 This is war. War and its masses. War and its men. War and its machines. Together they form the Big Picture. I'm Captain Carl Zimmerman. The Big Picture is a report to you from your army. An army committed by you, the people of the United States, to stop communist aggression wherever it may strike. The Big Picture traces the course of events in the Korean campaign through firsthand reports of our combat veterans and through film produced by the Army Signal Corps and photographed by combat cameramen. These are the men who daily record on film the Big Picture as it happens where it happens. Today the Big Picture brings into focus the United Nations Offensive in Korea during the months of February and March 1951. You'll see our troops push on despite mud and rain. You'll see the Air Force give support to the 24th Infantry Division. You'll see units of the 25th Division cross the Han River. And later you'll hear from two men, Sergeant William Taylor and Lieutenant Charles Wright, who both played an important part in the Big Picture. But now let's go back to February 20th, 1951. During the period of 20 February to 20 March, the United Nations Operation Killer continues in the face of weakening enemy resistance and the annual torrential rains. In the western sector, U.N. forces have reached the Han River, while in the central sector they have driven north of Wanju to the vicinity of Chippyeon. On 12 March, allied troops slam across the Han 15 miles east of Seoul. The attack cuts red supply and communication lines to the city. And on 13 March, the Communist abandoned Seoul without firing a shot. With our recapture of the capital city, enemy forces start a general withdrawal on all fronts, offering only token resistance with rear-guard elements. U.N. units in the central sector push beyond Hancheon and threaten the important red supply base of Cheoncheon. By 20 March, U.N. forces are closely matched across Korea in a general line 15 or 20 miles from the 38th parallel and continue their advance along all fronts. During the first week of Operation Killer, constant rains and the annual spring thaws produce quakemire conditions which do more to impede advancing U.N. columns than spotty red resistance. First cavalry division elements grind slowly northward in the central sector above Wanju, on the heels of Communist rear-guard units. The purpose of Operation Killer is identical with that of the U.N.'s limited offensive of the preceding month. General Ridgway again emphasizes that enemy casualties are his main objective. C-119's of the combat cargo command deliver artillery ammo to the first cavalry in the central mountain sector where the only troublesome red resistance is encountered. The load is ejected in a compact cluster, resulting in minimum spread on the drop zone. With road traffic mired, airlift operations again pay off to the advantage of our forces. Nose fuses are screwed into place at an artillery forward position in the Korean hills. Powder increments are unpacked, ready for immediate use. The chain of supply ends as armored artillery batteries fire outgoing rounds at enemy health points in the wooded hills. Phosphorous shells pound Communist positions, and several fragments into the enemy emplacements. Since the Korean War began, U.N. forces close and plentiful artillery support has helped greatly to neutralize the large numerical superiority of the Reds. And here, artillery again softens Communist defenses, clearing the way for the renewed Allied offensive. United Nations air power continues its around-the-clock pounding of men and materiel. Merciless attrition and interdiction sorties prevent the Communists from consolidating in any large build-up of forces. Shocking up as many Chinese casualties as we could. Where the 24th Division at this time was Sergeant Bill Taylor of Oxford, North Carolina. Well, Bill, you were a platoon sergeant, right? That's right, sir. Could you give us an idea of just what the duties and responsibilities of a platoon sergeant are? Well, the first thing a platoon sergeant is responsible for, sir, is his men and equipment. You have to look out for your men to see that they are given the proper equipment, and also you have to make sure that they are at the right place at the right time. In other words, you're more or less a father, sister, mother, and brother. And most of the time you didn't have an officer around to give you a hand, either, did you? That's true, sir. This was Taylor's platoon. That's right, sir. Ryan, you were pretty proud of it, Bill? Yes, sir, I was. Well, let's talk about the weapons. Now, this was a mortar platoon, wasn't it? That's correct, sir. Can you tell us about the weapons you used? Well, sir, we had two types of weapons. A .57 Recolis rifle and a .60 mm mortar. And a .60 mm mortar is a small shell, though, even though if it's used correctly, it is a very good weapon. Now, by