Seventh Infantry Division - Yearbook (South Korea)

Page 191 text:

,. .i.ni...,- . The Colombian Bn. gets some poiniers. skill, their crude and cryptic behavior is as G. I. as the uniforms they wear or the formidable paraphernalia of rifles and grenades they tote. This was as nice a tribute as a professional motion picture critic could have made. Among those seen in speaking parts in the picture were Captain Roy Thompson, Jr., Corporal Henry Goszkowski, Sergeant Dick Elliott, SFC Al Cook, Private Richard L. Mayes, Cheong Yul Bak, SFC How- ard Strait, Corporal Charlie Owen, PFC Gilbert L. Gisaille. PFC Harry L. Hofelich, Corporal Harold Eng- lish, PFC Ed Pruchniewski, Private Otis Wright and PFC Richard Carrasco. But though the war was only three months from its end, there were still things to do before the cease fire The Mortar. lf's done this way . . . actually was signed and became a reality. On 15 May and 16 May, the 17th Infantry sector at Outpost Snook was attacked by an enemy company and, with reinforce- ments, the units on Snook cracked the attempt and routed the Reds. On 20 May, the Commies once again tried, this time at Outpost Yoke where an Ethiopian force was in occupation, consisting of one officer and fifty-six enlisted men from the lst Platoon of the 3rd Company. In one of the bitterest two-day battles in the entire war, the Ethiopians and Americans crushed the attack and killed fifty Reds, wounding a hundred and thirty and taking two prisoners. It was a weird battle. Chinese battle cries mingled with the battle calls of the Ethiopians. Yells of Tekuse fopen firelj and Beirta Rocket launcher. A

Page 190 text:

if L 57 5. X r P 4

Page 192 text:

75 mm Recollless rlfle. Qstand bylj rose from the UN bunkers on Yoke. During the encounter, Second Lieutenant Besaba Ayele, com- mander of the outpost, was killed by Chinese grenades. This encounter was the last major enemy attack against UN lines for the next month-and-a-half. Rugged patrolling continued by firefights and artillery barrages were light. When the Reds did run an attack on our forces, they were light and with limited objectives. On 4 June, the Communists did launch another attack on outposts Yoke and Uncle, attempting to assault the Ethiopian emplacements from the east and west flanks. But the enemy attack was shoved back with automatic rifle and small arms fire and artillery and mortar bar- rages. For the rest of June and the first few days of July activity was quiet. But the Reds were busy repairing bunkers and attack positions. By this time it had become increasingly apparent that the enemy was planning to execute another attack against UN forces in the area of Pork Chop. The Chinese were persistent in their de- termination to maintain continuous contact with the Division forces, mainly through outguard posts. When this information was reported to the regimental com- mander, he immediately decided that positive action was necessary in order to destroy the known positions and delay any further enemy build-up in the area. Accord- ingly, he ordered two platoons to conduct a raid against