In the years approaching his retirement, Rosco could hardly maintain his rank for more than a year or two before getting busted back by at least one pay grade. Most of these reductions were a result of a court martial sentence for drunkenness – it seemed the old soldier had a penchant for alcohol that began to show in the first year of his long career. By the time he enlisted he was approaching twenty-seven, nearly ten years older than many of the young enlistees seeking adventure in overseas postings like Hawaii. He had dropped out of high school after one year to work as a plumber, a life he returned to when he finally did leave the army over twenty years later.
His home for the first four years of his career was Fort Kamehameha. It was adjacent to Hickam Air Field at the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Planes constantly flew over the barracks. The artillerymen trained frequently on air defense against targets towed by aircraft. Field exercises were two-week excursions into the Hawaiian wilderness (including a lot of pineapple fields) where multiple battalions competed and qualified on weapons. After qualifying on all of the weapons, 155mm guns, anti-aircraft, machine guns, and others, a gunner was eligible for the Expert Gunner’s Badge which included a five-dollar bonus per month for a year. Rosco earned the coveted award on January 1, 1936. The bonus helped pay back a court martial from October. Rosco reenlisted while in Hawaii and remained there until August 1939. He request service on the East Coast and stayed with the Coast Artillery at Fort Totten, New York until the beginning of the war. The incomplete Civil War fort was home to H Battery, 62d Coast Artillery tasked with defense of the East River approach to New York Harbor.
ITALY
After the 339th Field Artillery Battalion was reactivated in the summer of 1942, Brewer joined A Battery just weeks after. The battery was the first to fire its guns since 1918. He managed to reach corporal by the beginning of October, but faced a reduction back to private before they sailed for the European Theater. A note in his service book the previous file noted, “soldier not favorably considered for good conduct medal,” a phrase which would appear again before the end of the war.
The battalion knew training had ended in November 1943 when the new M-1 Howitzer replaced their old First World War era Schneider guns. They began packing and crating their equipment and supplies and marched under full pack to board a train for Virginia. From there, they were off across the Atlantic to Oran and into the Atlas Mountains to train and prepare for combat. The inhabitants of the area wore traditional garb, the women in veils and children frequently naked. Towns were generally filthy, children diseased and the water undrinkable. To Rosco’s delight, wine and cognac became the means of safe hydration. Fortunately, it was only a month-long stay in North Africa before sailing for the Italian mainland.
In early March, after more training and introduction to the west Italian climate, the 339th was finally digging in and ready to register their guns for combat upon reaching the Minturno flats. Though the battalion was made up of 105mm artillery pieces, Rosco’s weapon was a Browning .50-caliber. He had little interaction with the howitzers and was instead tasked with defense of the batteries and supplementing fire with thunderous belt-fed fire.
Once again, A Battery had the privilege of firing the first round for the battalion, this time in combat. Settled along old Roman roads in the surrounding hills, the battalion immediately restricted movement to the hours of darkness between dusk and dawn and camouflage discipline was imperative. As the war for the battalion became routine, the men of A and HQ Batteries set up volleyball nets, which the enemy radio personality Axis Sally warned the Germans would break up one evening.
Sadly, their recreation was frequently interrupted by the war: artillery, the Luftwaffe, terrible weather, and demands from Division kept the battalion on alert and strained. The gunners were further occupied when the Battle for Rome began in early May. Fire missions kept all guns busy. On the roads below their positions, drab vehicles jammed as ambulances and trucks rushed to and from the frontline. As the infantry captured mountains and towns, the 339th had to follow. Under constant eye of the Luftwaffe, they moved over the shelled roads littered with smoldering hulks of vehicles and tanks. Crushed and blackened bodies left behind among battered equipment and heaps of empty ammunition boxes. A light haze hung over the battlefield carrying with it the stench of war.
When Rosco anticipated rest to come on May 31st, the battalion received new orders just as they bedded down for the night and immediately moved again. Rome was within reach and higher command saw no time to rest. Within a few days, the battalion entered the ancient city where delighted civilians welcomed the Americans and offered hospitality and drinks. It was a brief one-day visit before moving out again to face the Germans along the Arno River in the summer months.
With only intermittent rest periods, the battalion’s war continued up through the sharp Italian landscape supporting their own 88th Division and other units of II Corps. Bombardments, Luftwaffe and land mines were among their worst enemies, but the guns of 339th accounted for a growing number of successful missions against German machine guns, tanks, trucks, artillery pieces, Nebelwerfers, and infantry. Heavy rains made the bombed roads even more treacherous. Mountains once thick with pine forests had been diminished to acres of splinters. Rain continued as the battalion approached the Gothic Line throughout October and thick fog shrouded the battlefield by morning. Reserving rations and ammunition became crucial when rising rivers blocked the transport of supplies.
