Background

The American territory of Puerto Rico has a long and valiant history of providing soldiers to fight in every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to the present day War On Terror.  However, despite Puerto Rican soldiers making steep sacrifices and showing exceptional valor in all these conflicts, one war rises above all the rest in terms of its deadliness and the bravery shown by the Puerto Ricans and that was the Korean War.  No conflict in Puerto Rican history had soldiers receive more combat honors and claim the lives of even more Puerto Ricans than the Korean War.

Picture of Puerto Rican soldiers who have returned from deployment to Iraq.

The origins of Puerto Ricans fighting for the United States began in 1899 when an act of Congress was passed to create a military force to defend Puerto Rico in peace time after the US gained possession of the territory following the Spanish-American War.  This fighting force was officially formed in 1901 and composed entirely of locals and called the “Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry”.  During World War I this unit saw its first deployment when it was sent to secure the Panama Canal Zone from any enemy attack.  Following the war the unit was renamed the 65th Infantry Regiment in 1920.

65th Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms

At the start of World War II the regiment was once again sent to secure the Panama Canal Zone, however in 1944 the decision was made to deploy the regiment to North Africa and then eventually Europe where the 65th would see its first major combat operations.  When the unit arrived in France they interestingly enough relieved the primarily Japanese-American 442nd Infantry Regiment that was a highly decorated unit from the war that included Korean born Hero of the Korean War Captain Young-oak Kim.  During World War II the regiment would suffer 47 casualties and had two soldiers receive Silver Stars, and 22 more Bronze Stars.  In one battle during the Korean War the 65th Infantry Regiment would suffer more casualties and be recognized with more combat heroics than all of World War II.

Deployment to Korea

Due to an exceptional performance during a training exercise with the US 82nd Airborne & 3rd Infantry Divisions on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, the Pentagon felt the 65th Infantry Regiment was ready for deployment to Korea despite being an understrength regiment at the time. According to the book “MacArthur’s War” by Stanley Weintraub the soldiers of the 65th Infantry Regiment were upset about being sent to Korea because they had enlisted with the promise that they would not be deployed from their home island any farther than the Panama Canal Zone.

Despite the protests, the Puerto Ricans set sail for Korea on August 25, 1950 and on their way to Korea the 65the Regiment’s ship passed through the Panama Canal, which was the area the Puerto Ricans had long defended through two World Wars.  However, the regiment didn’t just simply pass through the canal; in order to make up for their shortages the regiment stopped in Panama to be augmented with soldiers from the US Army 33rd Division stationed at Ft. Kobbe in Panama.  The 33rd’s commander augmented the Puerto Ricans with mostly blacks, Hispanics, and Asians he no longer wanted.

By the time the 65th Infantry Regiment left Panama it was composed of at motley crew of Puerto Ricans, black Virgin Islanders, African-Americans, Japanese, and Hispanics who manned three infantry battalion, one artillery battalion, and one tank company all under the command of non-Spanish speaking white officers with a Regimental Commander named Lieutenant Colonel William W. Harris.

Lieutenant Colonel William "Bill" Harris

It should come as no surprise that such a motley crew as this began to call themselves the “The Borinqueneers” which is the combination of the words “Borinquen” (which was what the Tainos called the island before the arrival of the Spaniards) and “Buccaneers”.

When these Borinqueneers left Puerto Rico they fully expected to see heavy combat in Korea because the North Korean and United Nations forces were still engaged in a do or die conflict along the Pusan Perimeter.  However, when they arrived in Korea on September 22, 1950, the Incheon Landing Operation had already been executed followed by the capturing of Seoul.  Like many of the UN forces that arrived in the Port of Pusan during this time period it appeared that the war was nearly over and they would just see some mop up duty at best.

There is however a famous story that shortly after arriving at Pusan, Colonel Harris was approached by Eigth Army commander Lt. Gen. Walton Walker. The general asked LTC Harris, “Will the Puerto Ricans fight?”

“I and my Puerto Ricans will fight anybody,” replied Harris proudly.

Walker then pointed to a waiting northbound train and ordered, “Get on, and then go that way.”

And north they went, but not to far north because like most of the newly arriving units the Puerto Ricans were tasked with anti-guerrilla operations in southeast Korea. To cause further communications problems between the English speaking white officers and the mostly Spanish speaking soldiers, Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSA) soldiers were added to the unit. According to Weintraub, the 65th Regiment had even lower morale with the arrival of the Koreans, which many of the Puerto Rican soldiers felt were cowardly soldiers because of their reputation for running from the advancing North Koreans, while the Americans had to stand and fight in their place.  Whatever the truth may be one thing is for sure, there couldn’t have been a unit in the Korean War that was more difficult to command and control than what LTC Harris had to deal with commanding the 65th Infantry Regiment.

Early Operations In Korea

The first area the 65th Regiment was tasked to conduct anti-guerrilla patrols was around the city of Yongdong, which was believed to the be center of guerrilla activities in the southeast.  Some readers may remember that Yondong is where the highly controversial No Gun Ri incident occurred in July 1950 that continues to be a subject of controversy to this day.  It was in this area that the Puerto Ricans would suffer their first fatality only a week after arriving in Korea when on September 29, 1950 communist guerrillas ambushed a Borinqueneer patrol and killed one soldier and wounded three more.  By October 9th the 65th Regiment had suffered 17 fatalites in the Yongdong area, but had killed 105 guerrillas and captured 500 more.  Throughout the rest of the month of October the 65th Regiment continued to patrol the sector and twice repelled attacks by over 500 guerrillas against them.

3rd Infantry Division Commander General Robert Soule on the left stands next to 65th Infantry Regiment Commander Lieutenant Colonel William Harris.

