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Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment in the Korean War
The Glory Days (January - July 1951)
written by
Col. Gilberto Villahermosa, USA
The Korean War was the first major armed clash between Free World and Communist forces, as the so-called Cold War turned hot. The half-century that now separates us from that conflict, however, has dimmed our collective memory. Many Korean War veterans have considered themselves forgotten, their place in history sandwiched between the sheer size of World War II and the fierce controversies of the Vietnam War. The Korean War Memorial, located here in Worcester, and the upcoming commemoration of the 65th Infantry Regiment in Korea this October should now provide all veterans of Korea, and indeed of all America's wars, with the recognition they so well deserve.
At 0400 on 25 June the North Koreans launched a coordinated attack on South Korea that ran from coast to coast. The UN Security Council met that same day and passed a resolution that called on North Korea to cease hostilities and withdraw to the 38th Parallel. President Harry Truman authorized ships and airplanes to protect the evacuation of American dependents in Korea and also use of American air and naval forces to support the Republic of Korea below the 38th Parallel.
On 27 June the UN Security Council passed another resolution that recommended UN members assist South Korea in repelling the invasion. The Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a directive that authorized General Douglas MacArthur to assume operational control of all American military forces in Korea. As a result, the U.S. Army began to mobilize and deploy to the Far East. One of the units selected to participate in the war early in the process was Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment.
The selection of the 65th to deploy to Korea made a great deal of sense. After all, the regiment was among the best trained units in the American Army, having participated in the Atlantic Fleet Exercises of 1948 and 1949 near Vieques Island. Both culminated in an amphibious assault, which saw the 65th Infantry attached to the 2nd Marine Division. Senior Army and Marine officials praised the regiment for its outstanding performance.
In the Spring of 1950, only months before the outbreak of the war in Korea, the 65th Infantry had also participated in PORTREX or Puerto Rican Exercises, the largest postwar World War II maneuvers in history. PORTREX was an expanded version of the Atlantic Fleet Exercises, with the regiment acting as the aggressor force defending Vieques. During the exercise, the men of the regiment stopped the landings of the 3rd Infantry Division on the beaches and inflicted heavy casualties on a battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division jumping onto Vieques Island. The Puerto Rican soldiers launched a series of blistering counterattacks, which almost reached the beaches. Again, the regiment's esprit de corps and outstanding performance gained it the praise and recognition of senior military commanders.
The Atlantic Fleet Exercises of 1948 and 1949 and the PORTREX maneuvers of 1950 provided the 65th Infantry and its Puerto Rican soldiers with a great deal of positive exposure. This played a major role in the Army's decision to deploy the regiment to Korea early and later to integrate the growing number of Puerto Rican soldiers throughout the Army, as did the growing number of Hispanic soldiers joining the armed forces. Between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Korean War, some 14,000 Puerto Ricans enlisted in the US Army.
On 11 August, the 65th Infantry Regiment was alerted for overseas movement and directed to come to war strength with a readiness date of 22 August 1950. At that time, Colonel William Harris, the regimental commander, received word his unit would be joining the 3rd Infantry Division in Korea, a fact that caused him some concern. Harris was a West Point graduate and World War II veteran, as were the regiment's Executive Officer, Lieutenant Colonel George W. Childs, and 1st Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Howard B. St. Clair. Harris would later advance to General Officer rank, while two of his three original battalion commanders would go on to command infantry regiments, a testimony to the fine leadership present within the 65th Infantry at the onset of the war.
At the same time the 3rd Battalion, 33rd Infantry Regiment was designated the 3rd Battalion, 65th Infantry Regiment. A better match could not have been imagined. The battalion had trained with the 65th during PORTREX earlier in the year. Concerned about the flow of Puerto Rican replacements to Korea, Harris also requested and received permission to deploy with a ten percent overage in company grade officers and enlisted personnel, a luxury not afforded to any other U.S. Army infantry regiment that deployed to Korea in 1950.
Even as the 65th was preparing to depart Puerto Rico, some of the Army's 20,000 Puerto Ricans were already fighting and dying in Korea. On August 16, El Imparcial reported that Private Mario V. Sanchez of Caguas had been wounded on 25 July. The same issue reported the death of 1st Lieutenant Elmillo L. Matta of Santurce on 3 July. Assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, Matta was later awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously for leading his company in a bayonet charge against North Korean positions, making him the first Hispanic to earn the prestigious award in Korea.
