Read The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat Online
Authors: Bob Drury,Tom Clavin
Four sections of this magnificent structure are devoted to signature U.S. Marine Corps actions in twentieth-century American wars: Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima, Khe San, and Fox Hill. The Korean War gallery presents a tableau of Fox Hill-complete with airconditioning to simulate (to a point) the freezing cold. Captain Bill Barber's bullet-pocked parka is worn by the figure depicting himhe had put it over a wounded Marine in Hagaru-ri, and it was discovered in an attic several years ago.
A few of the veterans from Fox Company grumbled about some of the details, but most seemed pleased by the attention and the sentiments. Following the ceremony, on the evening of Saturday, November 10, 2006-the 231st birthday of the Corps-some of the former Marines commandeered a meeting room at their hotel, pulled bottles from their suitcases, and proceeded to catch up on each other's lives, and to swap tales about a time when ordinary men won an extraordinary battle on the other side of the world.
Later there was a dinner in a conference room at the same hotel. The keynote speaker was Major (Ret.) Chew-Een Lee, still ramrod straight in his uniform covered with medals, and still with a chip on his shoulder. Bill Barber's daughter and son, Sharon and John, attended. They were in town to bury the ashes of their mother, lone, with their father at Arlington National Cemetery.
By the time Fox Company met again a year later, in Orlando, Florida, the survivors were waging a different kind of war-against age and its depredations. Dick Bonelli, now seventy-six, had coordinated this reunion. He seemed to have enough energy for the entire company, but some of the men weren't up to making the trip. Elmo Peterson, slowed by a stroke and an eye disorder-macular degeneration-stayed at his home, near one of his daughters, in Tucson, Arizona. Bob McCarthy remained in North Carolina because of leg problems. The machine gunner John Henry had planned to attend but was having heart trouble and was grieving over the recent death of his wife of fifty years. Kenny Benson, who had journeyed from New Jersey to Quantico a year earlier, did not have the strength to make this journey in his wheelchair. Fidel Gomez had also attended the museum dedication, but this year his wife was too ill for him to get away. (She died two days later.)
But there was still a good turnout. Warren McClure, Edward Gonzales, Harry Burke, and Wayne Pickett attended with their wives, as did, among others, Clifford Steen, Eleazar Belmarez, Bob Duffy, Richard Danford, Bob Kirchner, Walt Klein, Richard Kline, Bob Ezell, and Bob Watson from the Ridgerunners.
As the weekend came to a close, a room at the hotel in Orlando was set aside on Sunday morning for a memorial service to honor those who had fallen on Fox Hill. The service was conducted by the Reverend Walt Hiskett, who was also grieving; his wife, Marilyn, had died the previous March.
A few minutes before 11 a.m., the men and their wives, along with several adult children, filed in to sit in a semicircle around a table Hiskett had set up. As Hiskett spoke to the veterans and their families about a war, in David Halberstam's phrase, "orphaned by history," he stepped from the table and moved to a podium to deliver a homily.
He began by speaking about a stained-glass window in the old chapel next to Arlington Cemetery that is dedicated "in honor and memory of all deceased Marines." The scene on the window depicts Gideon and his three hundred vastly outnumbered soldiers as they prepared for battle. But Hiskett did not speak of death or glory-he spoke to the men about peace. "Gideon was tasked by God to organize an army to rout the Midionites and Amalekites in order to restore peace to the people of Israel," he said. "Not unlike the task given to the Marine Corps when the North Koreans swooped down across the 38th Parallel in June of 1950-we were tasked to restore peace."
Every eye was on Hiskett as he spoke of his "brothers" on Fox Hill. "We are here today because when we were faced with overwhelming odds, we fought, and many died, not just for self-survival, but for our Corps and for one another. We commemorate the memory of our heroic dead. They were the life, the spirit, and soul of our Corps. We will not, nor can we ever, forget the lessons they taught us about honor and faithfulness."
Here Hiskett paused, trying to keep his composure. He was choking on the words. He raised his right hand and continued, his voice strengthening as he declared, "We are the Marine Corps, and Semper Fidelis is our motto. Always faithful. That was the spirit that keeps our Corps alive today. That was the spirit of the Marines we honor here today. We are here today because they made the sacrifice then. They will live on forever in our hearts and minds because we are a part of them and they are a part of us."
When Hiskett finished the service, the men of Fox Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Regiment, First Division, stood and closed ranks once more. Then it was time for these Marines and their families to go home.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We have been humbled by the enormous generosity of the men of Fox Company and their families. When we initially sought them out and introduced ourselves and our book idea, there was some caution on their part: Who are these two guys? Can we trust them to tell the story? Can we trust them to tell it right? Over time, however, the surviving members of the Marines who fought on Fox Hill became most charitable with us-sharing their memories, private letters, journals, oral histories, and official reports-as well as allowing us into their lives. For that we thank them, most especially Warren McClure and Dick Bonelli.
In McClure's case we took advantage of his years of dedication, as the secretary of the Fox 2/7 Association, in collecting, coordinating, and preserving the hundreds if not thousands of details, individual narratives, and maps of the events on Fox Hill during that week in late November and early December of 1950. Given that McClure is a writer of wonderful verse, we feel that we have met a true modern-day warrior-poet. As for Bonelli-quite simply there would have been no book without his input, participation, friendship, and coordinating abilities. He has as much considerable energy today as he had in Korea fifty-eight years ago.
