Chaplain–Medic massacre
Chaplain–Medic massacre | |
---|---|
KST) | |
Target | U.S. Army prisoners of war |
Attack type | Mass murder |
Deaths | 30 U.S. soldiers and one Roman Catholic chaplain murdered |
Injured | 1 (U.S. soldier) |
Perpetrators | Korean People's Army soldiers |
Motive | Retribution |
The Chaplain–Medic massacre took place in the
Operating at the
Thirty critically wounded US troops were stranded at the top of a mountain. Attended to by only two
Background
Outbreak of war
Following the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, the
Delaying action
Advance elements of the 24th Infantry Division were badly defeated in the
On July 12, the division's commander,
Massacre
North Korean attack
Following an initial penetration to the north, the retreating 34th Infantry moved south to Nonsan.[15] On July 15, the 19th Infantry moved its 2nd Battalion to fill some of the gaps left by the 34th.[16] There, it was reinforced by troops from the Republic of Korea Army (ROK).[15][16] The combined forces observed a large build-up of KPA troops on the west side of the river. At 03:00 on July 16, the KPA launched a massive barrage of tank, artillery and mortar fire on the 19th Infantry positions and KPA troops began to cross the river in boats.[15] The KPA forces gathered on the west bank and assaulted the positions of the 1st Battalion's C and E companies, followed by a second landing against B Company.[17] KPA forces pushed against the entire battalion, threatening to overwhelm it. The regimental commander ordered all support troops and officers to the line and they were able to repulse the assault. However, in the melee, KPA forces infiltrated their rear elements, attacking the reserve forces and blocking supply lines.[18] Stretched thin, the 19th Infantry was unable to hold the line at the Kum River and simultaneously repel the KPA forces.[19]
Roadblock
KPA troops promptly set up a roadblock directly behind the 19th Infantry's line in its main route of supply along the road near the village of Tuman, just south of
The roadblock was preventing evacuation of the wounded.[24] Troops attempted to drive wounded in jeeps through the roadblock, but this exposed them to machine-gun fire. By 16:00 supply columns were also piling up at the block, unable to proceed as armor and airstrikes attempted to dislodge the KPA.[24][25] Five hundred men from the regiment were gathered waiting to break the roadblock while heavy armor units from Taejon moved against it from the other side.[26] During this time, US troops from the 19th Infantry, desperate to move around the roadblock to obtain supplies and care for the wounded, began moving through the surrounding hills. One tank was able to make it through the roadblock to evacuate the 19th Infantry's wounded commander, but by 19:00, commanders ordered the regiment to move its wounded along the ridges to the east of the roadblock.[27][28]
Massacre
At 21:00, about 100 men of the 19th Infantry moved into the hills to the east of the town.[7][29] They carried with them about 30 wounded, including several litter-bound patients too seriously wounded to walk. Some of the group of 100 were ordered to carry these men, but many of them separated from the group in the mountains.[30] By the time they reached the top of the mountain, officers decided some of the seriously wounded could not be carried any further, as their carriers were exhausted.
for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while attached to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Captain (Chaplain) Felhoelter distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces on the Kum River, north of Taejon, Korea, on 16 July 1950. When seriously wounded men of the 19th Infantry could not be evacuated in the face of an overwhelming night attack by superior enemy forces who had cut off the main route of withdrawal, Chaplain Felhoelter, without regard for his own personal safety, voluntarily remained behind to give his wounded comrades spiritual comfort and aid. When last seen, Chaplain Felhoelter was still administering to the wounded. —Citation[31]
The regimental medical officer, Captain Linton J. Buttrey, and Chaplain Herman G. Felhoelter
Death of Father Felhoelter
Buttrey and Felhoelter were both unarmed, and wore the insignias of their respective vocations, indicating their non-combatant status. Soon, Buttrey and Felhoelter heard a KPA patrol approaching, a group of men from the KPA 3rd Division which had infiltrated the US lines.
