This photo, provided by Dewey McLean, a U.S. veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War and currently a geology professor emeritus at Virginia Tech and taken during the war, shows an elderly man walking along a devastated street in Seoul. McLean served as a corporal for a transport unit of the U.S. 8th Army when he was stationed here from 1952-53. (Yonhap)
This photo, provided by Dewey McLean, a U.S. veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War and currently a geology professor emeritus at Virginia Tech and taken during the war, shows people walking on a street in downtown Seoul. McLean served as a corporal for a transport unit of the U.S. 8th Army when he was stationed here from 1952-53. (Yonhap)
This file photo, taken during the 1950-53 Korean War and obtained on June 23, 2015, from the Beijing-based International Committee of the Red Cross Regional Delegation for East Asia, shows North Korean prisoners of war kneeling down during interrogation. This and other rare photos, which Red Cross officials and U.S. soldiers took during the three-year conflict, give a glimpse at how the inter-Korean war drove people into terrible situations, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the start of the war, which falls on June 25. (Yonhap)
This photo, provided by Dewey McLean, a U.S. veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War and currently a geology professor emeritus at Virginia Tech and taken during the war, shows a devastated landscape seen from the slope of Mount Nam in Seoul. McLean served as a corporal for a transport unit of the U.S. 8th Army when he was stationed here from 1952-53. (Yonhap)
Korean War Service: Company I, 3d Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division
Recognized with the Medal of Honor in 1954
Introduction
In Vashon, Washington on June 22, 1922 one of the greatest combat heroes of the Korean War was born, Benjamin Wilson. This unassuming man who grew up in an unassuming town would go on to be known as a one-man Army for his combat actions during the Korean War. His career in the US military began when he enlisted into the Army in 1940 after dropping out of high school his senior year. After basic training he was stationed on the Hawaiian island of Oahu at Schofield Barracks as an artilleryman in the 13th Field Artillery Regiment. He was woken on the morning of December 7, 1941 by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The following year in 1942 he went through Officer Candidate School (OCS) and was selected as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Infantry.
After World War II ended in 1945 Wilson resigned his commission and returned home to Vashon, Washington to work in a lumber mill. After returning home for a few months, Wilson decided that the Army wasn’t all that bad compared to working in the lumber mill. However, due to the post-World War II draw down the Army had no need for more lieutenants so Wilson enlisted as a private. Wilson quickly rose through the enlisted ranks and by the time the Korean War broke out in 1950 he had achieved the rank of Master Sergeant.
Combat Actions During the Korean War
In 1951 Wilson was the 1st Sergeant for Company I, 3d Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division when they were deployed to Korea. On June 4, 1951, I Company was ordered to take the largest hill overlooking the Hwachon Reservoir. This mountain was known as “Hell Hill” for reasons that I Company would soon find out. The following day 1SG Wilson led a charge up the hill against a numerically superior and entrenched enemy force. As the soldiers of I Company made their way up the hill they came under withering hostile fire. With his men penned down 1SG Wilson charged the machine gun by firing his rifle and throwing hand grenades. His assault killed four enemy soldiers manning the machine gun bunker. With the bunker cleared the I Company soldiers moved further up the mountain where 1SG Wilson then led his men on a bayonet attack against the next line of entrenched Chinese soldiers. The attack killed an estimated 27 enemy soldiers.
After the successful bayonet charge the enemy launched a counter attack against Wilson’s men. With the threat of being overrun becoming imminent, 1SG Wilson launched a one-person charge against the attacking Chinese soldiers. He killed seven enemy soldiers and wounded two others which caused the remaining soldiers to retreat to a position further up the mountain. 1SG Wilson then organized his men for one last push to seize the summit of the mountain. They got within 15 yards of their objective when the enemy fire became to intense and they were forced to withdraw. During this final attack 1SG Wilson was wounded and was taken down the hill on a stretcher. About half way down the mountain the medics put the stretcher down to rest. With the battle continuing to rage on the hill above him 1SG Wilson got off the stretcher and began to limp his way back up the mountain to provide cover fire for his withdrawing unit. During this time 1SG Wilson killed three more Chinese soldiers with his rifle before he resulted to hand-to-hand combat where he lost his rifle and had to instead kill four more enemy with his entrenching tool. As he continued to make his way down the hill providing cover fire for his unit, 1SG Wilson was wounded yet again, but continued to lay cover fire for his unit until they got off of the hill. His actions on this day caused his command to recommend 1SG Wilson for the Medal of Honor.
