Chosin

[El Prez]

The attached email message is from Lee Mead, who fought at Chosin, Korea. It must have been desperately hard, living, let alone fighting under those conditions, with the equipment available at the time.

Well Rob, I don't really know what to say. My experiences at the Chosin were varied and many. I don't think you wnat to hear about the hordes of Chinese attacking- volumes have already been written about that. The Chinese almost always attacked only at night. We had two men to a foxhole, one slept while the other was on watch' To keep our feet from freezing, the sleeper had his boots off and his feet in the coat and on the stomach of the man on watch. This process did not work well for one of your Marines. The Chinese hit us and he didn't have time to put his boots on, so he spent the entire night fighting in his stocking feet. I later meet him in Yokosuka Naval hospital in Japan, he was in the bed next to me, his feet were blackened up to his ankles. He would snap his toes off like they were potato chips. I was in the hospital with another BRM, a tall skinny, redhead, he was from Norwich at Norfolk- or Norfolk at Norwich, I could never get it right. I had the honor of meeting many of the old 41st Commando at the Chosin Few Reunion in Portland Oregon several years back. The BRM band was also there.
As you know, it was incredibly cold-sometimes 40 below with a fifty mile an hour wind blowingout of Siberia. Our rations were frozen, so we survived on Tootsie Rolls (they could be melted in the mouth). Anti-freeze could not prevent the engines of vehicles from freezing- they had to start the engine every half hour. The traditional method was for Marines to keep a light coat of oil on our weapons, At the Chosin, the oil would freeze and render the weapon inoperable, we found we had to take all the oil of the weapon.
I can truthfully say, that as a United States Marine If I were to fight alongside any other organization, without hesitation, I would choose the British Royal Marines.

[K24io]

I'll never complain about assault boots again. Hats off.

[Wully]

I remember when I was at Eastney in the mid-fifties there was a Colour Sergeant there who had been at Chosin. He had been wounded during an attacked when his position was over-run by the Chinese and he was only picked up when 41 Commando pushed the Chinese back again. I'm sure I'm correct when I say he had TWENTY-SEVEN bullet wounds in his body!!!! Cannot for the life of me remember his name but no doubt someone out there will know it.

[El Prez]

Lucky?

[Wully]

No doubt, somebody up there loved him

[harry hackedoff]

We`ve talked about The Chosin Frozen on here before, Rob.
How Dryforce went to the aid of a USMC unit, when Elmer said it was "Too risky" and got them out.
Use search, or do what I did and ask Shoulders. He mailed me the full Rembrant.

[Sea Soldier]

I wonder,does anyone else remember a 3 Badge Marine called "Whispering" Smith ..,so called because the story had it that he had been in 41 (Independent) Cdo @ Chosin & having been captured was tortured & could afterwards barely speak,He was employed by the Corps at Poole in the late 60's to wet the tea & make the Stand-easy rolls,down on the Hard for LC crews & those on PET Courses ?