2RHPZ
07-06-2004, 04:09 AM
Assaulting `suicide Hill': in June and July 1952, outfits of the 45th and 2nd
Infantry divisions fought a frustrating fray for Hill 266, better known as Old
Baldy
VFW Magazine, June-July, 2002 by Gary Turbak
As the summer of 1952 approached, the U.N. defensive line stretched 150 miles
across the Korean Peninsula. It was an extensive system of bunkers, trenches,
artillery emplacements and other fortifications solidifying its position well
north of the 38th Parallel.
A bit farther to the north, the Chinese maintained an equally solid line. Like
two heavyweight boxers glaring at each other across the ring, these huge forces
seemed stuck in a standoff, neither side eager to launch a major offensive while
truce talks droned on.
Still, the fighting remained intense. Enemy gunners daily fired thousands of
shells at U.N. positions, and American troops returned the barrage many .times
over. In addition, the rugged no-man's land between the two front lines became--for
both sides a dangerous hornet's nest of patrols, raids and ambushes.
In early June, American commanders--hoping to establish outposts that might
provide early warning of enemy movements--decided to occupy 11 hills that lay a
few thousand yards in front of their main line. They dubbed this action
Operation Counter. One of the most prominent hills came to be called "Old Baldy."
SEESAW BATTLE FOR HILL 266
Officially known as Hill 266, Old Baldy earned its nickname after artillery and
mortar fire destroyed the trees on its crest. "It was just a big mountain of
dirt with no greenery," recalled GI Jerry Ciaravino. But as the highest point on
a prominent east-west ridge, Old Baldy held strategic importance because it
dominated terrain in three directions.
Air strikes softened up the enemy-held hills, but the task of taking Old Baldy
fell to elements of the 45th Division's 180th Infantry Regiment, which moved out
after dark on June 6. Their initial assault met with stiff resistance, so they
withdrew. Pfc. James Ortega, a forward observer with the 171st Field Artillery
Battalion, bravely remained behind in a trench from which he directed the fire
of 500 artillery rounds.
When the shelling stopped, the infantry returned, but once again met intense
enemy fire. Master Sgt. John White of A Co., 180th Inf. Regt., led a squad in a
sweep around the enemy's rear.
He later recalled in Truce Tent and Fighting Front: "We saw a group of soldiers
and thought they were our own men at first. We advanced to within 25 feet of
them when we heard Chinese voices. Then we opened up." Eventually, the GIs
pushed the Chinese off the hill and shortly after midnight claimed Old Baldy as
their own.
Almost immediately, however, enemy artillery began to rain down on them. "There
were no bunkers or trenches to get into, so we started digging while the shells
burst all round us," recalled Master Sgt. Gerald Marlin of A Company. "I almost
crawled into my helmet," he remembered for the Army's official history.
Through the night, GIs labored to make Old Baldy defensible. They dug trenches,
laid communication wire, built bunkers, strung barbed wire, placed mines,
stockpiled ammunition and established firing locations for their automatic
weapons. By dawn, Old Baldy was ready to be defended.
On June 16, the 179th Infantry Regiment relieved the 180th on Old Baldy. For the
next 10 days, the Chinese repeatedly attempted to retake the high ground. "Mostly
they tried to get the hill by overwhelming us," recalls Lee Keir, radio operator
with Weapons Plt., C Co., 179th Regt. "Sometimes their infantry would come
rushing in while their own artillery shells were still landing. When we raised
our heads, there they were."
On June 26, U.S. leaders decided to assault the enemy position--barely a
thousand feet from the crest of the hill. U.S. troops met stiff resistance, and
the battle for Old Baldy escalated to a fever pitch. Darkness did nothing to
quell the battle, with GIs turning back three separate Chinese attacks the night
of June 27.
Late the next night, a Chinese force estimated at two reinforced battalions
attacked again, broke through the U.S. defenses, and engaged the GIs in hand-to-hand
fighting. That assault ended with a Chinese withdrawal, but not before the enemy
lost an estimated 700 men. That's compared to eight U.S. dead and 35 WIA. More
enemy attacks in early July also were repulsed. Yet that would not be the end of
fighting on this treeless hill.
(Between June 6 and July 5, the 45th Division sustained 275 KIA across Korea.)
`SMELL OF DEATH'
In mid-July, elements of the 23rd Inf. Regt., 2nd Div., relieved the 179th.
Rudolph Stephens, who served with the 23rd, provides perhaps the best account of
this phase of Old Baldy fighting in his book Old Ugly Hill:
"There was just something about this place that smelled of death, and I had a
feeling of dread as we approached the top [on July 17]. At ten o'clock that
night they started throwing everything at us ... Dirt and shrapnel flew
everywhere, and our bunker roof dumped dirt all over us ... the shells seemed to
be falling like rain ... the noise was so deafening that it seemed ... it was
thunder booming on top of us.
