"L" Co. 5th RCT 1951

Korea war 1951
"L" Co, 5th RCT 24th Division

The next time the truck stopped it was down a small road with dried out rice paddies on the right side and a wooded area on the left. When I got out of the truck .I was now a member of the 5th RCT and I was in "L" Company the 4th platoon..I went across a mound of dirt to a bivouac area. A couple of soldiers were sitting on the ground,,The first thing the Sgt ask me was "Okay what weapon do you want" and I had a choice, the machine gun,a BAR (Browning automatic rifle) or a plain old M1 rifle. I chose a rifle which I already had, However I was assigned to a machine gun squad..That night I pulled guard on the wooded side of the road.We had mosquito nets to put over our helmets but I could not see very well with the net so I would pull it up and got bit by mosquitos.It would be the only time I got bit by mosquitos which would cause a big problem much later.

The next day after breakfast the Sgt was looking for volunteers to fire the 2.3 rocket launcher volunteered and we met a the end of the road where it ended at the bottom of a hill.There were three of us who volunteered, There was one 2.3 Rocket luncher..The Sgt took the first soldier and gave him instructions then a round was put in the rocket luncher .The soldier squeezed the trigger it did not fire.A small wire connection was checked it fired. Next soldier another round put in. Again problems making it fire and when it did there was rust on the round that blew out the back,Now it was my turn.I was supposed to fire high at the hill but as I looked through the scope it was aimed somewhere at the bottom of the hill and I thought its not going to fire......So I pulled the trigger and it fired immediatly. The round landed at the bottom of the hill.

The next day some big General came and our company put on a show of fire power, Soldiers carrying 81 MM mortars up the hill, I fired a carbine with other soldiers. I put it on automatic and after firing a clip or two the wooden cover was smoking it got that hot,.after the General left we bivouacked near a hill in the valley, I was in my tent writing one of those rare letters I ever wrote,.When the artillery started to fire which was not far away the ground shook,Some soldiers who were called "Ridge runners" made special patrols before we would go on the front lines.We were in Kumwah,North Korea.

The next day we would go on the front lines.