As team searches for comrades' remains,
veterans recall Horseshoe Ridge battle
One valiant Marine unit, the First Battalion of the First Regiment, was shoved into
the gap. They halted the Reds temporarily while their buddies pull back. They were
outnumbered but fought their way out of the trap.
— The Associated Press,
Horseshoe Ridge, May 1, 1951
Story and photos by Jeremy Kirk,
Seoul bureau chief
Dig sites, like this one in
Chunchon, are cordoned off with ribbon in grids. Dirt is sifted through screens in a
search for artifacts. |
CHUNCHON, South Korea — At first glance, Hill 516 reveals no clue to its violent
past.
Covered in green growth, it is one of dozens lining a scenic country route about 60
miles northeast of Seoul. But underneath the spring foliage lie clues of war — bullet
shells, grenades and pitted foxholes.
For three weeks in April, a team from the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii
(CILHI) combed this hill looking for the remains of four Marines lost in a Korean War
battle, then known as Horseshoe Ridge.
Former Marines Ron Broward of Davis, Calif., and Paul McPartland of St. Petersburg,
Fla., remember Horseshoe Ridge. It was 50 years ago they were both young Marines in a
battalion that held two Chinese regiments for 17 hours on Horseshoe Ridge’s steep
slopes.
A friend of McPartland’s was paralyzed from the waist down for life after the
battle. McPartland was one of the lucky ones. He left unscathed.
Both traveled to South Korea at their own expense to watch the team. Although grayer
and older, both Broward, 68, and McPartland, 70, climbed the slopes again in search of
their lost brethren.
The sight of the hill resurrects memories of battle positions and movements. But thick
patches of trees have changed the landscape, making it hard to remember fighting
positions, McPartland said.
"You run things over in your mind," said McPartland, that decades have
dimmed. "You can’t get a clear picture [like] you’d like to get."
They spent the night of April 23, 1951, fending off waves of Chinese, while friendly
forces regrouped to the south. Marines with 1st Battalion, 1st Division, held the hill
through the night, then evacuated.
About 30 Marines died along with hundreds of Chinese. Since 1998, Broward has
interviewed more than 100 former Marines who were on Horseshoe Ridge, piecing together
what happened that night.
It’s the second time that a CILHI team has worked on the hill. In July 1999, a
team found some artifacts and remains, but it was unable to identify them.
The case was reopened after Broward talked to local residents, who provided tips about
where the remains might be buried. Their recollections and those of veterans sparked hope
the Marines can be found.
"It’s still a long shot (finding the Marines)," Broward said. "Any
little thing we can get we hope will be helpful."
At 9 a.m. each day, the 40-member team arrives at the foot of Horseshoe Ridge to climb
1,500 meters to the dig sites.
This time, the team is much larger than July 1999.
Paul McPartland of St.
Petersburg, Fla., holds fins to a U.S. 60 mm mortar found on Horseshoe Ridge. McPartland
fought with a mortar platoon as part of 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division, during the
Korean War. |
About 15 Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., who are
temporarily stationed in South Korea are helping, along with Mortuary Affairs soldiers at
Yongsan Garrison.
Four soldiers from the 718th Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit at Camp Red Cloud scanned
hillsides for old munitions before diggers move in. The teams have recovered numerous
Chinese and American hand grenades, which can still be dangerous.
"Finding ordnance — even after 50 years — you don’t think it’s
a joke," said Staff Sgt. James Wise while sweeping a metal detector across the hill.
Leading the dig was Mark Leney, a British forensic anthropologist who has worked for
the identification lab for a year. He holds bachelor’s degree in biology from
University of Edinburgh in Scotland and a doctorate in anthropology from Cambridge
University.
Leney has a dry sense of humor and a professional thoroughness. Pens and a global
positioning handset jut from his shirt. Team members yell "Doc, doc!" when they
find something, and Leney decides where to search next.
"It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s very rewarding when you find what you
are looking for," said Staff Sgt. Valerie McIntosh, who has worked at CILHI for three
years.
On a sharp slope, McIntosh was scooping dirt into buckets for sifting through screens.