"The artillery had put flares over us, and we could see the hill below was one
dark mass of Chinese ... We began throwing everything we had at them as they
came up the slopes, but it didn't seem to do any good."
No wonder Indianhead warriors of the 2nd Infantry Division called Old Baldy "Suicide
Hill." One, Pfc. Raphael J. Leif, told Newsweek, "That hill has changed me. I
can't even look at it anymore."
The Chinese reclaimed Old Baldy and succeeded in holding it in the face of
concentrated U.S. air strikes, infantry attacks and artillery and mortar fire.
In the first three weeks of the month, U.S. losses at Old Baldy had been 39 KIA,
234 WIA and 84 MIA. Enemy casualties: 1,093.
With torrential rains making combat all but impossible during the last days of
July, both sides used the time to resupply and assess their positions.
When the rain let up, GIs moved to once again take command of Old Baldy.
Overpowering the enemy with small arms fire, hand grenades and hand-to-hand
fighting, B and C companies from the 23rd took control of the hill on Aug. 1.
That night, the Chinese pummeled the Americans with an estimated 2,500 rounds of
artillery and mortar fire. Still, the GIs turned back Communist attempts to
occupy the crest. Another attack a few days later also was rebuffed. All told,
the 23rd Regiment suffered 114 KIA between July 16 and Aug. 5. Some 45 men were
killed on July 18 alone.
Charles Varnam, heavy weapons platoon leader in H Co., 23rd Inf. Regt., arrived
in August after the fighting. He remembered hearing that "mortars were fired so
fast that they got too hot to drop the rounds into, so they wrapped the barrels
with towels and poured water over them in order to keep firing."
For about six weeks the Chinese held back. Then on Sept. 18, they took control
of Old Baldy's crest. Two days later, companies of the 2nd Division's 38th
Infantry Regiment, supported this time by tanks, retook the hill.
For months, the status quo prevailed. Finally, on March 23, 1953, the Chinese
regained control of Old Baldy. U.S. leaders, however, decided to let them keep
the de****d lump of ground this time.
BATTLE CASUALTIES
The 179th, 180th and 23rd Infantry regiments had 307 KIA between June 6 and Aug.
5.
Infantry divisions fought a frustrating fray for Hill 266, better known as Old
Baldy
VFW Magazine, June-July, 2002 by Gary Turbak
As the summer of 1952 approached, the U.N. defensive line stretched 150 miles
across the Korean Peninsula. It was an extensive system of bunkers, trenches,
artillery emplacements and other fortifications solidifying its position well
north of the 38th Parallel.
A bit farther to the north, the Chinese maintained an equally solid line. Like
two heavyweight boxers glaring at each other across the ring, these huge forces
seemed stuck in a standoff, neither side eager to launch a major offensive while
truce talks droned on.
Still, the fighting remained intense. Enemy gunners daily fired thousands of
shells at U.N. positions, and American troops returned the barrage many .times
over. In addition, the rugged no-man's land between the two front lines became--for
both sides a dangerous hornet's nest of patrols, raids and ambushes.
In early June, American commanders--hoping to establish outposts that might
provide early warning of enemy movements--decided to occupy 11 hills that lay a
few thousand yards in front of their main line. They dubbed this action
Operation Counter. One of the most prominent hills came to be called "Old Baldy."
SEESAW BATTLE FOR HILL 266
Officially known as Hill 266, Old Baldy earned its nickname after artillery and
mortar fire destroyed the trees on its crest. "It was just a big mountain of
dirt with no greenery," recalled GI Jerry Ciaravino. But as the highest point on
a prominent east-west ridge, Old Baldy held strategic importance because it
dominated terrain in three directions.
Air strikes softened up the enemy-held hills, but the task of taking Old Baldy
fell to elements of the 45th Division's 180th Infantry Regiment, which moved out
after dark on June 6. Their initial assault met with stiff resistance, so they
withdrew. Pfc. James Ortega, a forward observer with the 171st Field Artillery
Battalion, bravely remained behind in a trench from which he directed the fire
of 500 artillery rounds.
When the shelling stopped, the infantry returned, but once again met intense
enemy fire. Master Sgt. John White of A Co., 180th Inf. Regt., led a squad in a
sweep around the enemy's rear.
He later recalled in Truce Tent and Fighting Front: "We saw a group of soldiers
and thought they were our own men at first. We advanced to within 25 feet of
them when we heard Chinese voices. Then we opened up." Eventually, the GIs
pushed the Chinese off the hill and shortly after midnight claimed Old Baldy as
their own.
