Marvin Earl Freed, fourth and youngest son of Harvey Glenn Freed and Ethel Mae Hixon, he never married and died in Korea Oct. 5, 1951.
He enlisted and was soon sent by the U.S. Army during the Korea conflict in 1951, they were kicking the North Korea butt, until the Red Chinese counter offency in 1950/1951 than the Chinese overran the whole country. His division were out numbered and retreating toward South Korea, thru the mountains and were fighting off the enemy army as they tried to escape annihilation. His company had to fight a retreating action just to survive, coming up upon a mountain range pass, he and his ammunition loader were ordered to hold the entrance of the pass, for their company to escape through. They set up their Browning light machine gun in a secure site, just at the top, and between two mountain peaks, as his companions escape, my uncle and his ammo handler awaited the approaching enemy hoard, they fought as their company escape the carnage that was happening all about them, and by the time the company was able to regroup and mount a rescue, it was already to late, they had found them at their gun with hundreds of dead Chinese all around them, it was said that the bodies were piled six deep in front of their gun before they were overran.(This is the story told to me as a child, about his death from my mother, who was Marvin's sister).
In a another story; One person who took such a stand against the North Korea's and Red Chinese was Pfc. Marvin E. Freed, a quiet, six-foot-tall Washington County native of Indiana. Freed's outfit, Company C, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry, was clinging to a small stretch of Heartbreak's ridge (Hill #931) top on the night of the 5th October when a battalion of North Koreans and Chinese came charging out of the darkness from an adjacent hill. The company fought valiantly, but a shortage of ammunition soon compelled them to retreat down the mountain. After receiving fresh reinforcements and a new issue of ammunition, the Americans advanced back up the ridge. The North Korean fire broke the first assault, but Company "C" soon regrouped and advanced again, and recapturing the crest by dawn. The pendulum of war soon reversed its course, however, and by midday the men of Company "C" were once again fighting for their lives as the North Korean battalion surged back up the hill. Running low on ammunition, the company commander called retreat. Pfc Freed volunteered to remain behind to cover the withdrawal. As his buddies scrambled to safety, Freed wielded his Browning automatic rifle with great effect until he too had run out of ammunition. He then started throwing grenades, and when those were exhausted, he pulled out his trench knife and fought on until a group of North Korean soldiers shot and bayoneted him while his comrades looked on helplessly from a sheltered position down the slope. Determined to avenge his death, the men of Company "C" swept back up the mountain. When they recaptured the position, there they found over forty dead North Koreans and Chinese clustered around Marvin Freed's corpse.
Private First Class Freed was buried with honors he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal; he was buried in the Saltillo cemetery on a dark dreary winter evening.
As a child I remember going thru the arch iron gates of the cemetery with the rain falling and mom and dad going up to the grave site, they had kept me in the car, and the paleful wail of the trumpet playing "Taps" in the cold dark damp evening, the sound sent a shiver through me. Later when mom returned, and I asked why she was crying. She told me that they had buried her brother. And her sorrow was so great she was crying, and that the sky was raining, and it was God tears that were falling, because of of her brother death and for their greif and lost.
Uncle Marvin is buried up there along with his brothers, sister and my grandparents and other Freed family ancestors.
His name is honor and recorded in Indiana War Memorial on the East Wall Steps, upon the west wall about midway up the stairs.
He is also honor in the courthouse square in Salem and on the Korean War Memorial in Indianapolis. I and my family, Thomas Freed, Aunt Iva and other members of the Freed family were invited to attended the dedication. It was a very fitting tribue to those that serve and gave so much.
He enlisted and was soon sent by the U.S. Army during the Korea conflict in 1951, they were kicking the North Korea butt, until the Red Chinese counter offency in 1950/1951 than the Chinese overran the whole country. His division were out numbered and retreating toward South Korea, thru the mountains and were fighting off the enemy army as they tried to escape annihilation. His company had to fight a retreating action just to survive, coming up upon a mountain range pass, he and his ammunition loader were ordered to hold the entrance of the pass, for their company to escape through. They set up their Browning light machine gun in a secure site, just at the top, and between two mountain peaks, as his companions escape, my uncle and his ammo handler awaited the approaching enemy hoard, they fought as their company escape the carnage that was happening all about them, and by the time the company was able to regroup and mount a rescue, it was already to late, they had found them at their gun with hundreds of dead Chinese all around them, it was said that the bodies were piled six deep in front of their gun before they were overran.(This is the story told to me as a child, about his death from my mother, who was Marvin's sister).
