Posted on 10/19/2003 11:59:58 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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Sukch'on and Sunch'on When Eighth Army crossed the 38th Parallel and drove on P'yongyang, General MacArthur held the 187th Airborne Regiment, commanded by Col. Frank S. Bowen, Jr., in GHQ reserve at Kimpo Airfield near Seoul. He planned to employ the airborne troops in a drop north of P'yongyang in an attempt to cut off North Korean officials and enemy troops, and to rescue American prisoners of war who it was assumed would be evacuated northward when the fall of the North Korean capital seemed imminent. After changing the date a time or two, General MacArthur set the airdrop for the morning of 20 October. There were to be two drop zones 30 air miles north of P'yongyang, the principal one at Sukch'on and the other at Sunch'on. Two highways run north from P'yongyang like the sides of a narrow capital letter V, each roughly paralleling a rail line. The main highway from P'yongyang to the Yalu River and the Manchurian border at Sinuiju forms the left-hand side of the V. Sukch'on on this highway is situated in a wide valley surrounded by low hills, about 35 road miles north of P'yongyang. The right-hand road passes through rougher terrain to reach Sunch'on on the Taedong River, 17 air miles east of Sukch'on. The airborne regiment turned out in a heavy rain for reveille at 0230 in the after-midnight darkness of 20 October. The men ate breakfast and then went to the airfield where they waited in the downpour for the weather to improve. Shortly before noon the sky began to clear. The regiment loaded into 113 planes, C-119's and C-47's of the 314th and 21st Troop Carrier Squadrons based in Japan. The planes were crowded-a typical C-119 carried 46 men in 2 sticks of 23 men each, 15 monorail bundles, and 4 door bundles. Each man had a main parachute, a .45-caliber pistol, and a carbine or M1 rifle. The first aircraft, carrying Colonel Bowen, was airborne at noon. When all the planes had assembled over the Han River estuary, they turned north along the west coast of Korea. This flight carried about 2,800 men. Recent intelligence had informed the airborne force that a trainload of American prisoners, traveling only at night and then slowly, was on its way north from P'yongyang. Colonel Bowen's men hoped to intercept this train and rescue the prisoners. As the troop carriers approached the drop zone, fighter planes preceded them rocketing and strafing the ground. At approximately 1400 the first troops began dropping from the lead planes over Sukch'on. There was no enemy antiaircraft fire and only occasional sniper fire came into the drop zone. This first drop put Colonel Bowen and 1,470 men of the 1st Battalion, regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Company, and supporting engineer, medical, and service troops on the ground in Drop Zone William, southeast of Sukch'on. Twenty-five men were injured in this jump. One group landed a mile and a half east of the drop zone and lost one man killed in his parachute by attacking enemy soldiers. Seventy-four tons of equipment were dropped with the men. After the troop drop came that of the heavy equipment-equipment organic to an airborne infantry regiment, including jeeps, 90-mm. towed antitank guns, 105-mm. howitzers, and a mobile radio transmission set equivalent in weight to a 2 1/2-ton truck. Seven 105-mm. howitzers of the 674th Field Artillery Battalion and 1,125 rounds of ammunition were in the drop. Six of the howitzers were recovered in usable condition. About 90 percent of the shells were undamaged and none exploded. This was the first time heavy equipment had been dropped in combat, and it was the first time C-119'S had been used in a combat parachute operation. The 1st Battalion, against only light resistance, seized Hill 97 east of Sukch'on, where Colonel Bowen established his command post, and Hill 104 north of the town, cleared the town of Sukch'on itself, and set up a roadblock north of it. In the meantime, the 3d Battalion had jumped in the same zone, turned south, taken up defensive positions on low hills two miles south of the town, and established roadblocks across the highway and railroad at that point. It seized its objectives by 1700, killing five enemy soldiers and capturing forty-two others without loss to itself. In the second jump area the 2d Battalion at 1420 began parachuting onto Drop Zone Easy, two miles southwest of Sunch'on. Twenty men were injured in this jump. The battalion secured its objective by night against virtually no resistance. Two companies established roadblocks south and west of Sunch'on. A third advanced to the town and established contact there with elements of the ROK 6th Division