Almost immediately, however, enemy artillery began to rain down on them. "There
were no bunkers or trenches to get into, so we started digging while the shells
burst all round us," recalled Master Sgt. Gerald Marlin of A Company. "I almost
crawled into my helmet," he remembered for the Army's official history.
Through the night, GIs labored to make Old Baldy defensible. They dug trenches,
laid communication wire, built bunkers, strung barbed wire, placed mines,
stockpiled ammunition and established firing locations for their automatic
weapons. By dawn, Old Baldy was ready to be defended.
On June 16, the 179th Infantry Regiment relieved the 180th on Old Baldy. For the
next 10 days, the Chinese repeatedly attempted to retake the high ground. "Mostly
they tried to get the hill by overwhelming us," recalls Lee Keir, radio operator
with Weapons Plt., C Co., 179th Regt. "Sometimes their infantry would come
rushing in while their own artillery shells were still landing. When we raised
our heads, there they were."
On June 26, U.S. leaders decided to assault the enemy position--barely a
thousand feet from the crest of the hill. U.S. troops met stiff resistance, and
the battle for Old Baldy escalated to a fever pitch. Darkness did nothing to
quell the battle, with GIs turning back three separate Chinese attacks the night
of June 27.
Late the next night, a Chinese force estimated at two reinforced battalions
attacked again, broke through the U.S. defenses, and engaged the GIs in hand-to-hand
fighting. That assault ended with a Chinese withdrawal, but not before the enemy
lost an estimated 700 men. That's compared to eight U.S. dead and 35 WIA. More
enemy attacks in early July also were repulsed. Yet that would not be the end of
fighting on this treeless hill.
(Between June 6 and July 5, the 45th Division sustained 275 KIA across Korea.)
`SMELL OF DEATH'
In mid-July, elements of the 23rd Inf. Regt., 2nd Div., relieved the 179th.
Rudolph Stephens, who served with the 23rd, provides perhaps the best account of
this phase of Old Baldy fighting in his book Old Ugly Hill:
"There was just something about this place that smelled of death, and I had a
feeling of dread as we approached the top [on July 17]. At ten o'clock that
night they started throwing everything at us ... Dirt and shrapnel flew
everywhere, and our bunker roof dumped dirt all over us ... the shells seemed to
be falling like rain ... the noise was so deafening that it seemed ... it was
thunder booming on top of us.
"The artillery had put flares over us, and we could see the hill below was one
dark mass of Chinese ... We began throwing everything we had at them as they
came up the slopes, but it didn't seem to do any good."
No wonder Indianhead warriors of the 2nd Infantry Division called Old Baldy "Suicide
Hill." One, Pfc. Raphael J. Leif, told Newsweek, "That hill has changed me. I
can't even look at it anymore."
The Chinese reclaimed Old Baldy and succeeded in holding it in the face of
concentrated U.S. air strikes, infantry attacks and artillery and mortar fire.
In the first three weeks of the month, U.S. losses at Old Baldy had been 39 KIA,
234 WIA and 84 MIA. Enemy casualties: 1,093.
With torrential rains making combat all but impossible during the last days of
July, both sides used the time to resupply and assess their positions.
When the rain let up, GIs moved to once again take command of Old Baldy.
Overpowering the enemy with small arms fire, hand grenades and hand-to-hand
fighting, B and C companies from the 23rd took control of the hill on Aug. 1.
That night, the Chinese pummeled the Americans with an estimated 2,500 rounds of
artillery and mortar fire. Still, the GIs turned back Communist attempts to
occupy the crest. Another attack a few days later also was rebuffed. All told,
the 23rd Regiment suffered 114 KIA between July 16 and Aug. 5. Some 45 men were
killed on July 18 alone.
Charles Varnam, heavy weapons platoon leader in H Co., 23rd Inf. Regt., arrived
in August after the fighting. He remembered hearing that "mortars were fired so
fast that they got too hot to drop the rounds into, so they wrapped the barrels
with towels and poured water over them in order to keep firing."
For about six weeks the Chinese held back. Then on Sept. 18, they took control
of Old Baldy's crest. Two days later, companies of the 2nd Division's 38th
Infantry Regiment, supported this time by tanks, retook the hill.
For months, the status quo prevailed. Finally, on March 23, 1953, the Chinese
regained control of Old Baldy. U.S. leaders, however, decided to let them keep
the de****d lump of ground this time.
BATTLE CASUALTIES
The 179th, 180th and 23rd Infantry regiments had 307 KIA between June 6 and Aug.
5.