removing the safety pin and dropping it in the tube, it sets the shell off so that when the contact is made with its impact fuse, it sets the shell off. It has a casual producing radius of about 11 yards. Now, this was to give support to a rifle company, wasn't it? That's right, sir. Well, how about the .81 mortar over here? The .81 is used to support a battalion. And unlike the .60 mm, it has more casual producing radius, and it also goes further in range. The Chinese got to know these weapons, didn't they, Bill? That's right, sir. Well, what was the roughest action you saw in Korea? Well, I'd say, sir, Hill 11.57. What happened there? Well, sir, we took off, we pushed off in the morning approximately five o'clock, and it took us all day long to get to the top of it. There was a lot of rough climbing, and the snow was deep, and it made it slicky. You'd probably sometimes take one step and slide, too. Well, besides many other things, this rifleman had to be a mountain climber, too. That's right, sir. Well, tell us what happened up there, though. Well, finally, when we got to the top of it, which was about eight o'clock at night, we pushed up on a high snob. As we got to the top of it, after we pushed up there, the gooks come back and took the hill again, pushed us off of it. So, it was after it was night, and we had nowhere to go, and the gooks were all around the centerhand. We stopped at the bottom of the knob and set up a company parameter. Were you able to dig in at all, though? No, the ground was frozen, also the snow was so deep we didn't have any chance to dig in. Well, how did you form a defense there? Well, we set up a circle. In other words, we put all our men we had in a circle so that we could have guard all sides. They were attacking us from all sides. You were wounded about this time, too, weren't you? About four o'clock in the morning, sir, when I was wounded. What was going on then? Well, I was told to take my squad as I was a squad leader at the time and fill in a gap in the line. And this gap was pretty close to the machine gun, and as I was trying to get them in position, they threw some more water rounds in, and I was wounded by one of those water rounds. Took a lot of casualties on this hill, didn't we? Quite a few, sir. Were we able to take care of them? Well, our company medics did the best job they could do, naturally, but as far as evacuating the wounded at night, you couldn't do it. It was impossible. How about the next morning? As soon as daylight came, we sent all the men that could walk. We sent them off the hill. Of course, we tied some of our patients into a litter and took them down that way by South Korean jiggy bears, and another way we evacuated a few of them by helicopter. When you were fighting on this hill, Bill, were there any infiltration going on? Well, once we caught a Chinese in our perimeter following the GI Blankin. When I was South Korean, spoke to him, and by the way, he jumped off the side of a hill and slid down a little gully. Well, Bill, there were a lot of hills like 1157, weren't they? Yeah, but not all as hard to climb as that one. But there were a lot of hills. That's true. And you couldn't go around and be had to go over them? That's it. Exactly. Well, Bill, let's see some of those hills now. As we watch your old outfit, the 24th Division continued upon the Chinese. During the period 5 to 12 March, the United Nations attrition offensive moved steadily ahead in the Yang Pyeong area north of the Han River. Across muddy and snow-streaked fields, troops of the 24th Division carry the battle to the enemy with a heavy strike at strong communist forces entrenched on the western foothills of Korea's central mountains. Heavy armor of the United Nations moves up in close support of the 24th Division rifleman. The Eighth Army's numerically superior armor enables them to supply allied foot soldiers with maximum support. These tanks, playing on the superstitious nature of the enemy, are painted with the markings of the tiger. Intensified armor-supported attacks of this kind are rolling back the red aggressors along most of the front and are preventing them from initiating any offensive action of their own. Assault troops advance to the objective through dense underbrush, where the reds still hold out despite the heavy artillery pounding. The attack moves to the crest of the hill, and grenades are used to blast the remaining defenders from their deep holes and caves which enable them to weather the pre-attack pounding. As our advanced forces secure the heights, reserve units entrench themselves in the valley to consolidate the gains. Three midweek Chinese counterattacks are turned back by the 24th Division here in the area of the Phukon River as the reds attempt to outflank the 25th Division salient to the west. Other groups take time out for food and rest, before resuming the attack