Seventh Infantry Division - Yearbook (South Korea)

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original inspection tags fluttered in the numbing wind as it whipped through the rent lining of the coat. The only protection from enemy fire and the freezing cold winds whipping off the reservoir were a few battered Korean farmhouses. The fall of night was welcomed by the worn troopers. Colonel Faith was now praying for relief from Mac- Lean's 2nd Battalion. The day before, on 28 November, MacLean had radioed for help when he realized he was surrounded. In a message to X Corps he had asked that his 2nd, then awaiting orders at Hamhung, be dis- patched at once even if they had to fight their way north. Caught in the aftermath of the initial phase of the Red counterattack, the battalion had to wait for almost two days for transportation. Then, halfway to the beleaguered task force, it fell under enemy attack itself. Battling through, it reached Koto-ri the follow- ing morning. By then, the road between Hagaru-ri and Hamhung was threatened by the enemy and it became necessary to divert the 2nd and help protect the with- drawal route of the entire corps. It was ordered to re- main in Koto-ri. Faith and his men were ten miles away, above Hagaru-ri, having beaten off enemy probing at- tacks all that night. They were waiting for relief that was not coming. On 30 November at 2200, following a day of harass- ing gunfire and recon patrols by the Chinese, the Reds Pvt Wllllam E Freeman ill and Pvt Alvin E Mayer rest by 'llle roadside as Korean farmers plant rice in buck of them. - --S Wi... , .f,. , ,,,,,.....Y.,.,,., .., i ,.,.,,.,, , ,K ., . ...W ...Q ,i

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Elements ot the 17th RCI' regroup by their vehicles utter patrolling the town of Chunch-on without u mishap. abandoned its hold on the road and took to the protec- tive cover of the hills. With the road open, the column of vehicles entered the perimeter of friendly forces. Colonel Faith, unable to find any trace of Colonel Mac- Lean, assumed command of the remaining personnel and organized the entire force into a defense group. By now, the issue was questionable. The road behind was strewn with officers and commanders. Faith and his men were contained in a defense perimeter some 600 by 2,000 yards, around a sweeping slope which was par- ticularly vulnerable to attack. Hagard from two days and nights of relentless attack and counterattack, ice freezing in their beards, the men prepared to fight for their lives. Rations were almost gone and ammunition and gasoline supplies had been eaten up by the constant fighting and the forced retreat the night before. The defense area was littered with dead Chinese. One lay stiff in death wearing an American field jacket. The

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.s-vw few-'few-we 'Na Pfc. Arnell Jackson catches up on the news, as he enioys first ediiion of STARS AND STRIPES he has seen in three weeks