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About Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1950)
SO THAT'S THE YALU' Bf TOM STONE At the Manchurian border, Korea, Nov. 21 W Tired Am erican infantrymen flogged In to the ghost city of Hyesanjin on the Red Manchurian border of North Korea today and occupied it without firing a ihot. They patted one another on the back. Some (hook handi. But there was no shouting. Maj. Gen. David Barr, com mander of the U. S. Seventh in fantry division whose 17th com bat team came here, comment ted: "I'm thankful that we got here with a minimum cost in lives and equipment." It was the first American unit to reach the border. Col. Herbert B. Powell, com manader of the 17th regiment, said: "We will sweep through the town and then go back into good hill positions and then see what happens." Powell added: "What will happen after that is out of my . hands. That's somebody else-s 4 policy." He said a military govern ment would arrive later in the 'day to organize a democratic government. "They'll elect a mayor in a few days," he added. The colonel was not surpris ed that no resistance was met. He said he saw no signs of the enemy; "There were no out posts and no delaying detach ments." First GIs to enter the city were Master Sgts. M. S. Os borne of Yakima, Wash., and Ed ward Perdins of Los Angeles. Asborne said, "So that's the Yalu." "It's damned good to be here. What do we do now" The Cal ifornia aoldier asked. The troops had kicked off at 8 a.m. They reached the top of a snow covered ridge and look ed out over the valley. In the distance some two miles away was the town they had been fighting to reach for the last three weeks. The temperature was about 20 above zero, warm for the GIs who have been fighting in tem perature as low as 20 below. The column began moving. Out in front were the riflemen. They were followed by Sherman tanks and ack-ack sections. More troops trailed behind. The column wound slowly down the long narrow road that snakes into the little river town. It neared a bluff Just on the out- k skirts of the city. Some of the foot soldiers left the road to scour a clump of scrawny trees. There was noth ing in them and the column which had slowed up a little be gan to move on. The little mud huts along the road were boarded up. There was no sign of life anywhere. Cattle stood unattended in froz en fields. Planes roared overhead. They swooped low over the city. They did not draw antiaircraft fire. i That nnprl th feAlinoa et fIT As they moved near the city, the GIf wondered: Is this anoth er Red trap? On the left side of the road atood about IS villagers, the first seen since the march down the winding hillside began. All were dressed in black. The villagers raised their hands and bowed low. The weary doughboys neither smiled nor nodded. Suddenly the tension evapor ated. The men were Inside the city. They wandered among the boarded-up houses. Some Just Bat down and relaxed. Two or three headed for the river. The river was narrow and the water swift. Ice extended almost a fourth of the way aross. One GI was disappointed. Be said: "Well, I'll be damned. So this Is the Yalu. Well how do you like that?" The city itself bore the signs of war. American planes had bombed it within the last few days. Much of the city was in smouldering ruins. Some build ings were intact. The Seventh division landed at Iwon on the east coast Octo ber 29. Its 17th regiment was assigned to reach the Manchur ian border as fast as possible. Yanks Spit In to Yalu GIs Wash Boots in Border River By WILLIAM CHAPMAN Hyesanjin, On the Korean-Manchurian Border, Nov. 21 U.R Four American generals spat today into the Yalu river, frontier between Korea and communist Manchuria. Jubilant Gis washed the mud of Korea from their boots In the river water. The 17th regiment of the Sev enth division had just captured this abandoned, bombed-out city without opposition. Its fall cli maxed an American drive across the ice-crusted top of Korea in temperatures as low as 28 de grees below zero. The Yanks swarmed to the south bank of the Yalu oppo site Manchuria wildly bran dishing their M-l rifles and carbines. They were the first Americans to reach the bor der. The four generals arrived at the river bank 45 minutes after the leading tank armored col umn entered Hyesanjin. They were Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond, commander of the U.S. 10th corps; Maj. Gen. David G. Barr, commander of the Seventh division; Brig. Gen. Henry Hodes, assistant division Salem Navy Man Back From Korean Theater A Salem navy man now back in the States is Seaman Melvin J. Hudson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Hudson of 2265 Center street. Young Hudson, who at present is in San Diego, was in Korea from June until late October aboard the USS DeHaven. A former Salem high school stu dent, he has been in the navy for two and a half years. Prior to being sent to Korea Hudson was on sea duty out of San Diego. Huge Battleship to Be Recommissioned Bayonne, N. J., Nov. 21 ( The battle-scarred battleship New Jersey, famed flagship of Admiral William F. "Bull" Hal sey's Third fleet during World War II, will shed her moth balls. In