Re: Kunu Ri Pass

[<Cfbernard@aol.com>]

Sorry,  Forgot to put on the enclosure.

Carl



You all,

This is an effort to do something now we were too innocent and ignorant of how the world works to have done 52 years ago.

I am referring to "Sleeping Bag Hill" on the 6th of February 1951.  We paid a lot to keep that Chinese regiment from taking our position.  They paid by leaving 190 counted bodies on it.   We were formidable during that fight and much of our "standout" courage was passed to the rest of us by Hugh Brown and his platoon.  They themselves did a extraordinary job of holding their position despite the lot of them and others who were wounded and the ferocity of the Chinese infantry's attack.  My intention to help us focus what we remember of that fight to get Hugh properly decorated for what he did, and "Love" Company recognized for what it was, one of the most effective rifle companies that fought in that war.  The price we paid was enormus. 

One of the things we called this fight was "the second death of a rifle company," as we matched it with what we went through in our first fight on 10 July at Chochiwon.  And of course a number of  the top soldiers who had survived that disaster, i.e., Pickings, Rounds, and Musick, were killed or died of their wounds on, or directly after Feb 6th.

Recall that the Chinese come up the hill in several echelons, the first were just each carrying a half dozen grenades.  They launched these at our first dug-in positions, held actually by the Gimlets.  The second Chinese echelon  were machine guns far forward.  Their fire was preliminary to the next group which were small lots of riflemen who ran  through our positions and went to ground behind us.  The Gimlets pulled back through Hugh's platoon, but he-although painfully wounded-kept the position while allowing some minor shifting of locations of you all with him.  Recall that a number of the others in his platoon were wounded as well, but that most of those who could  stayed up on the platoon's position.

I was down in the company headquarters position gathering up a number of the wounded, directing our mortar fires and getting us into a more effective defensive posture.  Volney's platoon slipped its location slightly to our left up the hill as the Chinese formation took the ridge that went through the center of our position.  Recall that we got the position back by closing an artillery battery's barrage sheaf in front of us and crawling up behind it.  And that we "added 5 zero " about every 50 yards to keep the Chinese heads down until we got within hand grenade range of them.

You all are going to get a call from a major in the Army Chief of Staff's office (Gregory Pickell) almost immediately.  He is trying to get a high decoration pinned on Hugh.  Please tell him everything you recall of this fight, with as much detail about everything of what and Hugh said or did.  Include that he was wounded a second time later in the morning, but  was able to keep himself and the remnants of his platoon there until the Chinese finally gave up and pulled back.  Your and the comments from the  "K" Company platoon loaned to you that morning should be given him in as much detail as possible.  Tell him just what you actually saw, and how you all felt about this fight.

Anything you wrote of that time would be of real value to Pickell.  And do give him the names and phone numbers of all of the persons you know who can add to the story you tell about this fight.