IBB Page Four
Imjin
Buddy IndexGolder Add-on One
MK note: I received this email from him
before he jumped in the Bunker.
When I invited him into the Bunker, he made the Entry you just
read. MK.
My name is Jerome Golder. I found your site with the help of James McGlew. It has brought back so many memories I couldn't recall: Old Baldy, Cavite, Outpost Kelly, Dagmar, Breadloaf, and others.
Old Baldy was sheer horror - from the morning leading up to trying to take it, with it's drizzle and fog, to the night of taking it.
When we got a lot of incoming artillery, we would say, "They are really playing Gene Krupa with us." It seemed like it would never end. I tried to dig a hole into the side of the hill, but the more I dug, the more dirt would fall. When the shelling stopped, the silence was broken by the groans of those wounded.
We were getting flares every three minutes to light up the area. Then, three tracer rounds were fired by the Chinese across the top of Old Baldy and all hell broke out. The counter-attack started. I am stopping here. I might continue this later. There were about three days looking at the dead and wounded being taken off the hill. A helicopter tried to take some out, but the incoming was too much for them to do any good.
Anyway I am glad I found your site. There is so much I want to let go, that has been dormant in me for years. Thanks to Jim, I can recall a couple of names of guys in the unit.
Please add my name to that list. I rotated back home a Cpl. I was discharged in 1954 with the rank of Sgt.
Jerome Golder.
PS: I recall that OP Kelly was taken from us at one time while those of us on the line watched helplessly as it was being shelled by the Chinese and as hordes of them came from behind Breadloaf to take the hill.
Several guys where killed, and we could see some POWs being marched off. The Chinese were firing on those who where fleeing with some of the heavy machines guns that were left behind.
I want to continue this; it is coming back to me. I will email you more later. I still have difficulties in remembering names. Hopefully, your site will help. Again, thanks a lot. JG.
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MK note:
Jerome did
add to his Old Baldy story - in
an email to Poe, passed on to me and (now) on to you. MK.
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18 Feb 2001
Hey, J. C.
It is now 10:17 PM and I am feeling a little strange now.
I am getting some pictures in my mind of Co. B position on the hill. After our objective was taken, we were in between Co A to our left facing the front line, and I am trying to recall which company was on our right.
I am sure that Co C, along with others I can't think of right now, took positions on the slope facing the Chinese. Co C took heavy casualties from direct hits by incoming fire all on 29 Sep 1951 and thru 30 Sep 1951 morning.
I am looking at your photo. Co. B. was farther up the ridge. One section looks like the other, all the vegetation blown away. A guy name Joe Boland and I dug a hole a little below the top of the ridge, if you can call it a hole. Half our bodies were exposed, from the waist up, with our backs resting against the hill. I remember asking Joe "is this hole good enough? His reply was, "This hole is Jo Toe #1, the guys on the opposite slope are going to catch hell." How right he was.
I don't need to tell you what it was like when the shells started falling. It was one the longest nights in my life, from the shelling and from cries of "get your grenades ready" and "fix bayonets."
The guys to the right and left of us got the brunt of the counterattack and those on the opposite slope - God help them. There were still some Chinese on the hill in our section who were not captured that day.
During the night, Joe and I were thrown against the hill by an explosion, and the two of us lost our steel helmets from its force. Joe said, "Where in the hell did that potato masher come from? They must have broken through our perimeter." That morning some of the guys captured two more Chinese soldiers who were on the hill throughout the night. There were 29 men killed in our section that night. I can't recall how many were wounded, but there were quite a few. Co C lost a lot. They were removing wounded and dead most of that day. The dead Chinese soldiers laying ......
I am going to stop here - it's really coming back. I am going to try to get a good night sleep. Maybe I will continue this later. Please let me know if this is adding to what you already know.
Thank you J. C.,
Jerome
Golder
Part of Poe's response:
Yes, Jerome, it all matches and you have described it just like it was. I was an old man by that time compared to you (I turned 19 on 7 Aug 1951) so we saw it together as "A Baptism Of Fire." I have passed everything on to Merv and I know he will make an add-on to your section of the Bunker. It will help if you can send any photos of that time, or even a recent one of you.
I will send you a copy of Baldy in the near future by snail mail. You get a good night's sleep and you'll feel great tomorrow. Its good to get it off your chest and the IBB is a great outlet. Again, welcome to the IBB.
Later, J.C.