On the day when war broke out his 17th Regiment had been stationed upon the Ongjin Peninsula. That first day's Red drive found the peninsula completely cut off from any possible communications with Seoul and the rear areas so Colonel Paik did something which no other commander, American or otherwise, had done in this war. He ordered an attack which, before it was through, carried him north over the 38th Parallel into Communist North Korea, where he captured the key city of Haeju. Not until he learned that his was the only ROK outfit that had driven the invaders back into their own territory and his regiment was entirely surrounded, did he give the order to attack once more, this time south headed for home. Again he drove his men right through the heart of the Reds, recrossed the Parallel and, much to the astonishment of the entire ROK General Staff. reported for duty with over twenty-five hundred of his men in ready to-gonorth-again battle condition. Now in the musty depths of the old schoolhouse which was his headquarters, he was cutting deep, ripping away the camouflaging froth which had concealed the real nature of the action reports that had been flowing into his CP all day, the truth of which he had learned firsthand late that afternoon while I was still high on the ridges of the Mountain. It was bad enough that they should have tried to conceal the facts of the attack's breakdown from him, but to have left the wounded unattended upon the heights of 626 with the enemy right above them, and the rest of the forward positions isolated from any direct contact with their rear supporting forces, seemed to drive him into an even more chilling fury. He still considered the 17th as his baby. They were the men who had given him his division command. He had fought with them and bled with them. No person in the room misunderstood his meaning when he whipped to his feet, his left arm still in its sling, and swung his bandaged right hand at the door. That small group of frozen men broke and shot out into the night. Headlights flashed, motors roared and off they went up the road to the front. I thought to myself that had not Paris been present I might have witnessed a court-martial, Korean style 44 l Ⅲ. Korea 1950 This is War!
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