CHAPTER 3
I have battled for fresh mammoth,
I have warred for pastures new,
I have listed to the whispers
When the race trek instinct grew.
July 17, 1950
No-one knew whose idea it had first been to set up a giant Stars and Stripes next to the airstrip at Pusan. Whoever it was had convinced the base commander, and then he had decided to invite the press and as many GIs as could be found in the city. Before long, half of the free part of Korea knew that Patton would be giving a speech upon his arrival in the country before the general did himself. He knew that these first few days in Korea would be unimaginably busy – the frontline either chaotic or outright crumbling nearly everywhere – but he decided a short speech might give the troops the good kick in the pants that some of them seemed to need. Everything came down to morale. In an army, it had to. And this would boost morale better than any yelling at officers might hope to.
“At ease!” he ordered. The crowd numbered probably several hundred, a lot of them Air Force, but the array of microphones in front of him would broadcast this speech to just about anyone with a radio.
“Just before D-Day, I said that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.” Patton announced, receiving a great deal of laughter from the audience. “That was true then and it sure as hell is true now.”
“I’ve only been in Asia for half a day, and I’ve already been told about a new word that some yellow son of a bitch has tried adding to our language. ‘Bugout’. I want all of you to forget that word at once. It does not exist. The only people who have use for such a word are cowards, and America is not a nation of cowards. America is a nation of brave men.
“We’re out here because some of those goddamn communists seem to have forgotten what brave men like you can do. Now we’re going to show them. Eighth Army isn’t falling back. We’re going to go forward, and forward all the time! If the communists don’t clear out and run back across the 38th, we’ll run them over with our tanks and then toss their guts back into North Korea. I know a lot of you want nothing more than to get out of here. The way to do that goes straight through Seoul, so the sooner we can capture it the sooner everyone can go home.
“There’s another thing I want you to remember. Three weeks after the start of the Great War, the Kaiser was worried he’d get run clear out of Prussia, so he pulled Marshal Hindenburg out of retirement, and almost immediately won a tremendous victory. We’re three weeks into this fight now. I’m not quite as old as Hindenburg was then, but I intend to do just the same thing.
“It’s an honour to be your new commander.” Patton finished. “I look forward to leading you wonderful guys into battle, and to victory!”
As he stepped off the makeshift stage, Patton was greeted by two of the men he had asked Truman to add to his command. Master Sergeants John Mims and William Meeks had both been in Korea for a few days, and had been ordered to Pusan at some point after Patton was given Eighth Army. Unlike just about everyone at the airbase, their shoes shined and their uniforms were in perfect condition. Patton was certain they were the only two on the base, probably in the whole of Korea, to be wearing ties.
“It’s good to see you again, sir.” Mims said after saluting.
“It’s good to be back.” Patton said. “Where’s the jeep?”
“Just down there.” Mims replied, pointing down the road. “I imagine you want to go to Taegu?”
“No, actually I’d like to go to the front.” Patton decided as they began walking towards the jeep. “Where is that at the moment?”
“The 24th Division – that’s General Dean’s unit – is currently fighting around Taejon, about halfway between here and Seoul.” Meeks said. “The 25th, under General Kean, is currently in position near Sangju, about forty miles east of Taejon. Rest of the line is manned by ROK troops, between Yongdok on the east coast and Kunsan on the west.”
Meeks was holding a small folder that looked full of papers. “What’s in that?” Patton asked.
“Reports out of what would have been General Walker’s headquarters, sir.” Meeks replied. “And a map.”
Patton took a look at the map, which had obviously been printed recently, and frowned. “Taejon, you say? That means the communists have overrun almost two thirds of the country in three weeks?”
“That’s what I’ve been told, sir.” Meeks confirmed.
“Then I want to go to Taejon. It looks like every road in that part of the country runs straight through it.” Patton said. “Phone Dean to tell him I’ll be coming.”
“Can’t do that, sir.” Meeks said. “We might be able to get him on the radio, but nearly all of the phone lines to the front are out.”
“Why the hell is that?” Patton asked.
“Don’t know for sure, sir.” Meeks said. “Quite likely communist guerillas are interfering with our communications.”
“I suppose we’ll find out once we find General Dean then.” Patton said. “John, get us to Dean’s command as fast as you can. I’m in a hurry.”
“I understand that, sir.” Mims said, having received such an order at least a thousand times in Europe. “I’ll do my best, but we may not be able to move as fast as we did in France. This road is one of the best in Korea, and most of the others are a lot worse.”
As Patton got in the jeep, he looked out at what the sergeant was calling one of the best roads in Korea. Really it was a hard dirt track, and no more than twenty feet wide.
