They are the finest people I know.

[DCP]

"At the time I enlisted in the Marine Corps, we were known as the ‘Old Breed.’ As survivors of the Chosin we are known as the ‘Cold Breed.’ Compared to Tarawa, Chosin was worse because we had the weather to contend with, plus the fact that we were not invading an island, but were on the defensive–completely surrounded by six Chinese Communist divisions. That fact alone, I believe, puts Chosin in a class all by itself.

We all have our memories of buddies killed, of the hordes of Chinese assaulting our frozen lines and the long, dangerous walk out, but I truly believe the uppermost thought in our minds, when we think of that campaign, is the cold!
The water in our canteens froze. We had to work the operating handles on the breechblocks of our M-1 rifles every now and then so they wouldn’t freeze shut. Beads of ice formed in our beards and in our nostrils, and some of the men had to get the corpsmen to chip the ice out of their noses.
In 1965, I visited Lt. Gen. Lewis B. ‘Chesty’ Puller at his home in Virginia, and the first thing he said to me as we shook hands was, ‘Have you thawed out yet, Sarge?’ After 15 years, the first thing he mentioned was the cold.

I recall seeing a Marine captain, blinded in one eye, one leg in shreds, supporting himself with a mortar aiming stake, as he led his men. I also remember a young Marine who had been hit in the face with shrapnel. As the corpsman was giving him first aid, a Chinese machine gun opened up, and the snow and dirt flew all around the two of them. That wounded Marine just shook his fist at the hillside and yelled: ‘**** it! If you’re going to kill me, then kill me, but stop trying to scare me to death!’ If you go through something like that with men like that, you develop strong bonds. They are the finest people I know." Ssgt. Lee K. Bergee, E. Co. 2nd BN, 1st Marines (WW2, Korea) #stayzero

[Triggerfinger]

Thank you for your service and an glimpse of what you guys went through. When I was stationed in Korea I always wondered how anyone could possibly fight in cold like that. The cold and the hawk would just plain hurt no matter how much clothes you had on.

[DCP]

Thank you for your service and an glimpse of what you guys went through. When I was stationed in Korea I always wondered how anyone could possibly fight in cold like that. The cold and the hawk would just plain hurt no matter how much clothes you had on.

It was written by Ssgt. Lee K. Bergee
They are the finest people I know." Ssgt. Lee K. Bergee, E. Co. 2nd BN, 1st Marines (WW2, Korea) #stayzero

Many faraway places. Places and name change. What they do remains the same.

[JBinMN]

Semper Fi! to that!




Thanks for posting! Seeing as how it seems that North & South Korea are talking about making peace, it is good timing as well.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

No doubt one of the toughest battles our men have ever fought. We owe them our undying gratitude.

[D Crockett]

I am glad that you made it threw that one. I pray to God that there will not be another one. but I know there will. I will not get to fight in it but my son probably will. but I hope not I do not wish that on anyone. thank you for your service. D Crockett

[DCP]

Folks please I didn't fight in this battle

I posted this because

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

[rockrat]

We have a fellow in our gun club that was there also, and was also a sniper during Korea. He has told a few stories that would raise the hair on your arms. Told of the cold. Old guy can still beat 95% of the people at the range. We had a 7"x 7" target @500yds and he was complaining it was too easy to hit!!



I consider him a friend nowadays.

[MUSTANG]

I have a large limited edition print of Colonel Waterhouse's painting entitled "Eternal Band of Brothers" painted in 1991. The painting depicts the Marines fighting their way from the Chosin Reservoir area to the port of Hungnam. (Actually the Changjin Reservoir as it is known in Korean - Chosin is a derivative of the Japanese name for the Reservoir from the time the Japanese occupied Korea from 1910-1945, many maps were from Japanese records of that period).

The print (and original painting) are fairly detailed with may different vignettes of the fighting withdrawal along the road and mountains depicted. Because of the color and hue of the painting/prints; it is quite haunting and brings a feel of the bitter cold that the Marines (and soldiers from the US X Corps) experienced.

