581st Sig. Co. on Hill 1157 (1951)

Hill 1157 Layout as We Arrived

This is the hill when we first arrived. You can locate where the radio hut was located. Also where an American Helicopter was laying on its side. It had been shot down. Also shown is where we found a fresh spring that flowed freely and constantly the year around. Not only was it cold but delicious to drink. It was a godsend and saved having to pack up thousands of gallons of water required for such an operation. We improved the spring with a small dam and I arranged some piping so we could have a shower whenever we wanted. There had been quite a battle on this hill before we got there. Live ammo, grenades, live mortar shells were everywhere.

We had to clean up some of this for safety reasons. Once one of the men picked up a live grenade and was going to pull the pin and throw it over the back side of the cliff. I ran for cover and persuaded him not to pull the pin but just throw it. He could have killed us both. It exploded before it hit the ground. Eventually some ordinance team came to dispose of most of the unexploded rounds and shells.

I learned much later in 2008 that the 21st Infantry Regiment, of the 24th Infantry Division, Company A took the hill in March 7th of 1951.