colorful ceremonies at the U. S. naval supply depot here the 45,000-ton dreadnaught will be recommissioned and end I two-year hitch as part of the At lantic fleet's mothballed power. Capt. David M. Tyree of Washington, D. C, a 48-year-old veteran of 29 years of naval service, will take command of the giant Iowa class wagon- one of the largest in the world. &V-,1j$!2!f jjUNCNAMg:::::::::::::::::::::; cHiMWAy KOREA 7th Division Reach Goal U. S. 7th division troops held the limelight as they pushed to the Manchurian border town of Hyesanjin (1). Elsewhere along the 250-mile battlefront, Reds brought up fresh reinforcements (tank symbols) at key points. North of Kilchu (2), retreating communists swung around to attack South Koreans' left flank. In northeast, UN forces ran Into Red defense line (soldier symbol) guarding Sunhi power dam (3). On Anju-Tokchon axis (4), allied patrols were meet ing tome resistance. Tank-paced U. S. 2nd division troop) moved against Red guerrillas In area (5), northeast of Pyong yang. (Acme Telephoto) J commander, and Brig. Gen. Homer W. Kiefer. commander of the division's artillery. Said Almond: "The feat of the 17th regiment in reaching the Yalu only 20 days after disembarking in force at Iwon beach will live forever in the annals of military history." Not a shot was fired at the American column as it wound its way over the last three miles down the face of the Yalu bluffs into Hyesanjin. The Americans saw no signs of the enemy, who offered his last resistance at Kapsan, 21 miles to the south two days ago. WW My jeep was the fourth ve hicle in the tank column as we jumped off on the attack at 8 a.m. today. Three tanks and three platoons of infantry pre ceded me down the bluffs and spread out over the plain on the approaches to Hyesanjin. Our artillery leap-frogged ahead of us beautifully. Seek ing to scare out any Reds who might be lying in ambush, it mushroomed out in black smoke patches on white snow across the plain. The shells fell about 200 yards ahead of the lead tanks. But there was no enemy. The plain ahead was devoid of hu man beings. Only a few swallows rose screaming in protest against the artillery screen. Homeward Bound North Korean refugees, clad in light clothing, brave the rigors of the winter weather and lack of transportation to return to their homes after United Nations forces overran the area near the Chongchon river. (Acme Telephoto) Peace Is a Long Way Off In Korea Because of Bands By PHIL NEWSOM (United Preu Staff Correspondent) Peace, as we in the United States know it, is a long way off in Korea. Possiblv it won't be reached in the lifetime of anyone old enough to read this dispatch. At any rate, it own't be until long after the last American marine and doughfoot have departed. The reason lies in the nature of the country itself and its people. The Philippines offer a good comparison. The United States took over the Philippines after the Span ish-American war of 1898. The Americans first, and now the independent Philippines govern ment, have been trying to bring stabilized peace and economy to the islands ever since. Yet today, more than 50 years later, what do we have? GIs Get Back To Own Lines By Rebel Maps Somewhere in Korea, Nov. 2 (U.R) Two U. S. 1st cavalry divi sion soldiers who spent three nights behind enemy lines were directed back to safety by friend ly North Koreans who plotted a course for them on a commu nist military map, Stars and Stripes correspondent Corp. Lar ry Kane reported today. The soldiers are Pfc. Robert L. Chamberlain of Stockton, Calif., and Pfc. Henry T. Blonski of Chicago, who told Kane how they were fed and sheltered and then sent on a route that would take them away from Chinese communist troops. Chamberlain and Blonski, sent out to contact an 8th cavalry regiment forward obesrver, lost their way and came upon the North Koreans who fed them chicken, rice, chestnuts and eggs and then hid them in a storage room. On the second day the two ran into a patrol of their own bat talion which sent them north again instead of south. That night the North Koreans repeated their welcome. And on the fourth day the soldiers made their way back to the 24th division lines north east of Pakchon and were returned to the 1st cavalry. Panay island are about 1000 more. So long as they exist, the Philippines can know no peace. Communist led Huks the people's liberation army" -at-1 tack within a dozen miles of Manila, the capital, terrorizing villages and towns and then fad ing into swamps and mountain jungles before government troops can catch up with them. A Philippines army battalion of 1100 men stands guard in Manila just to protect it against' these guerrilla fighters. Eleven other battalions and a field ar tillery battalion of 500 men fight them In the field. Roaming Luzon island are an estimated 8000 armed and ac tive Huks, frequently aided by sympathetic residents of villages and towns. On neighboring Exactly the same situation a! exists in Korea hence the dismal outlook for a peace as we know it. Fired by communism and well- armed and led, as many as 40, 000 communist guerrillas strike savagely in Korea in groups ranging from a few to as many as 1000 men. Their leader said to be