"Burning of the 2nd Engineer Battalion colors, 1950" Topic

I had never heard of this ceremony before or the burning of the colors. Robert

Korean War Battle of Kunu-ri remembered Soldiers from the 2nd Engineer Battalion burn the colors at Camp Casey,South Korea, on Wednesday. The annual ceremony is a re-enactment of the actions of 2nd Engineer Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Alarich Zacherle [order to burn the colors] at the Korean War battle at Kunu-ri in 1950.

"CAMP CASEY, South Korea — It took years of searching through Army surplus stores to assemble the uniform retired 2nd Engineer Battalion Maj. Arden Rowley, 74, wore
to his old unit's Burning of the Colors ceremony Wednesday.
Rowley's original uniform wore out during the 33 months he spent in North Korean prisoner of war camps after he was captured at the Korean War Battle of Kunu-ri —the event commemorated at the ceremony.The annual Burning of the Colors is a re-enactment of the actions of 2nd Engineer
Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Alarich Zacherle at Kunu-ri, north of Pyongyang, on Nov. 30, 1950. On that day the engineers were guarding the rear of the 2nd Infantry Division as it retreated in the face of overwhelming odds, under attack from five Chinese divisions. According to the program for the ceremony, "Zacherle realized the 2nd Engineer Battalion would soon be overrun and unable to withdraw. In an effort to deny the enemy the Battalion colors as a war trophy, he ordered the colors to be burned."
All but one officer from the 2nd Engineer Battalion was killed or captured in the battles around Kunu-ri. More than 5,000 American soldiers were killed, wounded or captured. Many of those taken prisoner did not survive the harsh conditions of the North Korean POW camps. Rowley wore his Korean War era uniform as he recalled his own POW xperience for members of today's 2nd Engineer Battalion, veterans and other 2nd ID soldiers at the ceremony.
He bought the uniform, which included a long pile jacket and cap with earflaps to provide extra warmth in Korea's extreme winter cold, piece by piece at Army surplus
stores after the war, he said. "In May 1994, I returned to the area of Panmunjom where on August 18, 1953, I gained my freedom after 33 months being held in North Korea. We crossed the Freedom Bridge. It was an experience I will never forget. Three thousand, five hundred American soldiers returned over that bridge of freedom. I thought of those 3,500 American soldiers and many soldiers of other nations who did not return with us —those men who died of the extreme cold, malnutrition or abuse at the hands of their captors," he said. Rowley, who was an enlisted soldier during the Korean War, recalled the first time he
saw a U.S. flag after 2½ years as a POW. "Some of us enlisted had a chance to visit the officers at a POW camp. We had not seen our officers in 2 years. On the second evening an officer approached several enlisted men and we made our way into the completely darkened camp kitchen,"
he said. The officer turned on a light in the kitchen to reveal a cake decorated with a U.S. flag, he said.
"It had been 2½ years since we had had the privilege of looking upon that symbol of freedom. The cake became to us the real flag of our nation. We held our hands over our hearts and recited the pledge of allegiance to the flag and remembered the many who had given their lives. I remember thinking about what would happen if the guards discovered us, but I didn't have to worry for long because we quickly
devoured the evidence," Rowley said. The old soldier also read an account of a comrade who died in the Korean War with
a frozen tear on his cheek. "What were his last thoughts as he lay dying? Was he thinking about his girlfriend back home … his mother … his child … was he having a Conversation with God? He did not have a nurse in a crisp clean uniform wrap a blanket around him. His cries of ‘medic' went unanswered," Rowley said. Some of the men who suffered during the Korean War might have wondered if
their sacrifices would be worth it, he said. "(On a previous trip to South Korea) I retraced the steps of the 2nd ID as we stopped the North Korean advance at the Pusan perimeter. By retracing those steps and along the way to see the Korean people so happy and prosperous whereas at that time (during the war) they were such a pitiful and abused people I received a confirmation in my mind that our sacrifices were worth it,"he said. Another veteran's reasons for attending this year's flag burning ceremony
were less complicated. Jim Ditton, 77, of Surprise, Ariz., said he came to see the pride had by the battalion and the engineers have and "the camaraderie and enthusiasm of
the present soldiers."

