the mortars. He eventually covered the withdrawal of his men with his recoilless rifle, two grenades and his carbine until a wound forced him to retire. Privet First Class Leslie E. Alston was a jeep driver who raced through enemy fire to help replace broken machine guns while carrying ammunition to other soldiers on the front and returning with the wounded. They would all receive Silver Stars. Corporal Eugene L. Ottesen, whose body was never found after he remained at a machine gun to cover G Company’s withdrawal, would be awarded a Silver Star in absentia. Kluttz and McGee would also earn the Silver Star for their leadership of 3rd Platoon.
Such bravery was shown by both sides along the line that night. After the first wave of Communist attackers would be exterminated, the second wave would come forward, pick up the guns of the fallen and continue the charge. In the Ramsburg Bowl, a bowl-shaped area named for Captain John H. Ramsburg, five hours of combat reduced Thomas Health’s G Company to the size of a platoon. Sergeant Cuillaula B. Martinez took charge and led F Company in an attempt to retake Curtis Hill. When he realized that his men would be killed by mortars falling into their position if they stayed there, he jumped up and despite being hit in the face by shell fragments, led the men by example. His company and the Rangers would suffer horrendous casualties from the interlocking fire of the enemy. Privet First Class Clell E. Van Dorin volunteered to remain behind to provide covering fire with his Garand until his comrades had escaped. Privet First Class Clifford Logan ran through enemy fire several times to rescue wounded soldiers from McGee Hill. Dorin and Longan would receive Silver Stars. An American soldier in Item Company, Sergeant First Class William S. Sitman would be given the Medal of Honor for holding off the Chinese with a machine gun until a grenade landed in his foxhole, on which he threw himself, saving the lives of his comrades. His citation reads
Sfc. Sitman distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against an armed enemy of the United Nations. Sfc. Sitman, a machine gun section leader of Company M, was attached to Company I, under attack by a numerically superior hostile force. During the encounter when an enemy grenade knocked out his machine gun, a squad from Company I, immediately emplaced a light machine gun and Sfc. Sitman and his men remained to provide security for the crew. In the ensuing action, the enemy lobbed a grenade into the position and Sfc. Sitman, fully aware of the odds against him, selflessly threw himself on it, absorbing the full force of the explosion with his body. Although mortally wounded in this fearless display of valor, his intrepid act saved 5 men from death or serious injury, and enabled them to continue inflicting withering fire on the ruthless foe throughout the attack. Sfc. Sitman’s noble self-sacrifice and consummate devotion to duty reflect lasting glory on himself and uphold the honored traditions of the military service.
Captain Ramsburg stopped a soldier dragging a wounded Lieutenant Heath down McGee Hill, telling him that they needed every able-bodied man at the front. The soldier turned and showed that his other arm was hanging loosely by strips of flesh. Ramsburg let him continue down the hill, then gathered every warm body he could find– mortarmen, wiremen, cooks, radiomen, clerks – and placed them on the line. The battle became a matter of survival and would be described by many as a grenade fight. Officers ordered that arms be destroyed so as not to fall into the hands of the Chinese who were swarming over the hills.
Under the cover of artillery fire, the Americans tried to retake McGee, Curtis and Schmitt hills. A replacement officer, Lieutenant Hershel Hawk Chapman, insisted on taking part in the counterattack despite having a million-dollar wound which would sent them home. Every time the men in these suicidal counterattacks rose to charge, the Chinese fire would cut them down in their tracks and they would have to throw themselves into the snow for protection. Eventually, due to the proximity of the enemy, the charges would be made without artillery support for fear it would hit comrades. Sometimes American planes, which flew so low they disappeared behind the hills, would drop air support so close napalm would land on the Americans, whose heavy clothing kept it from burning their skin. At Heath Ridge, Sergeant Joe R. Marez continued to fire his 60mm mortar tube despite being the only man in his team unwounded. He continued firing after being wounded despite incoming fire. He would receive the Silver Star.
Around noon Lieutenant Colonel James W. Edwards decided he would outflank Schmitt Hill and ordered the regiment’s tanks to head down the highway on which the Americans had planted mines. To remove these mines, the Ranger company attacked as infantry. The first three men to make it through the minefield, Corporals Ernest C. Lawson, Jr. George P. Munhall, Jr. and PFC Keith C. Karschney, would receive Silver Stars. Captain George E. Vontom, the commander of the tanks, who refused to be evacuated despite a wound, would receive one as well. Schmitt Hill was retaken with what was described as “a knife fight” in which they “played catch with grenades.” Yet despite this success, the Chinese continued to attack.
Around noon Colonel Freemen obeyed his orders and left the perimeter. His eyes glistened with tears as he approached the helicopter. Lieutenant Colonel Edwards later admitted to lying to Freeman, telling him that the Chinese penetration had been eliminated, because he knew that if Freeman knew there was still a threat he would have never left and would have been court-martialed. Freeman’s replacement, John H. Chiles showed good judgment and let Lieutenant Colonel Frank Meszar control operation since he had a better sense of what was going on. Later Freemen wrote to the soldiers, praising their conduct during the battle. His men showed him the same respect and did not hold his evacuation against him.
