| abstract
| - Cade Curtis (b. 1931) was an American soldier. He served in the Korean War before and after it was folded into World War III. Curtis was born in Alabama but grew up in Tennessee. On November 23, 1950, (Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.) Curtis, a second lieutenant, and his men were making their way to Hungnam after Red China's intervention on the side of North Korea. A Chinese surprise attack effectively cut off three U.S. divisions from Hungnam (including Curtis), and began systematically destroying them. While Curtis survived the initial slaughter, he was cut off from other U.S. troops, and was trapped in North Korea. Curtis was on the run for over a month, scavenging whatever he could find and evading Chinese patrols as he moved south, killing as he needed to. Finally, in January 1951, Curtis wandered into what he thought was an abandoned village. While foraging, he was taken by surprise by three Koreans. When crossed himself and began a prayer, they crossed themselves as well, revealing themselves to be Catholics as well. With little bits of Latin, they told Curtis that North Korea's leader, Kim Il-sung, had persecuted Christians harshly. The three Koreans brought Curtis into a sort of underground railroad of Christians. With their help, Curtis was able to make his way south again. He finally got back to American lines in February 1951, well after ground war phase of World War III began in Europe, leaving the Korean conflict a backwater. Curtis received a promotion to first lieutenant, a bronze star, and command of a company. His superiors also took careful notes about the route he took from the Chosin Reservoir to the UN lines. He came to rely on Staff Sergeant Lou Klein, a WWII vet. While Europe continued to be the center of focus for most of the world, Chinese and North Korean troops continued to press south, with the Korean War looking more and more like World War I. Nonetheless, the U.S. military was able to deliver a regiment's worth of Pershing tanks in advance of an attack near Chongju. The battle proved to be a success for the UN. Another engagement in April saw Curtis improve his combat and leaderships skills as he and his men held back a column of T-34s until air support could do enough damage to force a retreat. After that assault, the war quieted down, with both sides blaring propaganda at each other over loudspeakers. Curtis noticed that periodically, Red troops surrendered themselves. His commanding officer, Major Jeff Walpole explained that the U.S. used a message created by a psy-ops colonel named Linebarger, an officer with substantial clout and fluency in Chinese. The Americans used the Chinese words for "love" and "virtue" and "humanity", which when taken together also sounded like the English words for "I surrender", allowing the Reds to surrender without losing face. The month of May saw the snow melt, and an increase in shelling attacks from the Chinese. Curtis was painfully aware of the long logistics chain between Korea and the U.S. after the Soviets atom bombed several critical U.S. positions. In May 1951, Curtis and Klein learned from battalion CO Major Jeff Walpole that the U.S. had atom bombed Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk, two key cities on the Trans-Siberian railroad. While Walpole was convinced that this would lead to a slowdown of the supplies coming into the Chinese and North Korean armies, Curtis had his doubts. Shortly after Walpole made that announcement, their position came under shelling, and Walpole was injured in the leg. Curtis provided initial first aid. June, 1951 saw Curtis and his company still bogged down south of Chongju, with the Americans and the Chinese intermittently taking shots at one another. In July, he and PFC Frank Sanderson used bazookas to destroy a Red Chinese Maxim gun. Both survived and returned to their own lines safely. As a reward, he was granted leave in Pusan, a city which was heavily influenced by, and thus catered to, American culture. After a pleasant time, he was driven towards Chongju. His timing was incredibly fortuitous; when he and his driver were ten to fifteen miles northwest of Pusan, the city was destroyed by a Soviet atomic bomb. Curtis and his were far enough away that they were not caught in the explosion. For lack of a better idea, Curtis suggested, but did not order, that his driver head back to try to help in Pusan. Not long after that, the Soviets deployed an atomic bomb on his company's position near Chongju. In addition to morning his men, Curtis also realized that the American line had a large hole now, and wondered if the Red Chinese and North Koreans would press an attack. In the meantime, he and the driver arrived and did what they could in Pusan. The Reds did indeed pour through the hole the Soviet's had created. Curtis received a promotion to captain, and was assigned to hold a ridge line between Chongju and Pusan in order to defend Kaeryong. The Reds' initial push was stopped thanks in part to an aerial bombardment by Corsairs. Realizing that holding their position was more important, Curtis opted not to advance. That night, their position was hit by Shturmoviks. Curtis was not hurt. During this engagement, Curtis earned the respect of one of his second lieutenants, Howie Sturgis, who was actually older than Curtis and had been a sergeant until recently. When Sturgis learned that Curtis had survived the Chosen Reservoir disaster, he realized that Curtis might know what he was doing. This article is a stub because the work is part of a larger, as-of-yet incomplete series.
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