HI EVERYONE.I have some great news that is late in coming.
1) WE SOLD OUR HOUSE APRIL 28th.
2) I GOT A NEW JOB May 23rd.
My job is near complete career change. I am now a 911 Police/Fire dispatcher.
While the money is 'top dollar' like I'm used to it brings in enough for us to be able to mortgage my parents house and "complete the plan" that was set in motion last July when I was laid off.
I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who prayed for me and my family through this period of trials and tribulations. God is GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope to be able to come to FR more often now that life is settling down to a near level of "normalcy".
Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers
David
(aka JOhnny Gage)
Korean war at 50/June 1953
This June 2003 Army Magazine chronology confirms Communists respect only force, applicable to the current Islamist terrorist enemy.
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65th Infantry Regiment - 3RD Infantry Division
3rd Division Command Report for June 1953 for 65th Infantry Regiment.
Presidential Unit Citation for Action on June 10th reads as follows:
Company F, 65th Infantry Regiment, 3d Division, is cited for outstanding performances of duty and extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy in the vicinity of Kumwha, Korea (hill 412 across from Outpost Harry), on 10 June 1953. This unit, a member of a combined attacking team, was assigned the mission of assaulting a heavily fortified enemy hill for the purpose of diverting the concentration of communist strength at a nearby strategic point. As the company moved into a forward position it encountered heavy enemy fire from the crest of the hill. While two friendly tanks departed for a point to the left of the objective, a 10-man assault team approached the crest under the support of tank, artillery, and small arms fire. The assault platoon twice placed machine guns on the eastern slope of the hill to cover the advance but these were quickly destroyed by enemy fire. As the assault group engaged the hostile defenders in close combat, the platoon leader was wounded. His men moved back 10 yards, regrouped, and again charged the cave position, killing and critically wounding its occupants with hand grenades. As the assault platoon moved along the southern slope of the ridge in an effort to pinpoint the enemy fire, they were met by intense resistance from a well-entrenched enemy on the reverse slope. Sending word for two support squads to move up, the Company Commander led his unit in a repeated attempt to rush the crest of the hill. Again encountering concentrated enemy fire, the group managed to deploy to the right and left of the eastern end of the ridge to prevent an enemy envelopment. While the platoon made ready a further attempt to capture the reverse slope position, strengthened by the support squads, a squad-leader of the first platoon moved to the forward side of the hill and discovered the location of the enemy emplacements. With this information, the assault elements again moved forward, crossed the ridge, and routed the enemy with hand grenades and small arms fire. The hard-fought positions immediately were occupied and reorganized in time to stem enemy efforts to regain them. The heroism and courage exhibited by members of this unit reflect great credit on themselves, their organization, and the military service of the United States. (General Orders 620, Headquarters Eighth United States Army, 16 September 1954.)
~~~
Sergeant Ola L. Mize
Sergeant
Company G. 15th Inf. Reg.
3rd Infantry Division
Army Korean Conflict
10-11 June 1953
Korea
CITATION: “Sergeant Ola L. Mize, a member of Company K, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and outstanding courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy near Surang-ni, Korea, on 10-11 June 1953. Company K was committed to the defense of “Outpost Harry,” a strategically valuable position, when the enemy launched a heavy attack. Learning that a comrade on a friendly listening post had been wounded, he moved through the intense barrage, accompanied by a medical aid man, and rescued the wounded soldier. On returning to the main position he established an effective defense system and inflicted heavy casualties against attacks from determined enemy assault forces which had penetrated into trenches within the outpost areas. During his fearless actions he was blown down by artillery and grenade blast three times but each time he dauntlessly returned to his position, tenaciously fighting and successfully repelling hostile attacks. When enemy onslaughts ceased, he took his few men and moved from bunker to bunker, firing through the apertures and throwing grenades at the foe, neutralizing their positions. When an enemy soldier stepped out from behind a comrade, prepared to fire, Sergeant Mize killed him, saving the life of his fellow soldier. After rejoining the platoon, moving from man to man, distributing ammunition and shouting words of encouragement, he observed a friendly machine gun position overrun. He immediately fought his way to the position, killing ten of the enemy and dispersing the remainder. Fighting back to the command post, and finding several friendly wounded there, he took a position to protect them. Later, securing a radio, he directed friendly artillery fire upon the attacking enemy’s routes of approach. At dawn he helped regroup for a counter-attack which successfully drove the enemy from the outpost. Sergeant Mize’s valorous conduct and unflinching courage reflect lasting glory upon himself and uphold the noble traditions of the military service.”