Early on the morning of 27 August 1950, the 65th Infantry sailed out of San Juan for the Panama Canal Zone. It arrived in Panama on 30 August. There it picked up the 3rd Battalion, 33rd Infantry and its heavy mortars. The next day, the expanded unit sailed for Japan aboard two ships.
Its men trained intensively in route, firing all their weapons, including the mortars, from the ship.
On 22 September the regiment arrived at Sasebo, Japan, where it was ordered to proceed directly to Pusan, South Korea. The 65th Infantry arrived in Korea on 23 September 1950 with more than 3,900 men in its ranks.
Spirits were high. Major General Edward Almond's X Corps had landed at Inchon, while Lieutenant General Walton Walker's Eighth Army had broken out of the Pusan Perimeter the previous week.
The 65th's first tactical mission took place on 28 September when it relieved a battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment in an attack on a hill defended by a strong enemy force. It achieved its objective at a cost of only six casualties.
Between 23 September and 31 October, the 65th Regimental Combat Team, which included the African-American 58th Field Artillery Battalion, was engaged in blocking the escape routes north of isolated North Korean units as well as in anti-guerrilla operations. The 65th RCT's most significant engagement occurred on the morning of 17 October when 500 North Korean soldiers attacked Company E at Kumpchon. The company killed 79 enemy and captured 85 prisoners after a bitter battle, while suffering 11 killed and 13 wounded.
At various times the 65th was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division, and the 25th infantry Division or acted as the Eighth Army reserve. From 23 September to 31 October, the regiment inflicted more than 1,500 casualties on the enemy while suffering 221. During that period the men from the regiment won five Silver Stars for gallantry in combat. Responding to a query from Puerto Rico on the state and performance of the regiment in Korea, General Douglas MacArthur, the Far East Command Commander, observed that the unit's men were "showing magnificent ability and courage in field operations. They are a credit to Puerto Rico and I am proud to have them in my command."
At the end of October, the 65th was attached to General Edward Almond's X Corps for operations in North Korea. On 4 November it moved to Pusan and then to Wonsan by ship, arriving there the next day as the lead element of Major General Robert H. Soule's 3rd Infantry Division, which had only recently arrived in theater.
At the end of November the Chinese attacked U.S. forces in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir. One of regiment's most important missions in North Korea was assisting Task Force Dog, responsible for covering the withdrawal of the 1st Marine Division from the Chosin Reservoir. The 65th Infantry's Task Force Childs held the high ground that the Marines had to pass through against sustained Chinese attacks.
Another important mission for the regiment was defending a sector of the Hungnam beachhead, the exit point through which all United Nations forces were evacuated from northeastern Korea. Elements of the 65th Infantry's 2nd Battalion were among the last troops to come off the beach when the evacuation of Hungnam was completed on 24 December 1950.
The X Corps and 3rd Infantry Division commanders commended the 65th for its outstanding performance and General Almond personally presented the Silver Star to Colonel William Harris for gallantry in action.
By then the regiment had suffered 130 battle casualties, winning 11 of the 42 Silver Stars awarded by General Almond for operations in North Korea.
It was during the Spring and Summer of 1951, however, that the 65th Infantry experienced its "Glory Days." Lasting from January to July 1951, this period was characterized by a relentless advance despite tenacious enemy resistance and blistering enemy counterattacks; a skillful retreat in the face of the Chinese Spring Offensive in April; and an extremely high enemy-to-friendly casualty ratio.
During January 1951, the 65th Infantry participated in Operation Thunderbolt, a reconnaissance in force, and Operation Exploitation, an attack toward the Han River. By the end of the month, the regiment had advanced to a region just south of Seoul and was under orders to seize three hills held by the Chinese 149th Division. The assault began on 31 January and took three days.
On the morning of 2 February 1951, with the objective within reach, two battalions of the regiment fixed bayonets and charged the enemy positions, forcing the Communist soldiers to flee.
Immortalized in the U.S. Army's National Guard print of the event, the regiment's performance encouraged General MacArthur to write: "The Puerto Ricans forming the ranks of the gallant 65th Infantry give daily proof on the battlefields of Korea of their courage, determination, and resolute will to victory, their invincible loyalty to the United States and their fervent devotion to those immutable principles of human relations, which the Americans of the Continent and of Puerto Rico have in common.
They are writing a brilliant record of heroism in battle and I am indeed proud to have them under my command. I wish that we could count on many more like them."
In February and March, the 65th participated in Operation Killer and Operation Ripper, aimed at the destruction of Communist forces. Task Force Myers, consisting of the Regimental Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, the Regimental Tank Company, Company G, and attached artillery and tactical air command group, attacked northward against heavy enemy resistance. It was the first element of the 3rd Infantry Division to reach the southern banks of the Han River below Seoul. Patrols of the 65th were also among the first U.S. troops to reenter the South Korean capital.
