 the latest weapons coupled with the fighting skill of the American soldier stands ready on the alert all over the world to defend this country you the American people against aggression this is the big picture an official television report to the nation from the United States Army now to show you part of the big picture here is Sergeant Stuart Queen many of our infantry outfits contain units which go back to the earliest days of American history the third infantry division for instance contains units which have distinguished themselves in all wars where American fighting men have defended their country the history of this division is studied with honored names and deeds one of the most illustrious veterans of this division is a man named Aldi Murphy is the most combat decorated soldier of World War two now a motion picture star in Hollywood but still active as a captain in the 36 infantry division of the Texas National Guard that's right Sergeant Queen but you know I'm still a soldier at heart you see I never stopped being interested in my old outfit being a soldier is still very important to me in other words you mean you still keep in touch with your old outfit very much so I try to be with them whenever there's any kind of reunion or get together and of course I always watch for any mention of the division when they're in action well they certainly saw action in Korea and piled up quite a record yes the amazing thing is they did it in a hurry in the summer of 1949 the division was stationed at Fort Benning Georgia they paraded for the Joint Chiefs of Staff the ranks of the division were filled with new men and it was all spit and polished as the third helped carry out the peace time mission of the army which is prepared that mission developed meaning on June 25th 1950 you mean Korea we who were still in the third division were watching that situation develop hearing about the North Koreans moving against the government of South Korea and attempting to take over the whole works they were trained and prodded by the Congress and call themselves the People's Army of North Korea but it sure seemed as though their enemy was the people themselves soft Korean troops put up a rather disorganized resistance to this aggression their small US equipped army had been surprised and bewildered by the vehemence of the North Korean attack what began as a political argument was turned into a hot war United Nations intervened and by November 1950 the third division was in Korea we mobilized our men and equipment and moved up the east coast of the Korean Peninsula to engage the North Korean Army on their right flank the spit and polish of our peacetime training gave way to the tactical problems of the battle beam by December we'd advance beyond the Port of Wonsan but it was here that we discovered that our real enemy was the Chinese Congress millions of with the entry of the Chinese forces into the conflict and the subsequent fallback of the United Nation troops the third division assumed a defensive mission in the ham hung hung ma'am area trading time for space we took up positions to cover the withdrawal of two other divisions into the hung ma'am perimeter holding on to the beachhead until all the remaining units and equipment of the 10th U.S. Corps had been evacuated our artillery stood off the advancing carmenis while the troops were loading aboard landing ground and pushing out to waiting transports it was a bitter blow to a lot of us who thought we might be home for Christmas yes I'll never forget that Christmas we were almost the present tremendous mountains of supplies and stores but we got it all off the beach along with thousands of refugees and all of our wounded and disabled the beachhead narrowed as the communist net was pulled tighter but even then we weren't leaving anything for the Reds to make use of when we met them again with all of our troops safely evacuated the engineers gave the Reds a final salute one of the largest beachhead operations had been completed in reverse for us in the third division it was the end of a saga that had begun with extreme confidence and ended with a much wiser picture about the enemy we were fighting we rolled on to the beaches of South Korea with all of our equipment special attachments made it possible for vehicles to wait ashore without stalling out we moved out promptly to assigned areas about 35 miles north of Busan by New Year's Day all the troops in the division were ashore even the prisoners one portion of the Red Army that wouldn't get another chance to fight against us with the cold of the first Korean winter beginning to settle in we stood guard on the fringe of Busan but headquarters was making plans for taking the road back to the battle line and just before we moved out we were inspected by the commander of the UN forces General Douglas MacArthur the tactical aircraft led the way their objective wiping out anything their bullets and rockets could spot with increasing momentum we moved northward to engage the enemy our objectives were in the center of the battle line that extended across the breadth of Korea it seems simple enough on a map but it was a matter of moving fast in some places or inching along under withering enemy fire stalled until we could locate and wipe out the trouble spot it was up and down the Korean hill flushing out