Tag: 1951 Battle of Heartbreak Ridge, 9/13-10/15/

Political/Military Tags

1950 Pusan Perimeter, 8/4-9/18 1950 Inchon Landing, 9/15-9/19 1950 Seoul Recapture, 9/22-9/25 1950 Battle of Pyongyang, 10/15-17 1950 Wonsan Landing, 10/25 1950 Battle of Chosin Reservoir, 11/27-12/13 1950 Hamheung Evacuation, 12/10-12/24 1951 January 4 Withdrawal, 12/31-1/7 1951 Battle of Bloody Ridge, 8/18-9/15/1951 Battle of Heartbreak Ridge, 9/13-10/15/1951 Battle of Jipyeongri, 2/13-15 1952 Battle of Old Baldy, 6/26-8/4 1952 Battle of White Horse, 10/6-15 1952 Battle of Triangle Hill, 10/14-11/25 1952 Battle of Hill Eerie, 3/21-6/21 1953 Battle of the Hook, 5/28-29 1953 Battle of Pork Chop Hill, 3/23-7/16 1953 Sieges of Outpost Harry, 6/10-18 1953 Armistice 7/27 1968 Pueblo Abduction 1968 Blue House attack 1969 EC-121 1976 Poplar Tree Ax Incident 1983 Langgoon blowup 1996 Gangneung attack 1999 Yeonpyeong naval battle 2000 South-North Summit 2002 2nd Yeonpyeong naval battle 2008 Geumgang Mountain killing 2006 1st nuclear test, 10/9 2009 2nd nuclear test, 5/25 2010 Cheonan sinking 2010 Yeonpyeong Island bombing 2013 3rd nuclear test, 2/12 2016 4th and 5th nuclear tests, 1/6 and 9/9

Geographic Tags

Anyang Aprokgang (Yalu River)Busan Byeokdong Cheonan Cheongcheongang (River)Chuncheon Daegu Daejeon Dongducheon East Sea Euijeongbu Gaesong Gangneung Geojedo Geumgang Geumgang (River)Gotori Hagalwoori Hamheung Hangang (River)Heungnam Hwacheon Hwangchoryeong Imjingang (River)Incheon Jangjin Jipyeongri Kunsan Kunwoori Langgoon Masan Nakdonggang (River)Osan Panmunjeom Pohang Pyungyang Seokdong Seoul Sudong Suwon Wolmido Wonju Wonsan Yellow Sea Yeongdeungpo Yeonpyeong Yudamri

Social Tags

Basic training Chinese Civilians Cold winters Communists Depression Fear Food Front lines G.I. Bill Home front Impressions of Korea KATUSA Letters Living conditions Message to Students Modern Korea Monsoon North Koreans Orphanage Personal Loss Physical destruction Poverty POW Pride Prior knowledge of Korea Propaganda Rest and Relaxation (R&R)South Koreans Weapons Women

Bernard Dykes

Iron Triangle Strategy

Bernard Dykes details the strategy at his placement within the Iron Triangle. He describes why it was named this and being there with French soldiers. He also mentions battles that happened before and after his time there and the devastation endured.

Bruce W. Diggle

Hill 355 and the "Apostles"

Bruce Diggle shows the famous Hill 355, also known as Kowang San. The British Commonwealth forces fought for possession of Hill 355 during the series of battles that corresponded to the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge to the east. The North Koreans were positioned on three smaller hills that the Kiwis nicknamed the Apostles - Matthew, Luke, and John. He took pictures of the North Korean positions during a truce.

Donald Schneider (Part 2/2)

Experiences at Heartbreak Ridge and Bloody Ridge

Donald Schneider was a participant in several battles while stationed in Korea, including Heartbreak Ridge and Bloody Ridge. He provides a firsthand account of what it was like in these two areas, including how hard it was to take them. He explains why they gave Heartbreak Ridge back to the Chinese.

