Onslaught on the Berlin Outposts: even as the Korean War was winding down, the Chinese kept up the pressure—by attacking Outposts Berlin and East Berlin in July 1953. But Marines tenaciously resisted to the war's bitter end

VFW Magazine, June-July, 2003 by Al Hemingway

As summer was fast approaching the Korean Peninsula, all eyes were turned to the peace talks being held in Panmunjom. There was talk of a long-awaited armistice after three years of bloody and savage war between the North Korean and Chinese and United Nations Forces.

On the night of July 7, 1953, however, CCF (Chinese Communist Forces) assaulted the all-important COPs (Combat Outposts) East Berlin and Berlin atop the land mass known as Hill 190, held by elements of the 2nd Bn., 7th Marines. Heavy shelling erupted on the tiny hilltop as well as all along the MLR (Main Line of Resistance).

Since returning to the Jamestown Line days earlier, the Marines realized they were in a precarious position. COPs Vegas, Elko and Carson had fallen to the enemy in late May.

Marine historians Lt. Col. Pat Meid and Maj. James Yingling wrote in Operations in West Korea, Volume V: "Some 6,750 yards of intervening MLR--more than four miles--lay in between, bereft of any protective outposts to screen and alert the defending line companies to sudden enemy assaults."

Swarming 'Like Ants'

The Chinese wasted no time in taking advantage of this weakened MLR. Under a thunderous artillery and mortar barrage, enemy soldiers of the 407th Regt., 136th Div., 46th CCF Army, swarmed over the two positions "like ants."

Nearly a dozen tanks from B Co., 1st Tank Bn., fired hundreds of 90mm shells at the Chinese hordes. Also, tanks from the 14th Infantry Regiment's Tank Company assisted them as well. Likewise, howitzers from the 11th Marines, the Army's 25th Division and Turkish artillery units, added some additional punch to the melee.

Fighting at the Berlins was hand-to-hand. In his book The Final Crucible: U.S. Marines in Korea, Vol. 2: 1953, author Lee Ballenger interviewed numerous combatants. One such Marine was Sgt. Vernon Schmidt who miraculously survived the battle. He described how one of his squad members also had clung to life during the desperate struggle.

"Pfc. 'Moose' Moran had no water with him and said he drank out of a puddle in a nearby paddy," Schmidt said. "At daylight, someone saw him and went out to get him while under fire. He had shrapnel wounds all over and his upper legs looked like hamburger that was dropped in the mud. One eye was hanging on his cheek ... When they came to carry him away, he said: 'I'm going back to New York if I have to crawl.' He was some Irishman."

'Fighting Like Demons'

Despite the heroic struggle, East Berlin fell into enemy hands. Amazingly, two squads of Leathernecks, augmented by a few Turkish soldiers, had held onto Berlin. Companies from the 2nd and 3rd battalions, 7th Marines, charged up East Berlin to retake the hill.

Sgt. David Smith fought up the incline to reach a wounded Marine. When he finally fell to enemy bullets, his squad became "inspired" by his actions and raced up the slope to drive the CCF from the crest. (Smith was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.)

Ballenger wrote: "The Marines threw Chinese soldiers bodily out of the trenches and off the hill. Fighting like demons, they killed or routed every defender ... by 1233, with 20 men left in fighting condition, the exhausted Marines regained possession of East Berlin."

Unfortunately, their euphoria was soon dashed. The following week saw heavy monsoon downpours. The surrounding countryside became a sea of mud. Bridges and roads were washed out and supplies could not reach the MLR or the vital outposts.

Savage Onslaught

During this inclement weather, the Chinese had time to replenish their ranks. On the night of July 18, several battalions again struck the outposts with a vengeance. Enemy mortars (reported to be one round per second) slammed into Marine fortifications. The infantry-men answered with 60mm, 81mm and 4.2-inch mortars.

Charles Harvey was on his way to OP Berlin with a supply train. "I thought the world was coming to an end with the thousands of incoming impacting near us," he said.

For more than four hours, approximately two platoons of Leathernecks withstood the savage onslaught of some 1,000 CCF soldiers. After-action reports indicated: "[The Marines] fought with grenades, small arms and machine gun fire until they were overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers." Both East Berlin and Berlin were gone.

An Associated Press story later quoted a wounded Marine lieutenant as saying: "As soon as I saw the attack was on, I called for 'box-me-in-fire.' I got it immediately, but it was not soon enough. Already they were on us: In our trenches, throwing hand grenades at the men in the holes, clubbing and shooting men who were on the machine guns and the BARs (Browning Automatic Rifles)."

With the seizure of the Berlins, the Chinese had control of the strategic hill mass in front of the MLR. Despite objections from the Marines, the I Corps commander, Army Lt. Gen. Bruce C. Clarke, ordered that the Berlins be abandoned. This decision, and the one he had made in May, would later come back to haunt him.

"This was the same general who had cancelled the Turkish counterattack on Outpost Vegas in May," Ballenger wrote. "He was now having to live with the results of that decision. The former Outpost Vegas was used extensively by the Chinese to stage their attacks on the Berlins.