Than i ever have before, had before or have since. On that road. Id hate to venture a number but there were many. Both sides. Both sides. There had been a light machine gun set up just in front of me in this side of the ditch. And the people either didnt know or they were trying to rush them. I saw bodies lying crosswards. Because i saw bodies lying crossways. With american uniforms and chinese uniforms. And i cant get over that. But i have had many, many troublesome nights when i think about that. This happened when i was 21. And now im 85. I was leaving to get across the road and i was told to get into this hole. Are you familiar with the term katussa . Yeah. Well there was a katussa there. And they had been assigned to our unit maybe three weeks. I didnt recognize the individual. Before i got in the whole wing had been wounded. There was a canteen which was empty, a pair of binoculars laying on the ground. I dont know what happened to the person that had them. I assume he must have been an officer because we all had bibles and this man im talking about, he had an mr rifle with him. And the poor gal was holding his stomach, i knew he was wounded. Couldnt understand him at all. Had no idea what hes trying to tell me. And he was saying something to me which sounded like he was saying mule. Mule . Mule. It sounded like he was saying mule. And i have no idea why he would be saying that to me. And he looked so painful. I said buddy, id love to help you, but i dont know what to do. I later learned after i was captured someone told me that the word mu was water. It means running water. Had i had known this, i could get it. But i didnt know what it meant. I had no idea what he wanted. And he succumbed to his wound while i was there. I just saw him fall over and there was no more movement. I stayed there for half hour or so and i was told come on over and they were going to appoint a perimeter out there in this field. Which i did. We tried to gather in all the wounded. I helped in digging people into these holes to try to defend their selves. We didnt see our enemy. We didnt know who our enemy was until after thoughts. The sergeant i mentioned before, named luther wise, a little more experienced than the rest of us. He had been in world war two. 2. He had fought in italy. He was the one that told us dont fire. We could see them moving toward us. We see these figures coming toward us. In large numbers. He said dont fire until i fire. So we said dont fire until you hear firing on your right. He was on the right at the end of our south side, southwest side. So we waited until he fired. And then he got about 40, 50 yards from us. Everyone asks did you kill anyone. I dont know. All i know is i fired at figures. That night, we had some more formal assaults when they came out. We, again, fired on them. And then the third day, we were just we were out of food. We were out of water. It was very cold and we went out and had our summer uniforms on. We were told that the fifth cad was coming to our rescue. Theyll come get us out of there. And the way we were communicating was through five tanks that we had attached to our battalion. They were there in the perimeter. And aircraft they had radio combat with them so they could tell. And they told us about the fifth cad tunnel. So we had some hope. But then, late on the afternoon, like the third day which is november 4th . This is going to be on the third the best i can think, first, second and third. November 3rd. I had heard nay had run into stiff resis tense and was unable to breakthrough the roadblock. And then about 30 45 minutes later, we got the word that the decision had been made that the third battalion would be left to its own devices. But the order had been given that you are now on your own. And i heard the word gods paid, which, to me, meant youre either going to get out or youre youre not going to get out. Thats what it meant to me. And somehow, i did not get frightened. I just said im going to do my job as long as i can. The next day, we heard a strange explosion. It wasnt a crack of a high explosive, but just a thump sound. And then i heard people screaming. Theres three of us in this hole. And i looked back and there was smoke and white froth was following i like an umbrella. I thought oh, lord. I heard of this chemical. I heard people screaming and i figured someone was hit. And then i heard a sound that i didnt know what it was. There was white smoke everywhere. I fired into the smoke and i didnt see a Single Person get hit. So thats how we made our exodus. About 150 of us made it out of there, out of that perimeter by the gunfire. And then we wondered around through the fields. And on the morning of what i think is the sixth but im not sure of these dates but we were struck again this unit that im talking about, this 150 men, they were from all the companies of the battalion. Just the survivors. The one that was able to walk. The wounded had stayed back at the battlefield where we had been. A chaplain named emil capone, he stayed there but he was wounded. We tried to make an attempt to escape. We wondered through the fields. We didnt know where we were going, we were starting to go south. On the morning of the sixth, i believe it was the sixth, we were again struck by unknown forces. Myself and one man from Raleigh North Carolina was in my squad, incidentally, people just skaterred like flies. I mean they went every direction when they started firing