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Show Marine Machine - Gunner Home After Year In Korean Conflict FORMER OIL WORKER TELLS OF BATTLING CHINESE COMMUNISTS Chasing Chinese through the frozen hills of South Korea was a grim task, according to Cpl. Richard Hudson, who returned to Roosevelt November 17th, after serving' as a machine-gunner with the 7th Marine Division in Korea the past year. Last February, Cpl. Hudson, with his entire Marine Division, was moved up to Wonju, South Korea, the front line at that time, and spent the next few weeks fighting his way from hill to hill, pushing forward as the Chinese withdrew to the 38th parallel. At various points when the Communists tried to hold the line or make a stand behind one of the countless hills, bloody battles ensued. Slept In Open Sleeping in the open on the wintry slopes of Korea in sleeping bags and living entirely on C rations were discomforts the Marine Division learned to accept. But to Cpl. Hudson, the cold was' the worst, not the fear of dying, which when asked about he shrugged off with an, "Oh. you don't think about that, but the intense cold was almost unbearable. Army gear is good and protects prety much everything but the feet, but nothing yet has been made to keep a soldier's feet warm and comfortable when he's tramping endless days on frozen ground." Removed From Front On April 6, 1951, shortly after af-ter his division reached the 38th parallel, Cpl. Hudson was removed re-moved from the front line and sent by plane back to Masan, 40 miles west of Pusan, to work in the Marine Adminisration Headquarters as battalion pay clerk and recorder of casualties. By May 10, only one of the eight men in his squadron who stayed on at the front line was alive or unwounded. This was a period of heavy casualties when the Chinese launched a spring offensive. Fought Guerrillas Hudson, a reservist, was recalled re-called to active duty September 16. 1950, from Roosevelt, where he was employed by Stanolind Oil Company on a survey crew. He arrived in Japan in November Novem-ber and was sent direct to Pusan. Pu-san. From there he spent the next 2V4 months behind the front lines running down guerrillas. guer-rillas. His division was assigned to protecting the great U.N. air . base at Pohang which was constantly con-stantly threatened by a band of 5000 guerrillas operating1 behind be-hind the line. When the guerrilla bands were wiped out or dispersed, the division di-vision moved on to Wonju, the battle front. Shower Bath When asked what event in the past year stood out in his memory, he thought of the most pleasant thing a shower bath at Wonju on February 28, his first in nearly three months. Portable pumps and water heaters heat-ers had been set up on the bank of a river at Wonju, and a tired, dirty bunch of soldiers were given giv-en new life. |