That Should Be A Miniseries: Give Me Tomorrow – The Epic of George Company Part – II

The saga of George Company continues from Part I as it follows the much-loved but tough-as-nails First Sergeant Zullo and the new, physically unimpressive Captain Sitter as they enter North Korea.

Episode 7 Majon-ni

To the men of George Company, the LST takes forever to reach the North Korean port of Wonsan. Then once the ship reaches Wonsan, it steams back and forth as minesweepers clear the harbor of underwater mines. The grunts grow sick of canned pears. Some raid the storerooms for canned cheese. Once the leathernecks land, they are met by Army and Air Force personnel who rib them about getting there “before the Marines this time!” The Marines are further embarrassed to see that Bob Hope’s USO show is already entertaining the troops who had liberated Wonsan.

During their time in Wonsan, the Marines begin to respect Sitter. Though out of shape, he insists on marching with the men. His socks even turn red with blood as his feet blister. New replacements are brought in and the veterans of George Company, many of them good ol’ boys from Georgia and Alabama, haze their northern comrades by requiring them to carry Confederate flags on their backpacks. Others trade their C-rations with North Korean civilians for a pig and have an old-fashioned barbeque. Lieutenant Carey receives a medal and is sent to join the S-2 Intelligence Service.

The bigger picture calls for the Marines to advance to the Yalu River through the Taebaek Mountains, a smaller version of the Appalachians, past a lake marked on the Japanese maps as the Chosin Reservoir. They will be using one road. George Company, in the rear of the First Marine Division’s advance, moves to the village of Majon-ni, a crossroads between Wonsan to the southeast, Seoul to the south, and the North Korean capital Pyongyang to the west. Majon-ni’s position high in the mountains looks like a village from northern Italy. Strategically, it resembles Bastogne from the Battle of the Bulge.

George Company comes into enemy contact almost immediately upon moving into position at Majon-ni. Communists of the North Korean Fifteen Division either attack the village or ambush patrols that tried to secure the roadways. The men of George dub one route “Ambush Valley.”

On November 2 Captain Sitter holds up three straws to his three platoon leaders. He needs someone to return to Wonsan to drop off North Korean prisoners and pick up supplies. Lieutenant James Beeler draws the short straw. Despite his earlier premonition of his death, Beeler accepts the duty resolutely. He put his Purple Heart in an envelope to mail home to his parents in case anything happened to him.

The convoy of ten trucks carrying fifty Marines from Second Platoon and Bob Harbula’s attached machine gun squad from First Platoon make it to Wonsan without incident. Among the supplies is much-needed winter gear, including Navy parkas. The trucks load up and head back along the road carved into the side of the mountains. The drivers put their vehicles in second gear. One wrong move and they could go tumbling over the edge.

Harbula is lighting a cigarette when he sees two figures appear from behind boulders, PPSh-41s, the Soviet burp gun, in their hands. Explosions rock the convoy, throwing Harbula off the truck. Several members of his squad who he had shared the barbeque in Wonsan are killed. A berm stops him from falling into the valley below and gives him cover from which to fire as hundreds of North Koreans pour down the mountainside onto the convoy like locusts on a wheat field.

The convoy is stopped by a roadblock of boulders. “Let’s get out of here,” Beeler orders before he is cut down by small arms fire. North Koreans who approac the trucks like Indians attacking a wagon train in a Western are shot down by the M1s and other small arms in the hands of the occupants.

During a lull in the fighting, Harbula is able to direct the drivers to turn around and head back to Wonsan. More communists are showing up and the convoy faces a heavy gauntlet of fire. One truck is sent sprawling down into the valley after a satchel charge is thrown under it and explodes. After determining that the Marines in the truck “weren’t in danger,” the convoy continues to Wonsan, where a message is conveyed to Chesty Puller. He organizes a relief column and rescues the trapped Marines. In all fifteen Marines were wounded and 10 killed, including Lieutenant Beeler. The enemy had mutilated his body, pinning his Purple Heart to his tongue.

Lieutenant Beeler’s Silver Star citation read:

during operations against enemy aggressor forces in Korea, on 2 November 1950. Assigned the mission of leading his platoon as guard for a motor convoy carrying supplies to a front line infantry unit, Second Lieutenant Beeler was quick to act when a numerically superior enemy force suddenly attacked with heavy small-arms and machine-gun fire. Realizing that it was impossible to continue the advance along the mountainous terrain after analyzing the situation, he assumed an exposed position to direct counterfire against the attackers, at the same time ordering the convoy to turn around and evacuate the wounded. Remaining in his position until the convoy had effected a withdrawal, he further exposed himself to direct enemy fire to make certain that all casualties had been evacuated and, while searching the area, was mortally wounded. By his courageous and inspiring leadership, heroic efforts and grave concern for the safety of others at great personal risk, Second Lieutenant Beeler contributed to the saving of many lives and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Normalcy settles in at Majon-ni as the Company remains there for several weeks. North Koreans ambush their patrols during the day and attack their perimeter at night like clockwork. Some of the men receive letters, including Dear John Letters. GoodEagle rushes excitedly to his first sergeant with a letter from the draft board saying he must immediately report to be registered in Oklahoma City.

