JMJ

Friday, July 2, 2010

November hill 1951

 
                                                                       JMJ
Kumwah,North Korea
Nov 1951
"L" Co, 5th RCT 24th Div.
Phillip Meyer S/sgt Ret.
                                                             Wake up call
   On the other side of the valley where we had dug holes to live in during the winter was the enemy controlled hills.I don't remember exactly when but a day came we were going up the hill early in the morning had got about half way up the hill..When I felt (I truly felt) I just could not go on no more,
I could not get up.Then the best thing ever to happen to me happenned.The platoon Lt, came up behind
me and gave me a swift kick directly in the middle of my bottom,And he said get to the top of the hill.
Amazing in a couple of seconds I was awake full of energy and passing all the rest of the soldiers,Except for my bottom that hurt a little,.That was the best kick I ever got in my life..
                                                              Hill description
    Imagine a horse shoe That would have been the chinese.We were in the middle of the horse shoe,They had positions on our right and left and the front, I was on a listnnening post,That is we would go as far as we could with out making contact with the enemy,Our objective should we see them coming or come under attack was to let the rest of the company know what was going on or fall back and hold with the rest,It was a very strange position. When we reached as far as we could go there in the middle of the path was a huge boulder that separated our lines from the Cynoscion each side of the boulder were bunkers,...on the right of the boulders were sand bags around four high then the bunker on the right.On the left behind a small bunker was an extra long bunker. The fox holes and bunkers until the hill got a little higher.If you looked to the front of the boulder the ridge line got very narrow and anyone walking it would have to be very careful then
it widened by the Chinese positions, To our front we could see the Chinese positions and the trench that went across the hill.Looking carefully you could actually see them walking back an forth in the trench,That is how close we were. The hills to the left and righ were filled with trees and brush so it was hard to see anything on them,,We stayed on that hill a couple of months and many things happened.
                                                                   My new bayonet,
 So one day a soldier came around and said we were being issued new bayonets,The reason may have been we did not even have bayonets for our weapons,.There it was my new bayonet,It was beautiful,Leather handle,,,sharp blade brand spanking new, I had put it down on the sand bags to my front when I hear a mortar coming in.I dived for a bunker as an officer dived into it to,My hands were shaking and the officer says "Are you cold?" Ahh officers..No I knew how close this mortar had come. So I went outside to get my bayonet,It was not on the sand bag I looked and there it was the mortar had hit it my brand new bayonet had been destroyed, The leather cut by the shrapnel,,,But if I had stayed by the sand bags it would have hit me directly,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hint just as we could see them they could see us,,,Phillip Meyer S/sgt.ret