Battle of Hill Eerie The Battle of Hill Eerie refers to several Korean War engagements between the United Nations forces and the Chinese Communist Forces ( CCF ) in 1952 at Hill Eerie , a military outpost at , about ten miles west of the rubble piles of Ch ' orwon . It was taken several times by both sides ; each sabotaging the others ' position . March 1952 . In March 1952 , Hill Eerie was the responsibility of the United States Army ' s 45th Infantry Division - Company K , 179th Infantry , commanded by Captain Max Clark . On March 21 , 1952 , the twenty - six personnel of the third platoon , under the command of Lieutenant Omer Manley , set out to take over the outpost . Manley ' s men made up two rifle squads , a light - machine - gun squad and a 60 - mm mortar squad . Manley sent out two patrols to establish an ambush site around the hill . That night , both patrol squads sighted enemy activity . At 23 : 30 , the Chinese attacked and a machine gun duel between the two sides ended after Captain Clark ' s troops on Hill 418 supported his men in the Eerie outpost with supporting machine - gun and mortar fire . The battle continued on the morning of March 22 with the Chinese forces penetrating the outpost ' s perimeter and eventually overran Manley ' s men . Clark was then ordered to concentrate his artillery fire on Outpost Eerie after losing communications . At 01 : 30 , Regimental Commander , Colonel Frederick A . Daugherty , ordered Clark to advance toward the hill and retake the hill . Clark ' s men searched the area and found out that , of the 26 men who had defended the outpost , 8 were dead , 4 wounded , and 2 were missing ( Lieutenant Manley and Corporal Joel Ybarra ) . They also recovered 31 enemy dead from around the hill and captured a wounded Chinese soldier . Later , Clark withdrew his troops to the main line of resistance . May 1952 . In May 1952 , the 20th Philippine Battalion Combat Team , under the command of Colonel Salvador Abcede , engaged the Chinese forces at the town of Karhwagol , west of Chorwon ; they were also involved in other major battles and assaults against the Chinese forces . There were numerous closely fought battles on Hill Eerie , as well as on Hills 18 , 200 , and 19 , ( ' Yoke ' , ' Uncle ' and ' Old Baldy ' ) , all in the T - Bone Hill area , but later the 20th were committed to the Pork Chop Hill area and in Alligator Jaws . Hill Eerie was a military outpost that changed hands many times and was a heavily fortified position with a commanding view of the plains below . A series of raids were launched by the Filipinos , from May 18 , led by Lieutenant Rodolfo Maestro , killing 28 CCF and a further 23 the next day , before disengaging with the enemy while tanks and artillery continued to bombard the outpost . On May 21 , 1952 , Colonel Abcede ordered Major Felizardo Tanabe , the battalion ' s operations officer , to prepare the final assault on the Chinese position after several attempts to capture the outpost . Tanabe sent the 44 - man 2nd reconnaissance platoon to sabotage the position . The platoon was led by a young Filipino officer , a 1950 graduate of West Point ' s United States Military Academy , 2nd Lieutenant Fidel V . Ramos ( future President of the Philippines ) . Ramos divided the assault team into four groups of snipers , riflemen , scouts and forward observers , each with a radio operator , a messenger and a medic . The platoon was reinforced by some engineer demolition specialists and an artillery observer team . They left at 04 : 07 . The Filipino platoon crawled through rice paddies and scattered trees for two hours before it reach an irrigation ditch , about 400 meters from the top of the hill . Intelligence estimated the enemy strength to be one reinforced platoon of the Chinese Red Army . The United States Air Force sent seven F - 86 Sabre jet fighters to pound the enemy positions with napalm . There was also artillery support . After the bombardment , Ramos ' men seized the front part of the trench network after discovering a hole in the blasted stack of barbed wire . Close - quarter fighting raged as the retreating enemy fought back but the advancing Filipinos were gaining the upper hand . The scout team , led by Corporal Jose Palis , went into action on the right of the hill and was later joined by Lieutenant Ramos . Meanwhile , the rifle team , led by Sergeant Cipriano Drapeza , worked its way round to the left side of the hill while the sniper team , led by Second Lieutenant Armando Dizon , held the enemy ' s support from nearby Hill 191 . By 07 : 28 , the Filipinos had demolished the Chinese bunkers and withdrawn from the top of the hill . Friendly tanks resumed their bombardment of Hill Eerie . The assault lasted for two hours , Ramos ' men suffered one injury while the Chinese had 11 dead , 10 wounded , whether from the supporting artillery , tanks and air strikes could not be determined . The battle was the final assault on Hill Eerie by the United Nations forces . The Filipino battalion was replaced by the 2nd Battalion of the 179th United States Infantry . June 1952 . On June 16 , 1952 , the 19th Philippine Battalion Combat Team , under the command of Colonel Ramon Z . Aguirre , relieved the American battalion in the T - Bone ridge sector . By June 18 , the Chinese forces sought to recapture the area and launched an intense artillery and mortar barrage . The Filipinos held their ground and were able to repulse the Chinese attack . On June 20 , the Chinese forces launched another attack towards Hill Eerie and the rest of the T - Bone ridge area . At dawn , the Chinese had advanced sufficiently to engage in hand - to - hand fighting but the Filipino troops were able to hold the position . By morning , the artillery battle continued but the allied forces successfully defended Hills Eerie and 191 . As a result of the battle it was estimated that the CCF suffered 500 casualties while the Filipinos had 24 . The Filipino battalion was later relieved by the US 2nd Infantry Division on July 18 , 1952 .