From my friend’s father who was a Korean War Veteran:
This United States Marine
It was his first night in Korea,
The stars were bright and clean;
The very first night of combat,
For this United States Marine.
The moon was high above the mountains
And glistened on the snow
That covered the rocky hillside
And the valley down below.
Then he heard their bugles loud and clear
That echoed through the night;
He saw the rocks turn into men
And he held his rifle tight.
The flares lit up the valley
And he saw the quilted men;
He raised and fired his rifle once,
And then fired it once again.
The human wave came up the hill,
Each step brought them higher;
They seemed to take no heed at all
To the land mines and barbed wire.
He fought them hand-to-hand
With knife and bayonet
Until the ground around his feet
Was dark and red and wet.
He drove them from the bunkers
Till up they came no more,
And twisted, quilted bodies lay
Upon the valley floor.
He stood there silently and looked
At sights he’d never seen;
He had held his ground against all odds,
This United States Marine
Mitch Stovall - USMC
I have 2 friends who were in the Frozen Chosin.
One was a new Navy Corp-man and one was a new buck private marine.
They were discussing war stories and surviving the Frozin Chosin. They did not make the connections until I asked the Marine if he had any wounds besides frost bite. He had a shoulder wound and a minor head wound.
Then, the former Navy Corp-man said he wanted to see the wounds. He saw the stitch scars and felt that the Marine’s shoulder wound had been treated by him or a buddy due to the stich scars.
Decades later they are still best friends.