“You’re not getting out of here that easily,” replies First Sergeant Zullo with a smile. 

Episode 8: Hell Fire Valley

The North Koreans are surrendering in mass. By the time George Company heads north out of Majon-ni, they have captured 1,395. As George Company moves up the peninsula, Korean civilians meet them waving flags and handkerchiefs, scenes reminiscent of the liberation of Europe during World War II.

As George Company advances north, they are joined by members of the Second Replacement Draft. Many of them are teenagers who have the bare minimum of thirty days of training required. Bob Harbula, the only remaining veteran of his machine gun squad, notices that many of them have never seen a machine gun before and the ones with the least amount of training bunch up together. At least 70% of George Company are now replacements.

During a stop, the Scout Sniper Section hears that there is a service being held in a Catholic church. They enter and take off their hats. Only then do they see that it is officiated by a combat Rabbi. “Are you sure these guys are all Jewish,” asks the Rabbi whimsically. “Yes, sir, they are, Rabbi,” replies a member of a team. “Well, tell them to put their hats back on,” the Rabbi replied.

Due to a lack of trucks the Marines must ride a narrow-gauge train atop flat cars and gondolas. Right next to gasoline barrels. At one point the train stops when enemy fire is heard. Everyone jumps, including Captain Sitter, who tears a ligament. To the amazement of the men of George Company, he refuses evacuation. The “enemy fire” turns out to be someone testing a captured enemy weapon.

Snow begins to fall as the men head toward the service station to collect their Thanksgiving dinner. Zullo slips on the snow and his leg goes into a muddy and excrement-filled rice paddy. Some men snicker, but a look from Zullo immediately quiets them. They fear him more than they fear the enemy.

Many of them are beginning to expect they will be home by Christmas, a promise made by General MacArthur. The only casualty in a while had been a wounded private who had accidentally badly burned himself trying to make a fire to keep warm. On November 28, 1950, as they load up on trucks, finally provided by Baker Company, rumors swirl that they were going home.

But as the column heads north in -10 degrees cold, they realize that they are not going home. By the time they reach the two-thousand-foot-deep Funchilin Pass, they know that they will not be home for Christmas. The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (PVA) has surrounded and hit American forces all across the peninsula in their Second Phase Offensive and now US and UN forces are streaming south in “The Big Bug-out.” Except for X Corp, which includes the First Marine Division, which is stretched and surrounded around the Chosin Reservoir. The Marines are stretched along a road from Yundam-in in the north to Hagaru-ri in the middle to Kotor-ri in the south, twenty-five miles through snowy, treacherous mountains.(See more about the Chosin Reservoir Campaign in my post here.)

When the company rolls into Kotor-ri on November 29, 1950, Henry Clark thought it looked like a big circus with all the tents. Here the men of George drink coffee in the -20 below cold, vapor coming out of their mouths. Due to the transportation problems that have plagued them since Wonsan, they are the First Marines’ last reserves.

They are assigned to work with Lieutenant Colonel Douglas B. Drysdale and 235 Marine Commandos of the 41 Independent Royal Marien Commando Group. The dirty and worn American leathernecks are an odd coupling with the spit-and-polished and clean-shaven British commandos. They are joined by Company B, Thirty-First Infantry, and division headquarters and service troops.

Their orders are to advance to and secure Hagaru-ri, an important supply base where an airfield is under construction. One iced-covered road snakes through the mountains from Kotor-ri. The task force of Marines and Commandos, called Taskforce Drysdale, is estimated to be outnumbered by a conservative number of ten to one. The Brits like the sound of those odds.

First, they have to attack hills outside Koto-ri named for their elevation, Hill 1236 and Hill 1182. Air support softens them up with napalm, the heat of which the Marines can feel three hundred yards away. “Let’s give it a blood go,” commands Dysdale as he leads a sea of green berets in an attack upon Hill 1236.

George Company attacks Hill 1182, called Telegraph Hill for the pole at its crown. Sergeant Tillman leads the way until he is killed, shot in the forehead, his hamlet rolling down the hill “Peepsight” Pendas tries to keep the chaplain away from reading Last Rites, not believing he is dead.

 Zullo takes charge of the situation and personally fires a bazooka, destroying the Chinese bunkers. The Chinese retreat to the far side of the hill. Believing that they have run the communists off, the Marines and commandos return to the convoy. As they load up in the trucks, they see the Chinese who had retreated to the other side of the hills remerge on the crests. They realize there won’t be time to fight every hill.

All along the road to Hagaru-ri Chinese make roadblocks out of everything they can. Trucks become sitting ducks as mortars, pre-sighted in on the roads by the waiting Chinese, rain down on the vehicles, exploding inside. The routine becomes: encounter a roadblock, disembark under withering fire, clear the roadblocks, and mount up again.

