THE FORWARD OBSERVER WHO CHARGED A HILL ALONE

During an attack on a heavily fortified Korean hill position in January 1952, Company L of the 38th Infantry Regiment was pinned down by heavy small arms, artillery and mortar fire. Cpl. Rosser, serving as a forward observer for the mortars, was with his company’s lead platoon when it came under fire from two directions.

Rosser saw how bad the situation was, handed his radio to his buddy and charged the enemy positions armed with nothing but his rifle and one grenade. At the first bunker he emptied his magazine and silenced the fire coming from it. Reaching the top of the hill, he killed 2 enemy soldiers, jumped into the trench system and took out 5 more Koreans there. One grenade drove two riflemen out of their bunker and he shot them both. Having used up everything he carried, he ran back through the enemy fire for more ammunition and grenades. Once he was ready to fight again, he went up the ridge a second time and got others to follow him. His comrades went down in the hail of enemy fire, so he took the 2 bunkers ahead of him alone and kept fighting until he was out of ammunition again. After drawing a fresh load from his company, he charged up the hill a third time to end the resistance from the enemy positions with grenades. In the course of that single action, Cpl. Rosser killed at least 13 of the enemy on his own.

Enemy pressure later forced his platoon to pull back, and although he was wounded himself, he crossed open ground several times to bring in comrades who had been shot.

Rosser returned to the United States in May 1952 and was formally presented with the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman a month later. When his brother was killed in Vietnam some years afterward, he applied to fight the Viet Cong himself, but the request was turned down. He left the Army as a Master Sergeant.

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