Dirt falls out and artifacts stay put. The dig in 1999 focused on foxholes. This time, the
team concentrated on gulleys where items may have shifted over the years.
"What we learned from the witnesses was there were no burials here (after the
battle)," Leney said.
That means remains and artifacts followed the natural slope, Leney said. Artifacts such
as boot eyelets, buttons or snaps from uniforms indicate remains may be close.
Hundreds of Chinese soldiers who died are scattered on the hill, Leney said. The
laboratory will analyze remains to find those of American soldiers, he said.
If a suspected remain is found, team members dig two meters around it. Often that leads
to another discovery and another two meters of digging, Leney said.
The artifacts and remains found on Horseshoe Ridge haven’t been very deep in the
soil. The ground is covered with leaves, and a peaty soil extends a few inches below the
surface. Eventually, diggers hit clay rock that artifacts don’t penetrate, Leney
said.
Dig sites are roped off into grids with ribbons. Pictures document the dig and global
positioning is used to map the location.
The field work is just the start of an extensive process CILHI uses to match remains to
missing servicemembers. Because decisions aren’t made in the field, anything that
might be bone matter is taken back for analysis.
Ron Broward fought on
Horseshoe Ridge 50 years ago during the Korean War. He has interviewed more than 100
veterans in trying to pinpoint where four missing Marines may be on the hill. |
The center, started in 1976, has been able to identify more than 800 of the 88,000
servicemembers and civilians missing from World War II, Korea, Vietnam wars and Cold War
incidents.
About 8,100 servicemembers are missing from the Korean War, and 5,500 are believed to
be in North Korea. This year, CILHI will conduct 10 operations in North Korea, one of
which started May 2.
Through negotiation, the Department of Defense POW/MIA Office gained approval to
conduct the searches from the North Korean government.
The center uses mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing and months of extensive research to
make an identity. Drawn from bone samples, mtDNA is considered circumstantial evidence
since it’s possible for several people to have similar mtDNA. Identification is
usually made through dental records and other evidence.
Two forensic anthropologists who didn’t participate in the field work analyze the
case, and a third independent anthropologist examines the results, Leney said.Throughout
the process, relatives of the deceased are kept updated. If the team feels they have made
an identification, a thick packet detailing the dig and the evidence is presented to the
family.
Pfc. Jackson Rarick is still missing on Horseshoe Ridge.
He was a 21-year-old machine gunner from Downey, Calif., the same hometown as Broward.
At 6-foot-4, Rarick was an excellent athlete and the biggest Marine he knew, Broward
said.
"He (Rarick) was a very happy guy," Broward said. "He always had
something pleasant to say."
On Broward’s 18th birthday on April 3, 1951, Rarick told Broward he had something
special from home. Rarick opened a little mayonnaise jar, and carefully poured out dirt
into Broward’s hand. "He said ‘This is dirt from home,’" Broward
said. "That was great."
Rarick had just come to Broward’s company in March as part of a replacement draft.
On the night of April 23, the Marines were outnumbered.
Broward last saw Rarick after a mortar landed between them.
"At that time the Chinese were overrunning us," Broward said.
Broward took shrapnel in the back, earning him a Purple Heart, but escaped from the
hill. Broward later heard that Rarick was shot in the back, but that was never confirmed.
The night of the battle, McPartland was part of a mortar platoon. He was on a reverse
slope, lobbing mortars at the Chinese.
"The enemy was so much all around (us)," McPartland recalled. "I
remember we were guessing where they thought they (the enemy) were."
McPartland served 20 years in the Marine Corps. He served in Korea again in 1961 and
later served in Vietnam. Although they were in the same battalion, McPartland didn’t
know Broward during the war. They met each other at a reunion in Washington, D.C., last
September.
"I felt real good about it (coming back to Korea) because Broward is an inspiring
guy the way he is dedicated to this," McPartland said. "I want so much for him
to come up with at least one of those missing individuals."
Although the dig was closed last month, the search won’t end for Broward.
"(The missing Marines) actually never left my mind," Broward said. "I
can see the battle as if it were yesterday."
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