 Transmitted by Mark Totten, president of the C&O Historical Society |
Remember...Harold Richard Plumley
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Harold Richard Plumley was born in Hamlet, Fayette County, West Virginia, on March 22, 1934. Harold's parents were Earless [spelled "Earlis" in some documents] Clyde Plumley (1906-1996) and Georgia Martin Plumley (1912-1992). He grew up in the community of Prince. Prince is located along the New River on the border of Fayetteville and Raleigh County. Harold had 10 siblings: Samuel Franklin Plumley, Robert Earl Plumley, Willard G. [Tootie] Plumley, Alice Sue Plumley, Sara Etta Plumley Martin, Freddie [McGee] Plumley, Marvin [Buddy] Plumley, Thomas Plumley, Elizabeth Plumley-Pate-Gibson, and Margaret Plumley. (Family information from 1940 Federal Census, the WEIS_S~1 Family Tree on Ancestry.com, and the Find A Grave posting for Willard Plumley.)
| Harold attended school at Hamlet and Glade, and at age 12 he walked from the Plumley family home through the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway's nearby Stretchers Neck [Strecherneck] Tunnel to reach Quinnimont School. Harold Richard Plumley was employed by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway as a member of a "track gang" prior to his military service. |  |
Harold was drafted into the U.S Army to serve in the Korean War, which raged from 1950 through 1953. His rank was private second class (PV2). While he served in the United States Army, he fought with Company K, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, as a light weapons assault crewman.
Mark L. Totten, president of the C&O Historical Society, writing for the Charleston Gazette-Mail, tells of the Korean War action that led to Harold's death:
Harold Plumley, of Prince . . . was drafted into the U.S. Army in late 1952 and trained in Pennsylvania before serving overseas in the Republic of Korea. Pvt. Plumley fought with Company K, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division near what was commonly referred to as the "Iron Triangle" on the Korean Peninsula. Pvt. Plumley was killed on June 11, 1953, during the Battle of Outpost Harry [June 10-18, 1953] where United Nations Command forces comprised of less than 5,000 American and Greek forces fought over 13,000 Chinese troops just over one month before the end of the Korean conflict on July 27. ("70 Years in the Making: Bridge To Be Dedicated to W. VA. Native Killed in Action in Korean War," 21-22 October 2023.)
West Virginia Delegate William Ridenour (Jefferson) offered the following account of the Battle of Outpost Harry at the dedication of the U.S. Army PV2 Harold Richard Plumley Memorial Bridge on October 23, 2023:
The Battle for Outpost Harry was among the most ferocious fighting of the last two years of the Korean War. The Chinese Communists were preparing for a massive offensive, and Outpost Harry was one of the most critical Chinese targets to prepare for that offensive.If Outpost Harry was lost, the Chinese Communists would penetrate the Main Line of Resistance, and advance down the Chorwon and the neighboring Kumwha Valleys towards the capital of Seoul.
If Seoul was lost a third time in the war, it probably meant losing Korea, and eventually possibly Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines as well. If Harry and other outposts were lost, the world could see another world war.
Outpost Harry, which is now in the Demilitarized Zone, was atop a small steep-sided hill inside the critical Chorwon Valley of Korea. The outpost was about 100 yards long and 30 yards deep, and was defended by one reinforced 180-man infantry company each night of the coming battle. It was lined with trenches at the top, and had only a single narrow trail that led from the southern base to the top of the hill.
Four U.S. infantry companies and a company of the very tough Greek Sparta Battalion took turns defending Harry. Each company suffered tremendous casualties during the coming eight days of Chinese Communist night attacks, as did other U.S. infantry companies conducting desperate counterattacks to support the defenses on Outpost Harry, and the equally fierce fighting at nearby Outpost Boomerang.
The first night, and the last on Earth for Harold Plumley, was 10 June 1953. His unit, Company K, 15th Infantry, had been told to "Hold at all Costs." There could be no retreat.
Harold Plumley's company expected a major attack and was as ready as it could be, but nothing could prepare them for the incredibly savage combat that nearly overwhelmed them. By this stage of the war, the Chinese were incredibly skillful, and despite excellent defenses on Outpost Harry, under cover of a heavy artillery, mortar and rocket barrage, the Chinese burst on top of the trenches almost before Company K knew they were there. What followed was primeval warfare at its worst.
