Plaque at Armed Forces Park honors "Chosin Few"

To mark what has been called one of the most savage struggle of modern combat, a plaque was placed in Yuma's Armed Forces Park on Tuesday in honor of veterans who fought in the battle at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.

Chosin veterans on hand for the ceremony were:

Gene Tinseth of Yuma, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Bob Hennings of Yuma, who served in the Marines.

Billy Martin, a Marine veteran from New York state.

Carlos Cavazos of Yuma, who served in Marines.

Frank Gosnell, an Army veteran from Yuma.

Bill Mayo of Yuma, who served in the Marines.

Bob Highland of Oregon, who served in the Marines.

Don Jacobson of Montana, who served in the Marines.

Also attending was Lois Skidmore of the Foothills, whose husband Jay was a combat cameraman in the U.S. Navy during the battle. He died in June 2005.

"I wish he could have been here to see this," Skidmore said. "All the movies people see about the Chosin Reservoir were by my husband. As far as I know, he was the only cameraman there."

Others from the area who served at the Chosin Reservoir but who did not attend the ceremony were Ed Badger of Yuma, who served in the Army, and Ed Murphy of Yuma, who served in the Marines.

Fought from Nov. 26 to Dec. 13, 1950, the battle at the Chosin Reservoir pitted 30,000 United Nations troops - nicknamed the "Frozen Chosen" or "The Chosin Few" - under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur against as many as 120,000 Chinese communist soldiers.

With North Korea near defeat, the People's Republic of China entered the war. Large numbers of Chinese soldiers swept across the Yalu River, encircling the U.N. troops in the northeastern part of North Korea at the Chosin Reservoir.

A brutal battle in freezing weather followed. Despite having inflicted enormous casualties on the Chinese forces, the U.N. troops were forced to evacuate North Korea after they withdrew from the reservoir to the port of Hungnam, where they were eventually evacuated.

"The name is what is so significant to me," Highland said. "Never had so few fought against so many. We were outnumbered but still held our ground."

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.