An Army corporal, John Agostini, heroically drives his ambulance, designed to carry four but packed with eight Marines, back and forth to safety. The men of George make Agostini an honorary Marine.

The canvas-topped trucks become death traps whenever stopped. Men dismount and use the tires as cover. During the confusion, men jump on the wrong trucks. Bob Harbula losses all his gear, including the sword he found in Seoul, when the truck with his rucksack takes off. Other men lose their sleeping bags, a more serious matter in the Siberian winds. The Chinese goal to split the column into smaller and smaller parts, dividing and conquering, is working.

Drysdale calls in the tanks of Dog Company First Tank Battalion. Because the tankers are not directly under Drysdale, they concentrate at the front of the column contrary to his orders. This is both a blessing and a curse as the tanks can blast away the roadblocks and bunkers, but every time they stop to do so, the column halts, making the trucks sitting targets. During one stop Zullo turns to look at the column snaking for a mile behind him. Suddenly shrapnel hits him in the shoulder and burrows in his torso. He continues fighting as he and Captain Sitter rally and encourage their men all along the column. “Move! Let’s get ahead! Move it!” They have to break through to Hagaru-ri at all costs. If they do not the whole of X Corps, maybe the whole war, is lost.

Chinese resistance intensifies the further the column advances. It reminds Zullo of the island fighting during World War II. A wall of small arms and mortar fire and a sea of craters marking the road finally stops the column. Drysdale and Siter called First Division General Oliver Smith over the radio. “Press on at all costs,” said the general, waiting for them in Hagaru-ri. Sitter soberly nods to Drysdale. “Very well then,” says the commando. “We’ll give them a show.”

In a valley that reminds the men of Camp Pendleton, the tanks begin to run out of fuel. Mortars turn trucks into twisted piles of burning metal. The column has been cut in half. Sixty-one of the commandos and most of the Army troops who had joined the column are left behind to fight for their own survival. Drysdale calls the area “Hell Fire Valley.”

Sitter and Drysdale push forward. They face a night attack from the Chinese who fill the air with the nerve-racking sounds of whistles and bugles. Flares light up the early evening sky. Zullo is so enraged by seeing his Marines getting shot that when a gunner on a 50. caliber machine gunner is killed, he takes charge of the weapon himself, cutting down communists like wheat before a scythe. For nearly an hour Zullo’s fire tears soldiers of the Chinese People’s Volunteers in half.

“Grenade,” yells a twenty-year-old private from Kentucky, Willliam Baugh as the Chinese assault the truck he and his comrades are riding. Rather than throw it out, he jumps on and cradles the grenade to his chest. His posthumous Medal of Honor reads

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a member of an Anti-Tank Assault Squad attached to Company G, Third Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), during a nighttime enemy attack against a motorized column en route from Koto-Ri to Hagaru-ri, Korea, on November 29, 1950. Acting instantly when a hostile grenade landed in his truck as he and his squad prepared to alight and assist in the repulse of an enemy force delivering intense automatic-weapons and grenade fire from deeply entrenched and well-concealed roadside positions, Private First Class Baugh quickly shouted a warning to the other men in the vehicle and, unmindful of his own personal safety, hurled himself upon the deadly missile, thereby saving his comrades from serious injury or possible death. Sustaining severe wounds from which he died a short time afterward, Private First Class Baugh, by his superb courage and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice, upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

The Chinese method of attack is basic. Attack in human waves. Men in the first two waves carry weapons. The third and fourth waves carrying light weapons, if any, follow and pick up the weapons of their fallen comrades. They are followed by their officers and political commissars who wield burp guns to ensure that there’s no retreat. After all four waves have crushed upon the American position, many GIs are surprised to find post-World War II US surplus weapons in the hands of their enemies.

Sitter’s jeep is turned into Swiss Cheese by Chinese fire. The worst part: he lost his brand-new coat and a box of cigars. According to O’Donnell “The column continued in the monotonous movement of stop, dismount, fire, conquer, mount up, push forward and continue.” Men lay down on the bed of the trucks to avoid the interlocking fire of the machine guns through the truck slats as the column passes through Chinese ambushes. Drysdale is hit in the arm and turns over command to Sitter.  The captain orders the dead and wounded placed on the tanks.

In one of the cutoff groups, Major John McLaughlin commands a group of men in Alamo fashion. He sends runners to link up with other groups. Among them is PFC Jimmy Harrison. The Chinese shoot the young Marine between the eyes with a  .45.  He plays “Dixie” on his harmonica no more.

The largest weapon McLaughlin has is a 75 mm recoilless rifle. Throughout the night men are killed while using it. Finally, even the 75 mm is destroyed. The Chinese try to convince McLaughlin to surrender. He demands that they surrender to him. McLaughlin negotiates with the Chinese about his wound long enough to allow his able-bodied men to slip away. Once he and his wounded surrender, the rest of the pockets of resistance along the road to Hagaru-ri are overwhelmed or surrendered.