In March, the 65th destroyed an entire North Korean regiment that had slipped through the front lines and attacked the 3rd Infantry Division's rear. On 23 March 1st Lieutenant Richard W. Durkee of Company L won the Distinguished Service Cross, the first member of the regiment to do so. During an attack on a hill near Uijongbu, he single-handedly assaulted one enemy position after another, killing the Chinese soldiers occupying them. Though seriously wounded, Durkee continued to lead the assault, inspiring his men, who overwhelmed the remaining Communist soldiers and seized the objective.
In April the regiment participated in Operation Dauntless, leading the 3rd Infantry Division's attack and defeating elements of the Chinese 26th Army. On 19 April, two members of the regiment, Sergeant Modesto Cartagena and Corporal Nieves-Laguer, both of Company C, won the Distinguished Service Cross during assaults on enemy defensive positions near Yonchon. Sergeant Cartagena knocked out five Chinese defensive positions with hand grenades until seriously wounded. Corporal Nieves-Laguer, an automatic rifleman, repeatedly charged Communist dugouts, killing the defenders and allowing the remainder of his squad to advance. Nieves-Laguer also made three separate trips across fireswept terrain, evacuating three badly wounded comrades to safety.
During the Chinese Spring Offensive in April, the 65th defended its position against the vanguard of two Communist divisions, withdrawing in an organized fashion when ordered to do so.
As the Eighth Army retreated southward, the regiment counterattacked aggressively whenever the opportunity presented itself. Between May and July, the 65th participated in operations to seize and hold the Chorwon Valley and was instrumental in stopping Communist counterattacks in the Iron Triangle (Chorwon - Pyonggang - Kumhwa) area.
When asked by officers of the regiment in February 1951 why the unit had spent so much time on the front lines, Brigadier General Armistead D. Mead, the Assistant Division Commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, replied that the unit was the strongest regiment in the division. It had arrived in Korea overstrength at a time when the other regiments were understrength.
In addition, the 65th had arrived two months before the remainder of the division and thus had more combat experience than the other infantry regiments. Finally, Mead said that the regiment had tended to occupy the best and most defensible terrain, a compliment to the tactical competence of the 65th's leaders.
The regiment had thus established a reputation as a well led, well trained, and highly motivated unit. "Its performance was superb," recalled a Puerto Rican officer in the 1st Battalion, Captain Fernandez-Duran. "We were very proud of our regiment's action. There was never any fear or cowardice displayed by anyone in our unit. Leadership was superb and most of the soldiers were veterans and regular army. As to discipline, nothing was left to be desired."
By the early Spring of 1951 the 65th Infantry had emerged as one of the most effective infantry regiments in Eighth Army. The regiment was operating at the peak of its combat performance. It's accomplishments during Operations Wolfhound, Thunderbolt, Exploitation, Killer, Ripper, Courageous, Dauntless, Rugged, and still later, during the Chinese Spring Offensive, fully validated the Army's decision to send the regiment to Korea.
The "Borinqueneers" attacked northward relentlessly for some 50 miles against unremitting Communist resistance, winning a reputation as both the vanguard and the fire brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. The regiment advanced into the teeth of prepared Chinese defenses all along the way, broke one defensive line after another, and survived a number of searing large-scale night and early morning counterattacks, which would have shattered other units, and did.
The 65th made mistakes and learned from them, emerging as a combat hardened regiment of seasoned veteran troops. From January to March the men of the regiment killed 2,220 Chinese and North Korean soldiers, probably wounded almost 7,000, and captured 379. They had, in turn, suffered 271 battle casualties and 655 non-battle casualties.
The 65th had also fought extremely well during the Communist Spring offensive of 1951. It defended its sector tenaciously, punishing the Chinese with blistering air and artillery strikes and forcing them to break off their attacks. Its use of L-19 observation aircraft to collect intelligence, control fires, and guide the movement of friendly units was both effective and innovative. The regiment held its ground resolutely until ordered to break contact, then withdrew in an organized fashion. Finally it was the unit selected to lead the relief of the beleaguered British Gloster Battalion, reflecting General Soule's confidence in the fighting abilities of his Puerto Rican soldiers.
"At division it was considered to be a most dependable force," remembers Lieutenant Colonel Bill Friedman, who had fought with the 1st infantry Division at Normandy during World War II and had advanced from being the 65th Infantry Operations Officer to the 3rd Infantry Division's Assistant Operations Officer.
