By: Dale Lone Elk Casteel
It was sometime in the summer of 1951, our company was up on a little rise with the artillery and tanks set up a short distance behind us and a company of Marines to the left of us. It had been raining most of the day and was still raining that night, and the big guns were continually laying the fire power down.
Our company had received word that the North Koreans and Chinese were going to make a big push down the valley where our camp was set up, and it was my time to be on guard duty that night. With all of the firing from the artillery and the tanks and also the thundering and lightening, one could say that it was a miserable night.
The position for my post was on a little rise above our company. I was the person on the front, right where the enemy would be coming from, so there was no settling in for the night. My weapon for that night was a 50-caliber machine gun, and with everything that was going on that night, my finger was on the trigger as if it were glued there. I had my poncho on to keep the rain off of me, but that did not stop the misery.
Later on that night when a flash of lightening came, I thought that I could see heads ducking down. I had to be sure that it was the enemy before I opened fire. With every flash of lightening, I was sure I could see heads ducking down, causing me to wonder if it was the right thing to hold fire.
I finally decided to call the sergeant of the guards. He eased up to where I was and began to watch, and in a short time, he too began to think that he was seeing heads ducking down. He said, “Let’s wait and make sure before we open fire. So we sat there together waiting and watching.
It was a great sight to begin seeing daylight appear; I had lived through the longest night I have ever lived so far. We found out that day that some of the Marines had gotten their throats cut while they were asleep in their tents. I began to wonder if some of those heads that were ducking down were actually the North Koreans or the Chinese. It now makes me wish that I had opened fire on them, and I will never know if I was right or wrong for holding fire. This was just one of the tight spots that we had to go through during the Korean War.
Throughout the war, there were many more nights comparable to this situation, like having to jump out of a good warm sleeping bag and get into your foxhole with freezing rain and snow falling on you while waiting for the enemy to show up.
I believe that God was watching over us during this war because there was a lot of praying from the men. We did have church when time allowed, and all of the men had their little Gideon Bibles with them. It is a rotten shame that the government of today thinks that our soldiers do not need a Bible with them. What else can you expect from those who have never been in a war? How would they know?
Sometimes, I get a haunting feeling down deep in my heart that I could have saved several Marines from getting killed on that night long ago; then I realize that you have to live with your decisions, right or wrong.
By: Dale Lone Elk Casteel
December 20, 2024
