GENERAL RAYMOND G. DAVIS - Korean War Veterans Association

off.
In front of them lay a trackless waste,
teeming with Chinese. Except for a few
rounds of friendly artillery Davis’s battalion
was completely on its own.
After the troops started down the first
slope they lost sight of the bright star. The
column began drifting toward the right, or
to the MSR. When Davis realized this he
left his position toward the rear of the column
and headed toward the point.
Struggling through the knee-deep snow he
made his way forward. When he passed
marines lacking alertness Davis violated
his own rule against noise to bark at them
to keep awake. The marines, not knowing
whom they were admonishing, responded
with, “Shut up, marine!” Davis chuckled to
himself.
Davis got his battalion back on course,
then stayed up front. A little later Chinese
riflemen began firing on the battalion as it
crossed a wide meadow between two ridge
lines. While the enemy fire increased in
intensity Davis organized his battalion into
two attack columns. The mortars and
machine guns were deployed to provide
supporting fire. Each marine who passed
the mortars dropped off his shell. Soon
they were dropping among the Chinese on
the hilltop with deadly precision. Davis led
his marines up the hill, firing his carbine as
he ran. The marines’ attack was so swift
some of the Chinese were caught in their
sleeping bags. It was very satisfying for
many of the marines to avenge their dead
buddies.
Now under fire from Chinese on more
distant hills, Davis moved his battalion into
a protected area to treat his casualties.
Under his horrified gaze the battalion collapsed
in the snow, exhausted from too
much fighting, marching, cold, and not
enough food.
Davis, his officers and NCOs moved
among the parka-clad humps, cursing,
screaming, kicking at the men. “Get up!
Dammit, get up,” they shouted.
Soon the column was shuffling forward
through the frozen night, nearly oblivious
to sporadic enemy fire. Around 2:00 A.M.
the column’s lead elements clashed with
another Chinese strong point. Davis again
demonstrated his exceptional courage by
leading a group of marines into the fight.
These Chinese were quickly overcome.
By 3:00 A.M. Davis knew his marines
were nearly beat. He ordered them to dig
in. Ordering every fourth man to stand
guard, and under roving perimeter patrols,
Davis allowed the marines to crawl into
their sleeping bags, though unzipped.
Less than fourteen hundred yards to the
southeast Captain Barber’s remaining
eighty-five effective marines remained
alert for another night of CCF attacks.
Surprisingly, only light, long-range sniper
fire disturbed the marines. As Barber was
carried around on his stretcher he was a little
disappointed the Chinese weren’t
attacking. He was confident his marines
could lick them again.
While his marines rested Davis personally
reconnoitered the terrain ahead. Until
he linked up with Barber he would not rest.
Already the strain was starting to tell on
Davis. At times he’d be in the middle of
issuing orders to his company commanders
when he’d stop talking. He’d forgotten
what he was saying. He’d have to force his
mouth to push out the words his brain was
forming. When he was done issuing his
commands he’d ask his officers if what
he’d said made sense. Truth was, they were
so cold and tired they weren’t sure either.
Finally, everyone understood what was
expected of him. The battalion was awakened
and made ready to move. At first
light, Davis sent one company to seize a
hilltop dominating the route of the other
two companies. That move went off without
a hitch.
Both assault companies crossed nearly
one thousand yards of hilly ground without
hearing one shot fired in anger. Then
Company B got hit hard. As they ground
forward Davis was approached by his
radioman. “I’ve got Barber on the radio,
sir!”
Barber was in good spirits. He even
offered to send a patrol out to help Davis
battle the last line of Chinese. Davis
declined. But he did ask Barber to direct
some of the marine Corsairs overhead in an
airstrike on the enemy. Davis’s radios
couldn’t reach the pilots.
Assisted by the marine air and his own
mortars Davis’s battalion broke through
the last barrier of Chinese. The first of his
riflemen entered Barber’s perimeter at
11:25 A.M., December 2. The relief had
been completed. Barber was quickly
moved to the aid tent while an officer from
Davis’s battalion assumed command of
what was left of Company F.
Davis’s 1st Battalion spent the rest of
the day securing and patrolling the area
around Fox Hill. By the next morning the
rest of the Yudam-ni garrison had battled to
within a few hundred yards of Toktong
Pass. Even with the 5th and 7th Marine
Regiments safely at Hagaru-ri, the marines’
ordeal was only partially over. They
were still sixty-four miles from the sea and
safety. Over one hundred thousand Chinese
were still intent on crushing the Americans.
But before the marines could begin their
march to Hungnam, they had to solidify
their base at Hagaru-ri to prevent the Chinese
from overrunning them. As soon as he
heard that, Davis fashioned a plan to facilitate
the breakout. He’d lead two of his
companies against Chinese forces holding
the road in the direction of Hagaru-ri. In
the meantime, the remaining two companies
would attack the rear of the Chinese
facing the marines coming down from
Yudam-ni.
The plan went off without any major
problems. By noon on December 3 the lead
elements of the Yudam-ni column had contacted
the marines on Fox Hill. Davis, in
the meantime, smashed into the CCF roadblocks,
destroying them and clearing the
way to Hagaru-ri.
At 7:00 P.m., December 3, Davis’s forward
units made contact with a tank force
dispatched from Hagaru-ri. While they
established an outpost to protect the rest of
the Yudam-ni garrison, Davis ordered his
men to dress ranks. They were tired,
disheveled, dirty, wounded, and cold, but
they marched the final six hundred yards
into Hagaru-ri in formation, counting
cadence. It was a magnificent sight.
Over the next twenty-four hours the balance
of the Yudam-ni garrison made its
way into Hagaru-ri. The able-bodied
marines were pushed into warming tents
and fed, while the wounded were treated.
Next, the depleted rifle companies were
fed into Hagaru-ri’s line.
Captain Barber was evacuated from
Hagaru-ri to Japan on December 5. He
remained hospitalized until March 1951.
From there he went to San Diego to serve
at the recruit depot. While there he
received a promotion to major and a summons
to the White House where he
September/October, 2003 Page 27