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Colonel John Edward Gray Stalwart Son of the South Born in North Carolina, John Gray was a veteran of three very large wars, and not only did he fight in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, he was wounded in all three, being awarded more medals for gallantry and courage than he could find places on his uniform to display them. His many decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit three Oak Leaf Clusters, the bronze Star, the Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Republic of Korea’s highest award for valor, the Chungmu Distinguished Military Service Medal with a Gold Star. He also holds the Army Corps of Engineers Silver deFluery Medal for outstanding service accomplishments and service to the Engineer Regiment. John’s academic achievements include an MBA from Syracuse and an MS from American University, plus diplomas from the Army General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. However, on a 35 below zero night at Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, none of that fluff mattered. The charging Chinese didn’t care how many wars Gray had been in or how many times he’d been wounded. They had intentions of killing him, accolades or not. Lt. John Gray was one of those entrusted World War II veterans who was destined to serve under Lt. Col. William Reilly’s 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry at the “Battle of Chosin.” Blissfully, Lt. Gray, wife Susie, and infant son Jack were celebrating the receipt of orders that would assign him to the 5th Regimental Combat Team, stationed at Schofield Barracks, Oahu, Hawaii. It was to be a three year assignment and Gray’s wife Susie was thrilled. “A contemplated three year adventure in those wonderful islands,” was exciting,” confessed John Gray, obviously relishing his family’s good fortune. On top of that, Gray had a thirty day leave before getting under way to Hawaii. For quite some time rumblings and saber rattles had been rolling across the Pacific Ocean toward the U.S., indicating bad blood was rising toward a boiling point on the divided Korean peninsula. Just fifteen days into John Gray’s leave and prior to shipping out for jewel of the Pacific, the Korean War exploded onto the world stage, and to infantry officers in the U.S. Army, hell-bent to protect democracy wherever it was threatened, it meant one thing – combat. Gray described the feeling: “Our rosy Hawaiian dream quickly turned to a nightmare of dread and separation.” There was no doubt – Lt. Gray was going to Korea. Once deployed on the eastern shore of Chosin Reservoir along with Lt. Col. Don Faith’s 1st Battalion just to the north, Lt. Gray had just gone bed, when in less than a hour, just after sunset, Cpl. Robert Lohr burst into Gray’s hut and warned, “The Lieutenant might want to know that some very strong fire fights are developing not too far from the east of us.” Gray heard sporadic small arms fire within 3rd Battalion’s perimeter. Soon, the chatter became rhythmic and in different locations, but soon died out as quickly as it had appeared. Alarmed, Lt. Gray wondered if it was the ROKs and KATUSAs shooting at each other again. Some dismissed the fire as being internal, part of the ongoing ROKs and KATUSA’s common skittish behavior. Gray wasn’t buying it, genuinely worrying about the ongoing and looming Chinese threat. That threat came to pass and 3rd Battalion, on the night of 27 November, experienced the unleashing of a feared regular Army Chinese that almost wiped out Reilly’s 3rd Battalion. If not for a ferocious counter attack by Capt. James R. McClymont’s AAA guns, it was likely 3rd Battalion would likely have been overrun and destroyed. The second night on the 28th, the same Chinese suicide attack was again launched on 3rd Battalion. Capt. Earle Jordan’s M Company blocking positions comprised an inner defense to protect Lt. Gray’s 81-mm mortar emplacements, the M Company Command Post, and the 3rd Battalion Command Post to Gray’s immediate north. Gray had prepared defensive positions facing inland away from the Reservoir toward the east and south. As Gray assessed his platoon’s combat capabilities, he was all too aware that the 81-mm mortar ammunition was in short supply. However, thinking on the plus side, he planned to make every round count. If he ran out of ammunition, Gray emphasized, he knew he had men he could count on no matter how terrible the cost. As trained infantrymen, Grays Gorillas were a proven and