Engineer Memoirs
Almond would pop in on the regimental commanders at the front and give them
direct instructions, sending information copies of his instructions back to the
division commander. This naturally infuriated General Smith.
The invasion itself was carried out remarkably smoothly. The diversionary force
which landed at the island of Walmido also came off well. The troops debarked
at Inchon against light resistance and quickly established a beachhead. The next
day, a North Korean tank column started down from Seoul toward Inchon. The
Air Force performed magnificently. They swooped down and with several passes
knocked out the tanks. Enemy resistance was light. Almond kept pushing the
marines to move rapidly, pushing them to capture the near side of the Han quickly.
He told the regimental commanders: " G e t going and capture the river bank. Don't
let the North Koreans build up a force south of the Han." At the same time
General Smith was trying to slow the marines down. He felt they should wait until
all their supporting artillery and ammunition was ashore. Fortunately, the
regimental commanders listened to Almond and not to Smith.
The marines arrived at the south bank of the Han on the third day after the landing.
Once the enemy tank column had been knocked out, there was not much enemy
resistance. General Smith continued to try to slow down the marines. He warned
that they would run into stiff resistance when crossing the Han. He said they
would need artillery support and lots of ammunition to get to the north bank of the
Han.
Almond said, "We'll solve that problem when and if we have to. If we need fire
support we'll use mortars and call on the Air Force. The Air Force has done well,
and if the weather holds we can count on close air support to substitute for
artillery.
Q ..
Smith's philosophy sounds like Montgomery's tidying up the battlefield.
A
Exactly. It was a repeat of the classical problem: Patton's lightning thrust versus
Montgomery's rolling masses. It's curious that in the midst of battle one
remembers the more ludicrous incidents. On the third day after the landing, we
were on a hill in sight of the Han River. General Almond was talking to Colonel
Chesty Puller. There were only a handful of North Koreans south of the Han
River, and sporadic small arms fire was coming in on the hill. Colonel Puller,
who you will recall had two Distinguished Navy Crosses, was crouched down quite
low while Almond was standing up straight.
Almond said, "Chesty, why are you cringing down there?"
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