units and picking off stragglers or those who stayed to the last to harass our advance we chased the Reds to the bank of the Han River and that was the location of a weird duel opposing forces sniping away at each other we used every piece of firepower we could muster but this was a contest in which the Reds were holding the short end of the stick we just couldn't be stopped and we pushed our way across and kept advancing we steamroll it into Seoul the capital city and artillery continued to chase the enemy it was at this time that we heard the announcement the general Matthew B. Ridgway was our new commander we pushed northward into an area which later came to be known as the iron triangle the 3rd division got to know the place real well I'll never forget that triangle it was shaped something like a noose G2 had a line and a lot of communist activity in the triangle big build up they build up all right when they moved out against us there were 200,000 commies pitted against our part of the triangle it was the communist spring offensive and despite the fact that we threw everything we had at them their numerical superiority was just too big and the order came to pull back we moved south over terrain that would melt during the days of the spring thought and freeze up during the night that crazy Korean weather was true to form for some time now the enemy had been calling the signals it was time to seize that essential combat ingredient called initiative and our command had a plan of their own counterattack drive back up the peninsula the division received orders to reconnoiter counterattack routes despite mud tank ditches and mines tanks and infantry moved out to the north once more as we pushed the Reds back it was almost the same as once again bunching their resources for them through burned-out villages where every doorway contained the possibility of a sniper the advance continued into the Korean Central Mountain sector but the Reds still had some arrows left and in the middle of May they let loose the shaft and we were once again slugging it out toe-to-toe they gave way before our firepower as we gave them a real licking we were beginning to catch on to this hill fighting working close to the artillery support not giving an enemy bunker the chance to suddenly come alive or a haystack the opportunity to mow down a field of third division soldiers as we were catching on to the only way to go about conducting a campaign in this country just fight your way up and down the hills the drive carried us through rice fields and the pace increased as the enemy fell back this was a full scale United Nations offensive operation pile driver was what it was called and it was regaining all ground previously lost to the Reds in the high tide of their spring offensive for about two weeks we moved sometimes twice every day it was the same all along the United Nations lines keep swinging at the Reds while they were still dazed the Chinese were taking a terrific shell acting and we in the third division were getting in our links was developed for containing the communists in the iron triangle the third division was assigned the task of anchoring the western end and refugees came pouring through the 38th parallel the line which separated communist dominated Korea from the south and as they vacated the armor of the third division moved in to tighten up the battle line visitors came to look at these preparations general James van fleet he'd taken over command of the 8th Army from general Ridgeway who had become United Nations supreme commander in the far east our new commander wore his pearl handled side arms as he inspected our setup it was first softened by a barrage from artillery and aircraft when we moved out it was with the confidence of superior firepower but we jumped right into a hornet's nest the hills surrounding the Chorwon reservoir were deeply impressed Chinese commanders depended upon the weight of mass trying to smother the UN guns with the bodies of peasant soldiers the price paid by the Reds was great as many of their units disintegrated into disorganized brightness wandering aimlessly over the blood-soaked hills until they were captured ending general Robert H. Suley had elements of the third division on the moon units took up blocking positions or speeded to help other outfits as reinforcements the enemy developed a new wrinkle in defensive tactics and opened the reservoir gates to flood the area and harassed UN operations but the stunt was unsuccessful and the game of hair and howl continues the southern acres of the triangle were secured and the division moved in to mop up any remaining communist troops still no change in our attitude toward empty enemy bunkers but that the area was cleared no one told the Reds while we moved easily in the valleys they filtered back into the hills and counter attack with porosity their division artillery moved in to plug the gaps with firepower but even as the iron triangle was wiped clean it became evident that the Reds had to be eliminated in the Silbang mountains their occupation of hill tops gave them observation and an approach to our defense line operation donut was set up to neutralize the enemy advantages units moved out to completely encircle the entire triangle and blast the Reds off the hill tops Reds on just about every piece of elevated