thedrifter
08-04-06, 07:00 PM
Marines Fight in Temperatures Exceeding 110 Degrees
Defending Pusan
It was August 1950 and Major General Edward A. Craig and his Marines were busy plugging the holes in the Army’s defense of Pusan in Korea. There was a little “bad blood” between the Marines and Army Chief of Staff General J. Lawton Collins. Three years prior Collins had presented a plan to President Truman to limit the size of the Marine Corps and remove them from the protection of Congress. By the end of August, General Collins would be so impressed with the Marines that he would request General Craig to explain in writing just how the Marines managed to route the enemy so successfully at Pusan, and MacArthur would want the Marines at Inchon.
On 7 August 1950, after relieving the 27th Army Regiment, a battalion of the 5th Marines found themselves the target of a pre-dawn assault by the North Koreans. The Marines successfully counterattacked in temperatures exceeding 110 degrees and took the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) hill position. Within two days the entire Marine brigade was involved in the counter offensive supported by Corsairs from the jeep carrier Badoeng Straight. In typical Marine fashion our amazing jarheads chewed through the 6th North Korean Division and advanced on their headquarters some thirty miles beyond the perimeter.
Twenty five miles away two thousand North Koreans had pushed through the perimeter and overrun two Army artillery battalions. An urgent call went out to the 3rd battalion, 5th Marines for help. Helo’s quickly delivered the Marines and with support from two Marine fighter bomber squadrons they laid waste to the North Koreans. But before they finished another request for help came from the Army. Thirty miles to the north the 4th NKPA had pushed back the 24th Army Division and it was General Craig’s Marines to the rescue again.
The Marines battled the NKPA and their T-34 tanks in one vicious engagement after another. Using rockets and air support from MAG-33, the Marines rapidly destroyed the tanks and hammered the NKPA as they retreated. In thirty-eight days of fighting the Marines suffered 902 casualities that included 172 killed. They marched 380 miles, fought in three major engagements, and flew a total of 1,500 sorties including 1,000 that were close air support for ground units. Finally, during the defense of Pusan, Marines became the first service to fly helicopters in combat….I’m not a bit surprised!!!
Sam
Ellie
Defending Pusan
It was August 1950 and Major General Edward A. Craig and his Marines were busy plugging the holes in the Army’s defense of Pusan in Korea. There was a little “bad blood” between the Marines and Army Chief of Staff General J. Lawton Collins. Three years prior Collins had presented a plan to President Truman to limit the size of the Marine Corps and remove them from the protection of Congress. By the end of August, General Collins would be so impressed with the Marines that he would request General Craig to explain in writing just how the Marines managed to route the enemy so successfully at Pusan, and MacArthur would want the Marines at Inchon.
On 7 August 1950, after relieving the 27th Army Regiment, a battalion of the 5th Marines found themselves the target of a pre-dawn assault by the North Koreans. The Marines successfully counterattacked in temperatures exceeding 110 degrees and took the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) hill position. Within two days the entire Marine brigade was involved in the counter offensive supported by Corsairs from the jeep carrier Badoeng Straight. In typical Marine fashion our amazing jarheads chewed through the 6th North Korean Division and advanced on their headquarters some thirty miles beyond the perimeter.
Twenty five miles away two thousand North Koreans had pushed through the perimeter and overrun two Army artillery battalions. An urgent call went out to the 3rd battalion, 5th Marines for help. Helo’s quickly delivered the Marines and with support from two Marine fighter bomber squadrons they laid waste to the North Koreans. But before they finished another request for help came from the Army. Thirty miles to the north the 4th NKPA had pushed back the 24th Army Division and it was General Craig’s Marines to the rescue again.
The Marines battled the NKPA and their T-34 tanks in one vicious engagement after another. Using rockets and air support from MAG-33, the Marines rapidly destroyed the tanks and hammered the NKPA as they retreated. In thirty-eight days of fighting the Marines suffered 902 casualities that included 172 killed. They marched 380 miles, fought in three major engagements, and flew a total of 1,500 sorties including 1,000 that were close air support for ground units. Finally, during the defense of Pusan, Marines became the first service to fly helicopters in combat….I’m not a bit surprised!!!
Sam
Ellie