which had reached Sunch'on from the southeast in its push toward the Ch'ongch'on River. During this and succeeding days, a total of approximately 4,000 troops and more than 600 tons of equipment and supplies were dropped at Sukch'on and Sunch'on. Included in the equipment were 12 105-mm. howitzers, 39 jeeps, 38 1/4-ton trailers, 4 90-mm. antiaircraft guns, 4 3/4-ton trucks, and 584 tons of ammunition, gasoline, water, rations, and other supplies. On the morning after the airdrop, the 1st Battalion, 187th Airborne Regiment gained the dominant terrain it needed directly north of Sukch'on to carry out its mission of blocking the main highway running north. Strong enemy rear guard forces held the next line of hills northward. That afternoon elements of the 1st Battalion established contact with the 2d Battalion at Sunch'on. General MacArthur, accompanied by Generals Stratemeyer, Wright, and Whitney, had flown from Japan to watch the airdrop. After seeing the parachute troops land and assemble successfully, he flew to P'yongyang. There he commented to reporters that the airborne landing seemed to have been a complete surprise to the enemy. He estimated that 30,000 North Korean troops, perhaps half of those remaining in North Korea, were caught in the trap between the 187th Airborne Regiment on the north and the 1st Cavalry and ROK 1st Divisions at P'yongyang on the south, and that they would be destroyed or captured. He termed the airdrop an "expert performance" and said, "This closes the trap on the enemy." The next day in Tokyo MacArthur predicted that "the war is very definitely coming to an end shortly." General MacArthur's optimism was not supported by the events of succeeding days. The airborne troops had not cut off any sizable part of the North Korean forces. The main body of the enemy had already withdrawn north of Sukch'on and Sunch'on and were either north of the Ch'ongch'on River or in the act of crossing it. No important North Korean Army or government officials were cut off and killed or captured. Civilians in P'yongyang said that the principal North Korean government officials had left P'yongyang on 12 October for Manp'ojin on the Yalu. The best information indicated, however, that the North Korean Government had moved to Kanggye in the mountains twenty air miles southeast of Manp'ojin. Most of the American and South Korean prisoners had been successfully removed into the remote part of North Korea.
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The most important action growing out of the airdrop occurred on 21-22 October in the zone of the 3d Battalion, 187th Regimental Combat Team, about eight miles south of Sukch'on in the vicinity of Op'a-ri. At 0900, 21 October, the 3d Battalion started south from its roadblock position toward P'yongyang in two combat teams: one (I Company) along the railroad, the other (K Company) along the highway. Following the railroad, I Company at 1300 reached Op'a-ri. There an estimated enemy battalion, employing 120-mm. mortars and 40-mm. guns, attacked it. After a battle lasting two and a half hours, the North Koreans overran two platoons and forced I Company, with ninety men missing, to withdraw to Hill 281 west of the railroad. The North Koreans did not press their advantage but withdrew to their own defensive positions on the high ground around Op'a-ri.
The 3-mile gap separating the railroad and the highway here is the greatest distance between them at any point between P'yongyang and Sukch'on. Extending on a southwest to a northeast axis, and cutting across both the highway and railroad at Yongyu and Op'a-ri, is a line of high hills offering the best defensive ground between P'yongyang and the Ch'ongch'on River. Here, the N.K. 239th Regiment, about 2,500 strong, had taken up defensive positions. This regiment had been the last force to leave P'yongyang. Its mission was to fight a delaying action against U.N. troops expected to advance north from P'yongyang. Now, suddenly, it found itself attacked by two separate forces from the rear.
In two other attacks after midnight enemy soldiers forced the men at the roadblock near Hill 163 to withdraw after they had expended their ammunition. Aware of this withdrawal, the North Koreans attacked again at 0400. Then, at 0545, they ran blindly into the 3d Battalion command post and the L Company perimeter, and suffered very heavy casualties from direct and enfilading fire. In spite of these heavy losses the enemy renewed his attack, about 300 men striking L Company and 450 men assaulting Headquarters Company. At this point the airborne troops sent a radio message describing their situation and requesting help. Pfc. Richard G. Wilson, a medical aide, gave his life in heroic action in trying to reach and care for the wounded.