effective rifle and automatic weapons force and was braced for another similar attack. Suddenly, the Chinese attack on Jordan’s and Gray’s east side mounted in fury. The attack was thrown back but not for long. From the looks of things Gray thought they had the Chinese stopped dead in their tracks but the massed numbers of rampaging troops had again pierced 3rd Battalion’s perimeter. Fighting had waned somewhat, but looking across the snowy landscape to the southeast, Gray could see another massive attack forming, and with the suddenness of a striking rattlesnake, great numbers of enemy infantry advanced directly toward him at a rapid pace. In his mind, there was no doubt the enemy would soon be upon them. Gray yelled to his men to get into blocking positions. His men quickly redeployed and began firing. Immediately, they started taking heavy enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire. Repeated enemy mortar barrages were falling all around Gray’s position. Soon, the onrushing Chinese were in hand-grenade range, and as he was taking cover from the closing enemy, Gray was hit severely in his right thigh and leg from incoming mortar shell fragments. “Ah, I’m hit,” yelled Gray, immediately wondering how bad it was. Shortly thereafter, a torrid rain of potato masher concussion grenades inundated Gray’s defense. His entire body was physically blown from that position, and the massive human waves of Chinese were now an immediate threat to the entire mortar platoon. Struggling to regain his bearings, Gray instinctively brought his M-1 Rifle to bear, firing on the assaulting enemy at point-blank range. The opposing forces were now co-mingled and mortal, desperate, hand-to-hand fighting ensued. Raising his rifle to shoot a Chinese directly in front of him, another Chinese to his right, fired on him with a Thompson machinegun, and the burst shattered his rifle stock, severely wounding his right hand. Feeling though he had been hit with as baseball bat, groaning, Gray staggered back from the impact, falling into a pile of rubble and debris. That convenient mass of debris likely saved the lieutenant’s life, as the Chinese lost sight of him. In his stunned, shaken condition, his mind suddenly rushed to thoughts of wife Susie and little Jack. “Was this it for me? Will I ever see them again?” Finally regaining his wits, Gray struggled to get his .45 out of its holster. He could see three Chinese soldiers quickly advancing in his direction. His wounded hand would not work but finally, he was able to withdraw the weapon. Due to the dust and debris and his crouched position, it was obvious the approaching Chinese didn’t see him. Without hesitation, Gray emptied the clip, dropping them all in their tracks. He then dragged himself back toward the M Company CP and the safety of his other covering positions. In furious, gripping, hand-to-hand fighting, Gray’s Gorillas and Jordan’s M Company resurgently rose up, refusing to relinquish the command post and further enemy penetration. The determined Chinese were rudely and with great unrelenting force, ejected from the area. Original positions were restored. Gray was greatly relieved when he looked up and saw Jordan. Thankfully Jordan was still in fighting condition as he glared at the fleeing Chinese. Gray flopped to the ground, attempting to be cognizant enough to assess the damage. “John, you and that .45 killed all three of those slant-eyed devils,” quipped Jordan in an admiring sort of way. Jordan was attempting to come to Gray’s rescue, but was shocked to see him fit enough to drop all three. Jordan quickly summoned a medic to assist Gray whose right leg was bleeding profusely from a mortar wound that had seemingly nicked an artery. After injecting Gray with a morphine syrette and bandaging his other wounds, the medic helped him to the aid station. The first thing he noticed upon entering the aid station was that everything was shot full of holes, including the tent, the red-cross emblem, the surgeon’s utensils, and the doctor himself, who seemed to be worse off than Gray. Gray recognized the Army surgeon, 1st Lieutenant Sterling W. Morgan, who at the time was regretting not becoming a Navy doctor for obvious reasons. Noting that the Aid station was literally bulging out with wounded, Gray decided to pick up his rifle and hobble back to his platoon battle station. Gray’s wounds were a smashed right-hand, with most of its metacarpals broken and muscle tendons severed, except for his trigger-finger. He was unable to handle a