Word: 7th
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...stabilized, heavily fortified MLR (main line of resistance), a few miles west of Chorwon on the western front. U.S. troops captured Old Baldy last May. Since then it has changed hands more than once, but-up to last week-it was held by units of the U.S. 7th Division, with South Americans of the Colombia battalion attached. Baldy had some value as an observation point, but it was vulnerable to Communist attack on three sides. Mostly it had prestige value: it was what some officers cynically call a "political hill...
...outpost was overrun, then recaptured by U.S. reinforcements in the middle of the night. The main Red attack, however, was aimed at Baldy's summit by a reinforced Chinese regiment of 3,000 to 3,500 men, advancing in waves through a curtain of their own fire. The 7th Division units on the crest could not stand...
...Movements. Aside from their losses, no one was concerned about the Marines; they could take care of themselves. No one feared a Communist breakthrough anywhere. In Tokyo, Mark Clark said he was not distressed about the loss of Old Baldy. either. But there was quite visible distress in the 7th Division, resulting from tactical confusion and confused statements about what the troops were doing. The division commander, Major General Arthur Trudeau, was publicly rebuked by I Corps' Commander Paul Kendall...
Instead of pulling smartly back to the MLR, to save casualties until they were in shape for a successful counterattack, too many of the 7th's units had tried to stand their ground, throwing in cooks and KPs and yelling for reinforcements. The long sitdown had made the Eighth Army sluggish. The battalion and company commanders were not prepared for quick emergency movement of their equipment and command posts. No corps or division command post had been moved for tactical reasons in nearly two years. Sluggishness could be seen in the movement of field pieces up to the front...
...some units, commanders simply would not talk to newsmen. The 7th Division strung up so much red tape that a correspondent could spend all day trying to get a minor story. The 1st Marine Division, already made to understand by the U.S. Army that it was getting too much publicity, told newly arrived replacements not to talk to the press...