Help was to come from close at hand as a result of a general advance northward of the U.S. I Corps. On 20 October, the day P'yongyang was secured, General Milburn had ordered the corps to continue the attack to the MacArthur Line, a line roughly thirty-five miles south of the Yalu River. The 24th Division, with the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade attached, was to lead this attack. On the right of the 24th Division three ROK divisions-the 1st, under I Corps, and the 6th and 8th under ROK II Corps, in that order eastward-were ready to join in the attack northward.
The British could hear the heavy night battle taking place a mile or two north of them. At first light on the 22d, two companies of the Argyll 1st Battalion advanced into Yongyu. There the Australian 3d Battalion passed through them, with Capt. A. P. Denness and his C Company in the lead riding tanks of D Company, U.S. 89th Tank Battalion. The tankers had orders not to fire because of the known proximity of the 187th Airborne troops.
Colonel Green deployed a second company to seize high ground on the right of the road. Soon he had to send a third company to follow the second as the enemy fired on it from the rear. Then he sent his fourth company on the left of the road to follow C Company. The enemy was now using mortar as well as rifle and automatic fire. This action for the Australians was one of rifle, grenade, and bayonet. After committing all his rifle companies, Colonel Green moved his small headquarters into the orchard. There he was immediately attacked by a sizable group of North Koreans. In this fight his group killed thirty-four enemy soldiers. Among his own wounded were three men of his personal staff. One platoon of Australians crossed a rice field, kicked over stacks of straw, and shot the North Korean soldiers they found hiding in them.
The 3d Battalion, 187th Airborne Regiment, reported that it had killed 805 of the enemy and captured 681 prisoners in the Yongyu battle. Caught between the airborne troops and the British 27th Brigade, the N.K. 239th Regiment was practically destroyed at Yongyu. That afternoon the 3d Battalion returned to Sukch'on with the British following it. There the British brigade relieved the 187th Airborne Regiment in its positions.
The 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team returned to P'yongyang on 23 October, traveling by the secondary road through Sunch'on. This left the main highway free for the movement of the British 27th Brigade and the 24th Division. Altogether, the 187th Airborne Regiment suffered 46 jump casualties and 65 battle casualties in the Sukch'on-Sunch'on operations. It captured 3,818 North Korean prisoners in this operation.
usmilitary.about.com
www.bob-west.com
home.hiwaay.net
www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil
www.paratrooper.net
On 24 October, when Eighth Army troops crossed the Ch'ongch'on River and the ROK 6th Division passed through Huich'on and headed for the Yalu, less than six weeks had passed since that army had battled desperately to hold its lines 320 air miles to the south along the Pusan Perimeter. The Inch'on landing likewise was less than six weeks in the past. The capture of Seoul was about four weeks in the past. Since then, the Eighth Army, moving up from the south after breaking out of its embattled Perimeter, had penetrated 160 air miles north of Seoul and 130 air miles into North Korea. In doing this it had overrun the enemy's capital and breached the last important river barrier south of the northern border of the country. Attack On The Yalu Bridges At the same time the ROK I Corps under its command had fought its way northward equally far on the east coast to capture Wonsan. And in the closing days of this period the U.S. X Corps had moved amphibiously around the length of Korea to appear off Wonsan for an imminent landing and subsequent operations in that part of Korea. This Eighth Army-ROK-X Corps attack which moved the front northward more than 300 miles in less than six weeks had virtually destroyed the North Korean Army. |
Veterans Day is right around the corner.
It's an opportunity for us to support our troops, our country and show appreciations for our local veterans. It's another way to counter the Anti-Iraq campaign propaganda. Would you like to help? Are there any VetsCoR folks on the Left Coast? We have a school project that everyone can help with too, no matter where you live. See the end of this post for details.
Three Northern California events have been scheduled and we need help with each:
Veterans in School - How you can help if you're not close enough to participate directly. If you are a veteran, share a story of your own with the children. If you have family serving in the military, tell them why it's important that we all support them. Everyone can thank them for having this special event. Keep in mind that there are elementary school kids.
Help us by passing this message around to other Veteran's groups. I have introduced VetsCoR and FreeperFoxhole to a number of school teachers. These living history lessons go a long way to inspire patriotism in our youth. Lets see if we can rally America and give these youngsters enough to read for may weeks and months ahead. If we can, we'll help spread it to other schools as well.
G'morning people.
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"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty."
Toward FREEDOM
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Well, here we go again. Another week at work. BUMMER!!!
Y'all have a good day! :)
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