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In the seven or eight trips the U.S.Army sent me to Korea I also never heard of this ceremony. However it sounds special both to the individuals and unit.

Yes, very special … I was at Cp Howze in the ROK '84-'85 … I didn't hear about this either …

You were at Camp Howze, L4? I was there in '92-'93, after it became home to HHC Engineer Brigade and the 44th Engineer Battalion! Funny, when I reported to the turtle farm, there were three of us sappers. 2 were pulled to go to the 2nd and one (me) to the 44th.

Yeah, doesn't surprise me that very few people have heard of this ceremony. It's just for the troops of 2nd Engineer BN, so unless you served in that unit (or were *really* good friends with some engineers) it's very unlikely that you would have heard about it.

Not only the ceremony but the burning of the colors at the battle at Kunu-ri in 1950 is new to me . Robert

Javelin, Yes I was with 1-31 Mech there at the time … I heard later a CE unit took it over. Cp Howze and the Turtle Farm … ah … Memories …

"In late fall of 1950 Chinese forces surprised and overrun U.S. and U.N. troops, including the U.S. Eighth Army and the 2nd Infantry Division. By the last week of November, U.S. and U.N. troops were forced to withdraw south.

The 2nd Engineer Battalion was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division. The battalion was ordered to hold the town of Kunu-Ri protecting the rear and right flank of the Eighth Army as it retreated. Companies from the battalion were attached to two infantry regiments, the 9th and 38th, to fill gaps in the defending lines.

The lines eventually gave way to brutal assaults by three Chinese divisions. By Nov. 26, after three days of heavy fighting, the three enemy divisions had grown to five, with more on the way.

On Nov. 29, the battalion received orders to relocate south to Sunchon. But the Chinese had blocked the road, the only escape route south at a mountain pass. The 2nd Engineer Battalion moved forward to clear a path through the obstacle and open the road. Once the road was cleared, the battalion was told to hold the line with the 23rd Infantry Regiment and A Battery of the 503rd Field Artillery.

Early on the Nov. 30, the massive 2nd Infantry Division convoy began to slowly make its way across the mountain pass through a six-mile gauntlet of Chinese sniper and mortar fire. Within hours the situation turned from bad to worse as swarms of Chinese troops engulfed the retreating column.

The 2nd Engineer Battalion was the only unit left to oppose the massive Chinese assault. The engineers successfully held off the enemy long enough for the remainder of the 2nd Infantry Division to evacuate through the pass.

Unfortunately, by this time the engineers' window of opportunity to escape had closed. At 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, Col. Alarich Zacherle, battalion commander, ordered all equipment destroyed. Magnesium grenades were dropped on heavy equipment tracks and engines. Tires were filled with gasoline, thrown inside vehicles and set ablaze.

Zacherle then ordered the battalion colors, its custom-made box, and the 25 combat streamers that adorned it soaked in gasoline and set on fire. He wanted to prevent the Chinese from capturing it as a war trophy.

About 30 minutes after Zacherle gave that order, the Chinese forces overran the engineers. Nerhling said that "burning the colors and getting the hell out of there" were the only two things on their minds, but very few escaped. When the battalion regrouped after the battle, just 266 of the original 977 Soldiers remained. One officer was present; all others had been killed or captured.

Every year since the mid-1990s, the battalion has held a solemn nighttime ceremony where those actions are remembered and the unit's colors burned. After Nerhling spoke, Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Geddings, the battalion sergeant major, held the colors while Maj. Christian Thomas, the battalion executive officer, set them on fire. Then a partial roll was called, highlighting the immense casualties the battalion suffered."
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