"We [3d Infantry Division] thought it conducted itself very well throughout the entire battle. Their withdrawal was orderly and controlled and the resistance it offered was still first class….The regiment inflicted a lot of casualties on the Chinese and never broke."
The 65th Infantry was officially credited with 2,188 of the almost 12,000 Communist soldiers killed by the 3rd Infantry Division during the Chinese Spring Offensive. If the numbers are not higher, it's only because the regiment punished the Chinese so severely that the enemy broke contact with the 65th, allowing it to withdrawal relatively unhindered. Instead the Chinese concentrated their assaults on the Belgians and Turks on the regiment's flanks, shattering each in turn.
During the intense fighting the "Borinqueneers" suffered 283 of the division's 683 battle casualties or almost forty-two percent of the 3rd Infantry Division's U.S. battle casualties for the month.
Between its arrival in Korea in September 1950 and the end of July 1951, the men of the 65th were credited with almost 6,900 Communist soldiers killed and 2,127 taken prisoner. In comparison the men of the regiment had suffered 985 battle casualties, meaning that for every battle casualty it suffered, the regiment inflicted ten on the Chinese and North Koreans. By the end of the July 1951 the regiment had won five of the twelve Distinguished Service Crosses and most of the 156 Bronze Stars and 421 Silver Stars it would win in its four years in Korea. The 65th Infantry left Korea in November 1954.
How do we account for the tremendous success of the 65th Infantry Regiment in Korea during this period?
First, the regiment was fortunate to be operating under what can only be described as a favorable alignment of stars. These included General Douglas MacArthur, the Far Eastern and United Nations Commander; Lieutenant General Matthew B. Ridgway, the Eight Army Commander; and Major General Robert H. Soule, the 3rd Infantry Division Commander.
It is clear that all three closely monitored and personally supported the regiment's progress. These commanders were all extremely sympathetic to the Puerto Rican soldiers and their regiment and did what they could to ensure its success, visiting it on numerous occasions to familiarize themselves with its achievements and ensure its leadership understood what was expected of them in all forthcoming operations. The men of the 65th rarely let them down. The three commanders thus left their personal imprint on the "Borinqueneers" victories.
That the regiment was significantly over strength during much of the Spring and early Summer of 1951, having twice as many American soldiers as its sister regiments in the division, contributed considerably to the 65th's many successes.
In war - numbers matter. A larger infantry regiment can cover more ground, both in the attack and the defense. Because it can deploy more soldiers, it can engage with more weapons and thus inflict greater casualties on the enemy. It can advance across a broader front, striking at the enemy from both the front and flanks, dislocating his defense and causing him to either abandon it or to be defeated.
And a larger infantry regiment can sustain more casualties, while still remaining in battle, thus benefiting longer from its combat experience. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the presence of more American soldiers instills confidence among all that the men to their left and right will be there in the confusion of battle and the fog of war. And it is this confidence that is the key to victory in battle.
Between January and July 1951 the strength of the 65th Infantry Regiment averaged 4,000 to 4,500 men. The authorized strength of an infantry regiment at the time was about 3,800 men and most other U.S. Army infantry regiments had arrived in Korea with only half that number. The 65th Infantry, on the other hand, had arrived with more than 4,000 men with another 3,000 in the training pipeline, which began at Camp Tortugero in Puerto Rico.
Between September 1950 and March 1953 the Replacement Training Center at Camp Tortuguero, Puerto Rico, trained some 30,500 Puerto Rican replacements, the bulk of whom served with the 65th Infantry Regiment in Korea.
Indeed, at one point so many Puerto Rican infantry replacements were arriving in Korea that the 3rd Infantry Division Commander, General Robert H. Soule, proposed the formation of an all Puerto Rican infantry division. This was the second time this suggestion has been made. However, the Eight Army commander turned down the proposal.
Remember - by law, Puerto Rican soldiers and sergeants from the island could only serve in the ranks of the 65th Infantry Regiment. Later, this rule would first be bent and then broken by senior army commanders in Korea in order to benefit from the flood of badly needed Hispanic soldiers and sergeant coming from Puerto Rico.
Furthermore, the personnel figures for the 65th Infantry reflect only American soldiers. Unlike other regimental commanders, Colonel William Harris rejected the large numbers of South Korean augmentees (KATUSAs) pushed at the regiment by Eighth Army. How he was able to get away with this still remains a mystery to me. Yet it speaks volumes of the respect his superiors had for the Harris and his Puerto Rican regiment.
