On the night of Nov. 2, 1951, 27 year old Lt. Ed Mastronardi and his platoon of 28 men from A. Co, 2nd BN, Royal Canadian Regiment were manning an outpost position on the Song-gok Spur in Korea when they were attacked by Chinese forces.
In a battle that would last 8 hours, against a fully reinforced battalion, Mastronardi and his men held their ground with balls and sheer will. The platoon forced back wave after wave of assaults, under intense mortar and machinegun fire. The enemy managed to get through the wire several times, only to be pushed back each time. At one point, 3 Chinese soldiers were within feet of Mastronardi, to which he killed 2 with his pistol and the third one with a flare gun.
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Only after suffering 50% casualties and the enemy swarming on their positions, Mastronardi ordered the men to evacuate back to rear, while he provided covering fire, escorting every single men back under fire.
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His leadership saved the lives of not only his men, but his entire regiment. The following morning, the men went back to the outpost to recover the body of the only one killed in action and retook the outpost with no opposition.
For his bravery he was awarded the Military Cross. #hardcore #aintsorry #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #smokereds