5TH MARINES FIRST MARINE BRIGADE (PROVISIONAL) OBONG-NI, THE NAKTONG BULGE, SOUTH KOREA 1155 20 AUGUST 1950
The battalion exec found Charley Company’s commander lying in the shade of a piece of tenting half supported by poles and half by the wall of a badly shot-up stone Korean farmhouse.
The company commander’s uniform was streaked with dried mud, and he was unshaven and looked like hell, which was, of course, to be expected under the circumstances. But nevertheless, when the company commander saw the battalion exec, he started to get up.
The exec gestured for him to stay where he was, dropped to his knees, and crawled under the canvas with him.
The company commander saluted, lying down, and the exec returned it.
“You look beat, Captain,” the exec said.
“I guess I’m not used to this heat, sir.”
“I don’t think anybody is,” the exec said. “It was a little cooler during the storm—”
He broke off when the captain’s eyes told him he was monumentally uninterested in small talk.
“How badly were you hurt?” the exec asked, meaning the company, not the company commander personally.
“I lost a little more than half of my men, and two of my officers. Fourteen enlisted and one officer KIA. Some of those who went down went down with heat exhaustion.”
The exec nodded.
At 0800, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines had attacked North Korean positions on Obong-ni Ridge. There had been a preliminary 105-mm howitzer barrage, and a mortar barrage, on the enemy positions, after which the 5th had attacked across a rice paddy and then up the steep slopes of the ridge. In that attack, Company A had been in the van, with B Company following and C Company in reserve.
The colonel had thought that order of battle best, primarily because the Charley Company commander had been on the job only a couple of days.
The colonel had found it necessary to employ his reserve, for by the time Able Company reached the crest of the ridge, more than half its men were down, either from enemy fire or heat exhaustion, and by the time Baker Company got there, they had lost a fifth of their men, mostly to exhaustion, and what was left was put to work carrying the dead and wounded off the slopes of the ridge, with Charley Company now needed to protect them.
And then the colonel had ordered everybody off Obong-ni Ridge when it was apparent to him that the men holding the crest were not going to be able to repel a North Korean counterattack.
Once everyone was back, reasonably safe, in the positions they had left to begin the attack, the artillery was called in again, and the mortars, and the North Korean positions on Obong-ni Ridge again came under fire.
Following which, the 1st Battalion attacked again, this time with what was left of Able and Baker Companies in the van, and with Charley Company following, and with Headquarters & Service Company in reserve.
By the time the 1st Marines again gained the crest of the hill, their strength had been reduced by 40 percent, and Charley Company had lost almost that many, but there was enough of them left, in the colonel’s judgment, so they stood a reasonable chance of turning the North Korean counterattack when it inevitably came, and he had ordered the Charley Company commander to take command of the Marines on the crest and defend it to the best of his ability.
Thirty minutes after the North Korean counterattack began, the colonel began receiving reports of the casualties suffered and of the ammunition running low. The colonel knew he didn’t have the manpower to get ammunition in the quantities requested up the crest of Obong-ni Ridge.
He called Brigade and explained the situation. Brigade said the 2nd Battalion would be immediately sent to the area, and as soon as they arrived, he had permission to order his Marines back off the hill. And ordered him to make every effort to see they brought their dead and wounded back with them.
Once back, they would re-form. There were some replacements, not as many as he would like, but that was all there was, and they would be sent as soon as possible.
“Trucks are coming,” the exec said. “They’re having a hell of a time getting through the mud, but they’ll be here shortly.”
The company commander did not reply.
“They’re bringing the noon meal, and some replacements, ” the exec said. “And following an artillery softening-up, 2nd Battalion will attack through the 1st at 1600. Charley Company will lead.”