High Tide in the Korean War by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stackpole Books

FEBRUARY 13–14, 2220–0650 HOURS: ALONG THE LINE, G COMPANY, 23RD INFANTRY REGIMENT, MCGEE HILL

Several hours earlier, Capt. John H. Ramsburg, Colonel Edward's S2, assessed that the most vulnerable spot along the 23rd Infantry's perimeter was the southern sector. Because of this, he told Lt. Paul McGee, 3rd Platoon's leader, that the main Chinese attack would strike G Company. McGee recalled Ramsburg's words as he watched two flares shoot up into the sky from the hamlet of Masan, which was in front of his unit and at the base of McGee Hill. He wondered if this was the main assault he'd been warned about. It was 2220 hours.

Seconds later, McGee heard the telltale thuds and crumps of mortar rounds whooshing out of their tubes. Instinctively, everyone in 3rd Platoon hunkered down inside their two-man foxholes and waited. In an instant, explosions rocked the two hills that made up 3rd Platoon's battle position: McGee Hill in the west and Curtis Hill in the east. By 2230 hours, the first wave struck Curtis Hill.42

Cpl. Herbert G. Ziebell was a rifleman in 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon. When the attack began, he woke up the other GI in his foxhole, PFC Roy F. Benoit, and said to him, “There is some firing going on over by the rest of the platoon. Get up and get ready.”

Ziebell stared out into the darkness. “I didn't start firing right away…because I didn't see anybody to fire at,” he later said in an interview. “To fire at the darkness would draw fire.” Hence, he waited.

Several meters to the northeast of Ziebell's hole was 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon. Like the other platoons, the soldiers of 2nd Platoon had dug in on a mound labeled Finn Hill, named after 2nd Lt. Kenneth G. Finn, their platoon leader. PFC Donald E. Nelson, a bazooka gunner for 2nd Squad, was awake when the attack began. In fact, he had been arguing with his foxhole buddy, Pvt. Jack Ward, when they heard someone digging several hundred meters south of their position. Then they heard the shrill scream of a whistle.43

The first enemy group crept forward and approached G Company along a spur that jutted out from Curtis Hill. When they were within 70 meters of the American lines, they tossed three hand grenades at the closest squad. Cpl. Eugene L. Ottesen was waiting for them and opened fire with his .30-caliber light machine gun.

When McGee heard Ottesen's machine gun open fire, he alerted his other squads and his commander, Lieutenant Heath, over the field phone. Paul McGee sensed it was going to be a long fight and told his platoon, “Watch for the enemy [and] do not fire unless you see them.” He understood that his soldiers did not have an infinite amount of bullets or grenades. Since the Chinese had surrounded them, resupply would have to come from the air.44 Meanwhile, another squad attempted to sneak around the western flank of 3rd Platoon by infiltrating through a creek bed. When they were close, they attacked the BAR gunner in Sgt.

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