Edward L. Rownv
He said he would take the responsibility, but would allow me to plan and execute
a large-scale operation in September of 1951. It was one of the last big operations
of the war and a memorable one for
The operation was to take an enemy
position on a mountain which rose to
1,2 15 meters. The operation was
named,
appropriately
enough,
"Operation 1215."
Taking the
objective was key to opening up
operations for other regiments which
were pinned down on lower ground
at Heartbreak Ridge. Dislodging the
Chinese from the top of the
mountain, to understate the case,
was not an easy job. Tanks could
get only a quarter of the way up the
mountain, and there was no place to
station artillery to support the attack.
To provide fire support, we set up
t h e b a s e s with mortars and
hand-held 57- and 75-mm. rockets.
We parked the artillery and tanks,
much to their displeasure of the
an a w a r d f o r
receives
Eward
Rowny
tankers and artillery men, we put
distinguished service during the Korean War at
them in charge of KATUSAs who
a fund raiser for the Korean War Memorial, Los
carried ammunition up to the fire
Angeles, California, 1988.
bases with which we ringed the
mountain.
It was a hard 8-hour climb up to the fire bases, and these human supply trains
walked around the clock, many dropping out because of fatigue, while others
continued to climb, even though their feet were swollen and bloody. They carried
pack loads of ammunition up to the places from which we could hit the top of the
hill.
Artillerymen and tankers not supervising the A-frame KATUSA
" Chogi-bearers" were given jobs assisting the mortarmen and rocket launchers.
We established six fire bases as close as we could to the enemy position. The idea
was to put down a murderous rain of fire. Then, when the fire lifted, the
could quickly charge to the top of the mountain.
On the day of the attack, September 15, 1951, a heavy fog set in. I postponed the
planned dawn attack to 10 a.m. The commanding general was not happy with the
delay. At 10 a.m. it was still foggy and I postponed the attack another hour. At
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