Colonel Mize has also been awarded these medals:
Bronze Star - Good Conduct with Two Loops - National Defense Service - Korean Service with Two Bronze Stars - United Nations Service.
Ola L. Mize was born at Albertville and attended Emma Sansom High School in Gadsden, where he entered the service.
In 1954 he was married to the former Betty Ruth Jackson and they have two daughters. He is a resident of Gadsden, Alabama.
~~~
In a narrative written over a decade ago entitled, “The Longest Night of My Life – June 10, 1953”, Buck, who later received a Silver Star for his actions on June 10-11, wrote the following account about the events immediately prior to and immediately after a grenade came into the CP, injuring Captain Markley.
“At about 9 p.m., on June 10th, all hell broke loose with artillery fire and Chinese swarming all over. While Captain Markley and Lieutenant Richards were firing over my head to keep them out, I was on the radio calling in fire on ourselves. The next thing I heard was that unmistakable sizzle of an armed grenade behind me, and before I could complete my transmission, it went off and Markley and Richards fell. I ran to the door where I had left my carbine and caught a Chinese coming at me. Another grenade came in and I would step in the corner and put my head down against the blast and step back in the door and catch another trying to run in. This kept going on at least three or four more times before my hand and leg went numb.
I switched hands and laid the barrel of my carbine on the edge of the doorway and I let this Chinese almost run into me before I fired. The next grenade knocked me off my feet and I fell partly on the Captain. I heard some conversation outside the door and then I saw a Chinese with a flashlight coming in. I pulled the trigger on my carbine, but nothing happened. The CCF soldier started looking at the other side of the bunker and I wiped my bloody hand on my face to play dead.
He checked out and searched Lt. Richards, then Capt. Markley, and then he jerked my carbine out of my hands, went through my pockets and taking our weapons, he left. Almost immediately, two CCF came in carrying a wounded comrade, then more came in with wounded, and the next thing I felt a guard squatting near my feet. Every time he would let someone in, his rifle butt would slide up my leg that was cut up from the shrapnel. I knew if I moved, he would kill me.
Mr. Richards started coming around and was moving and groaning. After some conversation with the wounded, the guard got up and shot him. A little later, Captain Markley started to cough up something in his throat and the same thing happened to him. I could tell the Captain was still alive as I could feel him moving and due to the darkness, they couldn’t see him. A little later, a shell landed in our door and I could feel the guard lurch and fall over.
Just after daybreak the next morning, I heard GI voices outside and I could tell there was still hand-to-hand fighting in the trenches. Later a GI came through the door firing and I was shouting, “Cease Fire – GI.” He stopped and said, “OK Doc” and left. At that time a shadow rose up in the middle of the room and was looking for something to use on me. I started digging too, and all I could find was a flashlight. I turned it on and stuck the light in his eyes and he seemed to quit reaching for something.
I could hear GI’s outside, but couldn’t get them to hear me. Finally, one came in and took care of the wounded Chinese. Then we looked at Captain Markley. His head was split open from one ear to the other and his eyeball was laying on his cheek. I’ll never know why I did it, but I cleaned the blood and dirt out of the socket with my fingers and put the eyeball back in place. What is hard to believe is that he still has the eye 40 years later and can see a little out of it.
My replacement F.O. was hit in both feet before he got to the top. Somehow, he found me and said he was going to take me back. About that time, I saw the medics taking the Captain down the hill. It was very hard going as the trenches were full of bodies (Chinese and American) as well as commo wire and all kinds of debris. I remember being on the back of a tank, in a jeep with litters sticking out, in a half track, and finally, an ambulance. I spent some time in a MASH unit, a school auditorium in Seoul, and finally an airplane for Japan.
It’s hard to believe that I survived the worst nightmare of my life, and I couldn’t if it had not been for men like Captain Markley, Lt. Richards (who never made it home) and the FO (whose name I never got) who wouldn’t let me quit until we got off that damn hill.”
“The Longest Night of My Life – June 10, 1953”
- Sam Buck
Sam Buck stated in a message to Martin Markley during the writing of this memoir in 2004 that he still didn't know why he cleaned the captain's dangling eyeball and pushed it back in its socket. "I couldn't stand to see your eyeball laying on your cheek," he said. "You were always so military and proper, I knew that was not the way you wanted to meet your Maker." The medic who checked Markley's condition when the battle was over told Buck that Markley was still alive, but he didn't have much hope that he would survive his injuries. - End of KWE Note. Return to Markley's narrative.]
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Truman hewed to the UN mandate and eschewed victory. Which certainly worked as well then as it did in 1990-1.
