The Graybeards - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

Defense of the Pusan Perimeter
September 1950
There were no front lines, such as we
used to know, in this war. Batteries
must fight as infantry in defense of
their guns - must beat off the enemy with
rifle, pistol, and grenade - must blast him
out of their positions with machine guns,
dug in or mounted on the half-track vehicles
called “Quad 50’s.” A black artilleryman
summed it up. “Us wears one crossed
cannon and one crossed rifle,” he said. As
always, since the first cannon thundered in
battle, it was a point of honor to save the
guns, or if lost, to recover them.
Hemmed within the Pusan perimeter,
troops of the United Nations fought with
their backs to the sea. The situation was
desperate that September of 1950. With
the North Koreans mounting a powerful
assault, and infiltration a constant threat,
Btry. XO. and Lt. K. H. Bailey prepared
his Battery A, 64th Field Artillery
Battalion, for close defense. He grouped
his six howitzers as compactly as possible
and around the position set up
light and heavy machine guns,
along with a Quad armed with
four 50-caliber MG’s.
On the dark, foggy night of
September 3 the enemy fell suddenly
upon the battery. The first
sergeant challenged three shadowy
figures pulling a wheeled
machine gun. They dropped into
a ditch and opened fire. Flame
stabbed through the murk from
other quarters. A North Korean
cut down two signalers with a
burp gun, then tossed a grenade
into the telephone dugout. Its
explosion killed two of the three
occupants. The third, Corporal
John M. Pitcher, not seriously
wounded, bravely stayed by the
switchboard and continued to
operate it all night, the two bodies
beside him.
The enemy began to melt away, leaving twenty-one dead. A tank from
89th Bn., rolling up to the rescue, scourged the retreat. Battery A had lost
seven killed and twelve wounded.
Lt. Bailey in Munsan-ni, Jan. 1951 with a 105 Howitzer round
of ammo he fired with writing on live shell. “To Wu from
Tommye Lou” (his wife) then he pulled the lanyard.
Bullets raked the gun
emplacements. Answering fire
from the battery’s outlying
machine guns ceased, as gunners
drew back, realizing the
position was being overrun. The
traversing mechanism of the
Quad jammed. Its crew backed
the vehicle into a gully. In the
dark gun pits cannoneers fought
back with side arms. An enemy
grenadier crawled close to one
section and threw twice. The
first missile killed one artilleryman
and wounded several others.
The second exploded on the
ammunition. Powder charges
for more than one hundred
rounds flamed luridly. The chief
of section ordered his men out.
They retreated to the gully,
joined by two other hardpressed
crews.
In other pits they stood fast.
Two howitzers went into action,
Lt. Bailey with his fingers in two holes of his L5 Aircraft from
Chinese AK47s.
sweeping the enemy-held ridge in front,
shells bursting at two hundred yards.
Officers and noncoms rallied the men in
the gully, machine guns covering them as
they returned to their posts.
Thanks to Corporal Pitcher, the telephones
were still working. The battalion
commander, calling in, offered help from
other batteries. “A’s” asked for fire on the
ridge to the fore and got it promptly. A 155
shell landed squarely on the target.
Lieutenant Kincheon H. Bailey, Jr., “A’s”
executive observing, yelled through the
fire direction center: “Right 50, drop 50.
Fire for effect!” It was close shooting, the
rounds falling just in front of the battery’s
position.
The enemy began to melt away, leaving
twenty-one dead. A tank from 89th Bn.,
rolling up to the rescue, scourged the
retreat. Battery A had lost seven killed and
twelve wounded. Four of its trucks had
been destroyed, but all its howitzers were
undamaged. Cpl. John Dodson and Lt. K.
H. Bailey survived that battle. To start a
reunion of the 64 F.A. Bn, 25 Inf. Div. Call
K. H. Bailey, Raleigh, N.C. 919 787 1643.
Lt. Bailey and Cpl. John Dodson want to
start a reunion. K. H. Bailey, Lt. Col.
Retd., Raleigh, N.C. Tel: 919-787-1643
Page 34
The Graybeards