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Prairie Boys at War: Korea (Proof excerpt from Volume 2) Copyright

Merry Helm, 2014

IT WAS SO DAMN COLD, I used to jump up and down, said Iowan Ed Boucher. Being an old farm boy, I knew Id keep warm that way. Indeed, the 17-year-olds survival skills saved the lives of nine wounded Marines, rescued from deep in enemy territory during the night of December 8 the same date Bradley was fighting on Hill 1304. It was way below zero, overcast, and damn near pitch black that night, said Boucher. In combat, your eyes will play tricks on you. Youll see a bush or something to the right of you, and when it gets dark, youre looking straight ahead, and youll see that damn thing move. Youll swing at it and want to shoot at it, but you hold your fire, because six feet of fire comes out the barrel, and youd give away your position. Well, I seen this black object on the ground and wondered, What the hell? After awhile it was bothering me, so I got on my hands and knees with a 45 sub-machine gun; they call it a grease gun. I crawled up to it and found out it was a G.I. (Courtesy Ed Boucher) I dragged him back to the tank. I had some guys help me, because he was unconscious, and they helped me lift him up. When he finally came to, I asked him who he was. He said, Navy. I said, Navy! Youre 75 miles from a ship. He said, Im a corpsman for the Marines. Boucher learned from the medical aid-man that there were wounded Marines about a mile up on Hill 1081, deep in enemy territory. Although he was not an infantryman, Boucher went to his sergeant and volunteered to go on foot to rescue the wounded men.

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You know, being an old farm boy without electricity, we did everything in the dark, he said. I took the sergeants carbine and a couple grenades, and I tried to get somebody to go with me wed go down each track. Well, I got some guys, and we went up that mountain.

This slope south of Koto-ri represents the type of terrain Boucher and his crew negotiated during their rescue of wounded Marines the night of December 8. (Cpl Peter W . McDonald, USMC. National Archives) There was just enough snow on the ground that you didnt make much noise. This mountain was Hill 1081, and we ran into a whole bunch of Chinese. Wed hear that talk of theirs, and wed back up, get around them, and go some more. We did that all damn night long. We finally got to the top, and I got challenged by a Marine. The guy says they usually shoot first and ask questions later, but I gave them the password. He took me to the captain, his name was Barrow, and the captain says, Where the hell did you come from? I said, Army. 50th Triple-A. He asked whether we were airborne from the air drop they gave to us, because we were really trapped in.

214 I said, No, we came down through there. He said, The hell you did. Theres thousands of Chinese in there. I said, I know. We just came through them. Some of the wounded guys legs was frozen solid, but they could still walk. They probably amputated them later.

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I had just gotten home, and I went to apply for a Veterans Homestead loan in the State of Iowa. I went to the courthouse, walked up to the desk and asked, Where do I apply for a G.I. loan? This big guy, he asks, What war was you in? First World War or the Second World War? I said, The Korean War. He said, That wasnt no war.

I grabbed him by his necktie and his They also had this one kid collar and started dragging him over had seven holes in him hit this big bench. The wife grabbed me by a Russian burp gun that by the belt. A warden was over at the I helped carry down on a courthouse, and he came over and stretcher. But it was really asked what was going on? So I told steep, so we had to work our him. way down by sitting on our All the guy wouldve had to say was, butts. Youd get to a slippery Go up the stairs, and first door to spot, and all of a sudden, your left. But he came out with, wed be going like a That wasnt no war. toboggan. Wed come to a stop, and the wounded kid I couldve killed him. kept on going. Wed stop, and hed shoot right off the stretcher! We called, Where you at? He called from a snowbank, and wed put him back on his stretcher. He never complained once. Not one time did he even say, Ow. One thing I am scared of is heights. We came to a cliff, and I could see the road down below. But it was dark, and I couldnt see it too good. So we had to throw away the stretchers and do hand-over-hand to get them out of there. The SILVER STAR is awarded to Corporal EDWARD O. BOUCHER, Artillery, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving with Battery A, 50th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion (Self Propelled), in action between Chinhung-ni and Koto-ri, Korea, on 8 December 1950. While his unit was guarding the main supply route between these villages, in conjunction with the 1st Battalion of the 1st Marine Regiment, Corporal Boucher heard from

