Magnesium grenades were dropped on heavy equipment tracks and engines. Alarich Zacherle, battalion commander, ordered all equipment destroyed. Unfortunately, by that time the engineers’ window of opportunity to escape had closed. The engineers successfully held off the enemy long enough for the remainder of the 2nd Inf. The battalion was the only unit left to oppose the massive Chinese assault. Within hours, the situation turned from bad to worse as swarms of Chinese troops engulfed the retreating column. convoy began to slowly make its way across the mountain pass through a six-mile gauntlet of Chinese sniper and mortar fire. Once the road was cleared, the battalion was told to hold the line with the 23rd Infantry Regiment and Battery A, 503rd Field Artillery.Įarly Nov. moved forward to clear a path through the obstacle and open the road. But, the Chinese had blocked the road, and the only other escape route was south through a mountain pass. 29, the battalion received orders to relocate south to Sunchon. 26, after three days of heavy fighting, the number of enemy divisions had grown to five, with more on the way. The lines eventually gave way to brutal assaults by three Chinese divisions. Companies from the battalion were attached to two infantry regiments, the 9th and 38th, to fill gaps in the defending lines. Div., was ordered to hold the town of Kunu-Ri protecting the rear and right flank of the Eighth Army as it retreated. The 2nd Engineer Bn., attached to the 2nd Inf. troops, including the Eighth Army and the 2nd Infantry Division. In late fall of 1950 Chinese forces surprised and overran U.S. What Nerhling witnessed 51 years ago was every Soldier’s worst nightmare. 30, 2011, noting that he may be the last survivor of those who witnessed the original colors burning. Nerhling spoke briefly during the ceremony at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Nov. It resumed when the battalion was reactivated in 2008 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Originally held in Korea, the ceremony was discontinued when the battalion was inactivated in 2005. It began in the mid-1990s according to Battalion Commander Lt. The commemoration is a tradition retired Lt. During that battle, the battalion commander ordered the colors burned to prevent it from falling into enemy hands as they were overrun by the Chinese army. burns its colors in a unique ceremony honoring the battalion’s actions in the battle of Kunu-ri during the Korean War.
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To damage, or even just drop the colors is unthinkable. During a change of command the colors pass from the previous commander to the new commander battle streamers record the unit’s history in combat.
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A unit’s colors, or flag, is part of the unit’s soul. Every year, the Soldiers of the 2nd Engineer Battalion burn their unit colors.