The location of the village of Nodong-ri which is near where 1SG Benjamin Wilson fought is today part of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
However, 1SG Wilson’s combat exploits were far from over. A few days later on June 9, 1951, I Company was given orders to attack another enemy hill complex near the village of Nodong-ni. During the previous battle the I Company Commander was wounded and 1SG Wilson now found himself leading the company. Despite being previously wounded himself 1SG Wilson led his men on the assault up the hill. They eventually came under heavy machine gun fire. With his men penned down 1SG Wilson conducted another lone charge against the enemy. His charge killed four enemy soldiers in a bunker which allowed his men to advance up the hill. The enemy then launched a counterattack against the positions that I Company had just occupied. During this attack 1SG Wilson left the safety of the bunker to engage the enemy at close range. He killed five more enemy troops with small arms fire and hand grenades which caused the remainder of the enemy to withdraw. However, his one man assault ended up causing the wounds that he had stitched up from the previous battle to reopen. The bleeding forced him to be medically evacuated to a hospital for treatment. Since he had already been recommended for a Medal of Honor his command this time recommended 1SG Wilson for the second highest combat medal the Distinguished Service Cross.
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Benjamin F. Wilson, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company I, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, in action against enemy aggressor forces at Hwach’on-Myon, Korea, on 5 June 1951. Company I was committed to attack and secure commanding terrain stubbornly defended by a numerically superior hostile force emplaced in well-fortified positions. When the spearheading element was pinned down by withering hostile fire, First Lieutenant Wilson dashed forward and, firing his rifle and throwing grenades, neutralized the position denying the advance and killed four enemy soldiers manning submachine guns. After the assault platoon moved up, occupied the position, and a base of fire was established, he led a bayonet attack which reduced the objective and killed approximately 27 hostile soldiers.
While friendly forces were consolidating the newly won gain, the enemy launched a counterattack and First Lieutenant Wilson, realizing the imminent threat of being overrun, made a determined lone-man charge, killing seven and wounding two of the enemy, and routing the remainder in disorder. After the position was organized, he led an assault carrying to approximately 15 yards of the final objective, when enemy fire halted the advance. He ordered the platoon to withdraw and, although painfully wounded in this action, remained to provide covering fire. During an ensuing counterattack, the commanding officer and 1st Platoon leader became casualties. Unhesitatingly, First Lieutenant Wilson charged the enemy ranks and fought valiantly, killing three enemy soldiers with his rifle before it was wrested from his hands, and annihilating four others with his entrenching tool. His courageous delaying action enabled his comrades to reorganize and effect an orderly withdrawal. While directing evacuation of the wounded, he suffered a second wound, but elected to remain on the position until assured that all of the men had reached safety. First Lieutenant Wilson’s sustained valor and intrepid actions reflect utmost credit upon himself and uphold the honored traditions of the military service.