on the front. And him and i went and got on the rock ledge and we laid there in the dark and then we got up again to look for water. And we wandered around out there for about four days, drinking from whatever source we could find. We stopped at these abandoned houses. And then they were wandering around. He and i stopped in an abandoned house and stayed there all night. We were going to stay there a second night, but an old korean man came to us we coulden understand him, but he motioned for us to come with him. He had been gone ten minutes or more, and he came back and had some hot broth or soup or something. He gave us that and gave us a bottle of water and took us over this hill to a field and took us into a dugout. Now, how he found this, im not sure. But i know it was strawlined inside. And we stayed in there that night. He indicated to us what he thought was trying to tell us is stay there and he would come back and give us some more items. Why he was doing this, i dont know to this day. But if i knew, he was a lot older than i was, so hes probably no longer alive. But if i knew his family, and could someway even though its in north korea, i would try to repay him. But the man i was with became claustrophobic and he couldnt stay in the hole anymore. So we came out. Outside and we used the river and used it as a guide to keep to the left so we were going south. As we were on our knees, we were spotted by some chinese soldiers and they blew a whistle. And we laid there in the glass. About 20 of them walked in front of us. One man walked to our rear and we were laying on a hillside. He yelled to the others and thats when they came on back to us. Best of my knowledge, or the best i can calculate, that was the tenth day of november they took both of us prisoner. Thats the best i can calculate. That would have been the tenth of november, late in the afternoon. We were taken right back in this house two nights before. And they had set up on the maps and stuff. We were kept there that night. And the following day, the third day of captivity, we marched up the road just near dark and we were joined up there with 7 more americans. We arrived in a place that we called the valley. We just called it the valley because they jumped in this valley and they were commandeering houses. We stayed there for id say three weeks or more. We were not allowed to go outside during the day light. At night, wed go scurry waterer from this creek to cook the grains and whatever other food they had given us. And then, one day in early january, they lined us up on the road and we marched off the river and run over the ice and walk ed walked under. About a plont after we were there, all the ngos, sergeants, that were there started our daily lectures. We went flu that until august of 52. August, 1952. We were split in two different companies. Thats where i remained until august when an armistice had been signed. We were sent back to the company to wait and we waited until i was 20 and that was the day they had trucks lined up out there. And they announced that morning everyone that wants to be repay traited, get everything you own and come back outside. I think about four of us stayed there and all of us went out. We rode pretty much all day and then there was a big rainstorm and we had to sit there for a couple of hours. Then we went down to a rail head and got on the train. We were near pyung yang. We rode pretty much all night and then the next day. And then we arrived northeasterly the city. I remained there until the night of august 31st. Thats when my name was called. We were welcomed back and i was told at that time that i was now master sergeant. I had been promoted one day while ifgs up there. We went down there by ambulance to inchon. Thats where we were briefed with the names of people who were missing and asked if you knew them and if you did, what circumstance did you knew they had died. But in most cases, although we had hundreds and hundreds of dead, i didnt know their names. I was never bitter. Im still not today. Im sad. But i enlisted. I asked for it. I would love to go back to that area to see it. About six months ago, i received a book that was published by the government of south korea called korean reform which i appreciated it. I showed it to my son. And i have had the opportunity several times now, to talk about this. This experiment i had. For 54 years, id just answer yes. But in 2007, a lady asked me about an uncle that was in my company and i began to dredge up all of these old memories and tried to remember everything that i could. My children asked if i would put that in writing. I did. I just entitled it memoir and, by my name charles r. Ross. I had several people ask me vfw clubs, a church, city of gaet city where i live, the lions club, a school. We had went to the va and thats the way i approached it. I had mentioned that i had eventually been captured by the chinese. I realized that there was a lot of mistreatment ill say i was mall treated but i was never mistreated. I was never beaten. Had i not got captured, i was sure to perish in those mountains. I had no means of support, no water, no food. The water we got was just out of rivers, creeks, springs, anywhere we could find water wed drink. We were running out of house houses to swipe these vegetables and things. And many houses we went, they were bare. There was nothing we were evading the enemy. It was a painful thing. It lasted for 34 