A pic of the print appears below; the pic is far brighter than the actual prints and the original painting. This pic simply does not capture the bitter cold one feels looking at the Original painting or my large print.

Attachment 219640

[abunaitoo]

I know someone who was at Chosin.
See him two times a year at the Gunshow.
Used to see him at the range, but he's getting old.
He's also been busy with the increase in homeless here.
Has a church in town someplace.
I know him as Father Rubio.
I've heard that in his younger days, he was as bad as they came.

[lightman]

We certainly owe these Guys a debt of gratitude. And every other service man or woman in any branch of the armed services. My Dad was in Korea but he hardly ever talked about it. I remember him talking about the extreme cold though.

[RGrosz]

I knew a SFC in my USAR unit that was there too. He didn't talk about it much except that it was a long cold walk out. He went to Korea as a PV2 and came home as a SFC. so he claimed. I have no way to not beleave him. He also said that on the way out he shot out 3 M1's and when they got back the third M1 was not to good because the gas port was almost too big.
When I first got in the USAR there was a lot of NCO's that were WWII vets. When they retired the Korean vets took over. When they left it was time for the Viet Nam vets to take their places, along with me who never saw any action. It was my great pleasure to have served with them all, And now most of them are gone now May they RIP. Thank You for your lessons.
And Thank You for the OP, As I haven't thought about SFC Kudnitsan in a long time.
Rob

[Smoke4320]

A debt that can never be repaid .. many of the survivors have departed this world..
OH how I would like to have spent days talking to each one about his experiences

[goodolejim]

As a very young corpsman I was promoted to E5 while I was at Camp Pendleton. This moved me into the Staff NCO barracks> I was the only person in the barracks including the other corpsman who had not been to the Frozen Chosen and had a purple heart. This young and green corpsman didn't know at the time what these Marines infused into me. The rest of my life I have been a better man because of my association with these men. I try to live Semper Fidelis to this day.
Semper Fi
Doc Olive

[abunaitoo]

Found out his name is Richard Ruby.
Saw lots of things he'll never be able to forget.
Maybe that what made him change from a hard charger to serving God.
Probably around 85 or so now.
Haven't seen him for a while. He missed the last Gunshow.
I hope he's OK.

[Moonie]

I saw an older vet at lunch on a Sunday after church with a USMC hat on, I thanked him for his service. We were parked a couple of spots from where I had seen him park. As we left I saw the bumper sticker, "One of the Chosin Few". I explained to my girls what that meant.

[tarbe]

Reading Chesty Puller's biography in high school was one of the motivators that got me to enlist in the Marine Corps.

One of the best moves I've ever made!

[nagantguy]

I knew a brother Marine who was there! Said everyday of the rest of life was easy after that.

[leadman]

My Dad was in Korea about 1949-50 but never talked about it. Found out recently my Uncle was also in Korea at the same time so they sent my Dad home. My uncle died after he returned to the States by falling asleep at the wheel of his Mercury and running into a walnut tree. He almost made it home.
I was there from Dec 1971 to Jan. 1973. I spent some guard duty time at our rock quarry on the coast in the winter. I was from Michigan and young then, didn't bother me much but it was only 4 hours at a time. We were combat engineers and the unit paved the road thru the DMZ for the Red Cross talks back then.
Watched a documentary with actual footage of the march to the coast during the war not long ago on the tv. Pretty nasty alright. Glad America can produce such brave men, sucks that some did not make it back.

[DoubleAdobe]

As a very young corpsman I was promoted to E5 while I was at Camp Pendleton. This moved me into the Staff NCO barracks> I was the only person in the barracks including the other corpsman who had not been to the Frozen Chosen and had a purple heart. This young and green corpsman didn't know at the time what these Marines infused into me. The rest of my life I have been a better man because of my association with these men. I try to live Semper Fidelis to this day.
Semper Fi
Doc Olive

Bless your heart, Doc.