The task force pushes on. Trucks burst into fire, their flaming occupants jumping out. Rifleman Orace Edwards rolls out of a truck just as it falls down the side of a mountain. He stumbles alongside the truck into an icy stream. Edwards pulls himself out, freezing wet. The night is pitch black except for tracers. He believes he is going to die, then he thinks he is going to be captured when two figures approach him out of the dark. Fortunately for him, they are a medical crew from the task force.

Zullo continues to fire the .50 caliber. Not even wounds across his knuckles and wrists can stop him.  Ammo bearers courageously provide the Marines manning the machine guns with ammo and tracers. In this mission, one grunt falls to his death beneath the treads of an American tank  The Chinese through burning hay from rock outcroppings onto the tanks. The Marines just kick them off.

Finally, the construction lights of the airfield at Hagaru-ri come into view. Between the front of Task Force Drysdale and the lights of Hagaru-ri are American tents. Zullo got off the tank to inspect the situation. Individuals in Marine uniforms emerge from the tens. Suddenly one of them opens fire on Zullo. They are Chinese in disguise. Zullo feels a hole the size of a grapefruit in his side as he curses himself for his stupidity.

After the treacherous Chinese are cut down, the men of George Company place Zullo in the back of a truck. They can feel his pulse slipping away as they drive into the lighted perimeter of Hagaru-ri, the first part of their mission accomplished.

Episode 9 East Hill

Inside the perimeter at Hagaru-ri, the men of George Company are reunited with Lieutenant Dick Carey. As an intelligence officer, he has used South Korean “line crossers,” spies, to find Chinese positions. With the information they gave him, he can call in accurate fire support that keep the Chinese off the strategically important East Hill. The combined artillery fire with the arrival of Task Force Drysdale helps to delay the Chinese attack on the hill.

George Company will be deployed to the 500-foot summit, but first, they need to take care of the body of Zullo. They took him to the pyramidal tent that serves as a makeshift morgue. After seeing the bodies stacked one on top of another like cordwood, they silently agree to put his body to the side where it could be treated with more care.

The men manage to get some rest. The only way they can eat their frozen C-rations is by leaving them in their mouths for an hour to thaw. Tootsie Rolls become their main source of energy as they stare at East Hill, which overlooks the main supply route. If the Chinese possessed that hill, they could freely fire artillery and mortar rounds into the camp supply dump at Hagaru-ri.

On November 30 George Company makes its way through the remnants of US forces that have been fighting on the slippery ice slopes of the hill. They give a rebel yell and charge. The Chinese open up, their bullets hitting the snow like angry hornets recalled one veteran. The leathernecks take one step forward and two steps backward up the sheet of ice that covers the face of the hill. Men hack and crawl their way to the top.

Harbula is finally able to set up his machine gun at a ridge line. Suddenly shrapnel burst over his position. He turns to see that the back of his friend’s head is missing. He goes crazy, firing his .30 cal machine gun madly, dirt and ice kicking up in his line of fire. Suddenly Captain Sitter is next to him, giving him an icy stare. “Take it easy,” says the captain. “There’s plenty of time to get even.”

Due to the nature of the hill, each platoon had its own vantage points, some reaching the crest before others. After every firefight, Fred Helms can be heard asking, “How’s my brother? Have you seen my brother?” On top of the hill, the company forms a reverse L-shaped line. The men try to dig foxholes into the icy rocks. Many of their entrenching tools break against the hard ground. They have two options to withstand the coming Chinese attack: Lay prone on the ground or pile up dead Chinese bodies. Many choose the latter.

A Chinese mortar round slice up Dick Hock’s stomach. Suddenly thirsty, he grabs his canteen. The water inside is frozen. If he had managed to take a sip, it would probably have killed him.

Captain Sitter rallies his men. “What are you going to do?! You’re going to fight, damn it! You must fight or you aren’t getting out of here. It’s that simple.” Suddenly illumination grenades light up the night as 2,000 to 3000 Chinese attack up the hill toward George’s position. “Sha! Sha! Sha! [Kill! Kill! Kill!]” orders the commissars. The machine guns glow like neon lights from the thousands of rounds passing through their barrels.

The Chinese soon overrun the hill. Harbula fires his .45 and even throws his helmet at one before pulling back. He falls into a crater and finds himself surrounded by bodies. One of them is a wounded Marine. As Harbula carries the leatherneck to safety, he tumbles down the icy slope, rupturing a tendon, a wound for which he will be evacuated.

Men are dying all around Bruce Farr as he carries boxes of .30 caliber ammo to the machine guns. His friend, the privileged Bobby Hallawell, is feeding the guns of First Platoon when a bullet enters his skull. Farr turns when he hears Hallawell yell, “Oh, my God!” He drags Hallawell out of the line of fire, where he expires in the lanky Tennessean’s arms. Farr fulfills a promise he made to Hallawell and removes his watch and other personal effects off his body to return them to his parents. He is going to remove his body from the hill as well, but Sitter stops him, saying that they needed “Every man on the hill, period.”