In a another story; One person who took such a stand against the North Korea's and Red Chinese was Pfc. Marvin E. Freed, a quiet, six-foot-tall Washington County native of Indiana. Freed's outfit, Company C, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry, was clinging to a small stretch of Heartbreak's ridge (Hill #931) top on the night of the 5th October when a battalion of North Koreans and Chinese came charging out of the darkness from an adjacent hill. The company fought valiantly, but a shortage of ammunition soon compelled them to retreat down the mountain. After receiving fresh reinforcements and a new issue of ammunition, the Americans advanced back up the ridge. The North Korean fire broke the first assault, but Company "C" soon regrouped and advanced again, and recapturing the crest by dawn. The pendulum of war soon reversed its course, however, and by midday the men of Company "C" were once again fighting for their lives as the North Korean battalion surged back up the hill. Running low on ammunition, the company commander called retreat. Pfc Freed volunteered to remain behind to cover the withdrawal. As his buddies scrambled to safety, Freed wielded his Browning automatic rifle with great effect until he too had run out of ammunition. He then started throwing grenades, and when those were exhausted, he pulled out his trench knife and fought on until a group of North Korean soldiers shot and bayoneted him while his comrades looked on helplessly from a sheltered position down the slope. Determined to avenge his death, the men of Company "C" swept back up the mountain. When they recaptured the position, there they found over forty dead North Koreans and Chinese clustered around Marvin Freed's corpse.
Private First Class Freed was buried with honors he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal; he was buried in the Saltillo cemetery on a dark dreary winter evening.
As a child I remember going thru the arch iron gates of the cemetery with the rain falling and mom and dad going up to the grave site, they had kept me in the car, and the paleful wail of the trumpet playing "Taps" in the cold dark damp evening, the sound sent a shiver through me. Later when mom returned, and I asked why she was crying. She told me that they had buried her brother. And her sorrow was so great she was crying, and that the sky was raining, and it was God tears that were falling, because of of her brother death and for their greif and lost.
Uncle Marvin is buried up there along with his brothers, sister and my grandparents and other Freed family ancestors.
His name is honor and recorded in Indiana War Memorial on the East Wall Steps, upon the west wall about midway up the stairs.
He is also honor in the courthouse square in Salem and on the Korean War Memorial in Indianapolis. I and my family, Thomas Freed, Aunt Iva and other members of the Freed family were invited to attended the dedication. It was a very fitting tribue to those that serve and gave so much.
Marvin Earl Freed, fourth and youngest son of Harvey Glenn Freed and Ethel Mae Hixon, he never married and died in Korea Oct. 5, 1951.
He enlisted and was soon sent by the U.S. Army during the Korea conflict in 1951, they were kicking the North Korea butt, until the Red Chinese counter offency in 1950/1951 than the Chinese overran the whole country. His division were out numbered and retreating toward South Korea, thru the mountains and were fighting off the enemy army as they tried to escape annihilation. His company had to fight a retreating action just to survive, coming up upon a mountain range pass, he and his ammunition loader were ordered to hold the entrance of the pass, for their company to escape through. They set up their Browning light machine gun in a secure site, just at the top, and between two mountain peaks, as his companions escape, my uncle and his ammo handler awaited the approaching enemy hoard, they fought as their company escape the carnage that was happening all about them, and by the time the company was able to regroup and mount a rescue, it was already to late, they had found them at their gun with hundreds of dead Chinese all around them, it was said that the bodies were piled six deep in front of their gun before they were overran.(This is the story told to me as a child, about his death from my mother, who was Marvin's sister).
In a another story; One person who took such a stand against the North Korea's and Red Chinese was Pfc. Marvin E. Freed, a quiet, six-foot-tall Washington County native of Indiana. Freed's outfit, Company C, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry, was clinging to a small stretch of Heartbreak's ridge (Hill #931) top on the night of the 5th October when a battalion of North Koreans and Chinese came charging out of the darkness from an adjacent hill. The company fought valiantly, but a shortage of ammunition soon compelled them to retreat down the mountain. After receiving fresh reinforcements and a new issue of ammunition, the Americans advanced back up the ridge. The North Korean fire broke the first assault, but Company "C" soon regrouped and advanced again, and recapturing the crest by dawn. The pendulum of war soon reversed its course, however, and by midday the men of Company "C" were once again fighting for their lives as the North Korean battalion surged back up the hill. Running low on ammunition, the company commander called retreat. Pfc Freed volunteered to remain behind to cover the withdrawal. As his buddies scrambled to safety, Freed wielded his Browning automatic rifle with great effect until he too had run out of ammunition. He then started throwing grenades, and when those were exhausted, he pulled out his trench knife and fought on until a group of North Korean soldiers shot and bayoneted him while his comrades looked on helplessly from a sheltered position down the slope. Determined to avenge his death, the men of Company "C" swept back up the mountain. When they recaptured the position, there they found over forty dead North Koreans and Chinese clustered around Marvin Freed's corpse.
