Eugene J Gregor passed away on 11/22/21. He was 93 years old. Husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He loved his country and was a hero to many. RIP Dad
Entry: 12480
SEPTEMBER 21-22, 1952 - TANK BATTLE
DAN GREGOR wrote on December 2, 2021
River Falls WI
Comments:
The Kansas City Star story written by Stan Carter, a correspondent on the eastern front in Korea, was entitled “Heroic GI Stand” and told how only two Yanks were killed in a fantastic 15-hour battle in Korea. It was described as the most fantastic episode of the Korean War. …………………………………………………………………….. Kansas City Star Sunday, October 5, 1952
Heroic GI Stand Crews of two U.S. Tanks Fire at Each Other to Knock Down Swarming Foes.
FIGHT OFF 1,200 REDS ______ Only Two Yanks Are Killed in fantastic 15-Hour Battle in Korea. _______ By Stan Carter. Eastern Front, Korea, Oct. 4. (AP)- Twelve hundred North Koreans surrounded three American tanks for fifteen hours on a fog-shrouded peak on the eastern front. Two members of the tank crew were killed, but all the others reached safety in one of the most fantastic episodes of the Korean war. Two Weeks Ago. The strange night battle took place September 21-22, but could be reported only today, now that the next-of-kin have been notified and details verified. (Exact location was not given, but a Peiping radio account Saturday indicated it was two miles east of Changsong.) The Communists climbed over the tanks, firing burp guns into the muzzle of the tanks’ 76-millimeter guns. Grenades and shaped charges were touched off against the tanks armor. Surviving tankers said the South Koreans they were supporting were taken by surprise. Those not killed by the charging Reds withdrew down the hill. The three tanks could not turn on the narrow roads. Commanded by Lieut. David Koch of Washington D. C., the tankers began a one- sided fight. Two tanks were on a ridgeline. The other was a quarter mile away. Koch related: “Within fifteen minutes, we were surrounded. It was so dark we couldn’t see. We (the two tanks on the crest) fired our 30 calibers at each other, trying to knock the North Koreans off. . . . When a Communist flare went off, we could see bodies piled between the two tanks.” The third tank was perched on the edge of an 800-foot drop. Red mortar and artillery fire whammed at it. Sergt. Eugene J. Gregor of River Falls, Wis., the tank commander, could feel the bank giving way. He added: “We did a lot of praying inside my tank. Occasionally I tried to crack a few jokes to keep the boys going. One of the fellows asked me why my legs were shaking. I told him it was because I was cold.” At dawn, Koch spotted a Red climbing onto tank commanded by Sergt. Willie N. Estrada of Alamo Gordo, N. M., who was manning the machine gun on top. “We shot him off with our 30-caliber.” Koch added. At day break, Gregor ordered his tank to make a run for it down the hill. The driver, Pvt. Leonard P. Shuke of Deloit, Ia., ran over three Reds who were firing automatic weapons. Thirty yards down the hill, Reds attacked with bazookas, but the tank escaped and reached safety. Koch saw it go and tried to signal Estrada to follow, but the radio was dead. Koch’s tank then took off, with it’s machine gun spraying the road in front. Two direct Red bazooka hits halted the tank and set it afire. Koch and five crewmen jumped out. He described their flight this way: “The North Koreans were firing small Arms all around us. One round took my helmet off. The fire went between our legs and on both sides of us, but nobody was hit. Plunge to Safety. The Americans jumped off a 20 - foot cliff. Pic. Wallace C. Magan of Owensboro, Ky., suffered a broken leg. Pvt. Frank J. Gray of Pueblo, Colo., and Koch crawled with the injured man through one mile of enemy territory and another mile and a half through no man’s land. Most of the way mortar shells exploded around them. Estrada’s tank, meanwhile, was hit by a bazooka. He was mortally wounded but did not die until rescuers reached him. A Communist fired a burp gun through the hole left by the bazooka shell. Pvt. Donald Vashon of Halde St., Waterville, ME., opened the turret. A grenade blast killed him. Cpl. Viowell Bolog of Sharon, Pa., jumped out. A grenade felled him and a North Korean bayonetted him, leaving him for dead. Bolog crawled under a tank and was later rescued. Tank a Fortress. Estrada and Cpl. Author C. Lamb of Chateaugay, N. Y., tossed grenades out of the hatch and waited for help. The Reds swarmed all over it, but could not get in. The Americans were still there when rescue came in a 5-tank counterattack. The rescue was organized by Capt. John Salco of Whippany, N.J., commanding company C, 245th tank battalion. He sent Lieut. Barney Kengla of Tuson, Ariz., up the mountain with five tanks. Two of the rescue tanks were disabled by mines, but the others pressed on. “We could see North Koreans running all over the hill,” Kengla said. Long lines of men were carrying up ammunition boxes. We blew them right out of there.” Hill Littered With Bodies. Afterward the bodies of 179 Reds were counted at this spot. Dozens of others littered the hill, and the Reds had carried away many more. The rescuers got as far as Koch’s burning tank. Cpl. Joseph L. Hanrahan of Litchfield, Ill., and three other men dismounted under fire and made sure the burning tank was empty. However, it blocked the road. Hanrahan was knocked down while his three companions raced to safety afoot. They thought Hanrahan was dead, but he was later found, defending himself with his 45-caliber pistol. Kengla directed his tank gun fire at the stranded tank of Estrada. The shells exploded within six feet, routing the Reds without damaging the tank. Expending all his ammunition, Kengla dismounted with Pvt. Dean A. Lynn of Mason City, Ill. They got into Hanrahan’s tank and tried to get it off the road. Into a Booby Trap. "The Reds had booby trapped the tank with grenades,” Kengla said. “We didn’t know how to disarm them. “By this time South Korean infantry were moving back up the hill. A South Korean disarmed the grenades for us. “We then used Hanrahan’s tank to support the assault. When we used up all its ammunition, Lynn, who had never driven a tank before, drove it off the road.” Kengla and his men then pushed logs under Koch’s burned -out tank and rolled it off the path. By 4 p.m. September 22 the mountain crest was back in Allied hands. Estrada, Bolog, Lamb and Pvt. Joseph C. Holden of Coldwater, Miss. were rescued from Estrada’s stranded tank, but Estrada died of his wounds ten minutes later.
