John U. D. Page
Encyclopedia
John Upshur Dennis Page (February 8, 1904 – December 11, 1950) was an United States Army
officer from Saint Paul, Minnesota
. Lieutenant Colonel Page received the Medal of Honor
for his actions in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir
during the Korean War
.
forces out of the Chosin Reservoir area as they marched to the port of Hungnam for evacuation
, in the early morning hours of December 11, 1950, Chinese troops ambushed a part of the 1st Marine Regimental Train (logistical support caravan) as it entered the village of Sudong
. Chinese assault groups suddenly burst from behind huts near the road, firing burp guns and throwing grenades into the vehicular train of the Marine regiment that was then passing southward through the village. This quick attack killed several truck drivers and set several vehicles ablaze. The flickering and shadowy light from the burning trucks only partially lighted the scene as the column halted. A confused fight erupted. There were no UN infantry present. The transportation and service troops of the train column had to fight their own battle.
At first there was no American leadership to organize and guide the fight. But at some point soon after the battle erupted, U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Upshur Dennis Page, an artillery
officer, emerged to assume leadership. He and two Marines who followed him charged from someplace back up the road to the front, where the column had halted and several vehicles were burning on the road in the village. One of the Marines stopped to fire at some enemy. The other man, Pfc.
Marvin L. Wasson, stayed with Page. They ran past burning vehicles and tripped over bodies in the road but reached the head of the stalled column, where enemy soldiers held the road. Page put his carbine on automatic and charged straight at a group of about 30 Chinese, firing into them as he ran forward. Most of this group, astounded at what was happening to them, broke and ran for the shadows. One of them threw a grenade as the others took off. Fragments from it knocked Wasson down with wounds on his head and arm. Page ordered him to go back and said he would cover him. Wasson obeyed and staggered back to the column, turning once to see Page charging on after the running Chinese. Page did not return. The two-man assault broke the spell, disrupted the Chinese assault, which had demoralized the column and was spreading death and destruction, and gave those back of the leading vehicles time to get their courage in hand and to organize a counterattack
.
Another army officer took over leadership at Sudong and organized a Marine and Army service troop counterattack which gradually drove the Chinese off. It was daylight of December 11, before the road was cleared so that traffic resumed. This ambush at Sudong killed eight men and wounded 21, and destroyed nine trucks.
When the column started on and passed through Sudong, just beyond the village the point came upon the body of Lt. Col. John Page in the road. There was a scattered collection of Chinese bodies—16 of them—near him.
Page had been in the war only 12 days when he was killed. He had always wanted combat assignments, but his reputation for being able to get units in shape for combat had kept him at Fort Sill
, Oklahoma
during World War II
. He was assigned to X Corps Artillery upon his arrival in Korea
and was then attached to the 52nd Transportation Truck Battalion.
Page's performance at Sudong the night of 10–11 December, was no fluke. He had been doing the same kind of thing for 11 days in the defense of Koto-ri and in the descent from there through Funchilin Pass. Page had led a special mission north from Hamhung
to establish communication points on the dangerous road toward the Chosin Reservoir. He and his jeep driver, Cpl. David Klepsig, got into Koto-ri the night of November 29, only after fighting their way past past a Chinese machine-gun crew at a blown bridge site. As darkness fell over snowy roads, Page's jeep was attacked. Page ordered Klepsig to stay with the jeep, shouting, "I'll cover you!". Klepsig was astounded at what he saw: Page was standing in the middle of the road, completely exposed, spraying the Chinese positions with carbine fire. The enemy was so startled no return fire came. Klepsig was so eager to leave that once Page returned to the jeep, he slammed his foot on the accelerator. "Slow down, corporal," Page shouted, "do you want to get us killed?"
