thedrifter
12-31-03, 08:43 AM
Issue Date: January 05, 2004
The Lore of the Corps
Marines opened gateway to Inchon atop Hill 125
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times
After landing at Inchon on Sept. 15, 1950, the immediate goal was recapturing the South Korean capital of Seoul from the occupying North Korean forces.
But beyond the hardened North Korean resistance, one of the major obstacles barring the advance of the 1st and 5th Marine regiments was the 400-yard-wide Han River.
Bridges across the river had been destroyed, and since time and logistics prevented building a new bridge, commanders decided the Marines would ferry across the Han in tracked landing vehicles. The primary crossing site for the 5th Marines was between Hill 125 and the abandoned village of Haengjiu.
On Sept. 19, a reconnaissance team swam across the river and signaled the first wave of nine amtracs to cross. However, the recon Marines either underestimated or failed to notice a North Korean battalion entrenched atop Hill 125. The nine amtracs were beaten back in quick fashion, with only five of the nine vehicles safely returning to the Han’s southern bank.
Realizing the key to a successful crossing lay in silencing Hill 125, the Marines launched another assault the morning of Sept. 20. Third Battalion, 5th Marines, got the mission, and at 6:30 a.m. Marines boarded amtracs for the crossing.
Even as an artillery and mortar barrage pounded Hill 125, the North Koreans poured fire into the vehicles churning through the water. Despite sustaining more than 250 hits and four wounded crewmen, the first wave of amtracs landed on the Han’s northern shore. The embarked Marines from I Company, 3/5, commanded by Capt. Robert McMullen, stormed ashore.
As the company scrambled up the steep slopes of Hill 125 under intense fire, and the amtracs returned across the Han to bring over more Marines, four F-4U Corsairs from Marine Fighter Squadron 214 arrived and delivered point-blank close-air support against the entrenched North Koreans.
Setting up his company’s mortar and machine-gun sections, McMullen deployed his 1st and 3rd platoons. A second wave of amtracs delivered I Company’s 2nd Platoon, which joined the assault. Napalm, bombs and machine-gun fire from the Corsairs raked the North Koreans as Marines surged forward. Artillery and mortar fire crept up the hill in front of the infantry advance, and the amtracs continually sprayed the hill with machine-gun fire.
Advancing up the hill, McMullen, ignoring a painful wound sustained in the opening moments of the assault, deployed his Marines expertly. Splitting into two assault elements, I Company executed a textbook double envelopment of the North Koreans.
Mopping up
In spite of heavy casualties and stiffening enemy resistance, the Marines swept forward, digging out entrenched North Koreans at the point of their bayonets.
It took the company nearly three hours to reach the summit of Hill 125, at which time the two assault elements came together and consolidated their forces. North Korean troops had either fled or become casualties.
Nearly a fourth of McMullen’s company, 43 men, were killed or wounded in the assault.
More than 200 North Korean dead and wounded littered the hill’s bloody slopes.
The sacrifices of I Company and the amtrac crewmen enabled the rest of the 5th Marines, and elements of the 1st Marines, to cross the Han River without serious opposition.
With substantial forces on the northern bank of the Han River, less than eight miles separated the Marines from downtown Seoul.
Keith Milks is a gunnery sergeant stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-1553982.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
The Lore of the Corps
Marines opened gateway to Inchon atop Hill 125
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times
After landing at Inchon on Sept. 15, 1950, the immediate goal was recapturing the South Korean capital of Seoul from the occupying North Korean forces.
But beyond the hardened North Korean resistance, one of the major obstacles barring the advance of the 1st and 5th Marine regiments was the 400-yard-wide Han River.
Bridges across the river had been destroyed, and since time and logistics prevented building a new bridge, commanders decided the Marines would ferry across the Han in tracked landing vehicles. The primary crossing site for the 5th Marines was between Hill 125 and the abandoned village of Haengjiu.
On Sept. 19, a reconnaissance team swam across the river and signaled the first wave of nine amtracs to cross. However, the recon Marines either underestimated or failed to notice a North Korean battalion entrenched atop Hill 125. The nine amtracs were beaten back in quick fashion, with only five of the nine vehicles safely returning to the Han’s southern bank.
Realizing the key to a successful crossing lay in silencing Hill 125, the Marines launched another assault the morning of Sept. 20. Third Battalion, 5th Marines, got the mission, and at 6:30 a.m. Marines boarded amtracs for the crossing.
Even as an artillery and mortar barrage pounded Hill 125, the North Koreans poured fire into the vehicles churning through the water. Despite sustaining more than 250 hits and four wounded crewmen, the first wave of amtracs landed on the Han’s northern shore. The embarked Marines from I Company, 3/5, commanded by Capt. Robert McMullen, stormed ashore.
As the company scrambled up the steep slopes of Hill 125 under intense fire, and the amtracs returned across the Han to bring over more Marines, four F-4U Corsairs from Marine Fighter Squadron 214 arrived and delivered point-blank close-air support against the entrenched North Koreans.
Setting up his company’s mortar and machine-gun sections, McMullen deployed his 1st and 3rd platoons. A second wave of amtracs delivered I Company’s 2nd Platoon, which joined the assault. Napalm, bombs and machine-gun fire from the Corsairs raked the North Koreans as Marines surged forward. Artillery and mortar fire crept up the hill in front of the infantry advance, and the amtracs continually sprayed the hill with machine-gun fire.
Advancing up the hill, McMullen, ignoring a painful wound sustained in the opening moments of the assault, deployed his Marines expertly. Splitting into two assault elements, I Company executed a textbook double envelopment of the North Koreans.
Mopping up
In spite of heavy casualties and stiffening enemy resistance, the Marines swept forward, digging out entrenched North Koreans at the point of their bayonets.
It took the company nearly three hours to reach the summit of Hill 125, at which time the two assault elements came together and consolidated their forces. North Korean troops had either fled or become casualties.
Nearly a fourth of McMullen’s company, 43 men, were killed or wounded in the assault.
More than 200 North Korean dead and wounded littered the hill’s bloody slopes.
The sacrifices of I Company and the amtrac crewmen enabled the rest of the 5th Marines, and elements of the 1st Marines, to cross the Han River without serious opposition.
With substantial forces on the northern bank of the Han River, less than eight miles separated the Marines from downtown Seoul.
Keith Milks is a gunnery sergeant stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-1553982.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: