Attack The 3604ft Mountain on 38th Parallel 4th Day

    The fourth day on the attack, we reached the top of the mountain, altitude: 3604 feet. It was littered with bloated decomposing enemy bodies from an earlier air strike. The stench was so strong a reason for the missing enemy, we thought . As the 3rd platoon diceded to clear the area the enemy opened fire on us. When  Automatic fire came my way I hit the ground with the mortar tube and base plate on my side shielded only by tall weeds.

               Sgt. Alley called me to set up the mortar. As I moved the weeds moved and the enemy's automatic fire came just overhead. Alley kept calling for the mortar. As I responded, so, too, did the enemy. This went on until automatic fire hit me on the pistol belt and the ground just around me! He had me zeroed in, I knew that I could not move again. So, I played dead let the enemy think he got me that time. Even Sgt. Alley stopped calling.

               As I played dead, I began to believe that the enemy had stopped firing at me but I felt obligated to set up my mortar. I could let someone else be the first to move, I thought, so I pretended to be ready for a ‘fire mission’. My body deep still to the ground, I started calling for ammo to fire.
 “Ammo, ammo, Ammo” I yelled, “get that ammo here.”

 As I figured, no one else was about to move, either. Thanks to God.

 A squad of the 3rd platoon worked their way around the right flank placing the enmy in a crossfire and running them off.

 I don’t remember how long we lay there, in the prone position, but I knew that I was not going to be the first to move. That was just too close. What if I’d gotten hit? How would that have been going down a 3604ft mountain, for me or for my carriers? Would I have been carried on a stretcher or would I have had to make the walk down on my own? No matter how bad I think I may have preferred the hard walk down to the stretcher for it was too steep and too far down to the bottom.


 The bullet had put a deep gash on the flap of my Pistol Holster for everyone to see and comment, how I hated when I had to turn in my Pistol and my badge of Honor.