In the Jaws of the Dragon: the United States Second Infantry Division in the Battle of the Chongchon River, Korea, November 24-December 1, 1950
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University of Nebraska at Omaha DigitalCommons@UNO Student Work 4-1-1994 In the jaws of the dragon: The United States Second Infantry Division in the battle of the Chongchon River, Korea, November 24-December 1, 1950 Robert B. Bruce University of Nebraska at Omaha Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork Recommended Citation Bruce, Robert B., "In the jaws of the dragon: The United States Second Infantry Division in the battle of the Chongchon River, Korea, November 24-December 1, 1950" (1994). Student Work. 432. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/432 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Work by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IN THE JAWS OF THE DRAGON: The United States Second Infantry Division in the Battle of the Choncrchon River, Korea November 2 4 - December 1, 1950 A Thesis Presented to the Department of History and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha by Robert B . Bruce April, 1994 UMI Number: EP73070 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UM I' Dissotaton Ryblish*ng UMI EP73070 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest' ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 THESIS ACCEPTANCE Acceptance for the faculty of the Graduate College, University of Nebraska, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts, University of Nebraska at Omaha. Committee Name Department W aXL- C. P n J t H'\ J \ t f i £ L p Chairpers Date_ /\ JL. Aq ^ ) 7 f ^ TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .......... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................ iii ABSTRACT.............................................. vii MAP OF CHONGCHON RIVER BATTLEFIELD................... viii INTRODUCTION............................................ 1 CHAPTER I: WAR IN A DISTANT LAND....... 17 CHAPTER II: NIGHT OF THE DRAGON.......... 35 CHAPTER III: THE FOG OF BATTLE................ 64 CHAPTER IV: RIGHT FLANK AND REARGUARD................. 102 CHAPTER V: KUNU-RI.................................... 13 9 CHAPTER VI: IN THE JAWS OF THE DRAGON................. 162 CHAPTER VII: AFTERMATH................................ 180 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................... 18 6 Dedicated in Loving and Respectful Memory to My Father: Corporal Robert B. Bruce, Sr. 1930-1978 Machinegunner, Company C, Ninth Infantry Regiment United States Second Infantry Division Died of Causes Connected to Wounds Received in Action With the Enemy at the Battle of the Chongchon River "In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watched, and heard thee murmur tales of iron wars." Shakespeare, Henry IV ii Acknowl edcf ement s I would like to express my deepest and sincerest thanks to my mother Dr. Willa M. Bruce. Dr. Bruce has been a constant source of support and inspiration to me throughout my undergraduate and graduate career, and the thesis you now see before you could never have been written without her devotion and help. For my mother, the Korean War was not waged on the battlefields of Asia. It was fought by her in the wards of the Veteran's Administration hospitals of West Virginia, as she tried to raise three young boys while slowly losing her husband to the ravages of a war she could not remember and he could not forget. I will forever be indebted to her for the strength and courage she displayed during those terrible years. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the veterans who gave so willingly of their time to help make this thesis possible. I would especially like to single out for thanks the President of the Ninth Infantry "Manchu" Association, Mr. Alvin Moore. Alvin was a tremendous help to me at the Second "Indianhead" Division's 72nd Annual Reunion held in Ft. Worth Texas in 1993. Alvin "took me under his wing" at this reunion, and made sure that I was able to not only get my interviews, but also have a good time. He has treated me with the utmost respect and courtesy since I first wrote to him in 1992, to inquire about his service in the Battle of the Chongchon River. I am proud to call Alvin my friend. Colonel Reginald Hinton also deserves a special thank you. Colonel Hinton provided me with a tremendous amount of information on the Battle of the Chongchon River, and wrote me several times offering additional insights on this battle and the U.S. Army during the Korean War. His story is well told in this thesis, and I am honored that he was willing to share so much of his time with me to help make this thesis a reality. I would also like to express my gratitude to my supervisor at the University Library Acquisitions Division, Mr. William Kvasnicka. Throughout my graduate school career, and a substantial portion of my undergraduate career as well, Mr. Kvasnicka was always willing to change my work schedule, and allow me to take time off, so that I could finish my school work. As anyone who has tried it knows, working full-time while attending college is not an easy proposition. It is hard work juggling the two responsibilities, and without Mr. Kvasnicka's help and support I never could have done it. My co-worker Mrs. Sybil Oliver also deserves a special thank you. Sybil always had time to listen when the stress of work and school simply overwhelmed me, and I needed a friend to talk to. I will forever treasure her friendship, and will always be grateful to her for being there for me. I would also like to express my gratitude to the University Committee on Research, and the Rhoden Graduate Thesis Scholarship Committee, especially Dr. Richard Thill. The financial support provided by the awards I received from those two committees, enabled me to travel to Texas for the Second Division's reunion, and thus provided invaluable support to the researching and writing of this thesis. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis committee members for the time and energy they devoted to reading and commenting on this thesis. Dr. William Pratt, Dr. Joong-Gun Chung, and my committee chair Dr. Bruce Garver, gave freely of their time and offered helpful advice and encouragement all along the way. I would especially like to single out Dr. Garver for the help and guidance he provided to this project. His willingness to sponsor this thesis topic, and his help in securing financial awards to sponsor the research was invaluable. Dr. Garver’s tireless editorial work with this thesis enabled it to become the polished and refined product which you now see. Although it was difficult for me at times to v accept his criticisms, they were virtually all justified and were a tremendous help to the writing of this thesis. Abstract of Thesis In the Jaws of the Dragon: The United States Second Infantry Division in the Battle of the Chongchon River. Korea November 24 - December 1. 1950 The Battle of the Chongchon River was the worst defeat suffered by the U.S. Army since the fall of Bataan and Corregidor in 1942, and claimed more American lives than any other battle ever fought by the United States in the post- World War II era. The United States Second Infantry Division was the principal American division engaged in this battle, as it fought a desperate rearguard action to hold off overwhelming numbers of Chinese soldiers in order to allow other American and South Korean divisions to escape to safety. This thesis is a detailed study of the actions fought by the United States Second Infantry Division in the Battle of the Chongchon River. The thesis utilizes interviews conducted by the author with Second Division veterans of the battle, as well as official United States Army documents and records, to demonstrate that the valiant delaying action fought by the Second Division in this battle greatly slowed the Chinese Second Phase Offensive and helped to save the Eighth United States Army in Korea from destruction. vii BATTLEFIELD OF THE CHONGCHON RIVER N A •#*vS4 0 % Hill 219 A Northenmost point 3^ reached by 2nd Div. 3 miles *K # / > - Kuj ang-dong^^ ^HilfL. 3 2 3 "■>. — \ f f V"Chinaman's Hat" // ' V \ Wawon Kunu-rif Kaechon / / ! Samso-ri' KEY I **** River I — — —Road I • Town To j Sunchon * I v i i i l INTRODUCTION This thesis provides a detailed examination of the actions fought by the United States Second Infantry Division in the Battle of the Chongchon River, Korea. The thesis seeks to demonstrate that the Second Infantry Division fought valiantly in this battle and greatly slowed the Chinese army's Second Phase Offensive, and therefore helped prevent the Chinese from accomplishing their strategic objective of destroying the Eighth United States Army. This thesis introduces new information on the Battle of the Chongchon River, gathered from the author's interviews and correspondence with sixteen veterans of the U.S. Second Infantry Division who fought in the battle. The thesis is also based on a thorough examination of the U.S. Army's official records of the Battle of the Chongchon River, and a comprehensive study of the existing literature on the subject.