Combat· Korean War
Hill 104 (Korea)
Hill 104 was a Chinese-held height in the Jamestown Line sector that the Marines attacked as part of the constant struggle for the commanding ground between the lines.
Mounted as a limited-objective attack to deny the enemy the use of key terrain on the old outpost line, the assault carried the Marines onto their objective under heavy supporting fire, but the cost of holding the exposed ground mounted quickly. As enemy artillery and mortar fire raked the position and counterpressure built, the attack, like one earlier that month, failed to secure all its designated objectives, and the assault force was recalled to the main line of resistance with air and artillery covering the withdrawal. All three Company A rifle platoon leaders were wounded, and the day’s 4,053 rounds of incoming set a record for the sector. Hill 104 typified the brutal arithmetic of the outpost war, where seizing a hill was often easier than holding it against the massed Chinese fire that made captured ground untenable.
Record no. 636