Capt Hampton and Lt Hawkins became the CO and XO just prior to our coming back to the lines. That's the way I remember it.
I remember Lt Hawkins was assigned to me in my hole on the perimeter of the knob the CP was on. Any way as we settled in the first night he told me the Corps had taught him how to move a division over land but he didn't know how to load his carbine. I held school on the loading and reloading of the carbine right fast plus the operation of the frag grenade. He was a reserve that served in WWII with the 3rd MarDiv. I didn't question why he didn't know about his weapon but wanted to be sure he did before night fell.
Remember Lovelady well, his gook and the wire-stocked burp gun the gook was carrying. Enjoy hearing from yawl. SEMPER FI! JIM "Hi Shifty, In answer as to the time frame about our friend Moose, yes it was before Hill 673. I believe 1st Lt. Bell was our CO, 2nd Lt. Ruppel was the Platoon Leader and S/Sgt. Bass was our Platoon Sgt. I was the squad leader of the 2nd Platoon. My squad was set in on the point, I think, around the Punch Bowl (Inge area.) I am trying to remember the Marines that were with me. George Lovelady, Howard Carson, Floyd Swift and five other men were on the point. There were only nine of us in my squad at this time. This is where our good friend Johnny Fryer got hit. I believe about Aug. 29th or 30th. 1951. A gook patrol slipped up on us and Lovelady sent him to his resting place. A lot of things happened out on that out post. I was given the privilege to direct the firing of heavy artillery on a large group of the |
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enemy (what the heck, gooks) coming our way down in the valley in front of us. Also an air strike was called in. I don't believe I will ever enjoy bugles being blown again. The scuttlebutt was that we had stopped a battalion of enemy hitting us. George Lovelady and I were in the same bunker. He can probably remember these things better than I. I don't think Lt. Ruppel thought it was as hot as it was on the out post. I can remember a time that he came out there and was looking down the valley thru my field glasses and a small volley of sniper fire hit a small tree above his head. It didn't take long for him to join us in the trench. Lt. Ruppel was a swell man, scatterbrained at times, but a good Platoon Leader.
After George Lovelady sent one of the enemy to his resting place, S/Sgt. Bass pulled us off the outpost. Lt Johnson and his squad relieved us. I felt quite let down, so I asked S/Sgt Bass why he pulled us off the outpost. I remember very well his only words. "Don't you think you need to come off the point?" My reply to him was, "Well, we are getting nervous." One other thing about the outpost, after the incident about George Lovelady and the gook, and after we settled down a bit, I called on the sound power to the C.P. to report what we had out there, someone on the sound power told me to bring the body to the C.P. I did not know who I was talking to, so I very strongly said to him, "If you want this S.O.B., you come and get him". Later on, I believe it was S/Sgt Bass asked me if I knew who I was talking to. I naturally said "No" and he said it was our XO. I thought "Oh no, it's write up time". I believe the XO was Lt |
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Burns. Sgt. Major Skinner will probably know.
By the way, Shifty, if anyone should ask, please join me in reporting, A/1/7 is the best organization ever established to be a member. Let me tell you why! I was reading the newsletter after the San Diego reunion and I came across a name that jumped out. I told Gwen I know this guy. It happened to be Bill McCord. (Bill was in the 2nd Plt - 6/51 - 6/52). I had to call him and sure enough we had a small reunion on the phone. He enlightened me on things I didn't remember. One was, yes, I was on Hill 104. I left directly after to come home. This is the reason one of the replacements beat me home. I met this Marine at NAS, Corpus Christi, Texas Hospital. He had been wounded in the Panmunjom area. I believe now Col. Rauh was our Platoon Leader. Semper Fi! George " Gwen and George, thanks for the article about our friend "Moose" and I will be running it in the April newsletter for all to read. You may not remember but after 673, I was reassigned (shanghaied) to the Battalion as a pinky again! Of course this wasn't what I wanted to do but was told "you have to do what the Corps wants", so I was stuck in an office again. I tried to call "Moose" at least once a month and sometimes he would talk with me and other times just said, "can't talk now." I called him right after we got back from San Diego to see if he received the Birthday Card that all the troops had signed for him. He told me he had just received it that day and was really happy to know all of us thought of him on his birthday. Makes me feel proud to have |
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