It was an utterly unexpected event for the Korean civilians in Hagaru to see the U.S. Marines in their village camped in the cold winter. They did not know who the Marines were; in fact they had no experience in their life to meet the Americans, not to mention the Marine fighters.

There were about 300 civilians in the village. They kept their distance from the Marines; their houses were located in the flat field, at least five hundred yards away from our advanced camp. Hagaru was the site of the Chanjin County Office. It was a headquarter of the Chanjin People's Assembly; a local center of the Communist control apparatus. In fact, the communist chief of the Chanjin People's Assembly had fled the village only a couple of days prior to our arrival. However, he had to leave his pregnant wife in the village and many communist civilians were still in the village.

When we first arrived in Hagaru, I was the only one who was able to talk to the villagers. During the day time, we had no problem with them as we were able to watch them. However, the night brought dangers; no one knew whether they would lead the Chinese soldiers to where our advance Division Headquarters was situated. At that time, the Chinese had often penetrated our perimeter lines and encountered the Marines in the tents.