Mert GoodEagle is also carrying .30 ammo cans when he encounters bayonet-wielding Chinese soldiers. In hand-to-hand fighting he bashs them with the metal boxes of ammunition before emptying a full fifteen-round clip from his M1 carbine. Even though he wet his trousers he has won his “warrior’s feather.”

It is a free-for-all. If the Marines see someone with the padded uniforms of the Chinese, they shot them. When the carbines are proven ineffective against the bundled-up communists, the grunts fire at the heads of the human wave attack. It is like something out of a zombie movie.

 Captain Sitter is all over the place, carrying ammo to the machine gun crews. The Chinese human wave attackers throw grenades in succession. The Marines toss them back. The Chinese were are close that the leathernecks who had managed to dig foxholes can see the split-toed tennis shoes of the communists running around them at eye level. Hand-to-hand combat ensues. The Americans yell “Abraham!” Others reply “Lincoln!” as their password in the melee. Guns turn blood red as green tracers light up the sky.

At 0100 hours the Chinese broke through a gap between First and Second platoons. Lieutenant Carey grabs every available man, headquarters staff, cooks, and bakers. With the help of British commandos, Lieutenant Carey leads a charge up the hill to fill the gap. There he begins hurling grenades at the Chinese, counting “One-two! One-two.” The men of George think they hear a Chinese curse word, “Wambatu! Wambuate!” Soon the entire company is yelling “Wambatu” as they fight off the Chinese.

Combat becomes a matter of feet. The blood of the attackers sprinkles the defenders. “What happens if we’re surrounded,” asks a young Marine. “We fight like hell,” yells Sitter.

At 0900 hours Marine Air units drop napalm on the attacks. Carey, with the help of Royal Lieutenant Colonel Thomas L Ridge, has saved his old company from massacre. Only wounded Chinese remain a threat, throwing grenades and snipping at the defenders.

Some of the Marines venture out and finish the wounded Chinese. They seem to enjoy killing. Other Marines are disturbed over the amount of people they had to kill during the battle. Some weep over lost friends. One leatherneck returns from finishing off the Chinese with pictures taken off the dead. “Get those away from me,” says Fred Hems as he looks for his brother. “I do not want to see them.” Shortly thereafter he and his brother are reunited.

Holding East Hill has allowed Lieutenant Colonel John Partridge First Engineer Company to complete an airfield inside the perimeter of Hagaru-ri. Despite the fact that it is only 50 feet wide and 2,900 feet wide, General Smith orders planes to begin taking the wounded out and bringing reinforcements in on December 1^st. George Company watches with relief from the hill as the first C-47 flies in and lands, a recreation of the scene five years earlier when the first plane landed on Iwo Jima after so much fighting and blood had been spilled on that small piece of sand.

For his actions on East Hill, Captain Sitter would not only earn the respect of the men of George Company but also the Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer of Company G, Third Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces at Hagaru-ri, Korea, on 29 and November 30, 1950. Ordered to break through enemy-infested territory to reinforce his Battalion the early morning of November 29, Captain Sitter continuously exposed himself to enemy fire as he led his company forward and, despite twenty-five percent casualties suffered in the furious action, succeeded in driving through to his objective. Assuming the responsibility of attempting to seize and occupy a strategic area occupied by a hostile force of regiment strength deeply entrenched on a snow-covered hill commanding the entire valley southeast of the town, as well as the line of march of friendly troops withdrawing to the south, he reorganized his depleted units the following morning and boldly led them up the steep, frozen hillside under blistering fire, encouraging and redeploying his troops as casualties occurred and directing forward platoons as they continued the drive to the top of the ridge. During the night when a vastly outnumbering enemy launched a sudden, vicious counterattack, setting the hill ablaze with mortar, machine-gun, and automatic weapons fire and taking a heavy toll in troops, Captain Sitter visited each foxhole and gun position, coolly deploying and integrating reinforcing units consisting of service personnel unfamiliar with infantry tactics into a coordinated combat team and instilling in every man the will and determination to hold his position at all costs. With the enemy penetrating his lines in repeated counterattacks which often required hand-to-hand combat and, on one occasion infiltrating to the command post with hand grenades, he fought gallantly with his men in repulsing and killing the fanatic attackers in each encounter. Painfully wounded in the face, arms and chest by bursting grenades, he staunchly refused to be evacuated and continued to fight on until a successful defense of the area was assured with a loss to the enemy of more than fifty percent dead, wounded and captured. His valiant leadership, superb tactics and great personal valor throughout thirty-six hours of bitter combat reflect the highest credit upon Captain Sitter, and the United States Naval Service.

Episode 10 The Chinese Are Amongst Us

George Company guards East Hill, and thus Hagaru -ri, for five days. It is a cross between The Alamo and Bastogne from the Battle of the Bulge One World War II veteran says that it is worse than the Battle of the Bulge.

