Payday: The Dan Hughes Story

Dan Hughes biography-chapter 6_Layout 1 2/15/2016 5:43 PM Page 53
running out of carbine ammunition. The battery executive officer, a
first lieutenant, was in Dan’s bunker that night and loaded a knapsack
with carbine ammunition and crawled off into the night. He made his
way to half-track positions a half-mile away and resupplied the needed
ammo. The company commander recommended him for a Silver Star
medal because of his courageous move.
The nights reached temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees below zero
and the days were not much better. At this period in the war, the
army supplied the troops with cold weather gear including new
insulated rubber boots (nicknamed Mickey Mouse boots) and parkas
with fur-lined hoods.
The next few days were spent at this location without any major
action except for incoming mortar, mostly at night. During daylight
hours, Dan made daily trips along the line inspecting his gun
positions. Along with some of his men, he received orders to go to
Inchon and practice anti-aircraft on Inchon Bay. They traveled across
Korea by truck and reported to the firing range installation on Inchon
A map of the first deployment of Dan’s division using quad-50s for ground fire. Map
courtesy of Dudley J. Hughes from his book, Wall of Fire.
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