Thread by @pptsapper

Ya know, the French might've gotten their idea for their bayonet charge if they had been observing some shit that went down with the 27th RCT exactly one week prior to this engagement

Oh yes, thread incoming on this #ValetinetoBayonets day

https://twitter.com/CSenco/status/1360980211089702915

Feb 7, 1951 - and Company E of the 27th Infantry is pinned the eff down by enemy MG fire near Soam-Ni in Korea. They're supposed to be taking this hill but shit, as often happens, just isn't working out. Enter their commander, the mustached 31yo CPT Lewis Millett

You might be thinking, "damn, that's hella old for a captain" and yeah, you'd be right. Lew, well, he uh - he took the non traditional way into a military career. Born in Maine, raised in MA, he joined the @TheNationsFirst in 1938. But when WWII began he booked it to Canada

See, he wanted to be in the fighting. So, he enlisted into the Canadian Army, was made an anti-aircraft gunner and sent to London during the Blitz. Charming place to be, of course. Then in '42, with the US in the war, Lew was like "I wanna fight for the US" & deserts his unit

He enlists in the US Army again, and heads off to North Africa with the @1stArmoredDiv for Op Torch, aka, "the US Army learns what war is by making a ton of miserable mistakes in really miserable places." Lew is gonna get his first Silver Star in North Africa for bravery

By 1944, Millett was a sergeant and a veteran of Salerno and Anzio. Buuuuuuut you can run from the paperwork monster but it's always gonna find yo ass. His desertion(s) catch up with him, he's court martialed, fined...and then promoted to 2LT a few weeks later

The war ends in 1945, Lew goes back to Maine, joins the @GuardMaine, and goes to college. Like ya do. But then the Korean War kicks off and Lew sees an opportunity to fight more people, so off he goes to active duty with the 27th Infantry in Korea - where he gets company command

Which is why, on Feb 7, 1951, Lew Millett is trying to take a hill in Korea, but the darn enemy keep pouring on machine gun and artillery fire. Lew is put out. Positively peeved. He's got a platoon pinned and Hill 180 seems like it ain't gonna go gently into that good night

Soooooo, Millett orders some covering fire & then grabs another platoon and runs forward to his guys who are pinned down. Now, it should be added that since Lew took command of the company, he'd had them with bayonets fixed 24/7 bc the PLA said US soldiers were scared of

In fact, 3 days earlier he'd taken another hill with a bayonet charge. Just because. So, today, he didn't even need to order his men to fix bayonets. He yelled "Follow me!" & led the 2 platoons forward across an icy rice paddy & started up the hill

But in my head it looked like

The PLA soldiers threw grenades but this didn't stop the half frozen crazy Americans who charged up the hill through the shower of grenades and directly into a PLA anti aircraft gun, which Lew took out of action before it could start shooting them

And that's the story of the last official bayonet charge in the US Army. They took the hill, of course (the 2d guy up the hill was a South Korean in the regiment, btw), and Lew was awarded the Medal of Honor. Presumably for actions beyond the realm of sanity

He stayed in the Army after Korea. Since he'd skipped so much training, he had to go back & take the infantry basic course as a major, and then go to ranger school. Which I gotta imagine is a major bummer when you've already beaten the Italians, Germans, North Koreans, & Chinese

Anyways, thanks to @CSenco for his awesome thread and for reminding me of the batshit charge of the 27th Infantry