Combat· Korean War
Outpost Bruce
Outpost Bruce was one of the forward positions the Marines contested in the late-summer outpost fighting, a small garrisoned hill in no-man's-land that drew determined Chinese attack as part of the wider struggle along the Jamestown Line.
Like its sister outposts, Bruce was held by a modest force, a squad to a reinforced platoon, that found itself the target of an assault preceded by the heavy, accurate artillery and mortar fire that had become the enemy's signature. The Marines fought to defend the position against infantry that pressed in close behind the barrage, calling down supporting fire and committing reinforcements to keep the outpost from being overrun. The fight for Bruce was one thread in the connected web of August and September outpost battles, a contest for an exposed forward height whose value lay in the warning and the screen it provided to the main line of resistance behind it.
Record no. 640