against red strong points established on the adjacent hills. In preparation for the present assault, a forward mortar position is excavated in the frozen ground halfway up the hill. The mortar is emplaced in this advanced location, where it will be able to fire upon the enemy held high ground. The sights are aligned, and the 60mm begins its explosive attack. An endless rifle is brought into action against the stubborn resistance. A machine gun lends its firepower as the advance gets fully underway. A Chinese prisoner is brought in for questioning after the position is taken in a hard but surprisingly short fight. The PW is uncertain of what treatment to expect, and anticipating the worst, he warily eyes his captors as they execute only a thorough search. On 7 March assault troops of the US 25th Infantry Division advance to the Han River 15 miles east of Seoul. Elements of the 27th Regiment take time out for food before resuming the advance. Because of its frequent use in emergency action, this regiment has come to be known as the Fire Brigade. On the south bank of the Han, an engineer bulldozer clears an approach for a floating bridge to be erected across the river. This bridge will accommodate the medium tanks and other heavy vehicles. The 25th Division crossing begins early. The craft were brought up from the rear during the long period of waiting since the United Nations troops first reached the Han early last month. Elements of this crossing encounter little or no enemy resistance. Men of a heavy mortar squad prepare breakfast, but remain constantly on the alert. The call comes, the command to fire is given, and the crew swings into action as its lethal punch. Troops examine a deserted Chinese gun emplacement in the path of the advance. Causeway for a footbridge across the Han is constructed. Ducks are brought up to accommodate a greater number of troops in the crossing. Later they do double duty by bringing back Chinese prisoners. A short two hours after the initial crossing, US engineers are well along in their construction of a footbridge. This bridge will provide additional means of crossing for larger groups of infantrymen. Two engineers have taken unexpected plunges into the cold water of the river, and men in an assault boat go to their rescue. The accident doesn't seem to dampen the spirits of either man, and soon the footbridge is completed and in operation. By late afternoon, the entire 25th Division is across the river, and the day's objective is secured. The bridgehead is continually expanded, and by week's end, patrols are engaged in probing action seven and a half miles north of the Han. That's all the 25th Division made the difficult crossing of the Han River. Now to give you a more complete report of the front at this time, here's an Army officer who served in the first cavalry division. We want you to meet Lieutenant Charles Wright. Well, Chuck, you're wearing the European Theater ribbon. You saw infantry action in the European Theater then during World War II, right? Yes, I did. Well, could you compare the two theaters for us, the European Theater, then, and Korea? Well, in my opinion, the fighting in Korea is much rougher than the fighting was in Europe. And I'm borne out in that opinion, I think, by other veterans who have served in both the Pacific Theater and the European Theater in the last war and later on served in Korea. Well, in what ways was it rougher, Chuck? Well, it was rougher mentally and physically, I think, on the people who were there. Physically, and as much as the country was so rugged, the terrain, of course, was all mountainous and very hard to climb. We had very poor road systems, so we had to carry practically everything on our backs. And then mentally, the type of enemy that we were fighting, of course, they're very fanatical people, and they don't mind dying to win a hill by the thousands. So, consequently, we were so greatly outnumbered at all times that our men were forced to stay on the lines for a prolonged period of time, and they just actually wore them down mentally after a period of time. Well, the Army's made a lot of improvements since World War II. Yes, there's been a great deal of improvement. The lessons we learned in World War II have been incorporated into what we call the New Army. And we have new weapons now, and improvements made on weapons that we did have in World War II. Of course, there's a great improvement also in our rations, our equipment, and things of that nature. This ration that I have here is a new ration which has just been issued to the troops in Korea, and it's called an assault ration. This is the ration the man receives before he goes into an attack, right? That's correct. This ration is very compact, as you can see. The cans are small. And it also is a very good ration. This makes up one meal. And if a man is going into an attack, he can put