[Illustration: _Combat Leaders of 5th Marines--Front row, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond L. Murray, regimental commander, and Lieutenant Colonel L. C. Hays, Jr., Executive Officer; rear, Lieutenant Colonel H. R. Roise, CO 2d Battalion. Lieutenant Colonel G. R. Newton, CO 1st Battalion, and Lieutenant Colonel R. D. Taplett, CO 3d Battalion (Marine Corps Photo)._] [Illustration: _Marine Air in Action--Above, rocket-laden planes of VMF-214 warming up on the flight deck of the _Sicily_; and, below, a Corsair takes off for the front in Korea (U. S. Navy Photo)._] [Illustration: _Marine Mortar Crew--Supporting the infantry advance with 81-mm. shells are, left to right, Private First Class Jesse W. Haney, Jr., Bakersfield, Calif.; Private First Class Bennie M. John, Ardmore, Okla.; Private First Class Richard A. Robey, Houston, Tex.; and an unidentified Marine in background (Marine Corps Photo)._] [Illustration: _Introducing the Enemy--No prisoner of war appears at his best, but Marine veterans of the Brigade can attest that some of the tough well-trained NKPA soldiers put up a good fight in Pusan Perimeter operations (Marine Corps Photo)._] [Illustration: _Crest of the Ridge--Two Marine PFC’s, Harold R. Bates (left) of Los Angeles, and Richard N. Martin, of Elk River, Minn., take a break after fighting their way to the top of a ridge in the Naktong Bulge (Marine Corps Photo)._] [Illustration: _The Flying Windmills--Above, Generals Craig (left) and Cushman waiting for the pilot to take them aloft in an HO3S-1 helicopter; and, below, a VMO-6 helicopter lands near the artillery positions of the 1st Battalion, 11th Marines (Marine Corps Photo)._] CHAPTER V Prelude to Battle _Reconnaissance by Jeep--Brigade Air Lands--Landing of Ground Force--Bedlam on Pusan Water Front--The Brigade at Changwon--The Pusan Perimeter--Brigade Air Strikes First--Planning the Sachon-Chinju Offensive_ After the advance party reached Pusan, General Craig established a temporary command post in the headquarters building of General Garvin’s Base Command. Then the Marine officers plunged into the final phase of planning and preparation for the Brigade, although they were still handicapped by the undisclosed secret of the convoy’s arrival date. Staff gears were meshing smoothly by this time, with solutions being ground out for one problem after another. On the night of 30 July, Lieutenant Colonel Stewart and other staff officers were discussing whether MAG-33 would be able to get its planes airborne in time to support the Brigade in its initial combat. Acting on a hunch, Stewart picked up a telephone in the slim hope of placing a call through to Japan. The long shot paid off. After some wrangling by startled operators, he managed to contact Itami Air Force Base and talk to Colonel Kenneth H. Weir, Cushman’s chief of staff.