"We were under constant fire; there was no such thing as a hospital. The corpsmen had to keep the hypodermic syringes taped in their armpits to keep the liquid in the syringes from freezing solid, and they stuffed morphine ampules inside their mouths to keep the doses from freezing. Unlike when I was fighting in the Pacific heat years ago, Chosin was so cold that when one was wounded, the blood coagulated, which saved many Marine lives.
That night, the perimeter flares revealed wave after wave of Chinese advancing across the snow-covered ground. Hand grenades were lobbed at the onrushing enemy, machine guns opened up and the mortars began firing with devastating effect. Finally, our men met the enemy head-on, with bayonets. Temporarily, the Chinese had been beaten off by so-called rear echelon troops–but the Chinese had not figured on their opponents being Marines. I have often thought what the Chosin area must have looked like when spring arrived that following year. There must have been dead bodies all over the place. It has been said that the 1st Marine Division killed 40 Chinese to every dead Marine. It seems possible to me, since I saw the bodies of Chinese soldiers stacked like cordwood at daybreak after that battle." - Sgt. Lee K. Bergee, E.Co. 2nd BN, 1st Marines (WWII, Korean War) #war #marines #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #korea