Private First Class Freed was buried with honors he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal; he was buried in the Saltillo cemetery on a dark dreary winter evening.
As a child I remember going thru the arch iron gates of the cemetery with the rain falling and mom and dad going up to the grave site, they had kept me in the car, and the paleful wail of the trumpet playing "Taps" in the cold dark damp evening, the sound sent a shiver through me. Later when mom returned, and I asked why she was crying. She told me that they had buried her brother. And her sorrow was so great she was crying, and that the sky was raining, and it was God tears that were falling, because of of her brother death and for their greif and lost.
Uncle Marvin is buried up there along with his brothers, sister and my grandparents and other Freed family ancestors.
His name is honor and recorded in Indiana War Memorial on the East Wall Steps, upon the west wall about midway up the stairs.
He is also honor in the courthouse square in Salem and on the Korean War Memorial in Indianapolis. I and my family, Thomas Freed, Aunt Iva and other members of the Freed family were invited to attended the dedication. It was a very fitting tribue to those that serve and gave so much.
He enlisted and was soon sent by the U.S. Army during the Korea conflict in 1951, they were kicking the North Korea butt, until the Red Chinese counter offency in 1950/1951 than the Chinese overran the whole country. His division were out numbered and retreating toward South Korea, thru the mountains and were fighting off the enemy army as they tried to escape annihilation. His company had to fight a retreating action just to survive, coming up upon a mountain range pass, he and his ammunition loader were ordered to hold the entrance of the pass, for their company to escape through. They set up their Browning light machine gun in a secure site, just at the top, and between two mountain peaks, as his companions escape, my uncle and his ammo handler awaited the approaching enemy hoard, they fought as their company escape the carnage that was happening all about them, and by the time the company was able to regroup and mount a rescue, it was already to late, they had found them at their gun with hundreds of dead Chinese all around them, it was said that the bodies were piled six deep in front of their gun before they were overran.(This is the story told to me as a child, about his death from my mother, who was Marvin's sister).
In a another story; One person who took such a stand against the North Korea's and Red Chinese was Pfc. Marvin E. Freed, a quiet, six-foot-tall Washington County native of Indiana. Freed's outfit, Company C, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry, was clinging to a small stretch of Heartbreak's ridge (Hill #931) top on the night of the 5th October when a battalion of North Koreans and Chinese came charging out of the darkness from an adjacent hill. The company fought valiantly, but a shortage of ammunition soon compelled them to retreat down the mountain. After receiving fresh reinforcements and a new issue of ammunition, the Americans advanced back up the ridge. The North Korean fire broke the first assault, but Company "C" soon regrouped and advanced again, and recapturing the crest by dawn. The pendulum of war soon reversed its course, however, and by midday the men of Company "C" were once again fighting for their lives as the North Korean battalion surged back up the hill. Running low on ammunition, the company commander called retreat. Pfc Freed volunteered to remain behind to cover the withdrawal. As his buddies scrambled to safety, Freed wielded his Browning automatic rifle with great effect until he too had run out of ammunition. He then started throwing grenades, and when those were exhausted, he pulled out his trench knife and fought on until a group of North Korean soldiers shot and bayoneted him while his comrades looked on helplessly from a sheltered position down the slope. Determined to avenge his death, the men of Company "C" swept back up the mountain. When they recaptured the position, there they found over forty dead North Koreans and Chinese clustered around Marvin Freed's corpse.
Private First Class Freed was buried with honors he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal; he was buried in the Saltillo cemetery on a dark dreary winter evening.
As a child I remember going thru the arch iron gates of the cemetery with the rain falling and mom and dad going up to the grave site, they had kept me in the car, and the paleful wail of the trumpet playing "Taps" in the cold dark damp evening, the sound sent a shiver through me. Later when mom returned, and I asked why she was crying. She told me that they had buried her brother. And her sorrow was so great she was crying, and that the sky was raining, and it was God tears that were falling, because of of her brother death and for their greif and lost.
Uncle Marvin is buried up there along with his brothers, sister and my grandparents and other Freed family ancestors.
His name is honor and recorded in Indiana War Memorial on the East Wall Steps, upon the west wall about midway up the stairs.
He is also honor in the courthouse square in Salem and on the Korean War Memorial in Indianapolis. I and my family, Thomas Freed, Aunt Iva and other members of the Freed family were invited to attended the dedication. It was a very fitting tribue to those that serve and gave so much.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
