Second to None-Warrior Voices -- Preview

Leonard’s Story

   "I (Leonard Ferrell. 9th lnf. G. Co) joined “George” Co. 9th Regiment August, 1950. A couple of days later we were on the Naktong River scattered pretty thin. When the North Koreans attacked at 0100 September 1st. they bypassed my position. They went through G Co. to my left. The next afternoon a runner came and told us to withdraw. There were two tanks from the 72nd Tank Bn on the road. I rode out on one of the tanks.

   "We bivouacked just to the South of Yongson. I didn’t get any sleep. I could hear burp guns firing and the sound of the tracks on the T-34 tanks. I knew the next day I would know what it was like to be in combat.

   "When "G" moved out to attack I was the 2nd 5 scout. I made a lot of mistakes. I was lucky. I sat down on a North Korean soldier I thought was dead…who wasn’t. You can believe that I didn’t ever do that again.

   "As I was about to cross a small concrete bridge, I came across an American lying on the ground with his head looking straight at the sky. I tried talking to him, but got no answer. I then noticed his right leg was blown off below his knee. The blood was not flowing. I knew then he was dead. I still dream about him sometimes.

   "After crossing the bridge we were pinned down by enemy fire. I was lying behind a M-4 tank. He fired that 76mm and the muzzle blast almost tore my head off. I still have a ringing in my ears. As we were about to pull out M/Sgt. D. P Hernandez pointed his finger at me and told me to take over the squad.

   "The M-4 was pulling out. I told my squad to get behind the tank. There was also an M-26 tank about 75 yards in front of us. After going about 40-50 feet, I noticed I was the only one left behind the tank. I probably went back about 30 or 40 feet to see what happened. A T-34 had hit the M-4 on the right side blowing the tank commander out of the top turret, killing all inside. I’ll never forget the Tank Commander, there on the side of the road crying, saying over and over, “They killed my boys! They killed my boys!”

   "There was a small ridge North of Yongson. To get there we had to cross a rice paddy. We succeeded in taking the ridge without too much trouble and set up defensive positions. The next morning I looked towards Yongson. I saw a regiment of Marines coming our way. They relieved us. 46 of us from C Company were left. We fought almost every day and every night. Hill 125, Hill 201, Hill 409. The Pusan Perimeter was tough and I was lucky.