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a Marine aid man that there were nine wounded Marines on Hill 1081, a distance of about one mile. Through his own initiative and in the absence of orders, Corporal Boucher organized a detail of approximately ten men, consisting of Marines and Army personnel, and embarked upon the mission of evacuating these wounded to a medical aid station. The groups progress was impeded by rugged, mountainous terrain, a foot of snow, sub-zero temperatures, darkness, and an aggressive enemy force. On several occasions during the return trips to the top of Hill 1081, it was necessary to detour from the selected routes due to enemy fire. Corporal Boucher again disregarded his personal safety and reconnoitered for a route which would not subject the group to the then heavy volume of fire. The only possible escape lay over a steep precipice. Dauntlessly, and with determination, he hastily instructed the other members of the group in the manner in which the wounded would be handed down the cliff, although it necessitated digging footholds into the cliff and holding the cliff with one hand while lifting the wounded with the other. Three trips were made until the last of the wounded was delivered to safety at approximately 2400 hours. Through the entire ordeal, Corporal Boucher never wavered in his determination to save the wounded men, regardless of the sacrifices and dangers to himself and his men. His courage, self-sacrifice, and complete disregard for personal safety were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

ONE TOUGH MARINE! wrote Jack Witter about another Iowan, Staff Sergeant Ernest Umbaugh. Ernie was a Marine who always led from the front and where the action was. It was from Umbaughs Able Company, 1st Marines, that Ed Boucher had just rescued the wounded Marines the night of December 8-9. At this point, Umbaughs 1st Battalion had moved up from the south toward the Funchilin Pass, where their mission included taking control of Hill 1081 on the east side of the escape route. Ernie Umbaugh was born in Coon Rapids, Iowa, in 1923. His father was a laborer, and their large family moved around, living in several towns including Bayar. His last address was Marshalltown, where his wife and children lived while he was in Korea. Prior to deployment, Umbaugh had served as a marine instructor at Parris Island, where Jack Witter got to know him. Witters experience suggests Umbaugh was a guy you wanted on your side in a fight:

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(Map courtesy US Navy)

Chinese Intervention Ernie Umbaugh was about five feet, nine inches tall, of slim stature, and perhaps about 150 pounds. He was a real tough tiger, though, and didnt back down from anyone or anything. I recall Ernie coming back to our ship, in Kobe, Japan, a few days before we landed at Inchon. He was drunk, and his clothes were covered with someone elses blood after a bar fight. Two fellow Marines were half carrying him up the gang plank onto the ship.

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Courtland Corky Johnson fought beside Umbaugh on Hill 1081 on December 8 and 9 and later described the situation to Korean War researcher, Lynitta Brown: We were ragged, filthy dirty, bearded, hungry most of the time, and half frozen all the time. It was just one hell of a mess for the greatest fighting force in the world to be in. All this didnt even take into consideration being shot at most of the time. Several of the fellows spoke about dying from time to time, some in a joking way, and many figured we had met our Waterloo and were all going to be killed taking this hill we were on. But I never heard anyone say maybe we shouldnt do it or in any way shirk their duty. I felt then, and still feel today, that it was a privilege that if I had to fight, that I could fight alongside men like these. I imagine that dying crossed my mind once or twice, but I didnt dwell on it and never saw or heard anyone else do so either. Also, I dont recall thinking about being overrun or taken prisoner. . . Its hard to explain, as we were almost constantly afraid in combat if we had any damn sense. However, we truly believed (at least I did) that our training and leadership would see us through and that we were going to just kick the living crap out of those Chinamen. I dont believe any of us could fathom any different ending to it. I know I had made up my mind that I was coming out of this damn mess alive and that I was eventually going home. The main thing was that our Marine Corps training, the superb leadership ability of our officers and senior NCOs, and looking out for each other as Marines had done for nearly 200 years, was going to bring us through it. We simply had to believe in God, our Corps, our country, our comrades and ourselves. Otherwise, in the hellish situation we were in, we would probably have gone mad. 83
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Johnson, Courtland Rueben interview with Lynitta Brown circa 1999-2000. W eb. http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/memoirs/johnson_corky/index.htm. Used by permission.