these in his pocket and carry them along without any trouble at all. Well, what do we have here, Chuck? Well, this is a cracker and cookie unit, and this can. And this can contains some type of meat, and there is a great variety of different types. This particular one is pork and apple sauce. This packet here is an accessory packet. It contains cigarettes, matches, chewing gum, coffee, sugar, canopers, and things of that nature. It's a very good ration. Yes, it is. It's very complete, isn't it? Yes, it's very complete. Well, later on he's backed up by more complete rations, isn't he? That's true. This ration doesn't take the place of his regular ration, but it's strictly a supplement just to carry into an attack where he wants to have something light and not be weighted down. Well, getting back to the first cavalry division, the action you saw, were you with them when the Chinese came through back in November of 1950, Chuck? Yes, I was with them at that time. Is that where you were wounded? Yes, I was wounded there and also captured for a short period of time by the Chinese. You see, our regiment was operating separately at that time, and we were surrounded completely by the Chinese and had a 12 to 14 hour battle. We were so greatly outnumbered that the battle went in their favor, and we were finally forced to withdraw. And the Chinese, as I said, were all around us, and they set up roadblocks on our routes to withdraw. And I was eventually wounded several times, and being unable to walk, I was placed in a tank, and this tank later had to be abandoned. And because of my wounds, I couldn't keep up with the rest of the people, and I was captured by the Chinese. How long were you a prisoner, Chuck? Well, I was only a prisoner a very short time because I had a chance to escape through a freak, more or less, and I did make good my escape and got back to the American lines the next day sometime. What's the most important support your rifle company received, Chuck? In my opinion, Carly was artillery by all odds. Artillery is something that you can depend on at all times. You can get artillery on a moment's notice, and through the communication system that they have now, it's very fast and very accurate. They can get a lot of fire on a very small target immediately. But, Chuck, we salute you and the men of the 1st Cavalry Division. But now let's get back to the story of the Korean fighting in March of 1951. By mid-March, the renewed United Nations offensive is rolling steadily forward, nearing the 38th parallel. Members of a 7th Division reconnaissance patrol strike northward through land from which the Communist forces have been withdrawing rapidly but in good order. The tank reinforced patrol finds little opposition from the retreating Reds. Communist resistance, which had previously been stubborn at many key points, now seems to have collapsed in most areas. However, their withdrawal route is studded with anti-tank mines and booby traps. Mine detectors sweep the narrow roads. Engineers repair a road dynamited by the retreating Reds. The collapse of Communist resistance below the parallel seems to indicate that the Reds hope to prepare their spring offensive in North Korea, unmolested by UN ground attacks. The blasted area is quickly restored and the patrol continues toward the boundary line. Enemy casualties are low as the Communists, pulling back mostly at night, carry out their retreat according to careful plan. In its dash toward the parallel, the patrol passes through many gutted villages. Visual testimony of the toll of war. One tank wallows in a stream, disabled by an enemy mine, cleverly placed at the stream fork. Although time is precious, an attempt is made to toll the disabled tank from the water. Operating on a strict schedule, the patrol is attempting to reach the 38th parallel and return during the daylight hours. The tank bogs down in midstream and has to be abandoned. Loose equipment and removable armament are quickly stripped from the derelict tank. Near the parallel, red rear guard positions are raked with 50-caliber fire. How short of their objective, the patrol finds a demolished bridge blocking further advance and heads back to report on enemy activity and conflict. Those were the events that comprised the big picture from February 20th to March 20th, 1951. Our thanks to Lieutenant Charles Wright and Sergeant William Taylor for being with us. Next week, the big picture will again show the United Nations offensive. You'll see our paratroopers landing near Monson. You'll see Republic of Korea troops in action. You'll see the strength of an 8th Army infantry tank team. From Europe, you'll see the activation of shape and hear a message from General Eisenhower. And again, you'll hear from two combat veterans who saw, as it happened, a part of the big picture. This is Captain Carl Zimmerman inviting you to be with us then.