Evening star., 1950-08-30
WichoeIis' 'WoIfhounds' Used
AsU. S. Fire Brigade in Korea
GIs Soy Commander
Will Be q General
Or Dead Colonel
By Tom Lambert
A,soejatsd Press War Correspondent

laxed. Only a trace of battle
tension showed in their faces.
Some splashed in river. Others
sprawled on a sun-drenched sand
bank. A few typewriters clicked,
a staccato, strangely civilized
sound in this primitive land.
Pens scratched over paper, pill
ing words on words in the inevita-
BILE letters home Here and there
GIs squatted or lounged. their
voices droning in mild argument.
The snores Of the sleeping vi
brated.
After three major battles with
the Korean Reds. the famed 27th
Wolfhound Regiment of the 25th
Division was resting.
The rif1eman jerked his thumb.
'Mike?" he replied. Right up
there in that tent"
There was no affection in his
use of the nickname. 1t came
naturally, an unsolicited tribute
to Col. John Mike" Michaelis of
Lancaster. Pa.
Col. Machaelis, 81 year old
commander of the Wolfhounds,
had won a promotion and become
a battlefront legend in less than
a month. He'll either be a gen.
eral or dead colonel" his GIs
say.
The Wolfhounds, considered a
run-of -the-mine outfit during the
easy days of the Japan occupa-
ton. whipped into a crack unit
on the battlefront.
They went into action July "a
in the Sangnyang area, about 20
miles southeast of Taejon. In
their first bout they KO'd at least
three Red Korean tanks; Wolf
hound artillery chewed an esti-
mated 1.500 Communists.
Since then, in the words of one
profanely admiring staff officer
at 9th Army headquarters, they
have been up and down that god
dam front like yoyo.''
The Wolfhounds became the
fire brigade"-an outfit to he
rushed where the fighting RACES
flercest.
After the 25th Division-spear-
headed by the Wolfhounds-re-
lieved the tired oath Infantry Di-
vision near Taeion, the Wolf
hounds were shifted south to the
Chindong area when the Reds
broke through and rolled toward
Pusan. They helped stop that
drive.
But hardly was that threat
ended when the Reds shifted to
the northern Taegu area. only to
run head-on into Col. Michaelis
Wolfhounds-again. They got no.
where.
Wandering Outfit.
The 9th Regiment is a wan
dering outfit. 1t has been under
operational control of the oath and
1st Cavalry Divisions as well as it's
own 25th, and of the 9th Army as
a reserve outfit.
What makes it so good?
IT'S leadership" says Col.
Michaelis. Not me. but the bat
talon and company and platoon
commanders and bunch of
damned good men"
They've learned to respect and
to depend upon each other-the
rif1emen. mortarmen, artillerymen,
medics, cooks. machinegunners
and communications men.
They've learned to be good at
the business of killing-and how
not to be killed-although they
have suffered their losses.
They've had their heroes. -.
Pfc. Davis Zimmerman of Mich
igan. who stuck grimly to his
switchboard telephoning vital in
formation to the artillery while
Red machinegun and 20 milli-
meter fire ripped his command
post.
Cook Among Heroes.
Corpl Ed Hill of Texas, a cook
whom the Army's formal Ian
guage-"joined in delivering fire
on the enemy who were less than
100 yards from his command
post" and then ran 300 yards
through enemy fire to an ammu-
milton truck whose driver had
been hit and drove it back to
safety.
Second 1t. Trevor J. Perry of
Texas. a doctor who cared for
wounded under artillery and NOR
tar fire until he was killed. .
The Wolfhounds don't talk
much about their buddies who
died among these foreign hills.
They prefer to talk about those
who still are around.
The artillerymen, for instance.
They have reason to like those
OedQ-eye guys.
Gunners Batter Reds.
The Wolfhound gunners under
1t. Col. A. T. Terry of New Or
leans delight in making things
tough for the Reds.
Once a dozen North Koreans
ran into a hut. An air observer
called in Col. Terry's guns.
The artillerymen dropped one
round of white PHOSPHORUS on
the roof.
TRY 1t again." the observer
urged.
The guns roared.
How'd we do?" the gunners
asked.
Right through the front door,"
Col. Michaelis, the guy who