Gen. Kim Chaik, who commanded the North Korean Red forces that nearly drove the Americans into the sea at Pusan. Korean home minister Chough Pyonk-ok has said he feared an attempt to retake Seoul, the Ko rean capital. Guerrilla warfare is not new to Korea. Even in the days of 1BIE3R E and yoall bay f CARSTAIRS ) I EXTRA ) i kRICHNESSj " CARSTAIRS Jf IlINUtD WMIS P" j I The Man who Cares... ays xr Vf"-"" CMSTAM BROS. DISTIILINB CO.. INC, NEW YORK, N. Y. KIN0O WMiWGN MX)? Jill MAM MUTMl PMU!S Japanese occupation, particular ly near the border with Siberia, Japanese commanders scarcely dared leave their headquarters without a strong guard. One phase of the problem is the murderous Korean terrain which makes it easy for the guer rillas to operate, and the second is the limited communications which make it difficult to ex change ideas and thus achieve understanding. Chough outlined one side of the problem when he said: "You Anglo-Saxons had 900 years to learn democracy from the time of the Magna Carta to now. The Korean people lived more than 4000 years under kings' rule, 40 more years un der a military autocracy, and then they were freed. "Do you expect us to learn democracy overnight?'' Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, Tuesday, Nov. 21, 195013 United Press Man Arrested by Nepali Troops Praises Them Editors Note: United Press manager for India John Hla vacek has arrived at the Nepali capital of Khatamandu after being captured Thursday by Nepali state forces. Hlavaeek was captured with a British correspondent when he entered Nepal to report on fighting near BirganJ between government and Invading Nepali congress forces fighting to depose Nepal's hereditary feudal Prime Minister, The Maharajah Chandra Rana. Hlavaeek was the first American newspaper reporter to reach the Nepali capital. His dispatch from there follows. By JOHN HLAVACEK (United Free Correspondent) Khatamandu. Nepal. Nov. 19 (Delayed) (U.R) I arrived at thli capital last night after being captured by Nepali army troops nine miles inside Nepal territory Thursday morning while trying to find the front line. At the Indian border town of Raxaul Wednesday thera had been reports for several days ol successes by congress lorces which at one time were reported north of Amlekhganj, 25 miles inside Nepal. However, there was no con firmation of the reports which emanated from congress sources and there was no news from the government side. Thursday morning Rawle Knox of the London Observer and I borrowed bicycles in Rax aul and decided to ride north until we found the front to de termine just where the Nepal government forces were. We crossed a small bridge be tween India and Nepal guarded by a single Indian army sentry. We rode into Birganj, the Nepal border town then in the hands of the invading Congress forces. We stopped briefly to see 75 Congress recruits lined up at the recruiting center and then cycled north along the narrow gauge railway toward Amlekhganj, At Pawnipur, eight miles north of the border, we saw the first sign of Congress forces, a group of 12 guarding a bridge just north of the town. The group was armed with rifles except for the leader who carried a Sten gun. These soldiers told us that state forces that morning had approached the bridge but had retreated when Congress troops fired two shots. They said also that the Nepali forces had a camp two miles from the bridge. We decided to ride on. We came to an abrupt halt when we rode into a com- the fighting. pany of Nepali troops. We got off the cycles and rais ed our hands and looked into a mass of rifles. An officer ap proached and searched us. He took away our cameras, money and passports. The Nepal sol diers were well armed, uniform ed and disciplined and extreme ly polite. They refused our request that we accompany them in what ap peared would be an attack on the bridge. They sent us In trucks with our cycles to battalion head quarters three miles to the rear. Here we were questioned and sent by trucks to area head quarters at Bhlmphedi, where we were met by the area chief of staff who apologized for our detention. The chief of staff said also that we were being sent to Khata mandu and started us on our way that night with all our belong ings except the cameras. All along the route officials were at a loss to explain tho Indian government's apparently unfriendly attitude in allowing Congress forces to use Indian soil in operations against Nepal. One high ranking army oficer said all Nepal border posts were lightly guarded because Nepal had friendly relations with India. He said he felt India should not have let the Congress troop crossinto Nepal. Khatamandu ia peaceful and quiet and accord ing to foreign visitor! thera haa been no trouble here throughout n. nrmVf UHl PfeiflJJUU if s saner f ban you think s .- I ,, " c- ".r f TX-;;$3239.00 tosau35 offers to much I breath-taking power, the luxurious ride and the gleaming good looks of a Buick sweep you off your feet. And once you've sampled the sweet response of Dynaflow Drive you feel a big lack in anything else. But let's be practical about all this. What does it cost to buy and to own this star performer? 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