Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1951-03-23
CHUTISTS AND
ARMOR TRAP
10000 REDS
Communists Panic
In Face Of Allied
Trap Near Seoul
BY olen Clements

by OtGH 1tCUtCffAS
TOKYO, MARCH 23-tAP) ~
Thousands Of American para
troopers made a surprise assault
landing north Of Seoul today be-
hind an estimated 10000 panicked
and fleeing communists troops.
Allied armor speeding north
from Seoul in a fresh, three-divi-
sion offensive linked up with the
chutists in a few hours.
Air observers said the cutoff
Reds threw away their guns and
other equipment as they scramh-
led to escape the threatened Al
lied trap.
1t Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway,
Commander of the U. s. Eighth
Army, directed the Co-ordinated
air-ground strike.
THE purpose of this operation
is to kill the enemy" he told
correspondents few minutes be-
fore the air drop.
Brig. Gen. Frank S. Bowen, Jr.,
told his paratroopers:
Il wish you all a happy land
ing. I'll see you on the ground
He cautioned officers:
Make the men dig in get
buttoned up in those goose eggs
(the drop zonesl"
The 18th Airborne Regimenta1
Combat Team bolstered by
tough, wiry Rangers specially
trained for behind-the-lines fight
ing hit the Korean dirt near
Mansan, nine miles south of par
allel 38 and q miles northwest
Of Seoul.
A field dispatch said the opera
ton looked like sweet peas sud
denly blooming in the Spring.
Parachutes blossomed into red.
blue. yellow and gray flowers
that drifted down to the fields
and rice paddles"
Ridgway, paratrooper himself,
landed among the air-dropped
troops In light observation plane
29 minutes after the first chutist
hit the silk" He carried a pistol
in hand and the familiar grenade
hitched to his paratroop harness.
The paratroopers quickly cut
the Red supply road running south
from Kaesong, two miles south
of the border.
Ridgway said the air troopers
landed with no appreciable los
ses, and are now proceeding TO
secure their objectives."
The only mishap of the huge
airdrop was the explosion of a
CLIO flying boxcar cargo plane
in the air after it delivered ITS
paratroopers.
TOKYO, (AP) - An Ameri-
can tank force stabbed yesterday
within four miles of parallel 38
in central Korea. 1t pushed north
ward through the former Chinese
stronghold of Chunehon on the
heels of retreating communist
troops
But in the west, the Reds ap-
peared to Re digging in for de-
sperate stand in South Korea.
Field dispatches said some
$4,000 communist troops manned
western defense positions in depth
for Is miles south of the border
These included two divisions Of
the Chinese Third Field Army,
idle since the Hungnam action IN
December.
An Allied tank patrol ran into
a hot fight Wednesday on the
approaches to Uiiongbu, north of
Seoul.
The thrust of Chunchon was the
closest announced Allied approach
in the Red Korean border dur
ing the current drive.
Patrols may have crossed the
boundary.
A delayed dispatch from AP
correspondent William c. Barn
ard said the armored column roll
led north late Wednesday from
Red-abandoned Chunchon. It
pulled back to Biyouac positions
for the night
Chunchon is eight miles south
of parallel 38.
Allied tanks and infantryrnen
occupied Chunchon Wednesday
afternoon without fight
AP Correspondent Left Erick-
son reported from u. S. Eighth
Army Headquarters that Allied
forces in Chunchon appeared in
position today Thursday to
strike across the 38th parallel any
time they choose to move after
the withdrawing Reds across the
political boundary"
One tank force that rumbled
north of Chunchan Wednesday
ran into Chinese mortar fire about
four miles north Of the bomb
rubbed city The tanks killed
nine Chinese. took one wounded
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