Upon reaching Koto-ri, Colonel
Lewis "Chesty" Puller, the 1st Marine Regimental commander there, gave Page responsibility for extending the airstrip 1,000 yards beyond his perimeter into no man's land, an area covered by Chinese sniper
s. Page got the job done, but often he had to mount a tank and personally operate the topside .50 caliber machine gun and direct the tank's crew in direct attacks on Chinese forces firing on the workers from nearby hills. Once, the tank he was riding on charged toward a shack containing a sniper; the tank locked its brakes but kept sliding forward, flattening the shack and the enemy inside. The Marines at Koto-ri marveled at his courage and audacity. Once while being flown low over enemy lines in a light observation plane, Lt. Col. Page ordered the pilot to fly lower while he dropped hand grenades on Chinese positions and sprayed foxholes with his carbine. Page could have returned to the safety of Hamhung, but chose to stay with the garrison at Koto-ri, which was totally surrounded.
When the withdrawal column started down from Koto-ri, Page was in it. Twice in descending through Funchilin Pass, Page was responsible for getting his part of the column moving when enemy fire stopped it. Once he grabbed a machine gun in his arms and scrambled up an incline to a point from which he brought the enemy position under fire and silenced it. On another occasion he manned a tank as he had at Koto-ri, and braving heavy fire, covered the column with its machine gun until the threat diminished. He was on foot, looking for his jeep in the column, when the Chinese ambush at Sudong stopped the column again. He was close enough to the front that he was able to rush forward, as already described, and break up the enemy group on the road at the head of the column.
No one who saw Page in action those 12 days of late November and early December 1950 ever had any doubt that the lieutenant colonel fresh from the States was truly a combat soldier. For his actions in the nighttime firefight at Sudong the Marine Corps gave Page its second highest award—the Navy Cross
. His story was not widely known or publicized immediately, and he was not an early recipient of the Medal of Honor
. When the facts of his short but momentous combat career became known in 1957, an act of Congress was necessary, because of the lapse of time, to grant him that honor posthumously.
Citation:
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
officer from Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
. Lieutenant Colonel Page received the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for his actions in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir
Battle of Chosin Reservoir
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Changjin Lake Campaign ,Official Chinese sources refer to this battle as the Second Phase Campaign Eastern Sector . The Western Sector is the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River. was a decisive battle in the Korean War...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Military service
During the long withdrawal of US and UNUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
forces out of the Chosin Reservoir area as they marched to the port of Hungnam for evacuation
Emergency evacuation
Emergency evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hazard. Examples range from the small scale evacuation of a building due to a bomb threat or fire to the large scale evacuation of a district because of a flood, bombardment or...
, in the early morning hours of December 11, 1950, Chinese troops ambushed a part of the 1st Marine Regimental Train (logistical support caravan) as it entered the village of Sudong
Sudong
Sudong-ku is a county in South Hamgyong province, North Korea. It was formed from part of Kowon County in December 1990. Sudong is the site of a major coal seam first discovered in 1918. The Pyongra Line railroad passes through the district.-See also:...
. Chinese assault groups suddenly burst from behind huts near the road, firing burp guns and throwing grenades into the vehicular train of the Marine regiment that was then passing southward through the village. This quick attack killed several truck drivers and set several vehicles ablaze. The flickering and shadowy light from the burning trucks only partially lighted the scene as the column halted. A confused fight erupted. There were no UN infantry present. The transportation and service troops of the train column had to fight their own battle.
At first there was no American leadership to organize and guide the fight. But at some point soon after the battle erupted, U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Upshur Dennis Page, an artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
officer, emerged to assume leadership. He and two Marines who followed him charged from someplace back up the road to the front, where the column had halted and several vehicles were burning on the road in the village. One of the Marines stopped to fire at some enemy. The other man, Pfc.
Private First Class
Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...
