Combat· Korean War
Kojo (Baker Co night fight)
While the bulk of the division concentrated near Wonsan, the 1st Marines were spread out to secure the surrounding area, and a battalion was sent south to the coastal village of Kojo to relieve ROK troops and protect a supply point.
There, Baker Company found itself the target of a sudden night assault by a North Korean force that had not yet been cleared from the region. The enemy overran part of the company's outpost line in the darkness, killing Marines in their sleeping bags before they could react, and one platoon was cut off and forced to withdraw under the covering stand of a single sergeant. The Marines recovered through the night and held, beating off further attacks and accounting for many of the enemy by morning. Kojo was a sharp reminder that the supposedly secure rear areas still held dangerous remnants of the North Korean army.
Record no. 612