Rain turned to snow and back to rain again as winter approached and cold winds rushed down the Italian slopes. After the new year, the snow finally persisted and the batteries exchanged their camouflage nets for spray painting their guns and tents white. They fell into a routine of shelling a German battery which would retreat by night, be spotted the next morning by aerial observation, and the battalion would shell the same battery again by the afternoon.
March 6th marked the 365th day of combat for the battalion of which 328 days were spent on the line – more than any other 88th Division unit to that point. For the next two months, Rosco was attached to the 88th Quartermaster Company. He did not miss much as his 339th Field did little more than chase after the infantry they sped swiftly up to base of the Alps where on May 2d, the retreating forces surrendered: 22 German divisions, six Facist Italian divisions, Naval and Air Forces. After two months with the quartermasters (who also noted that Rosco was not favorably considered for the Good Conduct medal), Rosco returned to A Battery to endure garrison life once again and the long wait to return home after occupation.
KOREA
The 38th Infantry Regiment was defending Wonju when Rosco joined them on January 20, 1951. They were still reeling from heavy losses in November and had been facing the Chinese in the area since the beginning of the month. The entire Division had been fighting since January 8th to take Wonju and had finally broken the enemy the week before Brewer arrived. All regiments then became occupied with training and patrolling, some of which went into Wonju itself. With the enemy forces dwindling, the next move was to occupy the town.
The 38th Infantry took over control of Wonju at the end of the month, Brewer’s 2d Battalion and Netherlands detachment a day after. A change of orders to hold Hoengsong in the north placed the battalion back in Wonju and the 2d Battalion seemed to be on the fringes of action for several days while they remained in reserve. The other regiments of the Division faced Chinese onslaughts elsewhere and the 1st and 3d Battalions of the 38th battled for Hoengsong until they returned shattered on the night of February 12th into the 13th.
As the strongest battalion of the regiment, the 2d assumed responsibility for the defense of the town after that. In the early morning of February 14th, Rosco finally faced the Chinese in the high ground north of Wonju. It was only brief as they were relived the next day and back into reserve again. Among those to rejoin the recoilless rifle platoon in February was Master Sergeant Woolsey. Though over ten years younger than Rosco, the two shared similar experiences having served with the artillery in World War II before joining the heavy weapons company of a line infantry regiment for Korea. He had, however, managed to maintain his stripes and held position of platoon sergeant. Rosco was back to a blank sleeved private.
On February 22d, the Division began Operation Killer through the mountains of central Korea. There were no reliable supply routes and only a few trails that had been reduced to muddy quagmires by the recent rains and thawing winter. Washed out bridges and high water made river crossing impossible and overall the cold, wet weather made the movement miserable. By afternoon on the first day, the regiment faced the banks of the Chuchon River to wait for engineers to construct a foot bridge. The insurmountable logistical challenges quickly put the regiment out of operation and they trained intensively for the remainder of the month.
In mid-March, the 38th took over for the 23d for Operation Ripper where a number of defensive lines with familiar names set their objectives. From Yudong-ni, the 2d Battalion fought up the left side of the road through lines Albany, Reno, Fish, and Idaho to reach Pungum-ni where they held until the end of the month. At that time, the flow of replacements finally began to bring the Division back up to authorized strength for the first time since their arrival in Korea. Brewer earned one stripe back.
The regiment moved up to their old Cairo line at the end of April after a period of reserve. The Chinese began to break contact just after they moved up and the 2d Battalion moved forward of the front line to send out patrols and maintain eyes on the retreating Chinese.
They quietly returned to reserve in May during a lull in action. Despite this, patrols met an increasing number of feisty Chinese where there had been only passively defensive North Koreans. This befuddled intelligence officers and the enemy movement continued to increase. All units were instructed to hold their positions during the hours of darkness. Any movement at night would be considered hostile. All activity on both sides indicated a massive Chinese attack was imminent. P130
MAY MASSACRE
Up to May, the action of the 2d Battalion had been stunted and sporadic. There had been enough to blow out his eardrum in April, but he stayed on duty to witness the May Massacre. By nightfall of May 16th, it was evident that the Chinese armies were rolling in with force. Their mission was not to capture ground, but to completely annihilate the 2d Division. The 2d Battalion was about two miles in front of the front line and at the forefront of the first attacks after sunset. Artillery smashed into the waves of Chinese in front of E and G Companies who watched the explosions clear holes in the massive waves. Others fell victim to minefields and barbed wire entanglements. The subsequent waves of soldiers streamed over their fallen comrades with complete disregard for loss of life.
