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Sergeant Charles M. Bielecki, United States Army Bielecki’s Actions Eerily Similar to Legendary Audie Murphy’s Medal of Honor Struggle Audie Murphy, the small kid from Greenville, Texas, and the most decorated soldier ever in the U.S. Army, received the Medal of Honor while brandishing a rapid fire machine gun, resulting in the killing and capturing of a bunch of Germans soldiers. Sgt. Charles M. Bielecki from the windy city of Chicago did practically the same thing during the Korean War, but only received the Bronze Star. Putting it simply, the U.S. Army during the “Forgotten War,” was highly disrespected by the press, Washington, the overall military, and the Marine Corp. Here’s how the story goes. After Chosin while entering a small valley, Bieliecki stumbled upon over approximately 300 feet of dead Chinese bodies stacked so high and thick you couldn’t see the ground. The bodies were stiff, so stiff they would actually serve a useful purpose other than maggot food. In Bielecki’s own words he states there was a partially frozen stream that when crossed by the trucks caused vehicular problems once reaching the other side. The correct solution was to stack the “stiffs” until they created the perfect ford or bridge that would allow the trucks to cross over without a problem. When Bielecki crossed, a sudden Chinese attack erupted. Bielecki quickly mounted a truck that offered a .30 caliber machine gun to take on the charging Chinese. While firing into the enemy, “I could actually see my rounds hitting into their jackets.” Bielecki encouraged others to join in and the deadly attacked was repulsed. The wounded in the trucks were saved by his actions. Bielecki with a wry grin thought “We knocked the hell out of ‘em.” From Chinese gunfire, the truck caught on fire, and Bielecki jumped to safety, but the fight was over as quick as it started and Bielecki would continue to lead the charmed life he had benefited from during the entire “Battle of Chosin.” |
©2007 Robert Bernard, Author E-Mail Robert |
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