Charles Main remembers what he was wearing and how ill-prepared he was for the cold February weather that he and his fellow Soldiers in the 23d Regiment Combat Team endured that day in Korea.
"I was an 18-year-old private first class, laying in a foxhole full of snow, and all I had was a summer uniform and a pair of long johns," Main said.
It was 60 years ago but the events that unfolded at Chip'yong-ni during what is often referred to as the "Forgotten War" of Korea are frozen in his mind.
"When I think back on February, 60 years ago, it seems like yesterday to me," Main said during his speech at the Monday ceremony in the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment area. "Some events, as you know, remain vividly in our memories no matter how much time has passed."
Main, who is the honorary command sergeant major of the 23rd Infantry Regiment, was on Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Valentine's Day for a wreath laying ceremony in remembrance of the battle of Chip'yong-ni. He was joined by other veterans of the battle as well as the Soldiers who fill the ranks of the Tomahawk Battalion.
The ceremony marked the 60-year anniversary of the three-day Korean War battle. A wreath placed on the monument in the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division area commemorated the battle and those who fought in it.
Described by some as the "Gettysburg" of the Korean War, the 23rd Regimental Combat Team, 2nd Inf. Div. Soldiers overcame overwhelming odds to defeat troops from the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, who entered the Korean War in September 1950.
The battalions of the 23rd Regiment were part of a United Nations force numbering approximately 4,500 troops, most of them from the regiment. The U.N. Soldiers were surrounded by a Chinese force of more than 25,000.
Outnumbered five to one and weathering a direct assault from the Chinese, the American Soldiers also weathered the battle against a second opponent, Main said.
"We really had two enemies to fight off," Main, a retired sergeant first class, said. "One was the Chinese and the other was the extremely cold weather."
Despite the two persistent enemies U.N. troops fought for three days, holding off the Chinese forces until Soldiers from the 5th Cavalry Regiment could reinforce the surrounded Soldiers.
"Chip'yong-ni was the first major defeat of the Chinese forces in (the Korean War) and this battle changed the outcome of the entire war," Main said.
The goal of the Chinese forces was to drive the U.N. Soldiers farther back, but the U.N. victory forced the Chinese to retreat, eventually leading to the beginning of peace negotiations in July 1951.
The laying of the wreath is an event that takes place every February and something Main has attended without fail.
"I've been coming to this ceremony for so long I really can't remember the first year I attended," Main said with a chuckle. "But I will continue to attend these, because I am so proud to be a Tomahawk."
Social Sharing