If not a stellar regimental commander, William Harris performed in an extremely competent manner. His talents as a planner, logistician, and trainer, and especially his genuine affection, admiration, and respect for the regiment's Puerto Rican soldiers were the foundation of the unit's successes. Harris believed that there was no mission the 65th Infantry could not accomplish and he worked tirelessly to inculcate that belief into the regiment and all those he encountered, especially his superiors.
Harris also understood the importance of communications, as evidenced by his "borrowing" (Army slang for stealing) of a high-power radio van from X Corps capable of communicating from Korea to Japan. And he appreciated the importance of reconnaissance and superior firepower, as evidenced by his use of division L-19s light aircraft.
He made a number of mistakes and admits to them honesty in his now famous history of the regiment in Korea, "Puerto Rico's Fighting 65th U.S. Infantry. From San Juan to Chorwan". Yet William Harris matured into an extremely competent commander.
By the time Harris turned command of the regiment in the Summer of 1951, the 65th had suffered almost a 1,000 battle casualties since its arrival in Korea. This represented fewer battle casualties than its sister regiments, although it had more days in combat and had been used as the spearhead of the 3rd Infantry Division for almost six months.
The "Borinqueneers" also continued to be well-served by a first-class regimental executive officer. It was Lieutenant Colonel George W. Childs who actually fought the battalions on the front lines, while Harris directed operations from his command post in the rear. "He was the glue that kept the regiment functioning like a unit," remembered the Regimental S-3, Major Bill Friedman,. "and was a good leader, tireless in the executions of the many missions assigned him." The battalion commanders and regimental staff trusted Childs. The regimental executive officer, in turn, was comfortable serving with the officers and Hispanic soldiers of the regiment.
The three remarkably talented battalion commanders continued to perform in a brilliant manner. Lieutenant Colonels Howard St. Clair, Herman Dammer and Gerald Allen had proven themselves to exceptional combat commanders of considerable talent and skill. That two of the 65th Infantry's three original battalion commanders would later be selected by no less than the Eighth Army Commander, Lieutenant General B. Matthew Ridgway, to command infantry regiments attests to their excellence as seasoned officers and combat leaders. A host of excellent staff officers, many of them West Pointers, rounded off the picture.
If Harris was fortunate to have first rate commanders and staff, he was even more fortunate to have great junior leaders, the vast of bulk of them Puerto Rican, who led from the front. For example, from January to March 1951 alone, 24 of the regiment's 153 officers were battle casualties. Finally, the regiment's enlisted men were well educated, well trained, and highly motivated. The "Borinqueneers" were perhaps best described by the Regimental S-3 who called them "self starters." "From the very first firefight," recalled Bill Friedman, "they showed a willingness to stand up and take it, and give it out….They never gave up ground, they could fight like demons and did."
All these factors are the reason the American Army's only all-Hispanic Regular Army regiment performed brilliantly during its "Glory Days" in the first year of the Korean War. The 65th Infantry Regiment established a reputation as a fast-moving, hard hitting formation, garnering accolades from Generals Douglas MacArthur, Matthew Ridgway and others.
Puerto Rican soldiers serving in the American Eighth Army in Korea had proven that they were more than a match for their North Korean and Chinese Communist opponents. Their performance convinced the U.S. Army to fully integrate Puerto Ricans into its ranks.
In all, some 61,000 Puerto Ricans served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, the bulk of them with the 65th Infantry Regiment. Of these, 48,000 joined in Puerto Rico. Over the course of the war, 743 were killed and 2,318 wounded. One of every 42 casualties incurred by U.S. forces was Puerto Rican, and the island suffered one casualty for every 660 of its inhabitants as compared to one casualty for every 1,125 inhabitants of the Continental United States.
Why did the Puerto Rican soldier fight so well in Korea? Perhaps there was some truth in Puerto Rican Governor Muñoz-Marin's words on the day the colors of the regiment were transferred to the 296th Infantry Regiment of the Puerto Rican National Guard: "The flag of the United States, which they followed with devotion into battle, represents their great democratic faith as citizens of the United States. The flag of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, under which they proudly fought, represents in their hearts those ideals important to Puerto Rico, for their homes in the hills and villages of Puerto Rico, their pride in their traditions, and their hope that their island would assume, each day, a greater role as an exporter of goodwill and understanding between the peoples of all countries."
One senses the real answer, however, lies in the words of a group of Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Korean War veterans: "We fought because we were soldiers of the United States Army and of the regiment. It was our duty."
©2007 Gilberto Villahermosa
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