months. What was the most difficult thing . What was the most bothering . During the prison camp . Yeah. Oh. The first six months, we had just arrived there. People were dying daily. The worst part was we didnt know their names, many of them. That had to be the most painful part. The most difficult time i guess, for me, was the lack of food. We were so hungry all of the time. What made you survive . I just waned to i tried to talk to these people. Theyd give up. Theyd say i dont want to live like this. There was some people who refused to eat . Sure. Why . They would say i dont want to live like this. I cant live like this. We called it giving up. They just gave up and quit trying. What is korea to you now . After all of those years of horrible memory what is korea to you now . South korea . A beautiful place. Very progrezive. Very productive. Just look at the automobiles that theyre putting out. Many, many things now manufactured in korea. I thought id never see such an impoverished place. Horrible the way these people have to live. And when i went back, 1964, 65, there had been many improvements. And then over the years, i was just there for 1965 and we came tim po. I thought very modern, nice people. Traditional. Female president , now, which is i think, progress. I have a very favorable opinion. I would guess faster than japan did. Would you be willing to revisit korea . Im having some difficulty right now, especially with my feet. The chinese did walk us through a river. I dont ask, dont tell take my boots off, some did. My feet were numb for two days. Now, thats where i have all the feeling rngs in my feet. So i cant walk real far at a time. I dont know i dont i would love to make the trip. My second tour, we were up near the dmz. We were on the dmz. Wow again . You were in dmz . It was near where we were at. I was with the seventh gallery. And the nearest village was right outside the gate. That was our lags tour and i spent 13 months in that area. Again, when we left, i left there in 1965. We wernt to term airfield and thats where we left from. But ive got a very favorable opinion of south korea. And thats about my story for the time i spent in korea. We did have some difficulty when i first arrived. We were in the country about 24 hours before we got shot at. Our commander described us as an untrained unit. We had people from all types of moss. Ill say one thing for them, when we arrived and fired on them, they were brave. I didnt e didnt see a single man run. Several of the remains have been found in that area. I read about it a lot of times. Every time i see the term remains from north korea, my ears perk up. One man was from bowling green, kentucky. His last name was mcmanus. I cant be sure of the last name, but i called the television station when they announced it. They listed his name as next of kin. All i wanted to do is say hey, i was there. But i was not given that opportunity. Why do you think it happened to you . Do you have any idea . I have no idea. I was a individual alone in the world. I was not married. My mother and father were dead. I had a sister. I had no idea where she was. I was not in contact with her although we had maintain eded letters through the mail. I had wrote her and got an answer. I found out. And i accepted my fate. And i said to this day, there was some sadness of that story. My half brother who lived in florida contacted me. Hes on a web site called the korean war project. It said i had been captured and my rank and serial number was there. I said yeah, thats me. When i was found, i was asked do you know these people. I saw a named ed potter. And i responded. Yes, i know an ed potter. And as strange as it may seem, this was the ed they were looking for. So i corresponded with his nephew for over a year and told him the story that i told you today. His uncle is the man we had been talking about. And he had started to write a book about his experiments. And he asked me to help him confirm and sent the entire package of notes to me. As i began to read the notes, there were several things that i had not witnessed. And i emailed him back and said i read the noets and there are things in here that i cannot confirm because i did not witness that. One of the examples why he had been placed in a hole in the ground and hands tied behind him, i did not see that. He was not with me when this happened. I did not see that. So he quit writing me. Shes the one who got me talking about my experience. She asked me to give her my perspective on what happened there during the battle. She was this guys squad leader. She wrote please tell me the story. So i agreed, i told her it was painful. I had a lot of sleepless nights trying to dredge up these memories. But im going to try to tell what happened. I started off that i had just returned to the United States for a threeyear two tours of duty. I mooifed to mae ma and got my orders to go to korea. We quickly left. We were told that they were north koreaens that they had captured. Four men had beaten up two men in this building. He got back on the ship, ate dinner and then come out and got in the truck and was taken to the rail station. I told them it was written primarily using military terminology. I was given several suggestions how to make it more understandable to a civilian to understand it. I explained after the first yugs of every word what it was. I had some of her friends that read it and they said this was terrible. I said