Lt. Col. Olin Beall at the Chosin

In late November to early December 1950, it's well known to most Marines that the First Marine Division at Hagaru-ri and Yudam-ni was engaged by vastly numerically superior Chinese communist forces and barely holding its own. Yudam-ni had to be evacuated under heavy fire and these troops joined the main Marine concentration at Hagaru-ri for the breakout.

What doesn't get as much notoriety, is that the Army's 31st RCT was trapped on the opposite (east) side of the reservoir and was being annihilated by Red Chinese in division strength. After leaving all of its crew-served weapons behind, this unit formed a convoy of trucks loaded with wounded and attempted to drive out through enemy-infested mountainous terrain via the dirt road on the east side of the Chosin. Heavy enemy fire and several CCF roadblocks ultimately destroyed the convoy at Hudong-ni, two or three miles from its goal of the Marine perimeter.

Some soldiers from the 31st RCT escaped across the ice of the reservoir and began to appear at Lt. Col. Beall's motor T battalion in sub-zero weather. Lt. Col. Beall organized a relief party originally consisting of himself, a corpsman and a PFC and went out on the ice in search of survivors. Eventually, he used several vehicles including a jeep with a sled and rescued 323 Army wounded. When enemy fire began to hinder the operation, Marine Corsairs napalmed and rocketed the Chinese and provided cover. He personally went ashore and verified that all wounded in the stalled convoy were dead and did a body count. On his return, he managed to rescue remaining Army wounded, some of whom warned him away due to the close proximity of the Chinese. He was awarded a DSC for his efforts.

Beginning his career as an enlisted Marine and in 1950, at 52, had over thirty years of service.

I came across this article about a month ago when researching the correct way to spell Col Beall's name for a small book my brother put together of my father's "sea stories". At my father's funeral in Dec 2012 several Chosen survivors were there and told the story how my father helped Col. Beall recover soldiers off the ice. One of the men he saved was there telling the story. This was a new story for us. We are now in the process of trying to write down stories of the local Chosin group's stories. We would be happy to hear any other stories that people may remember of my father, Alva Thomas White (known as Doc White). Debbie Johnston