real estate deeply entrenched for artillery battalions ported by an APOM bomb carrying aircraft were brought up to support the assault everything from 30 caliber ammunition to bombs of jelly gasoline directed at installations on those hill numbers on a map digits like hill 717 and 682 became great smoldering miles again and again the aircraft came in to hit with bombs bullets and rockets infantry moved in to consolidate and put the finishing touches to a successful operation the Reds were ringed by operation donut and the triangle once a convenient breakout point had become neutralized the job of cleaning up began for all on the south side of the battle line civilians were assisted in the care of their sick and wounded initial peace talks tended to slow the progress of the war when we first heard about them the attitude of most men in the line was well hope it works but let's keep our powder dry general Suley welcome new strength to the division as the Philippine expeditionary force came to take their place with the United Nations forces these rugged troops fought with distinction although the topography of the Philippines resembles the Korean countryside they had to endure great changes in climate a condition difficult to overcome during a time of war there were troops of other nations to who fought with the rock of the Marne men Belgium and Greece sent battalions these units became part of the pool of strength which the 3rd division contributed to the fighting up and down the hills of Korea a brief lull came to an end with operation cleanup tanks went on the move as the plan was put into action it was designed to disrupt supply and communication fly destroy troops knock out artillery and mortar positions and occupy the ridge line running west of Churwai the division plan of cleanup merged with orders from core for the establishment of the line Jamestown tanks and infantry batted their way forward to secure positions that would simplify the problems of supply to the forward areas bunker positions were established as Jamestown was nailed down then the division was pulled out having been in the line continuously for more than 10 months a USO show played to more than 20,000 men and starred Jack Benny these were the first curves other than the profiles of the Korean hills that anyone had seen for months for a few days of rest then work began again building training integrating new men into the units our engineers shaped out a program of rebuilding that fitted in with the requirements of training but there was still a war going on and it wasn't long before the 3rd division was back in fighting our way up a hill and down the other side to find another hill in each new area of operation there was always the problem of those Koreans who had been caught in the world wind of swiftly changing battlefields they had little choice these old men and women mothers and babies they had to be evacuated whenever possible infiltrators were a constant problem sometimes they were just civilians from whom it was possible to obtain information and other times they were spies playing a deadly game of hide and seek but they were all interrogated and their answers evaluated more campaigns more battle plans more hills more numbers on a map like hill 477 355 369 goes right down to the day that General Mark Clark made an announcement we have stopped the shooting that means much to the fighting man and their families and it will allow some of the grievous wounds of Korea to heal therefore I am thankful it is however only a step toward what must yet be done the task now is to put the ceasefire agreement into full effect as quickly as we can and get down to working out an enduring settlement of the Korean problem October 29th 1954 was almost our fourth anniversary in Korea the day that we passed in review for General Maxwell Detailer and 3rd division commander Major General Charles Cannon and as the band played it was for the men we left behind men of the 7th 15th and 65th infantry regiments the 9th 10th 39th and 58th artillery battalion the 3rd anti aircraft and the 64th heavy tank battalion and the others in the engineers medics ordinance MP recon and signal outfit the quarter masters the band they all shared in any honors we got back home from the people of New Orleans including our old buddy Audie Murphy they all said welcome home 3rd division thanks for a swell job that's the story of the 3rd infantry division in Korea and we're most grateful to Audie Murphy one of America's fighting heroes for helping us to tell it Sergeant Queen is a story I get a big kick out of telling because the 3rd is one fine outfit I've always been proud of the division and accomplishments and very proud of the fact that I was one of his soldiers and I'm grateful to the big picture for letting me help tell part of the story there's a sergeant Stuart Queen be with us again next week for another look at your army in action on the big picture the big picture is a weekly television report to the nation on the activities of the army at home and overseas produced by the Signal Corps pictorial center presented by the United States Army in cooperation with this station you too can be an important part of the big picture you can proudly serve with the best equipped the best trained the best fighting team in the world today the United States Army