Photo from History of the 2nd Infantry Division in Korea 1951-1952
bunch we were - hardly anything to eat or drink; no sleep in almost
two days, but being out of the fight – wonderful!
Ambulances and helicopters continued to bring wounded from
the battle and they, of course, had to be triaged. I must have had
an x-ray at some point and was taken into the OR about 1:30 - 2
p.m. The stretcher was dropped onto the operating table. I was
handed a shiny small metal tube and told to hold it up in the air.
I awoke about 3 p.m. on a cot in the post-op tent filled with about
40 people in long rows.
In the cot on my right was a guy with a badly mangled shoulder;
on my left a priest with a shell fragment wound through both cheeks
and a chipped tooth. He said he and his jeep driver came under
artillery fire and as he opened his mouth to yell “Let’s get the hell
out of here!” he got hit.
The Third Battalion aid station in
the draw east of Old Baldy.
this point. As we started down the valley, a terrific artillery barrage
began and we crawled beneath the nearest tank in the mud and water.
When the shelling let up in a little while, I had the brilliant idea of
getting inside a tank for more protection from the shell fragments.
Nearby was a tank with a track off and an open hatch. I told my
comrade to lie low while I checked it out. He seemed rather weak
from blood loss. I crawled to the tank, climbed to the hatch and
peered in to be met by a swarm of flies arising from the bo Y\