COMMENTS
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The "Lost Bastards" of Iron Ridge
During the
Battle of the Kumsong Salient
13 July to 21 July 1953
Compiled by
John R. Carpenter
Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved
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COMMENTS
This story has been difficult to get details on. My father, Richard (Dick) L. Carpenter, was involved in a ROK battle at the end of the Korean War Cease Fire - a peace treaty has never been signed - and there was not much press or interest in the USA of this horrific and intense combat. It is only recently that English translations of Korean War told from the South Korean side are coming out. (9A) The fiftieth anniversity of the Korean War Cease Fire is on July 27, 2003. It will get little notice due to the ongoing War on Terrorisim. It is being forgotten once again and will become a foot note in the history of the Cold War.
My father, after almost fifty years, still has nightmares when he starts to remember the grisly information. He went to Korea as part of a small unit of 28 men and came out with 14. This is fifty (50%) percent killed. All of the Americans he called friends were killed. The halftrack section he commanded as a Corporal and the squad (2 sections) he had as an actting Sergeant were pratically wiped out because they took the brunt of the enemy attacks. He survived despite being ordered to take command and that he and Lt. Col. Kim, who had years of combat experience, made the right decisions.
He deeply regrets not being able to tell the families of those Americans that died of how they died for their Country and for their fellow soldiers. He was ordered not to write those letters home. This because they never were officially in Korea. The families were informed that their sons died while on duty and some cover story was given. After his final debriefing and before his discharge as an Officer and a Gentleman, he was ordered to forget the what happened. For many years he tried mightly to do so. He has never had a support group of fellow combat veterans (all his combats were covert) and has never seen again those he had served with in Korea.
If any one knows more details of this battle and of the "Lost Bastards," please contact me.
There is no doubt that in my mind the friendly forces on Iron Ridge survived due to the combined efforts of the ROK troops, the KMAG FAC Sergeant, the artillery, the Air Force, the then Top Secret radar AND those unnamed American "Lost Bastards."
John R. Carpenter
La Mesa, CA , April 2003
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