The Chinese attacks are mainly limited to tossing grenades and sniper fire. The explosions are spectacular, filling the air with icy crystals. Men crawl on all fours as they supply ammunition to their platoons. South Korean soldiers, “buddies,” are assigned to reinforce the position on the hill. Some of the Americans do not trust them and place them where they will not accidentally shoot them in the crossfire. Staff Sergeant Harold “Speedy” Wilson is asked by a soldier about the escape route from the hill. Wilson pats the back of his foxhole. On the evening of the 2^nd of December survivors of the fight at Yudam-ni begin entering the perimeter Hagaru -ri, some singing the Marine hymn, “We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.” (See more about these Marines in my post on The Last Stand of Fox Company)

By December 5 most of First Marine Division is reunited in Hagaru-ri. George is called off East Hill to guard the airstrip. Many of the men are growing beards and mustaches for the first time in their lives. Their faces are coated in beads of mucus and frozen sweat. Many men have diarrhea. After packhorses are captured, rumors of an enemy cavalry attack swirl through the ranks. The Chinese do attack at dawn but without horses. Marines take a few prisoners and are shocked to see that their feet are frozen and deformed from frostbite since they have no shoes.

On December 6^th the breakout from Hagaru-ri begins. Their goal is to link up with Chesty Puller’s forces in Koto-ri. From there they will make their way to the port of Hungnam. But first they must Funchlin Pass where the Chinese have blown the bridge over the 2,000-foot-deep abyss.

George Company led the way. They discard their carbines that are useless against the well-insulated Chinese and exchange them for M1 Garands. While destroying the carbines and anything else they could not move, they are showered by dirt from friendly fire. To be visible to friendly artillery and airplanes they cut supply parachutes up and tie the red fabric around their necks. Soon their fellow leathernecks are calling them “Bloody George.”

On the march south the Chinese peppered the column with small arms fire. It is a repeat of Task Force Drysdale only on a much grander scale. American artillery allow the Allies to take the high ground along the main supply route. The artillerymen  make up for lack of sandbags by holding their M101A1 howitzers in place with their body weight. Tom Powers finds the scattered remains of care packages looted by the Chinese. “Those sons of bitches took my Jamison,” he declares.

By the night of December 7^th, the men had fought their way to Kotor-ri. The men found sleep wherever they could. The 5th and 7th Marines continue the push south while the First, including George Company, holds Kotor-ri. George Company’s dead ride in the trucks, their feet and legs dangling over the sides. By December 9^th George is heading toward Funchlin Pass and several divisions of the PLA that they will need to blast their way through.

Famous war photographer David Douglas Duncan is taking photos, capturing the historic moment. The men of First and Second platoons say, “Don’t take our pictures! Don’t take our pictures!” The men of Third Platoon smile and say, “Take ours!” Duncan approaches a quiet Marine who is trying to dislodge frost-covered beans from his C-rations. Duncan asks him, “What would you want if you could have any wish?” The hollowed-eyed Marine looks into the gray dawn.

“Give me tomorrow.”

George Company holds the rear guard while the bridge over the pass is repaired. The temperatures drop to -60 with a windchill factor of -125. Sitter orders the men to stand up in their sleeping bags. Some of the men are so comfortable in their sleeping bags that they fall asleep. When Fred Hems and Red Nash wake up they are surrounded by Chinese. Within minutes of firing at the surrounding mass of humanity at least 50 of the enemy lay dead. As well as Red Nash.

Men can reach out and touch the attacking hordes. Weapons malfunction in the cold. One man takes off his mittens to get a better grip on his grenade pin. When he throws the explosive, the skin on his hand goes with it. Men play dead as the Chinese rob them of their weapons.

At the end of the column are M26 tanks. Some of the Marines ride on the tanks. While the tanks drive south, their turrets face north, guarding the rear and destroying any vehicles or equipment that must be left behind. Behind them follows a mass of thousands of Korean civilians.

The Chinese disregard the laws of war and dress as civilians, mingling among the civilians. The Koreans have no choice but to bravely alert the Americans. “The Chinese are amongst us!” The M26’s 90m mm fires into the crowd. Veterans say it looked like a bloody bowling alley as bodies, limbs, and heads flew everywhere.

The Chinese, still dressed as civilians, begin crawling on top of the tanks. One jumps up right in front of Powers. He shoots him in the nose with his .45. Another soldier jumps on his back, knocking him off the tank and the two begin wrestling. After dispatching the communist, he runs to get back on the tank. He tries pulling himself up by the 90 mm gun. Boom! It fires into the mess of Chinese soldiers and Korean civilians. The blast knocks Powers out, throwing him to the ground. Fortunately for him, someone grabs his unconscious body and places it on the tank.

The Marines pass over the 2000-foot deep Funchlin Pass without incident, trying not to look down between the struts where there is nothing but air. Shortly thereafter the bridge is blown. As the morning light dawns, they see a familiar sight: Colonel Chesty Puller ready to greet his Marines. “Our steps got smarter,” remembered Powers “Puller made us feel great. Only in the movies? No, sir! We were Marines!”  After this battle, Lemuel Shepard would take back what he said about Lieutenant Carey’s class.

