U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, 1950-1953, Volume 2 (of 5): The Inchon-Seoul OperationMontross, Lynn
History
U.S. Marine Operations in Korea, 1950-1953, Volume 2 (of 5): The Inchon-Seoul Operation
Montross, Lynn
Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Campaigns; United States. Marine Corps -- History -- Korean War, 1950-1953
A reshuffling of the regiment had to be accomplished meanwhile before
embarking for Inchon. The purpose was to spread the hundreds of
reservists throughout the three battalions instead of having them
concentrated in several companies.[216]
[216] Dowsett interv, 2 Nov 54.
It took some remarkable adjustments to get the regiment ready for
embarkation from Kobe only 17 days after sailing from San Diego. But
it meant that the 7th Marines would get into the fight at least a week
sooner than Division planners had anticipated.
_Destruction of NKPA Tank Column._
The amphibious assault phase was left behind on D-plus 2 when the 1st
and 5th Marines jumped off from the western outskirts of Ascom City to
initiate their drive inland. With the exploitation phase coming next,
command relationships would be as follows:
+-------------+
| CinCFE |
+------+------+
|
+------+------+
| CG X Corps |
+------+------+
|
+------+------+
|CG 1st MarDiv|
+------+------+
|
+---------+---------+
| |
+------+------+ +------+------+
|CG 1st MarDiv| |CG 7th InfDiv|
+-------------+ +-------------+
The night of 16–17 September had been quiet all along the Division
front. It was so quiet, in fact, that the troops of 2/5 paid no
particular heed to a truck which drove through their lines on the
Inchon-Seoul Highway about midnight. Not until the vehicle penetrated a
few hundred yards into Marine territory was it stopped by curious tank
crews of Able/Tanks’ 1st Platoon, whose M-26s were deployed across the
road in deep anti-mechanized defense. The startled occupants of the
stray truck turned out to be an NKPA officer and four enlisted men, but
they were no more surprised than the Marines who stepped out of the
darkness and took them prisoner.[217]
[217] 1st MarDiv _SAR_, Annex Oboe Oboe; and Capt J. E.
Harrell interv, 4 Jan 55.
Apparently, neither the tank crews nor anybody else in the area
attached any special importance to the strange truck incident. In a few
hours, however, an epic of smoke, flame, and twisted steel would attest
to the significance of this scrap of evidence. The fact of the matter
was that the Red leaders in Seoul did not know the exact location of
the 1st Marine Division.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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