Men fought with rifles, carbines, submachineguns, napalm, bayonets, shovels, helmets, and rocks. Harold Plumley and his fellow soldiers shot, bayonetted, clawed and beat the Chinese to death, and more Chinese came. Wave after wave. Thousands of them.
The areas around and in the trenches filled with dead and dying Chinese and American troops. Surviving Americans clambered on top of the bodies and killed more Chinese surging to and over the trenches and bunkers.
During this desperate night, U.S. artillery and heavy mortars fired over 140,000 high-explosive shells in support of the desperately defending infantrymen in Company K. Chinese artillery and mortars fired 30,000 rounds onto Harry. Throughout the eight-day battle, U.S. artillery and mortar units fired about a half million shells, while the Chinese fired 90,000 shells in support of their attacks. This was about 100 rounds a minute every night. The din was deafening and constant. Shrapnel sliced through the air and bodies, alive and dead.
Massive, constant explosions engulfed Harry. American troops, in desperation, called airburst artillery onto their own positions to break up the powerful Chinese attacks. The Chinese suffered tremendous losses, but kept coming.
Private Harold Plumley was killed during this vicious fighting in the early morning hours of 11 June.
On that morning, as the sun rose, the last surviving Chinese troops withdrew to positions where they could renew the attack the next night. Only a dozen of the 180 Company K soldiers had not been killed or badly wounded. Supporting US Army infantry companies also suffered heavy casualties during their counterattacks in the valleys around Outpost Harry to support the Company K defenders.
Surviving American soldiers began throwing Chinese bodies, dead or wounded, out of the trenches, killing those still able to resist. Reinforcements arrived and helped clear the American and Chinese dead and repair the defenses.
Men could not step outside the trenches without stepping on bodies. Many men were missing, some probably hit by so many artillery and mortar rounds that they simply disintegrated into the morass of bodies.
At night, the Chinese returned, and the cycle of primordial combat renewed. Men shot, hacked and beat each other to death for hours. Tanks blasted Chinese columns with direct cannon fire. Artillery and mortar fires engulfed the entire area. Over the course of the week-long battle, other infantry companies successfully defended Outpost Harry in bitter close combat, also suffering very heavy casualties.
Outnumbered over 20 to 1, Company K had refused to give up and retreat. In one of the greatest last stands of the war, Harold Plumley's company suffered well nearly 95 percent casualties in their desperate effort to "Hold at all Costs." Private Plumley and his fellow soldiers in Company K gave everything they had for our country. For their heroic defense of this critical position, Company K and the other four companies that defended Outpost Harry received individual Presidential Unit Citations.
Private Harold Richard Plumley's remains were returned to the United States on board the SS Greenbar Victory, and his casket was returned to Prince on Train #3 at 7:35 AM, August 8, 1953, a place that would have been entirely familiar to him. Harold is buried at High Lawn Memorial Park in Oak Hill, West Virginia. He is remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In 2023, the West Virginia legislature passed Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 8 naming bridge number 10-041/00-000.29, locally known as Strecherneck Bridge, carrying West Virginia 41 over the CSX Railroad in Fayette County, the "U.S. Army PV2 Harold Richard Plumley Memorial Bridge." A bridge-naming ceremony was held on October 26, 2023—70 years after Harold lost his life—at Prince and was attended by representatives of the West Virginia legislature, CSX Transportation, the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society, family friends, and the surviving siblings of Harold Plumley.
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For his meritorious service, along with his Presidential Unit Citation, Private Plumley was awarded the Purple Heart. According to the HonorStates.org website, he was also eligible for numerous other commendations and awards, including the Combat Infantryman Badge, Marksmanship Badge, Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Citation, Republic of Korea War Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Republic of Korea, awarded him the designation of "Ambassador for Peace." |
This article was originally prepared by Caroline Kuhn, with editorial assistance from Patricia Richards McClure. It was substantially expanded to include historical information and images provided by the Plumley family and transmitted through Mark Totten, president of the C & O Historical Society
September 2024
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