By November the Borinqueneers were attached to the 3rd Infantry Division commanded by Major General Robert Soule, which served as the regiment’s higher headquarters unit. Soule was familiar with LTC Harris and his 65th Regiment since they had trained together back on the island of Vieques prior to their deployment to Korea.  The 65th Regiment crossed the 38th parallel via ship and entered North Korea.  By November 7th they were tasked to conduct patrols around the North Korean port city of Wonsan on the peninsula’s east coast in order to secure the port for the arrival of the 3rd Infantry Division.  The Borinqueneers were the first elements of the division to arrive at Wonsan.  The 65th Regiment held off a number of Chinese probing attacks around the city as they secured the port for the arrival of the rest of the division.  However, according to Weintraub, LTC Harris was criticized by X Corps Commander General Ned Almond when said that his 65th “had not been energetic in its movement west”.  Almond had tasked a battalion of the 65th Regiment to move west 50 miles across steep mountains with poor roads while being attacked by bands of North Korean guerrilla fighters to link up with advancing 8th Army units.  Harris would send another battalion to assist, but the best the 65th would do is make radio contact with the advancing 8th Army units to their west.  This is just one of many examples of how clueless the upper echelons of command were in regards to the situation that front line units found themselves up against in Korea.  This lack of appreciation for the terrain and enemy would ultimately lead to a massive route of the UN forces in North Korea.

Taskforce Dog & the Breakout From the Chosun Reservoir

As the Chinese intervention escalated the 3rd Infantry Division soon found themselves tasked to move north to assist the breakout of the US 1st Marine Division and the US 7th Infantry Division from the Chosun Reservoir after a massive Chinese military force surrounded the Marines and Soldiers deep within the mountains of North Korea.  General Soule needed to send a unit up into the valley towards the Chosun Reservoir to secure an avenue of retreat for the Marines and Soldiers still fighting their way out of the reservoir.  He chose the 2nd Battalion, 65th regiment augmented with the 999th Field Artillery Battalion and designated them as Taskforce Dog.

The Bornqueneers underneath Taksforce Dog were dubbed Taskforce Childs because they were commanded by Lt. Col. George Weldon Childs, the 65th Infantry regimental executive officer.  Task Force Childs was given the mission of defending the town of Maijong-Dong, clearing the division main supply route of enemy forces from Maijong-Dong to Sudong-ni and protecting the withdrawal of the 1st Marine Division from Hagaru-ri.

Taskforce Dog fought their way through light Chinese resistance to the village of Chinhung-ni with the assistance of their attached field artillery battalion.  Once at Chinhung-ni the Borinqueneers secured the village which allowed Marine elements already at the village to launch a counterattack up the ridgelines along Funchlin Pass to clear it of Chinese to allow the trapped US elements further up the valley at Koto-ri to withdraw to Chinhung-ni and then ultimately the waiting boats at Hungnam.  It must have been some sight back then for the Marines & soldiers who spent days in heavy combat against the Chinese to cross into friendly lines and be greeted by the motley crew of the US 65th Infantry Regiment.

Picture from the December 9, 1950 Edition of the Stars & Stripes.

Taskforce Dog continued to hold the village and once all the trapped US forces had retreated through the hamlet they moved down the valley themselves and took up positions around the coastal plains that surrounded the city of Hungnam.  With the port secure by the 3rd Infantry Division and their attached 65th Regiment, the exhausted Marines and soldiers who had been trapped in the Chosin Reservoir were able to conduct an orderly amphibious withdrawal from Hungnam that included the evacuation of thousands of North Korean refugees.  Before the Borinqueneers departed Hungnam an award ceremony was held to honor the various heroes of Taskforce Dog that had helped evacuate the Marines & soldiers from the Chosun Reservoir.  One of those awarded was Lieutenant Colonel William Harris.  He was pinned with the Silver Star by X Corps Commander General Almond.  LTC Harris is reported to have said that he wished he could break the Silver Star apart and give a piece of it to every Borinqueneer dead or alive that had made the evacuation of Hungnam such a success.  The unit would also be awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal for their part in the evacuation of Hungnam. 

General Ned Almond Pins Lieutenant Colonel William Harris with the Silver Star.

The Borinqueneers ultimately ended up being the last unit to evacuate the city with LTC Harris being the last American to board a outbound boat.  When their ship left Hungnam the port and the city was shelled by the US Navy to where it would be of no use to the advancing communist forces.

Elements of the 65th Regiment Withdraw from Hungnam.

When the 65th Regiment arrived in Pusan, here is how one company commander from the unit described the combat actions of the regiment:

Capt. George F. Ammon of Vicksburg, Miss. who has commanded a compny of the 65th for two years, said the youngsters “crowned themselves with glory and proved themselves a well trained combat unit” in their baptism of fire on the frozen northeast coastal front.  “They were a well-disciplined outfit with that devil may care attitude.”

Capt. Ammon said, “When they were sent to drive back the Chinese they moved out aggressively and carried the fight to the enemy every minute.  When they were on the defensive they stayed in their foxholes even when their positions were over run and picked off the commies with the cooolness and precision of season veterans.”

The Puerto Ricans had made a name for themselves for their actions in North Korea and they would have plenty more combat action to come as the new 8th US Army Commander General Matthew Ridgway was determined to end the massive UN retreat that was threatening to end the war as a US defeat.  Ridgway had taken over for General Walton Walker who had been killed on December 23, 1950 in an auto accident just south of Uijongbu.  He had plans on how to turn the tide of the war in the favor of the UN forces and the 65th Infantry Regiment would go on to be a key part of this plan’s success.

Next Posting:  Heroes of the Korean War: LTC William W. Harris – Part 2