The attack was witnessed from hills some distance away through binoculars by other members of the 19th Infantry. Felhoelter was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously. Felhoelter became the first of several military chaplains to be killed in the Korean conflict.[35][36][37]
- Felhoelter's background
Father Herman Gilbert Felhoelter OFM was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1913. He joined the Franciscans and was ordained for the Friars Minor in 1939.[38] He served as an Army chaplain in World War II and received a Bronze Star for service under fire. After that war, Felhoelter became an assistant pastor in Cincinnati, but was recommissioned in 1948 and appointed chaplain to the US 19th Infantry and posted to Korea.[39] Four days before his death, he had written his mother: "Don't worry, Mother. God's will be done. I feel so good to know the power of your prayers accompanying me ... I am happy in the thought that I can help some souls who need help."[32]
Felhoelter's U.S. military decorations | |
Distinguished Service Cross | |
Bronze Star | |
Korean Service Medal | |
United Nations Korea Medal
|
Aftermath
US troops were able to recover the bodies of only three of the victims of the massacre, including Father Felhoelter, due to the chaos of the battle and subsequent US withdrawal, and were unable to capture any KPA troops who participated in the massacre. For his actions in volunteering to stay behind with the wounded, Father Felhoelter was
US response
The incident was one of the first of a series of atrocities the US forces accused KPA soldiers of committing. After the Chaplain–Medic,
In late 1953, the
In 1981, the United States erected a series of monuments in
North Korean response
Subsequent research has found the KPA command did not directly order its troops to mistreat prisoners[47] or unarmed wounded during the early phase of the war.[42] The Chaplain–Medic massacre and similar atrocities are believed to have been conducted by "uncontrolled small units, by vindictive individuals, or because of unfavorable and increasingly desperate situations confronting the captors".[47] The more KPA troops suffered from worsening conditions on the front lines, the more they mistreated American wounded and prisoners.[48] T. R. Fehrenbach, a military historian, wrote in his analysis of the event that KPA troops committing these acts were probably accustomed to torture and execution of prisoners due to decades of rule by oppressive armies of the Empire of Japan up until World War II.[49]
A July 28, 1950, order by General Lee Yong Ho, commander of the KPA 3rd Division, was intercepted by UN intelligence. The document was signed by
See also
- List of massacres in South Korea
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA#Korean War
- Seoul National University Hospital massacre
References
Citations
- ^ 6·25 참전 미군, 허먼 G. 펠홀터 군종신부의 성덕
- ^ Appleman 1998, p. 59
- ^ Varhola 2000, p. 3
- ^ Appleman 1998, p. 60
- ^ Alexander 2003, p. 52
- ^ Catchpole 2001, p. 15
- ^ a b c Alexander 2003, p. 90
- ^ a b Varhola 2000, p. 4
- ^ Fehrenbach 2001, p. 60
- ^ Alexander 2003, p. 63
- ^ Summers 2001, p. 266
- ^ Fehrenbach 2001, p. 88
- ^ Alexander 2003, p. 121
- ^ Fehrenbach 2001, p. 92
- ^ a b c Appleman 1998, p. 135
- ^ a b Millett 2010, p. 187
- ^ Fehrenbach 2001, p. 93
- ^ Alexander 2003, p. 84
- ^ Fehrenbach 2001, p. 94
- ^ Alexander 2003, p. 85
- ^ Appleman 1998, p. 139
- ^ a b Alexander 2003, p. 86
- ^ Appleman 1998, p. 140
- ^ a b Alexander 2003, p. 87
- ^ Appleman 1998, p. 141
- ^ Alexander 2003, p. 88
- ^ Appleman 1998, p. 142
- ^ Alexander 2003, p. 89
- ^ a b c d e Appleman 1998, p. 143
- ^ a b c d e f Alexander 2003, p. 91
- ^ "Herman Gilbert Felhoelter". Hall of Valour Project. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- ^ a b "Captain Herman G. Felhoelter • Korean War • 1914–1950" Centner, Pat. "No Greater Love: A Memorial Day Salute to Military Chaplains". American Family Association. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
A Catholic priest from Washington state, Chaplain Herman Felhoelter had been assigned to the U.S. Army's 19th Infantry Regiment.
- ^ a b c d McCarthy 1954, p. 7
- ^ a b Millett 2010, p. 161
- ^ "Father Herman Felhoelter & Sacrifice In Korea ~ Louisville, Kentucky". WayMarking.com. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- ^ "Franciscan Love". The American Catholic. June 18, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- ^ Russell, Christopher (July 13, 2018). "The Vocation of Herman Felhoelter". The Battle of Turkey Thicket. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ "Felhoelter, Herman, CPT Fallen". Together We Served. Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ Johnson, Mark W. "Under Fire: Army Chaplains in Korea, 1950". US Army Press Release. US Army. US Army. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
- ^ "Father Herman Felhoelter & Sacrifice In Korea ~ Louisville, Kentucky". Waymarking.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ "Religion: Chaplains Courageous", Time, December 1, 1952, archived from the original on November 25, 2010, retrieved August 28, 2011
- ^ a b Fehrenbach 2001, p. 136
- ^ Millett 2010, p. 160
- ^ McCarthy 1954, p. 1
- ^ McCarthy 1954, p. 16
- ^ Chaplain's Hill and Three Monuments, Arlington National Cemetery, 2010, archived from the original on October 28, 2011, retrieved August 28, 2011
- ^ a b c d Appleman 1998, p. 350
- ^ Alexander 2003, p. 144
- ^ Fehrenbach 2001, p. 137
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-7818-1019-7
- Appleman, Roy E. (1998), South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu: United States Army in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: ISBN 978-0-16-001918-0, archived from the original on November 2, 2013, retrieved December 22, 2010 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Catchpole, Brian (2001), The Korean War, London: ISBN 978-1-84119-413-4
- ISBN 978-1-57488-334-3
- US Government Printing Office, retrieved July 11, 2010
- Millett, Allan R. (2010), The War for Korea, 1950–1951: They Came from the North, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, ISBN 978-0-7006-1709-8
- ISBN 978-0-7351-0209-5
- ISBN 978-1-882810-44-4