GUARDIANS OF FREEDOM
Saluting Those Who Served in the U.S. Army
Ed Messing in Korea, Part 4
by Janis Stein

On May 27, 1953, Ed Messing’s unit faced their biggest battle to date in the Korean War. Ed was kept busy manning the radio for Fire Direction.

The battle was intense.

Low on ammunition, the allies began dropping flares, so the ammo haulers, driving with cat eyes, could see. Though the intense fighting began to lessen, the battle continued through the second day and almost all of the third. The United Nations lost some of its outposts. By the end of May 29, the third day, the fighting finally stopped.

Initially the allied nations lost some ground, but with some intense fighting they gained it back. The Division contained the 14th, 27th and the 35th Infantry Regiments, with about 4,000 men in a regiment. The 89th Tank Battalion contained the 8th, 64th, 69th and 90th Field Artillery Battalion, with about 900 men in each battalion, as well as several smaller units. The total Division strength was between 18,000 and 19,000 men.

In the end, the battle ended about where it started. Nothing gained.

Ed’s unit moved from time to time, and when they moved to the Panmunjom area at the end of April, they noted all the bridges across the river had been destroyed. Allied engineers built a pontoon bridge, so troops could move across. Troops followed the river for miles until they reached the spot where they would make camp.

Because the Army used FM radios, Ed and his fellow radio operators climbed a hill, securing their antennae atop it so they could transmit. Almost instantly, the Chinese zeroed in. Ed saw the first round of artillery hit the river about 300 feet behind him and below him. Ed heard the second round hit but he didn’t know where – they didn’t stick around to find out, but they knew the fire was too close for comfort.

While Ed ate his share of C-rations, for the most part the artillery unit went through the chow line, soldiers receiving dippers filled with the day’s special. The cooks made potatoes and vegetables and sometimes they even fried eggs. The soldiers rejoiced on the rare occasions they ate steak. No matter what was served, for Ed, the chow line beat C-rations any day. C-ration crackers mimicked cardboard, and the little cans of labeled food didn’t resemble anything he’d eaten at home. The cooks also placed tubs filled with hot water in a row, so when the soldiers were done eating, they could pass back through and clean their mess kits.

A soldier needed to be at the ready each and every day for whatever might come his way. And something did happen every day. While sometimes the fire didn’t amount to much, the enemy made enough noise to aggravate the allied troops. When Ed wasn’t working in the Fire Direction bunker, he hunkered down in his own, thankful for the time being he at least had the safety of its sandbag walls, for sometimes his only protection was a meager canvas tent.

The division Ed served with also supported the 3rd Turkish Brigade. American soldiers quickly learned they dared not mess with the Turks, regardless that they were on the same side. Known for their fierce fighting, the Turks fought with bravery and confidence, a most admirable trait during wartime. When Ed met a Turk while driving down the road, from experience Ed knew he would need to give the Turks adequate space for they practically drove down the center of the road. At the least, the Turks hogged three-quarters of the road, driving with their handlebar mustaches blowing in the wind!

During one of the battles, the Turks captured an enemy officer. Before the Intelligence Officers could travel forward to interrogate the prisoner, the Turks decapitated the Chinese officer and placed his head atop a post in front of the bunker. The fighting Turks had taken matters in their own hands, giving little thought to the potential information the Chinese soldier could have offered allied Intelligence Officers. While Ed didn’t personally see this transpire, this incident, among others, filtered through the ranks until it was common knowledge.

On July 15, Ed’s unit moved yet again, setting up camp in a different area of Panmunjom. To Ed, it seemed they’d no sooner get settled, and it was time to move again. Along with supporting the infantry at the Iron Triangle and Panmunjom, among others, the 64th Field Artillery also supported the infantry at Punch Bowl, Hill 1062, better known as Papasan, White Horse Mountain, Heart Break Ridge and Old Baldy. When Ed saw Old Baldy, there was barely a single living thing on it. Almost everything had been destroyed.

The front of each vehicle’s bumper showed the number of each particular unit. When it was time to move again, soldiers would hide these numbers so that if the enemy was watching, they wouldn’t be able to identify them. Soldiers would black out the identification number or cover the bumper with an empty sandbag to protect their identity – or so they thought. When the 25th Infantry Unit arrived to its next destination, often the Chinese would have a banner on the line, reading: Welcome 25th.

This habitual greeting made more than one soldier a bit uneasy. How did the Chinese know? Were there spies among them? Ed’s unit had some Korean houseboys pulling KP duty and working with the laundry, but these boys were thought to be ok. Still, the soldiers found it a bit unnerving that the Chinese knew what their actions would be before they did.