16. Minesweepers Blow up at Wonson Harbor - Page 2

On the 18th a Japanese sweeper JMS-14 hit a mine and went down and the ROK YMS 516 met the same fate on the 19th. Meanwhile, in what became know as operation Yo-Yo the Marine Division sailed north and south, back and forth, waiting. To the embarrassment of the Marines Bob Hope's USO troop show preceded them ashore. The First Marine Division finally hit Blue and Yellow beaches on October 26th. We had landed a day prior to that and my Army Signal Company was detailed to empty our trucks and assist ferrying Marine Officers to the town.

Some Comments about the Wonson "Invasion"

About the best that can be said for General MacArthur's proposed assault on Wonson is that it was hastily conceived and very poorly planned.

As General Matthew Ridgeway, the army's deputy chief of staff, noted: "A more subtle result of the Inchon triumph was the development of an almost superstitious regard for MacArthur's infallibility. Even his superiors, it seemed, began to doubt if they should question any of MacArthur's decisions and as a result he was deprived of forthright and informed criticism, such as every commander should have --- particularly when he is trying to run a war from seven hundred miles away."

Ridgeway also noted that a good many military leaders have recognized that it takes a special kind of courage to stand up to your superior and tell him that you think his plan is wrong. As General Marshal said so often, "That is the time when you put your commission on the line."