We are also grateful for the recollections of Eleazar Belmarez, Ken Benson, Hector Cafferata, Jack Coleman, Dick Connelly, Richard Danford, Victor M. Davis, Bob Duffy, Harry Burke, Bob Ezell, Dick Gilling, Fidel Gomez, Edward Gonzales, Arnie Hansen, John Henry, Walt Hiskett, Rollin Hutchinson, Barry Jones, Bob Kirchner, Walt Klein, Richard Kline, Chew-Een Lee, Howard Mason, Bob McCarthy, Joe Owen, Chuck Pearson, Elmo Peterson, Wayne Pickett, Harrison Pourers, David Seils, Jerry Triggs, and Bob Watson, as well as for the accounts of the battle set to paper by Phil Bavaro, Don Childs, Graydon Davis, Raymond Davis, Vic Dey, Billy French, Stan Golembieski, Ernest Gonzalez, Lemuel Goode, Lee Knowles, Howard Koone, Minard Paul Newton, Clifford Steen, and Allen Thompson.
In addition to those veterans of Fox Hill, we would also like to thank Woodrow Barber, Jerry Courtier, Jean Sheets, and Sharon Waldo for their contributions.
Even with the recollections and written testimonies of those who participated in the Battle for Fox Hill, we also took advantage of a wide range of research sources to add more details to the narrative. We thank the following for their courteous help: Danny Brandi of the Denver, Colorado, "Chosin Few" organization; William Dillon; Paul Hughes; the Korean War Educator (www.koreanwar-educator .org); the Korean War Project in Dallas, Texas; Lee Mead; staffers at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland; Dr. Charles P. Neimeyer, Robert Aquilina, and their colleagues at the Reference Branch at the Marine Corps History Division in Quantico, Virginia; the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation; and the National Museum of the Marine Corps, also in Quantico.
We have been fortunate to have assistance and encouragement from friends and others in the preparation of the manuscript. We are most grateful to James Brady, David Hughes, Colonel (Ret.) Joseph C. Long , Major General (Ret.) J. Michael Myatt of the Marines Memorial Association, David Winter, Valerie Pillsworth, Kelly Olsen, Bob Rosen and Jennifer Unter at RLR Associates, and Alison Thompson.
It has been written many times before yet it is still true: Without the expertise and support of the professionals who made The Last Stand of Fox Company a reality, we wouldn't have the privi lege of thanking them for this book. And we are very happy to thank Morgan Entrekin, Jofie Ferrari-Adler, and Nat Sobel.
Finally, to our family members and loved ones-Brendan Clavin, Kathryn Clavin, Liam-Antoine DeBusschere-Drury, Denise McDonald, and Leslie Reingold-you have given us more than we deserve.
APPENDIX
According to United States Marine Corps records, the following men were assigned to Fox Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment, along with various attached Marines and United States Navy corpsmen, on the official November/December 1950 roster. Marine Corps historians attribute the seven-man discrepancy between this roster and the 246 Marines and Navy corpsmen who fought on Fox Hill to last-minute replacements and evacuations, as well as the fog of war."
1. Adams, Douglas H., Private First Class
2. Aguilar, Jose R., Private First Class
3. Anderson, Robert, Private First Class
4. Arcuri, Nickolas M., Private
5. Ashdale, Thomas G., Corporal
6. Audas, John D., Staff Sergeant
7. Balcezak, Benjamin, Private First Class
8. Barber, William E., Captain
9. Batdorff, Robert L., Private First Class
10. Bean, Harry H., Sergeant
11. Belmarez, Eleazar R., Corporal
12. Bendy, Cecil J., Private First Class
13. Benson, Kenneth R., Private First Class
14. Bernard, Richard J., Private First Class
15. Blacklidge, Jack W., Corporal
16. Blunk, Albert W., Private First Class
17. Bolstad, Richard E., Private First Class
18. Bonelli, Richard A., Private First Class
19. Boudousquie, William, Private First Class
20. Brady, Joseph J., First Lieutenant
21. Bryan, John C., Private First Class
22. Brydon, William H., Corporal
23. Bunch, William H., Master Sergeant
24. Burkard, Raymond L., Corporal
25. Burke, Harry L., Corporal
26. Cafferata, Hector A., Private
27. Campbell, Donald, First Lieutenant
28. Cavanaugh, James P., Private First Class
29. Childs, Donald L., Private First Class
30. Chung, Mr., Korean Interpreter
31. Cilek, Gene, Private First Class
32. Clark, Thomas L., Corporal
33. Connelly, Richard W., Corporal
34. Conrad, Richard A., Private First Class
35. Cornelison, Roy J., Private First Class
36. Cunningham, Alfred, Corporal
37. Dana, Charles C., Master Sergeant
38. Danford, Richard E., Staff Sergeant
39. Danilowski, Henry J., Private First Class
40. Davis, Graydon W., Private First Class
41. Davis, Roger R., Private First Class
42. Daugherty, James H., Private First Class
43. Dunne, John M., First Lieutenant
44. Dytkiewicz, Alvin T., Corporal
45. Elknation, Rueben A., Private First Class
46. Elrod, Judd W., Sergeant
47. Erwin, Louis E., Private First Class
48. Evans, Walter, USN Corpsman
49. Ezell, Robert W., Private First Class
50. Farley, John D., Corporal
51. Fenton, Charles E., Private First Class
52. Fich, Richard A., Private First Class
53. Fitzgerald, Thomas, Private First Class
54. Fixico, Amos, Private First Class
55. French, Billy M., Private First Class
56. French, James, USN Corpsman
57. Friend, Harvey J., Corporal
58. Fry, William L., Private First Class
59. Gagner, Eugene E., Private First Class
60. Gaines, Robert L., Corporal
61. Gajda, Thadeus M., Private First Class
62. Gamble, Clifford, Private First Class
63. Garza, William F., Private First Class
64. Geer, Harmony, Private First Class
65. Gleason, William P., Private First Class