Searchlights illuminated the battlefield in an eerie white light in time to show the overwhelming odds against the battalion. An order to fall back came after E Company was overwhelmed and they returned to the area of the regimental command post to reorganize. Across the front, fierce fights across battalion, company, platoon and patrols faced off to take and retake hills and objectives.
Just after midnight on the 18th, a section of the recoilless rifles rushed from F Company to defend the 1st Battalion command post who reported the second of two overwhelming attacks. They repelled the attack, but within an hour, their own 2d Battalion command post was suffering the same fate. When E and G Companies were pulled from their positions to join F Company around Hill 710, the scattered recoilless rifle platoon went to support breakout.
As acting platoon leader, Sergeant Woolsey reorganized the sections under fire and set them in a perimeter around the command post to allow their safe withdrawal. The command group escaped before the Chinese broke through the rear of the hasty perimeter. Woolsey gave the order to fix bayonets and Brewer abandoned his recoilless rifle to prepare to break out of the encirclement. By the flash of steel, they fought against the incoming Chinese until the platoon could escape. They gathered their equipment and fled toward the village of Hangye along the main route to their south.
The enemy had established a substantial roadblock that required the assistance of the regimental tank company. Before dawn and before the tanks arrived, Brewer noticed the Chinese setting up a machine gun and quietly left his concealed position to mount his recoilless rifle in an exposed area. Without rushing and with complete calmness he set up and began sending rounds downrange. His accurate fire deterred them with devastating results and he continued to fire on targets of opportunity until the platoon had moved to find more favorable positions themselves.
The 75mm platoon that began with 32 men on May 17th was decimated to half by the morning of the 18th. G Company was the only rifle company of 2d Battalion utilized by the afternoon before the 38th was relived completely by the 9th Infantry.
At the end of the month, they moved up again and pushed toward Inje during the last days of the month.
THE RIDGES
The beginning of the summer saw the regiment training and recuperating from their May action. By necessity, scarcity, or actual merit, Rosco had climbed back up to the rank of sergeant. He simply thrived in a combat environment where he was good at his job, a capable noncommissioned officer, and misbehavior was tolerated. When he finally returned to the line at the end of July, the war had changed pace from raging up and down the Korean peninsula to a static war of bunkers and patrols. Objectives were limited to hills and ridges rather than large swaths of the country. Only at the end of the month did action explode around Hill 1179 where the Chinese would rather die than give ground. This was the enemy he faced until leaving Korea four months later.
The Chinese held their positions for five days on Bloody Ridge until they finally ceded after berating air support and heavy weapons. They had been more determined than ever before encountered in Korea and fought to the death, holding fire until the Americans were within 25 yards of them before unleashing murderous machinegun fire. The recoilless rifles were credited along with artillery and air support for breaking their resistance. In many encounters on the hill, the recoilless rifles alone enabled the infantry to advance against the ruthless enemy.
Heartbreak Ridge was next to be ground into the annals of 2d Division history through blood and grit. Though the engagement began on September 13th, the 38th did not get involved until the 27th in an attack against Hill 1052.
Again, they found the enemy was well entrenched and defending their ground until completely annihilated or their positions completely destroyed. Artillery had little effect against their sturdy bunkers of five to six feet of rock, logs and sand. The regiment took over positions continuously after bloody fights, only to suffer mortar and artillery barrages which they could not escape from because of the impenetrable rocky ground.
By October 20th, the 7th Division arrived to take over the battered positions so gravely held by the 2d Division. The transfer of ground ended Brewer’s combat service. The next month was easy reserve duty and then he rotated back to the States briefly before going to Germany for his final posting overseas. He finally retired in June 1956 after accruing five strikes of being AWOL in February and March alone, one of them reducing him from a hardly earned Sergeant First Class back to Sergeant, though he managed to retire with the higher grade.
His story is one of a soldier who exhibited the best qualities in combat, but who the Army could likely barely tolerate in peacetime. How he managed to complete his enlistment to retirement is admirable. He returned to plumbing in his last years in the service – a bookend that shows not all of those with decorations up their chest were clean heroes, but people with their own vices and flaws navigating through the world.