General Orders: Department of the Army, General Orders No. 69 (September 23, 1954)
The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Master Sergeant Benjamin F. Wilson, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving with Company I, 3d Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Master Sergeant Wilson distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces in the vicinity of Nodong-ni, Korea, on 9 June 1951. On that date, Sergeant Wilson’s company was advancing against heavily fortified enemy hill positions when a sudden and heavy volume of small-arms and automatic-weapons fire forced the men to seek cover. Sergeant Wilson, realizing the need for immediate and aggressive action so that the men could extricate themselves from their untenable positions, charged forward against the enemy emplacements single-handedly, firing his rifle rapidly and pitching grenades. Completely exposed to the concentrated fire of the enemy, he nevertheless succeeded in killing four of the enemy and in neutralizing a hostile bunker. His heroic actions so inspired his men that they renewed their assault and secured the objective. Immediately, the enemy launched a fierce counterattack against the newly gained positions and Sergeant Wilson once more left his position and engaged them at extremely close range. He personally killed five of the attacking enemy and laid down such a devastating volume of fire that the remainder were forced to withdraw after suffering heavy losses.
General Orders: Headquarters, Eighth U.S. Army, Korea: General Orders No. 694 (September 12, 1951)
Later that year after he recovered from his wounds 1SG Wilson was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on November 15, 1951. Three years later the then 1st Lieutenant Wilson would finally be recognized with the Medal of Honor by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 7, 1954 on Lowry Air Force Base. Though he was recommended for the Medal of Honor when he was a First Sergeant his Medal of Honor citation had him at his current rank of 1st Lieutenant.
Life After the Korean War
Benjamin Wilson at the time of his Medal of Honor ceremony was serving as the as assistant inspector general at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. A little over a year later in November 1955 he was promoted to Captain. In 1956 he attended advanced infantry schooling before receiving orders to Germany. Wilson would finish up his military career in his home state of Washington when he was assigned to Ft. Lewis in 1958. He was put in charge of planning for maneuver operations at the Yakima Training Center. Wilson would retire at Ft. Lewis on October 30, 1960 as a Major. For those who have served on Ft. Lewis they may have seen that the North Fort fitness center is named after Benjamin Wilson.
Benjamin Wilson
After retiring from the Army Wilson would work as an insurance agent. After finding the work to be not very fulfilling, Wilson then landed a job with the Veteran’s Administration in Seattle. Working with disabled vets was something that Wilson enjoyed. He would later move to Los Angeles to work at the VA center there. In 1982 he moved to Hawaii and lived on a 49-foot sailboat named the Ginseng. He continued to work for the VA in Hawaii before retiring in 1986. He would die two years later in 1988 and was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
Here is a story which shows after all these years how the Korean War continues to affect people’s lives:
Jorja Elliott-Reyburn, 67, was only 2 years old when her father, James H. Elliott, disappeared in combat. He went out on patrol one night during the battle of the Pusan Perimeter, a large-scale battle between United Nations forces and forces from the North Korean People’s Army in 1950.
He was last seen near Waegwan, a small town in North Gyeongsang near the Nakdong River.
On Sunday, Elliott-Reyburn traveled from her home in Star, Idaho, to Korea and reached the spot where her father was last seen.
She scattered the ashes of her mother, Ardyne Elliott Blackstone, in the river. Blackstone died of cancer in February at the age of 87.
It was her last wish to have her remains as close as possible to those of her husband.
Attending a memorial for U.S. soldiers who went missing during the war on Wednesday in Paju, Gyeonggi, Elliott-Reyburn read a letter that she composed for her father.
In the letter, Elliott-Reyburn expressed how much her mother missed her husband, the love of her life.
“She got involved in all the research to find you,” Elliott-Reyburn read. “She was hoping as we were that someday we will have closure by finding you and bringing you at home”
After Elliott went missing, his wife worked for years for the Gold Star Wives of America, an organization to support family members of people who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Family members of American soldiers who vanished during the 1950-53 Korean War pay tribute to South Korean patriotic martyrs at the National Cemetery in Seoul on May 19, 2015. Forty-nine family members of 26 U.S. soldiers missing in action (MIA) arrived in South Korea the previous day for a six-day visit at the invitation of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. (Yonhap)
Slowly but surely the remains of veterans listed as missing in action from the Korean War are being identified:
A soldier from La Crosse will be buried next week in Arlington National Cemetery almost 65 years after he went missing during the Korean War.