Douglas C. Fargo

Heartbreak Ridge

Douglas C. Fargo talks about his assignment as a Platoon Leader on Heartbreak Ridge. He speaks about serving with South Korean soldiers and the soldiers he lost under his command. He also describes capturing North Korean soldiers during an attack and on patrol.

Edward L. Kafka

Inchon Landing and Radioman Training

Edward Kafka landed at Inchon in April 1952 and the military switched his MOS (military operational specialty) from surveyor to radioman while being stationed two miles from the front lines. While dealing with severe battles every day, he deciphered messages that were send through Morris Code from the outposts.

Life as a Soldier in Korea War

Edward Kafka worked near a mess hall and the headquarter's battery since he ran radios. Therefore, he had access to a shower once a week and he was able to get clean clothes too.

Korean Terraign and Fighting in Major Battles in Korean War

Edward Kafka described the mountains and farm land that reached all over that land. He fought at Heartbreak Ridge, the Iron Triangle, and Porkchop Hill.

Edward Rowny

Rowny's Book About the War

Edward Rowny shares he has written books and provides information about his experiences with the Teachers and Veteran's Youth Corps Convention in 2015. He comments on how his book, An American Soldier's Saga in the Korean War, received a lot of coverage and was translated into Korean. He encourages students to pay attention to what they learn in class to prevent events like the Korean War from happening again. He summarizes his book as it retells his experiences and accomplishments in the War.

George Sullivan

The Most Severe Battle

George Sullivan shares he lost a cousin at the Battle at Heartbreak Ridge. He remembers digging a trench and crawling into it. He recalls not being able to move the next morning and shares he ended up with malaria. He recounts how he healed after a short hospital stay and returned to the front lines.

Gerald Land

Homesick Soldiers

Gerald Land described how he felt in December 1952 on Heartbreak Ridge in the middle of the winter. An Army loudspeakers would play Christmas carols and a woman would be telling stories back home of your girlfriend cheating on you with your best friend. He also recalled a time shortly after New Years when one of the guys started firing his weapon by making a series of shots that sounded funny and the Patton tank at the base of that mountain fired a round which it lifted their spirits. He said he felt very homesick.
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Henry Winter

Heartbreak Ridge

Henry Winter describes his first time in combat. He vividly recalls the shelling and the sound of a horn blaring as the enemy charged up the hill. They repelled the charge suffering 60 casualties during the course of the battle. Henry Winter recalls another instance of shelling when one brother found another dead.

Living Conditions

Henry Winter describes what it was like to live on the front line on Heartbreak Ridge. He speaks about sleeping in trenches and army rations. He recounts taking showers once a week in the rear. Henry Winter also remembers the cold and the many cases of frostbite suffered by soldiers.

Jacques Grisolet

War is War

Jacques Grisolet recalls the challenges of the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge (Creve-coeur). He remembers it as one of the most difficult terrains they had to conquer as they fought in the mountains. He notes there was significant amounts of artillery fire, mortars, and bombardments which left hardly a tree to hide behind.

James A. Newman

"Pushing" to Hill 355

James Newman fought in the Battle for Hill 355 or Kowang-san. This battle was part of the larger Battle of Mayang-San, a joint British, Australian, and New Zealand engagement along the Imjin River. He describes his experiences on the frontline where he shared a foxhole with a Korean kid while mortars from the Chinese exploded near them.

James M. Cross

Heartbreak Ridge and PTSD (graphic)

James Cross describes the marches he endured and seeing fellow Marines dead in a pile with all clothing removed by the enemy. He shares that he began to resent the Chinese, so much so that if he saw one, he would kill him. His wife, in the interview, adds that he would wake from nightmares during the night, screaming and upset due to having seen his friends killed right beside him.

Scared or Mad (graphic)

James Cross describes how he was either scared or mad at the Chinese, particularly while at Heartbreak Ridge. He recalls having one hot meal a day and recounts an incident which occurred shortly after finishing a meal. He remembers being mad at the Chinese during the majority of his service for what they were doing to American soldiers, and he shares that he tried his best to stop them at whatever cost.