The Marines make it to an assembly area at Chinhung-ni where they see rations that had been wired to be blown. That does not stop the leathernecks from tearing into them, gorging themselves and becoming sick as dogs. They make it to Hungnam Port where they are part of 250,000 military personnel and civilians who are safely evacuated (See my post on the SS Meredith Victory for more information on the evacuation). Once on board the ship, crew members gave up their beds to the tired Marines. Most of the leathernecks are disappointed that there is no hot water, but that does not stop Farr from taking a cold shower to wash months of dirt, blood, and grim away as they head to Pusan, South Korea. And maybe, just maybe, home.

Episode 11 Forgotten Warriors

While George Company remains in Korea, O’Donnell’s book ends after the Chosin Reservoir Campaign. This could allow the final episodes of a miniseries based on Give Me Tomorrow to contrast the brutal fighting of the Korean War with an American Homefront that is increasingly apathetic or opposed to the war. While the hostility against returning Vietnam veterans is well known, returning servicemen from Korea were treated with something just as heartbreaking: indifference.

While the men of George Company are hunting for guerillas for the first two months of 1951, there could be scenes of their wounded comrades recovering in military hospitals. While “Bloody George” is recapturing ground, including the important Hill 303, in Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgeway’s Operation Killer, and are dealing with cold mud and heavy rains, their invalid comrades could be portrayed trying to adapt to a post-World War II society that just wants to enjoy peace and prosperity.

In March 1951 Operation Ripper results in the fourth and final Battle of Seoul, a US victory. In April 1951 700,000 Chinese counterattack in their Fifth Phase Offense. The First Marines are rushed forward to plug holes in the line. When a South Korean division collapses, George is sent to take and hold Hill 902, which guards the strategic Mojin Bridge across which Allied forces, including the Fifth and Seventh Marines, are withdrawing.

Once again, the company finds itself fighting off attack after attack of human waves. As their wounded are taken out, riflemen from other parts of the line are put in as replacements. Bob Harbula remembers that everyone was dying of thirst and looking down at the river below just made them thirstier. Then, after all the Allied forces have escaped and George Company is retreating down the hill, they are hit by friendly fire from Corsairs. Before the Navy flyers drop napalm on them a grunt manages to put marker panels down in the nick of time. For his actions on Hill 902 Technical Sergeant Harold E. Wilson would receive the Medal of Honor. His citation reads…

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Platoon Sergeant of a Rifle Platoon attached to Company G, Third Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces in Korea on the night of 23–24 April 1951. When the company outpost was overrun by the enemy while his platoon, firing from hastily constructed foxholes, was engaged in resisting the brunt of a fierce mortar, machine gun, grenade, and small-arms attack launched by hostile forces from high ground under cover of darkness, Technical Sergeant Wilson braved intense fire to assist the survivors back into the line and to direct the treatment of casualties. Although twice wounded by gunfire, in the right arm and the left leg, he refused medical aid for himself and continued to move about among his men, shouting words of encouragement. After receiving further wounds in the head and shoulder as the attack increased in intensity, he again insisted upon remaining with his unit. Unable to use either arm to fire, and with mounting casualties among our forces, he resupplied his men with rifles and ammunition taken from the wounded. Personally reporting to his company commander on several occasions, he requested and received additional assistance when the enemy attack became even more fierce and, after placing the reinforcements in strategic positions in the line, directed effective fire until blown off his feet by the bursting of a hostile mortar round in his face. Dazed and suffering from concussion, he still refused medical aid and, despite weakness from loss of blood, moved from foxhole to foxhole, directing fire, resupplying ammunition, rendering first aid and encouraging his men. By his heroic actions in the face of almost certain death, when the unit’s ability to hold the disadvantageous position was doubtful, he instilled confidence in his troops, inspiring them to rally repeatedly and turn back the furious assaults. At dawn, after the final attack had been repulsed, he personally accounted for each man in his platoon before walking unassisted one-half mile to the aid station where he submitted to treatment. His outstanding courage, initiative and skilled leadership in the face of overwhelming odds were contributing factors in the success of his company’s mission and reflect the highest credit upon Technical Sergeant Wilson and the United States Naval Service.

By the end of May, the Chinese Spring Offensive has been soundly defeated. To prevent a second invasion of North Korea the Soviet Union proposes peace talks. By  September the talks have stalled, and the Communists have strengthened their lines. George Company takes part in a drive north, seizing Hill 751 and pushing past the 38^th Parallel once again. They establish and hold the Kansas Line, the Main Line of Resistance. A stalemate similar to the Western Front of World War I known as the Outpost War has begun.

Meanwhile, there would be a scene of Private Richard Hock returning to the States and going to get a haircut. The contrast between this barbershop visit and his barbershop experience in Seoul would be a microcosm of how many Korean War veterans were treated in the U. S. vs. how they are treated in South Korea.