Marvin L. Wasson, stayed with Page. They ran past burning vehicles and tripped over bodies in the road but reached the head of the stalled column, where enemy soldiers held the road. Page put his carbine on automatic and charged straight at a group of about 30 Chinese, firing into them as he ran forward. Most of this group, astounded at what was happening to them, broke and ran for the shadows. One of them threw a grenade as the others took off. Fragments from it knocked Wasson down with wounds on his head and arm. Page ordered him to go back and said he would cover him. Wasson obeyed and staggered back to the column, turning once to see Page charging on after the running Chinese. Page did not return. The two-man assault broke the spell, disrupted the Chinese assault, which had demoralized the column and was spreading death and destruction, and gave those back of the leading vehicles time to get their courage in hand and to organize a counterattack
Counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic used in response against an attack. The term originates in military strategy. The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy in attack and the specific objectives are usually to regain lost ground or to destroy attacking enemy units.It is...
.
Another army officer took over leadership at Sudong and organized a Marine and Army service troop counterattack which gradually drove the Chinese off. It was daylight of December 11, before the road was cleared so that traffic resumed. This ambush at Sudong killed eight men and wounded 21, and destroyed nine trucks.
When the column started on and passed through Sudong, just beyond the village the point came upon the body of Lt. Col. John Page in the road. There was a scattered collection of Chinese bodies—16 of them—near him.
Page had been in the war only 12 days when he was killed. He had always wanted combat assignments, but his reputation for being able to get units in shape for combat had kept him at Fort Sill
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was assigned to X Corps Artillery upon his arrival in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and was then attached to the 52nd Transportation Truck Battalion.
Page's performance at Sudong the night of 10–11 December, was no fluke. He had been doing the same kind of thing for 11 days in the defense of Koto-ri and in the descent from there through Funchilin Pass. Page had led a special mission north from Hamhung
Hamhung
Hamhŭng is North Korea's second largest city, and the capital of South Hamgyŏng Province. In late 2005, nearby Hŭngnam was made a ward within Hamhŭng-si. It has a population of 768,551 as of 2008.-Geography:...
to establish communication points on the dangerous road toward the Chosin Reservoir. He and his jeep driver, Cpl. David Klepsig, got into Koto-ri the night of November 29, only after fighting their way past past a Chinese machine-gun crew at a blown bridge site. As darkness fell over snowy roads, Page's jeep was attacked. Page ordered Klepsig to stay with the jeep, shouting, "I'll cover you!". Klepsig was astounded at what he saw: Page was standing in the middle of the road, completely exposed, spraying the Chinese positions with carbine fire. The enemy was so startled no return fire came. Klepsig was so eager to leave that once Page returned to the jeep, he slammed his foot on the accelerator. "Slow down, corporal," Page shouted, "do you want to get us killed?"
Upon reaching Koto-ri, Colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
Lewis "Chesty" Puller, the 1st Marine Regimental commander there, gave Page responsibility for extending the airstrip 1,000 yards beyond his perimeter into no man's land, an area covered by Chinese sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
s. Page got the job done, but often he had to mount a tank and personally operate the topside .50 caliber machine gun and direct the tank's crew in direct attacks on Chinese forces firing on the workers from nearby hills. Once, the tank he was riding on charged toward a shack containing a sniper; the tank locked its brakes but kept sliding forward, flattening the shack and the enemy inside. The Marines at Koto-ri marveled at his courage and audacity. Once while being flown low over enemy lines in a light observation plane, Lt. Col. Page ordered the pilot to fly lower while he dropped hand grenades on Chinese positions and sprayed foxholes with his carbine. Page could have returned to the safety of Hamhung, but chose to stay with the garrison at Koto-ri, which was totally surrounded.
When the withdrawal column started down from Koto-ri, Page was in it. Twice in descending through Funchilin Pass, Page was responsible for getting his part of the column moving when enemy fire stopped it. Once he grabbed a machine gun in his arms and scrambled up an incline to a point from which he brought the enemy position under fire and silenced it. On another occasion he manned a tank as he had at Koto-ri, and braving heavy fire, covered the column with its machine gun until the threat diminished. He was on foot, looking for his jeep in the column, when the Chinese ambush at Sudong stopped the column again. He was close enough to the front that he was able to rush forward, as already described, and break up the enemy group on the road at the head of the column.
