Recollections of a Boy Marine

Each book listed here is in the Korean War Project library by donation. In return, we list each book as a free service.

Hi guys,: Here's a story for you. It has to do
with the beach landing at Wonsan by the 5th
Marines October 1950, after their successful
landing at Inchon September 1950.

'Hit the Beach Again'

The drive to free Seoul had been a swift
success. It was late October and we were
ordered to withdraw back to Inchon, where we
had landed earlier. There we once again,
boarded ship and reassembled as a division.

Our next objective was to hit the beach at
Wonsan. This would require us to sail South
down the peninsula, around to the Eastern side
of Korea, then up to the northern city of
Wonsan.

We were told to brace ourselves for a very
difficult and dangerous beach landing. The
beach at Wonsan was fortified with gun turrets
that housed naval guns, all aiming at the sea.

It would make a typical Marine landing a bloody
"turkey-shoot" unless we could get some of
those guns destroyed before we landed.

Once aboard ship, all we thought about was how
to survive our second combat landing.

The plan was to arrive in the Wonsan area after
about 2-3 days. As we approached the area, the
ships came to a dead stop in the water.

The sea was filled with floating mines, any one
of which could destroy a ship and the 2,000
troops on board.

The convoy began to back away. We were ordered
to wear life jackets and stay aft of the bridge
at all times. It made living conditions very
difficult.

Going to the bathroom or to the galley for food
could happen only once a day. A call went out
to the Navy to send us a minesweeper.


deceased