Francis Knobel was a 20-year-old corporal in the U.S. Army in the winter of 1950, when his 31st Infantry Regiment took part in fierce battles around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea.
On Dec. 12, at the end of the 17-day battle, Knobel was reported missing, one of 154 U.S. forces declared killed that day, according to military records from the National Archives.
There’s little official record of Knobel’s early life. He was born in 1930. His father is listed in city directories as a laborer; his mother worked at the Electric Auto Lite factory. His name does not appear in city high school yearbooks.
Knobel enlisted when he was 19. About five months later he went overseas and took part in the battle of Inchon, the invasion that led to the recapture of South Korea, according to a story in the La Crosse Tribune when he was declared missing.
Knobel’s father died in 1952. His mother and sisters later moved to Arizona.
In 1954, communist forces turned over the bodies of almost 1,900 service members during an exchange known as Operation Glory. According to the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there were 25 boxes of remains from the area where Knobel was lost, but he could not be identified and was buried among nearly 850 unknown soldiers buried in Hawaii’s National Memorial Cemetery, known as the Punchbowl.
Last year, after re-examining old records, the Department of Defense exhumed the remains and identified them as Knobels through a combination of dental records, chest X-rays and circumstantial evidence.
All told, there are some 7,847 U.S. troops in the Korean War still unaccounted for, according to the POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Remains of 310 have been recovered and identified. [LaCrosse Tribune]
I always wonder if 50 years from now if any veterans of either the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will feel the same way this British veteran felt when he came to Korea and saw the incredible progress the country has made since the end of the Korean War?:
A Korean War hero from Britain expressed hope on Tuesday that South Korea’s younger generation will carry on the lofty spirit of those before them who spared no sacrifice to defend the country and rebuild their war-torn homeland.
William Speakman, one of 51 veterans from the former British Commonwealth, arrived here Monday for a six-day trip. The former soldiers fought against the invading North Korea backed by China during the 1950-53 war.
In a symbolic goodwill gesture, Speakman donated 10 medals he earned during his 23-year military career, including three from his 10-month wartime service in Korea. He was a private affiliated with the First Battalion of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers.
“I decided to donate my medals to the people of South Korea, because … you rebuilt your country and what you’ve done, it truly touches me,” the elderly man said in a press meeting in Seoul.
One of the medals is the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration awarded for valor to members of the armed forces of Commonwealth countries. Speakman received it from Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.
On November 4, 1951, at the age of 24, Speakman led his party in a series of grenade charges against heavy shell and mortar fire by more than 6,000 Chinese forces in the inter-Korean border town of Yeoncheon. Undaunted by severe wounds to his leg, he led operations to help save the lives of many of his comrades when they were forced to withdraw from their position. Speakman recalled that it was “not out of bravery but that was the way we were trained.” [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but Mr. Speakman also stated that when he dies he wants his ashes spread in South Korea.
This was a nice gesture by President Park to remember the soldiers from Columbia who came to fight communist aggression against South Korea over 60 years ago:
Colombian soldiers arrive in South Korea during the Korean War
South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with Colombian veterans of the Korean War on Saturday as she wrapped up her three-day visit to the South American country.
The meeting illustrated that Seoul appreciates the sacrifice Colombia made to help defend South Korea, then a little-known, faraway nation across the Pacific.
Colombia was the only nation from Central and South America to fight alongside South Korea against Chinese-backed North Korean forces. About 5,100 troops were dispatched halfway around the world to help fight the North’s invasion, of which 213 were killed and 448 wounded.
About 1,000 veterans are believed to still be alive. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but this link to an article in a local Bogota paper explains why Colombia became involved in the Korean War. Unsurprisingly it had a lot to do with US economic benefits for dispatching troops to assist the United Nations effort to defend South Korea. I was surprised to read though that the veterans that did fight in the Korean War have been largely forgotten in Colombia though this attitude has been slowly changing according to the article.