No one who saw Page in action those 12 days of late November and early December 1950 ever had any doubt that the lieutenant colonel fresh from the States was truly a combat soldier. For his actions in the nighttime firefight at Sudong the Marine Corps gave Page its second highest award—the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
. His story was not widely known or publicized immediately, and he was not an early recipient of the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
. When the facts of his short but momentous combat career became known in 1957, an act of Congress was necessary, because of the lapse of time, to grant him that honor posthumously.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, X Corps Artillery, while attached to the 52d Transportation Truck Battalion. Place and date: Near Chosin Reservoir, Korea, November 29, to December 10, 1950. Entered service at: St. Paul, Minn. Born: February 8, 1904, Malahi Island, Luzon, Philippine Islands. G.O. No.: 21, April 25, 1957.Citation:
Lt. Col. Page, a member of X Corps Artillery, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty in a series of exploits. On 29 November, Lt. Col. Page left X Corps Headquarters at Hamhung with the mission of establishing traffic control on the main supply route to 1st Marine Division positions and those of some Army elements on the Chosin Reservoir plateau. Having completed his mission Lt. Col. Page was free to return to the safety of Hamhung but chose to remain on the plateau to aid an isolated signal station, thus being cut off with elements of the marine division. After rescuing his jeep driver by breaking up an ambush near a destroyed bridge Lt. Col. Page reached the lines of a surrounded marine garrison at Koto-ri. He then voluntarily developed and trained a reserve force of assorted army troops trapped with the marines. By exemplary leadership and tireless devotion he made an effective tactical unit available. In order that casualties might be evacuated, an airstrip was improvised on frozen ground partly outside of the Koto-ri defense perimeter which was continually under enemy attack. During 2 such attacks, Lt. Col. Page exposed himself on the airstrip to direct fire on the enemy, and twice mounted the rear deck of a tank, manning the machine gun on the turret to drive the enemy back into a no man's land. On 3 December while being flown low over enemy lines in a light observation plane, Lt. Col. Page dropped hand grenades on Chinese positions and sprayed foxholes with automatic fire from his carbine. After 10 days of constant fighting the marine and army units in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir had succeeded in gathering at the edge of the plateau and Lt. Col. Page was flown to Hamhung to arrange for artillery support of the beleaguered troops attempting to break out. Again Lt. Col. Page refused an opportunity to remain in safety and returned to give every assistance to his comrades. As the column slowly moved south Lt. Col. Page joined the rear guard. When it neared the entrance to a narrow pass it came under frequent attacks on both flanks. Mounting an abandoned tank Lt. Col. Page manned the machine gun, braved heavy return fire, and covered the passing vehicles until the danger diminished. Later when another attack threatened his section of the convoy, then in the middle of the pass, Lt. Col. Page took a machine gun to the hillside and delivered effective counterfire, remaining exposed while men and vehicles passed through the ambuscade. On the night of 10 December the convoy reached the bottom of the pass but was halted by a strong enemy force at the front and on both flanks. Deadly small-arms fire poured into the column. Realizing the danger to the column as it lay motionless, Lt. Col. Page fought his way to the head of the column and plunged forward into the heart of the hostile position. His intrepid action so surprised the enemy that their ranks became disordered and suffered heavy casualties. Heedless of his safety, as he had been throughout the preceding 10 days, Lt. Col. Page remained forward, fiercely engaging the enemy single-handed until mortally wounded. By his valiant and aggressive spirit Lt. Col. Page enabled friendly forces to stand off the enemy. His outstanding courage, unswerving devotion to duty, and supreme self-sacrifice reflect great credit upon Lt. Col. Page and are in the highest tradition of the military service.
Namesakes and honors
In addition to his military awards, Page has also been honored by the following:LTC John U.D. Page (T-AK 4496)
The Military Sealift Command ship T-AK 4496 LTC John U.D. Page is named in his honor.Camp Page
Camp Page, near Chunchon, ROK, was the home of the Apache unit linked to the 2nd Infantry at the DMZ until it was closed in 2005.See also
- List of Medal of Honor recipients
- List of Korean War Medal of Honor recipients