Meanwhile, just 6 miles away rescue was coming in the form of the 5th Cavalry, the Black Knights, of the 1st Cavalry Division. Their commander, Col. Marcel G. Crombez, was an opinionated, stubborn man who alienated many yet always got the job done. Under his command was Lieutenant Colonel Edgar J. Treacy Jr., a West Point graduate and World War II veteran, who commanded of the 3rd Battalion. Crombez, who had also attended West Point but had been ordered to remain stateside during World War II, had a conflicting relationship with him, with Crombez’s jealousy of him being extend to the whole battalion. This conflict had been going on since September 13, 1950 when during the battle to hold The Naktong River at the Pusan Perimeter. Crombez had ordered Treacy to charge Hill 174 even after he had been repulsed by the North Koreans three times. Treacy object at first, but eventual obeyed and took the hill, and then was driven off the next morning. Crombez had called him a coward and yellow in front of his men and the other officers. If Treacy had a fault, it was caring for men to deeply.
Crombez’ column had been slowly advancing up the Koksu-ri-Chipyong-ni Highway since the night of the 13th, haven been stopped by blown bridges and 2,000 Chinese entrenched on the ridges which lined the route. The 1st and 2nd battalions had been moving along the ridges, clearing them of the enemy presence while the 3rd was in reserve. When Crombez received word from Chiles that the Americans at Chipyong-ni were in desperate straits, he made a crucial decision. His Patton and Sherman tanks would fly down the road. On their roofs the men of the 3rd Battalion would ride and whenever enemy resistance was met, jump off, eliminate it and jump back on the tanks. Treacy saw a disaster in the making, and despite Crombez’s orders for him to stay behind, went with his men by hitching a ride in a truck driven by South Korean soldiers.
The race to rescue the 23rd was a hellish ride for the infantry. A slugfest ensued as the Chinese used US weapons abandoned earlier in the winter against the column and the Americans turned the rice paddies from which the red soldiers fired into funeral plots. Every time the tanks were stopped by the interlocking fire of the Chinese machine guns and rocket launchers on the high ground, usually at bends and cuts in the road, the soldiers were forced to dismount and eliminate the enemy. The Chinese approached with pole charges and blocks of TNT, but the fire from the tanks and infantry kept them from disabling the tanks. Then through a lack of communication and Crombez’s insistence that speed was of the essence, many of the men were left behind as the tanks zipped off. Soldiers were shot by the enemy as they climbed back onto the tanks or were accidentally knocked off by the turning gun turrets or blown off by concussions when the barrels fired. One of these men left behind was Treacy as he helped a wounded soldier despite his own flesh wound near the mouth.
The column was passing a road cut just to the south of Chipyong-ni when the Chinese started exploding pole charges near the tanks. One tank was hit by a bazooka, killing everyone inside except the driver who despite being seriously injured gunned the tank through the cut so the column would not be bottled up. Soon after the column became visible to all in the Chipyong-ni valley. It was a great morale boost to the U.N. forces as the French troops ran and kissed the tanks. For the Chinese, it was a great psychological and physical blow. They broke and ran for the hills, abandoning their dead, wounded and weapons and ignoring the orders of the political commissars. Seeing two Chinese armies in retreat, the Americans opened up with everything they had, air, artillery, machinegun and small arms. It was a complete and total victory. The Americans lost less than 500 men while the Chinese casualties were over 3,000.
Sadly, of the 164 infantrymen and engineers who left with Crombez’s column, only 23 crying men were still on the tanks when they pulled into the perimeter, thirteen of them were wounded, one fatally. Of the 100 soldiers left strung along the highway through enemy territory, 20 were killed, 20 captured and 40 wounded. One of the captured was Treacy, who would later die in a POW camp from an illness he contracted due to giving his rations to weaker fellow prisoners. His men believed he deserved the Medal of Honor. However, Crombez, who received the Distinguished Service Cross, refused to go through with the recommendation due to personal resentment and Treacy’s disobedience of this order, reportedly throwing the recommendation the men of the 3rd Battalion had written for their commander on the ground.
The fight at Chipyong-ni was one of the greatest battles in the Korean War and an important one in American history. It ended the advance of the Red Chinese Army south of the 38th Parallel, saved the nation of South Korea, and boosted the confidence of the American army. The tactics practiced there would be used as standard by the US military for many years to come, especially during Vietnam
I believe this battle should be portrayed in major film production for the American people to remember the price of freedom and those by whom it was paid. I believe this would honor those who served there, from the Americans like Paul J. Freeman, Herbert L. Lee, Paul J. McGee, Stanley C. Tyrrell, John H. Ramsburg and Arthur Kenolio, the French Battalion, Ralph Monclar, Gerard Journet and Paul Amban, the pilots who risked their lives for men on the ground they did not even know, and even the common Chinese soldier. One person who I especially think should be honored is Edgar J. Treacy, Jr
Because it would preserve the legacy of an important battle for freedom and honor those who sacrificed there, I believe that the events around the Battle of Chipyong-ni as told in Leadership in the Crucible by Kenneth E. Hamburger and High Tide the Korean War by Leo Barron Should Be a Movie.