i defie anyone to they will me i was wrong. I was there. I did not exaggerate. I did not enhance the story in anyway. Ive heard a lot of stories but everybody tells it differently. There are many stories about the korean war, but this one is mine. This is what i speerpsed. Many men starved to death, wounds untreated. Thats maltreatment. Sanitation supplies. We had no paper for sanitary purposes. That was it. And thats cruel. Then, when they started the lecturing, we were given tobacco or newspapers. So when they began to doctrine nate, did they treat you better . Much. There was great improvement. We had on the same clothing in 51 that i had on in november of 50. When i took my socks off, they come apart. One of the worst things that happened was body lice. Wed sit around in the daytime and kweez the little kriters. And wed be bloody all over from these things. I remember a guy saying im getting another transfusion and hed be scratching those. In march r april, wed lay though out in the sun and try to delouse ourselves. I was offered my uniform when i came through in 1953. One of the gis left me and i said i dont ever want to see it again. Youre okay with it. Dont look back. I was so tired. Tlt have been interesting now to see one. They had p. O. W. Links, is what i think they called them. It had a picture of it in there. Most of the people in this reel union that i talked to last night, theyre all lower rank. People i talked to last night, one of the guys told me they were taken out of the camp that morning and got back that afternoon. I said i didnt know that. We just went up the river and we had gone and it took us most of the day. You have an amazing memory. For 54 years, youre trying to wipe it out, i would add detail after detail. Its exactly as i can remember. Theres some funny things that happened there. We made our own entertainment. We tried to strike one time. They were lecturing us every day, at least twice a day. We would discuss what we had been told. I was monitored for six months. We had to take notes what everybodys opinion was. If somebody didnt have the right attitude or something, theyd call them out. They made us learn a song in chinese. We had no idea what we were singing. So the beat was all marching and timing. One of the, they call them progressive and we call them rats. They would join in with the chinese chinese and inform if anyone would say anything. One of them had been educated at the university of berkley. He had told this man that it was death to the americans. And were singing this . They would just laugh. We had no idea what was said. He had a different uniform. He got up and spoke in chinese. He said youre now a prisoner of war. But if you refuse to obey the orders, you lose your standing as a prisoner of war and youll become our enemy and well go to war with you and weve got a lot of weapons. That was just one thing that i could remember. Somebody broke out singing god bless america. There was never such a feeling in all my life. We just decided, i did if they kill me, im going to sing. So they didnt interfere. They just stood there and let us finish the song and we went on as if nothing ever happened. Well, we sang through that song. That was a straeng site. They came around with a form and said if you sign this form we will serve you with a sumptuous meteor. Everybody siebed it. They called it a sumptuous meal. But it was a lot better than what we had. After may of 51, guards were all up around us. They didnt bother us at all. They had issued us cotton underwear i had gone two steps and said put my drawers back. Somebody yelled thief, thief, stealing underwear. And everybody started calling me a thief. So they got huddled to it. It was just for fun. You might have heard me mention sergeant potter. He was acting as my attorney. It was just a fun thing to do on a sunday afternoon. They put us all together. The guy is very ingenius. Element like a play. Yeah, it was all for fun. They just took him through. They had the trial lawyer. And i any the first question was do you think this man is capable of stealing . They said hed steal anything he could get his hands on. But it was all in fun. Everybody was just laughing about it. Some of the guards began to yell and holler from up in the post. They thought we were ploting something. People laughing at him and the chinese instructors had turned out to not be allowed to cut that off. The chinese had some long clippers. And they said cut everything off. When they made him cut that off, hed wear that cap and hit his head and said everybody just cracked up laughing. That was his way of beating them at their own game. I was in my early 20s. That was the time of my life. We were missing out on a lot, but at the same time, we were learning a lot. Anything you want to add more to this interview . I told my story. I was just telling some of the funny things that happened. Screeria nigeria. Your parents and your siblings. We were obviously counsel thrill folk. Okay. They were farmers. My dad was. Umhmm. Were farmers. My dad was. He also spent 45 years in the coal mines. He was a coal miner as well as a farmer. I have nine or had nine brothers and sisters. Nine brothers. You are . Im number four. Wow. Two of the oldest boys have passed on. My mom abdomen dad have passed on. They are scattered all over the stats of kentucky as ohio as well as texas. Ive adopted that as my home
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