“Where have you been,” asks the barber, placing a towel around Hock.

“In Korea,” replies Hock.

“Where’s that,” asks the barber.

“Between China and Japan,” says the private.

“Why were you there?”

“Fighting a war,” says the private, after a pause.

“Why are we fighting a war in Korea?”

Episode 12 The 5^th Stand

The Outpost War drags on for two years. Forces attack and counterattack over strategic hills. Squads go on patrol and engage in firefights. A new second lieutenant, Bing Bingham, arrives and is accepted by the veterans.

Meanwhile, veterans who left the military try to adapt to 1950s American society. Many have PTSD and nightmares of numerous Chinese attacking over ridge lines and hillcrests. Tom Powers becomes a police officer but still has nightmares about the Chinese soldier who jumped right up in front of him on the M26 Tank.

George Company is assigned to the strategic Nevada Cities Complex (See my post on Sergeant Reckless for more information on this battle). On July 24, 1953, as the final arrangements for an armistice are being made, one of the largest artillery bombardments of the war hammers George’s position at Boulder City and Hill 111. A regiment of Chinese attack attacks the company. Corporal Harvey Dethloff uses a flamethrower to fight off the 20-1 odds. As the company falls back, he uses his teeth to pull the pins on grenades and toss them over his shoulder. He receives the Silver Star and loses all his teeth because of his actions. After hand-to-hand combat and the greatest single-day loss of life for the company, 24 men, about every ninth man in the company, the position is held, denying the Chinese a final bargaining chip. On July 27, 1953, as only 25% of Geroge Company answers roll call, the Armistice is signed. Because of five separate occasions on which George Company made stands against enemies that outnumbered them more than 10 to 1 – Seoul, Task Force Drysdale, East Hill, Hill 902, Boulder City – South Korean freedom had been secured.

Members of the company return home to pursue careers and start families. Captain Sitter becomes an ordained minister. Some stay in the Marines through the Vietnam War and watch as Korea becomes “The Forgotten War” in its shadow. The brothers Fred and E. C. Hems survive the war. Fred retires while E. C stays in the Corps. Some stay in contact with their comrades and even the later active members of George Company serving in current conflicts, helping them work through post-traumatic stress and other issues. Others try to put the war behind them. Nearly all of them go to the VA for treatment related to frostbite.

Fast-forward to the 80s. Bruce Farr takes a four-day journey, by plane, car, cab, and bus to visit the grave of Robert H. Hallawell. “Killed in action, November 30, 1950, U. S. Marine Corps,” reads the stone. Farr’s family doesn’t understand why he would take such a long journey just to take a picture for two minutes. But Farr does. He had come to tell him, all of them, goodbye.

In September 1986 the surviving veterans meet for a reunion. “Has anyone talked to Rocco Zullo,” asks a gray-haired veteran.

“No,” replies another vet. “He was killed on the road to Hagaru in November 1950.

“No, he wasn’t,” responds another veteran.

“Why, he’s dead,” insists the first veteran.

“He’s not dead because you’re talking to him,” says former First Sergeant Rocco Zullo.

The veterans wipe back tears as the rest of Zullo’s story is told in a flashback. In the tent where his body had been left at Hagaru-ri, the corpsman heard coughing. He followed it to where he found Zullo’s body. Realizing he was alive, the corpsman, whose name has been lost to history, had Zullo removed to the hospital where doctors stabilized him. He was flown out via the airstrip George Company had protected with their defense of East Hill. He spent years in the military medical system, undergoing numerous surgeries. Although he lost track of the men of George Company while in the hospital he did meet his wife, who he married during his recovery. He retired and dedicated his life to education in honor of a medic who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down while administrating first aid to him during Task Force Drysdale. He would receive a Silver Star for his actions at Hagaru-ri.

His brothers in George Company believe he deserves the Medal of Honor.

Conclusion

I believe the experience of Company G, Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division, one of the most decorated units of the “Forgotten War” is an ideal miniseries for the Korean War in the vein of Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Generation Kill, and Masters of the Air. It would give audiences time to get to know the major players like Zullo and Sitter while laying out the military and political situation of the Korean War. Then it would feature many of the major events of the conflict, including Inchon, Seoul, Chosin, the Chinese Spring Offensive, and Boulder City while focusing on the individual heroism of the grunts of George and the horrors they experienced in the white hell of Korea. Most importantly it would honor the veterans of Korea, many of whom are in their 80s and 90s and do not have long before they join their fallen comrades. It’s been 10 years since my Uncle Pete, a World War II veteran called up for Korea, passed away, and my Uncle Max, who with his fellow vets is showered with gifts by Korean Americans every month, is in his mid-90s. So, on the off chance Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman are reading this, well, ya’ll better get to it.

To honor and remember our veterans of the Korean War is why Give Me Tomorrow: The Korean War’s Greatest Untold Story–The Epic Stand of the Marines of George Company by Patrick K. O’Donnell Should Be A Miniseries