Battle of Hill Eerie

Battle of Hill Eerie
Part of the Korean War
Date March 21 to July 18, 1952 Location Hill Eerie (near Chorwon, North Korea) Coordinates: 38°15′12″N 127°3′8″E / 38.25333°N 127.05222°E / 38.25333; 127.05222 Result United Nations victory
Belligerents
UN Command:  United States  Philippines	China
Commanders and leaders
Max Clark Omer Manley Frederick A. Daugherty Fidel V. Ramos Felizardo Tanabe Salvador Abcede Ramon Z. Aquirre	Unknown
Units involved
20th Battalion Combat Team	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Battle of Hill Eerie refers to several Korean War engagements between the United Nations forces and the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) in 1952 at Hill Eerie, a military outpost about ten miles west of Ch'orwon. It was taken several times by both sides; each sabotaging the others' position.

In March 1952, Hill Eerie was the responsibility of the United States Army's 45th Infantry Division – Company K, 179th Infantry, commanded by Captain Max Clark.

On March 21, 1952, the twenty-six personnel of the third platoon, under the command of Lieutenant Omer Manley, set out to take over the outpost. Manley's men made up two rifle squads, a light-machine-gun squad and a 60-mm mortar squad.

Manley sent out two patrols to establish an ambush site around the hill. That night, both patrol squads sighted enemy activity. At 23:30, the Chinese attacked and a machine gun duel between the two sides ended after Captain Clark's troops on Hill 418 supported his men in the Eerie outpost with supporting machine-gun and mortar fire.

The battle continued on the morning of March 22 with the Chinese forces penetrating the outpost's perimeter and eventually overran Manley's men. Clark was then ordered to concentrate his artillery fire on Outpost Eerie after losing communications. At 01:30, Regimental Commander, Colonel Frederick A. Daugherty, ordered Clark to advance toward the hill and retake the hill.

Clark's men searched the area and found out that, of the 26 men who had defended the outpost, 8 were dead, 4 wounded, and 2 were missing (Lieutenant Manley and Corporal Joel Ybarra). They also recovered 31 enemy dead from around the hill and captured a wounded Chinese soldier. Later, Clark withdrew his troops to the main line of resistance.

In May 1952, the 20th Philippine Battalion Combat Team, under the command of Colonel Querobin, engaged the Chinese forces at the town of Karhwagol, west of Chorwon; they were also involved in other major battles and assaults against the Chinese forces.

There were numerous closely fought battles on Hill Eerie, as well as on Hills 18, 200, and 19, ('Yoke', 'Uncle' and 'Old Baldy'), all in the T-Bone Hill area, but later the 20th were committed to the Beef Steak Hill area and in Alligator Sky.

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