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Having been relieved by elements of the 3rd Infantry Division down south at Chinhung-ni, the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines was attacking toward Funchilin Pass to eliminate enemy opposition overlooking the Marines coming down from the north. Umbaughs Able Company, under Captain Bob Barrow, would lead the attack on Hill 1081. Just to get into position would be a hellish feat, which also attests to the gallantry of Ed Boucher and his rescue team that night. Historian Eric Hammel writes: The going for Bob Barrow and Able Company was treacherous in the extreme. Having started the mission at eleven hundred feet above sea level at Chinhung-ni, the battalion had [for five hours] climbed twelve hundred feet on the MSR. The summit of Hill 1081 was about one thousand feet above the roadway, about thirty-three hundred feet above sea level. The thin mountain air and chilling cold took a toll upon the energy reserves of the climbers. . .as did the precipitous, rocky route that Barrow was forced to blaze for his bulkily clad, heavily laden riflemen and gunners.84 The men made their climb in silence to preserve the element of surprise. The situation for Umbaughs 1st Platoon would be very tricky. After grappling to the top on their hands and knees, they would be have to maneuver along a sharp razorback ridge, which could sky-line them, leaving them vulnerable to enemy fire. Although they were somewhat protected by the snowstorm, Barrow caught a fleeting glimpse of the Chinese in the swirling snow. The ridge rose and widened above the 1st Platoons positions and there they were, less than a hundred yards away. The fight was on. Able Companys 2nd and 3rd Platoons took the first set of bunkers by nightfall. The following morning, it was up to Umbaughs 1st Platoon to finish the job. The morning of 9 December, the Skipper had us test-fire our weapons before mounting our final assault on Hill 1081, said Corky Johnson, a wise precaution because many of them had frozen up. We had used hair oil on the machine guns, and many of us had used it on our personal weapons as well. It seemed to work well, but dont ask me what the hell some of us were doing with hair oil in this situation. It just seemed to appear when needed. Two of the 1st Platoons squads moved left along the narrow approach to the Chinese bunkers. Umbaugh led another squad to the right.

84

Hammel. Chosin: Heroic Ordeal. P 473.

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The weather had now cleared, Johnson said. . . . we had air, artillery, and mortar support, [but] we came under intense enemy small-arms fire from the Chinese occupying well-camouflaged bunkers. The 1st Platoon was hit very hard, but its left flank squad worked its way forward in brief rushes to positions within 200 yards of the crest. The two squads on the left came under heavy machine gun fire that drove them to the ground. At this point the Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Ernest J. Umbaugh, organized a squad grenade attack that wiped out the first CCF bunker, said Johnson. Umbaugh then led his men up over the crest and overran the Chinese positions. When the other two squads regained their feet, new enemy machine gun fire erupted from a knob about 250 yards farther north, and Umbaugh crossed back to the other side of the crest to direct a line of fire against them. After much fighting, the 2nd and 3rd Platoons moved forward to hold their newly won positions. Umbaugh once again led his squad back over open ground to reorganize with the bulk of their platoon. Having taken heavy casualties, Able Company was down to about half-strength. But they kept up the pressure. Hammel wrote of Umbaughs heroic acts: In rolling up the Chinese defenses from end to end, the attacking Marines stampeded the defenders through the complex of trenches and bunkers, dropping grenades from above onto the fleeing, panicked PLA soldiers. When [platoon leader] Bill McClelland stopped to let the riflemen pass in the final assault upon two stubbornly held bunkers at the center of the collapsing Chinese complex, he saw that Ernie Umbaugh was legging it toward him from the opposite flank. Before the platoon sergeant could speak, however, both men were blanketed by a flurry of small-arms fire. The lieutenant had many holes shot through his parka and equipment, but he suffered no injury. Ernie Umbaugh, who was only five feet away, was shot full of holes and fell bleeding to the ground. His wounds would be mortal.85 We lost a fine marine and shipmate in Ernest Umbaugh, said Corky Johnson. He received the Navy Cross posthumously for this gallant act which had saved many other lives. He left a wife and three small children at home. I think his death bothered me more than any other.

85

Ibid. P 479.

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The NAVY CROSS is awarded (Posthumously) to ERNEST JUNIOR UMBAUGH, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as Platoon Sergeant of the First Platoon, Company A, First Battalion, First Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces in the Republic of Korea on 9 December 1950. Subjected to heavy and accurate fire while leading his platoon in the attack against well-entrenched hostile positions on snow-covered mountain slopes dominating the Koto-ri Pass Road, Staff Sergeant Umbaugh repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to cross and re-cross the crest of the ridge-line as he coordinated and directed the systematic destruction of two of the three heavily defended hostile positions. Although his platoon was suffering many casualties, he rallied his men and charged in the lead of the final assault in which he personally destroyed two enemy machine-gun bunkers and annihilated ten of the gun crew. As he advanced toward a third hostile machine gun, he was mortally wounded by enemy small arms fire. By his courageous actions, he served to inspire others of his group to heroic endeavor in quickly overrunning the remaining hostile positions and seizing the objective, thereby contributing materially to the successful advance of the Division through Koto-ri Pass. His outstanding fortitude, leadership and aggressive fighting spirit reflect the highest credit upon Staff Sergeant Umbaugh and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country. (Board Serial 636, 5 Jul 1951)