James Parker

Heartbreak Ridge

James Parker recalls the campaign for Heartbreak Ridge. He remembers many calls for medics as soldiers were continuously wounded advancing up the hill. He chronicles the change in tactics from using manpower to advance to using tanks instead as a means of taking out the enemy bunkers.

Letters Home

James Parker recalls writing letters home to his sister. He produces a folder containing a letter he had written and offers the viewing of a magazine he was sent from the States pertaining to Heartbreak Ridge. He utilizes the map to show the routes he and other soldiers took during the campaign.

Keith G. Hall

Minesweepers near "Little Gibraltar"

Keith G. Hall describes his experiences near Hill 355, nicknamed "Little Gibraltar", in October 1951 as part of the Battle of Maryang-san alongside the more famous Battle of Heartbreak Ridge. His unit helped maintain the roads and sweep for mines behind the hill. He recounts the many wounded brought down from the battle.

Patterns of Minefields

Keith G. Hall explains the process of clearing mines. For fields laid by allies, he had access to the schematics in order to know where mines had been laid. He felt fortunate that he didn't have to detect mines laid by the enemy.

Slippery Slopes and Minefields

Keith G. Hall describes the dangers of defusing anti-personnel mines, as they included both trip wires and three-prong detonation features. In one instance, a sergeant working with him slipped on a slope and exploded a mine. His body was thrown onto another mine, which Keith G. Hall had to deactivate in hopes of saving the sergeant.

Get Out of This Field!

Keith G. Hall describes training reinforcements to clear minefields. Inserting pins into mines in order to deactivate them was of utmost importance. In one instance, a soldier forgot and had clear the field fast.

Ralph Hodge

Arrival in Korea

Ralph Hodge vividly details his trip from Ft. Lawton, WA, to Seoul beginning shortly after Thanksgiving 1951. He recalls the fourteen awful days and nights aboard ship which included traveling through three or four typhoons. He notes how when they arrive in Yokohama, Japan, on December 7, 1951, they wrote their wills before heading to Sasebo and onto Pusan. He shares it was in Pusan that he was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, 38th Regiment, Company B Mortar Platoon as a replacement. He recounts his early experiences in country.

Richard Franklin

Life in a MASH Unit

Richard Franklin describes life in his MASH unit during his tour in Korea. Specifically, he mentions his experience during the summer of 1952 and the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge.

Ronald Rosser

Medal of Honor

Ronald Rosser explains the Medal of Honor, the highest award an American can receive from Congress. He received the award from President Harry Truman. He shares that nineteen men in his division received the Medal of Honor though only four of them had lived.

Combat Victories and Injuries

Setting the record for hand-to-hand combat, Ronald Rosser shares how he killed twelve people through this method. He remembers getting wounded in his foot by shrapnel during Heartbreak Ridge. He recounts some of his dangerous incidents during the war.

Sanford Epstein

Heartbreak Ridge Memories

Sanford Epstein describes the living conditions he experienced during his first winter in Korea. He recounts how cold it was and comments on the food available. He recalls a fellow soldier's death during the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge.

Wendell Murphy

Iron Triangle, Pork Chop Hill, Heartbreak Ridge

Wendell Murphy tells of his participation in several famous battles. On Sept 19, 1951 at Heartbreak Ridge he was hit by a land mine. It killed the Sergeant and Corporal in front of him; he was hit in the legs, ribs and head. He was only 18 years old, injured and unable to move. He hid to avoid being captured by Chinese.

Fighting the Chinese

He describes being in trenches, explaining that he was as close as 300 yards from the enemy. He describes how beautiful the mountains were, but all the trees were full of gunshot. He describes how the Chinese would come by the thousands, and describes a night at Heartbreak Ridge when about 60 men were killed, mainly by rifle fire, in September 1951.