weapon. For a second straight night, 3rd Battalion had acquitted itself well against vastly superior odds and multiple perimeter penetrations. For the remainder of the night until the welcome dawn, the pressure from the Chinese abated. In the main attack, the Chinese had given priority to knocking out McClymont’s 15th AAA AW Battalion gun carriers, which Gray and Jordan concluded were the most dominant factor in 3rd Battalion’s perimeter defense on the second night of the Chinese siege. Lt. Gray admitted that even with M Company’s containment of the enemy salient into the east side of the perimeter, earlier during the night, may well have been made possible by McClymont’s devastating fire, pinching it off and thus weakening its point so that M Company could cope with it. At least 1,000 Chinese dead were counted in front, on top of and around the AAA gun emplacements, not to mention Chinese casualties slaughtered within the lengthy range of the heavy guns. When Task Force Faith finally broke out of the Inlet at Chosin and headed toward the Marine encampment, the men of Task Force Faith were staging a life saving foray on vital Hill 1221. One of Capt. Earle Jordan’s best soldiers, and the leader of Gray’s Gorillas, was lying immobile in a truck, and Jordan sorely missed his leadership. The withering Chinese fire raining down from above was forging an increasingly desperate situation. Making matters worse, rapidly growing numbers of Chinese suddenly appeared on the high ridges to the north and began firing directly into the convoy. Jordan noticed other massed Chinese who seemed to be forming ranks for a direct attack from the valley. Jordan’s thoughts were decisive. He had to put some gunners together and hit that hill. He knew the only chance for the wounded was to take the Hill and get the column moving again. Just about all of 1st Battalion had passed the frozen stream and were on the road leading to the saddle of Hill 1221. Some were attacking in groups up the slope of the Hill, and Capt. Stamford and his Triplets were now running deadly air strikes where the Chinese had shown themselves. To the amazement and shock of his own men, Lt. Gray, suffering excruciating pain and barely able walk, heroically decided to be the one to gather a group and assault 1221. To their amazement Jordan and Gray linked up with Faith as the vital Hill was taken. This allowed the convoy to move forward, probably saving countless American lives. The next critical juncture fur Gray’s survival was crossing the Chosin Reservoir ice to the safety of the Marine encampment. Wounded and barely able to walk, John Gray, with the help of ex-Nazi Helmet Bertram and others, Gray and his small band of survivors made their way across the ice and to the safety of the Marines at Hagaru-ri. Gray, leading the way, insisted on being the first to enter the Marine encampment. Barely able to walk, Gray’s men were awed, mouths agape, as he stumbled along, falling twice, but each time gathering himself to begin again. The sight was an inspiration to every single soldier present. Upon reaching the Marine sergeant, he straightened up, stuck out his chin, and clicked his heels. The sergeant looked highly puzzled at the man standing in front of him. Waiting for the Marine to salute, Gray realized the startled soldier must have wondered “Who in the hell is he?” Unshaven and frostbitten, worn and bloody, he was wearing a tattered field uniform, lacked a helmet, and had no ribbons, medals, or insignia. In view of Gray’s rumpled appearance the sergeant remained reticent. Feeling perplexed, Gray suddenly remembered he had turned his officer’s insignia under his lapels, not wanting to be claimed as enemy bounty. He quickly turned them up. Recognizing his rank, the Marine sergeant offered a respectful look of quiet admiration as he saluted. “Welcome aboard, sir. Direct your men to come in!” Lt. Gray fell to his knees, looked up at the Marine and said, “Welcome aboard indeed.” Lt. John Edward Gray went on to fight more battles and another war, serving and being wounded again in the War in Vietnam. Presently and still in good health, John Gray has a new book out entitled “Called to Honor” that covers his service in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. John Edward Gray is just another example of the heroism displayed by a number of battled hardened World War II officers that served gallantly in the epic “Battle of Chosin.” |
©2007 Robert Bernard, Author E-Mail Robert |
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