With the bad roads, enemy victories up north and a clearly undisciplined army, the general could have sworn he had fallen back in time eight years, and somehow landed back in North Africa.
***
Even with Sergeant Mims driving at speeds far beyond what the bad Korean roads were designed for, the trip to Taejon took close to two hours, greatly frustrating General Patton. He had hoped to visit both US divisions, spend some time at the front and return to Eighth Army’s headquarters in Taegu by nightfall. By 1500, it was clear that the 25th Division wouldn’t see their new commander.
“What’s the hold up this time?” Patton demanded when Mims was forced to slow the jeep to a crawl for the fourth time.
“Refugees, it looks like.” Mims replied. “The front line’s only about ten miles up ahead.”
“Stop the car, Sergeant.” Patton ordered once he got a good look at the crowd of Koreans on the road. Sure enough, they were civilians trying to get away from Taejon, probably two or three hundred in all. Malnourished and disorganised, they weren’t moving very quickly. A bunch of them had carts being pulled by mules who had little interest in moving, others carried their possessions on their backs. They took up all eighteen feet of the road’s width. Rice fields on either side of the road ensured no-one would step off it.
A pair of MPs were in another jeep that had been following Patton’s. The general gestured for them to come over.
“What do you need, sir?” One asked.
“Get this damned road cleared.” Patton said. “Either of you speak Korean?”
“No sir.” They both replied.
Patton swore, but wasn’t too surprised. Hardly anyone spoke the language, much less the couple of kids that must have gone straight from high school into the Army.
“Learn it.” Patton said to them. Then he turned to the refugees, who had stopped moving entirely. “Off the road!” he yelled. “Now!”
A few of the Koreans reluctantly clambered into the rice fields, but most just stood there. Patton was about to repeat his orders when a Korean man of about fifty stepped forward from the crowd.
“Sir, the animals can’t in the rice.” he said. His English wasn’t very good – Patton suspected he had once been fighting for the Japanese and learned it in a prisoner-of-war camp.
“I don’t give a damn about the animals. I need your people off the road. Animals too.” Patton said.
The Korean repeated Patton’s orders back to the rest of the refugees, which made about half of them get out of the way of the jeep, although not nearly so far off the road as he would have liked. He was about to return to the car when he noticed another boy, who had an unusually stiff-looking Army pack.
“Let me see that!” Patton demanded.
The two Koreans – the old man who was now acting as Patton’s interpreter, and the boy – discussed in their own language for a minute, then the boy offered the pack.
Patton took it – he had received reports that the communists had been including spies in refugee columns. US Army packs were about as hard to find as dirt, but he suspected documents or weapons or something that might be useful to a North Korean agent. Instead he found a few C-ration tins, a book that might have been the Bible, and a length of copper wire that explained why the pack looked so stiff. As soon as he saw the wire he ripped it out and threw the pack to the ground.
“Where the hell did you get this?” he held up the piece of wire to leave no doubt what he meant.
“Off the road.” The Koreans eventually explained.
“Stolen then.” Patton said. He turned to the MPs. “Soon as we get to Taejon, I want word put out to every scrap of territory we control. Anyone caught thieving our telephone wire is to be shot. Standing order for the rest of the war.”
As soon as the order was given, the older Korean’s face dropped. “You gon’ shoot him?” he asked.
“I ought to.” Patton said, reaching for one of his revolvers. The boy couldn’t have been older than eleven, and clearly didn’t have any possessions left, so he had a little bit of sympathy for him. “Just get him out of here.”
With the MPs helping get the refugees off the road, the path was almost entirely cleared. The one exception was a mule that plainly refused to go anywhere near the rice fields. Patton by this point felt he had wasted enough time around here. Rather than waste any more, he pulled out his revolver, and put two bullets into the mule’s skull. More than a few of the Koreans gasped. The MPs didn’t need to be told to haul the corpse off the road.
“I won’t be held up on account of a jackass crowding up our roads.” It was the only explanation he would ever give for his actions. “MPs, add to that message I gave out a minute ago. Starting tonight, no refugees on the roads after dark, and no animals on any roads wider than twelve feet. Animals can be shot on sight.”
“Understood, sir.” They replied.
“Then repeat it back to me.” Patton said. So far he had yet to see anyone follow this practise in Korea, even though it was the best way he knew to ensure an order would be followed.
“Anyone caught stealing telephone wire, or any animals on roads wider than twelve feet, are to be shot on sight. Refugees are forbidden from the roads after dark.” The MP replied.
“Very good.” Patton said. Without another word, he got back in the jeep and waved for Mims to drive on.
- BNC