Combat· Korean War
Battle of the Hook
The Hook was a sharply bent salient in the Marine line, a finger of high ground that jutted toward the enemy and commanded the surrounding terrain, making it one of the most fiercely contested positions of the entire war.
In late October 1952 the Chinese launched a major effort to seize it, pounding the salient with one of the heaviest barrages the division had endured and following the rolling artillery so closely that assault troops were upon the defenders almost before the shelling lifted. The Marines fought a desperate close-quarters defense, losing portions of the position and retaking them in savage counterattacks through the night. The enemy's tactic of advancing into his own barrage allowed him to surprise and capture an unusually large number of outpost defenders, the second-highest total taken prisoner in any single Marine action of the war. The Hook held, bought at heavy cost for not one inch of ground gained by the enemy.
Record no. 642