Evening star., 1950-08-17
Atrocity
Continued From First Page

morning of the 18th, two days
ago.
These Reds came through in
tanks and a lot more were follow
ing on foot.
I'VE sent in call for help as
we didn't have the weapons to
fight infantry. We were told that
60 South Koreans would be sent
up in about an hour under a
1t. TAX.
"A little later we saw some Ko-
reans. We called out, Lieutenant
TAX! An officer answered us.
Some of them had South Ko-
rean markings on them. There
were about IS or so of them. We
fired a few rounds and then
stopped. We still were confused
as the officer had identified him
self by the name of the leader of
the South Koreans we were ex-
pecting.
Shook Hands With Yanks.
They came right into our fox
holes, shaking our hands and TAX
ing our weapons as if to examine
them.
Then they lined us up and
marched us down to- a place north
of Waegwan. They took us into
gully after taking our shirts, our
shoes, our socks, our helmets and
our ammo.
Then they tied our hands with
telephone wire, Shoe-Strings and
rawhide."
Corpl. Rudd said the Reds tried
to get them across the river, say
ing they would take the Ameri-
cans to Seoul, former South Ko-
rean capital The Reds said they
had 5000 prisoners in stockade
at Seoul. !
But American troops were get
ting too close. The North Ko-
reans took the prisoners to a
gully and gave them their first |
feod of the day.
Get Fruit to Eat.
The food was a pear and an !
apple apiece.
I'VE dug holes in the sand for |
water" Corpl. Rudd said. Then
they kicked sand in the holes and
hit us with their weapons.
Last night they tried again to
get us out. They took five out of
our group of 43 and I never did
know what they did to them
Later they took us back to the
ravine. At daybreak they started
heavy firing engagement with
some of our troops.
I'VE sat there all morning with
our hands still bound behind us.
I thought my wrists would be cut
in two. My fingers still are numb.
About 1870 this afternoon they
took us to ravine below an apple
orchard
Heard Plan to Kill Them.
1--WE were worried because
Corpl. Day had heard them talk
ing the night before and an Off
Ger had said they should kill us
if our own troops got too close.
Otherwise we would be taken
across the river.
Our F-51 (MuStang) planes
began bombing and strafing a hill
and a patrol from &c" company
came towards the orchard.
There were two guards watch
ing us. They got on each end of
the ravine and hollered something
and about IA Red soldiers ran up.
Then the guards and soldiers
opened up on us with burp CRus-
sian automatic) guns"
Corpl. Rudd said he was saved
because he was lying on the
ground and a soldier standing
near him was killed ano fell
across him.
His buddy, Corpl. Day, also
escaped injury, although a bullet
ripped through his belt and an
other through his pants leg.
Reds Shoot Wounded.
Our patrol kept coming and
the Reds got scared" Corpl. Rudd
said. They started to leave but
some OF our boys were moaning
and groaning so the Reds came
back and shot the wounded-as
many as they saw. Then they
took off north Dver the hill to-
wards the river.
Five of the men were left alive.
Although some were wounded
they left for help, including
Corpl. Rudd.
Il heard steps," Corpl. Rudd
said. II lay down in the leaves,
put my hands over my head and
pretended to be dead. A North
Korean soldier stood over me but