Evening star., 1950-12-11
Marines FightW
After Weeks Spent
In Freezing He'll
By jack Macbeth
Associated Press War Correspondent

WITH MARINES IN KOREA,
Dec. II. American Marines
walked out of II days of freezing
hell yesterday, full of fight after
a CORY nightmare of death IN Ko-
rea's icy mountains.
The 1st Marine Division was
rolling slowly into the northeast
erne Korea plains of Hamhung.
The mems eyes and bearded faces,
their tattered parkas and the
strangely careless way they car
ried their rifles, showed the strain.
These thousands of Leather
necks did it on CUTS. They turned
their encirclement into one of the
f1ghtingest retreats in military
history. 1t was the longest pull
back in Marine records-32 tor
tuous miles.
They broke out of death trap
sprung by many thousands of
Red Chinese and Koreans and
converted what looked like almost
certain disaster into a moral
triumph if not a military victory.
I watched the retreat.
The story began in the Flea
bitten Korean village of Yudam,
on the western edge of the
Changjin reservoir.
Attack Came Nov. 28.
Three Red Chinese divisions and
one Chinese regiment attacked
two Marine regiments in a surprise
offensive the night of November %
The pressure was overwhelming
The Marines struck right back.
When orders were given to pull
back, the Leathernecks responded
with an offensive.
For five hectic, heroic days they
matched CUTS and wits against
Chinese mass tactics. Neither was
enough to win. They had to pull
out.
Five days after leaving Yudam,
the Marines reached Hagaru. at
the south end of the reservoir.
There they joined another small
group which was encircled by
strong enemy forces.
Elements of third Marine regi-
ment were under attack at Koto,
10 road miles to the south.
Broke Through to Koto.
At daybreak December 7 the
Hagaru Marines jumped off
southwark toward Koto.
For "a hours they fought one
of the bloodiest battles of the
Korean war.
I was in Koto when they came
in. 1t was q gruesome sight
wounded men with their blood
frozen to their skins: their clothes
stiff with ice; grotesque dead men
lying across trailers and stretch
ers; live men stumbling along,
grimacing from frostbite, using
their rifles as crutches.
-Four thousand wounded were
evacuated by air from Hagaru
and Koto up to two days ago.
More have been flown out since.
The death count is high. Two
days ago I watched nearly 200
bodies nosed into a single grave
by a bulldozer. There was no time
for more elaborate arrangements
First Division Hard Hit.
For the record. the 1st Marine
Division, one of the country's
finest, has suffered heavily. The
Communist enemy knows this.
The Leathernecks inflicted cas-
ualties on the enemy many times
those suffered. The weather also
took a heavy toll of Chinese.
Saturday at sunrise patrols
struck out from Koto toward
Hamhung.
Dismal little Koto lies on a
plateau $500 feet above sea level.
For 2 miles south, the narrow
road. If anything, goes up. Then
it twists down a narrow gorge II
miles to the valley below. Sat-
urday and today it was covered
with ice. The temperature was
25 degrees below zero.
For four hours the column stood
motionless.
A bridge a mile below the crest
had been blown up by the Reds.
Before the engineers could work
on it, a company of Marines had
to drive off a pocket of Chinese
guarding it. This was done. Fiji
teen Chinese were killed and SO
captured. Others fed.
Bridge Built in Hours.
1t. Floyd Ward of Evansville,
Ind, commanded the bridging op-
Grafton.
1T was a tough one," he said.
1--WE didn't have enough of a span
to close the gap so we had to
build up the abutment. We COM
pleted the job in less than four
hours"
Then the column started to roll,
but road conditions made progress
slow. BY nightfall Saturday
about a hundred vehicles had
moved across the new bridge.
The entire operation depended
on the effectiveness of this bridge.
There was no possibility of a by
pass. On one side was a rugged
cliff, on the other a chasm.
About 9 pm. artillery dropped
several rounds in the bridge vicin-
ity. One shell hit truck.