Bob Watson joined the United States Marine Corps in September 1949."I wanted to see the world, and I thought I might as well do it in peacetime."
Born in West Frankfort, Ill., Watson moved with his family several times during the Depression years as his father sought work. Watson graduated from Smithland, Iowa, High School in 1949.
Boot camp was in San Diego, and he was sent to Parris Island to train as a clerk/ typist. In March of 1950, Watson was stationed at Camp Pendleton working as a clerk.
"Looking back at all the typing we did requesting equipment for the First Marine Division, it was pretty clear the Marines were preparing for war. They knew that war was coming, the powers that be."
Still, on June 25, 1950, the outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula was a surprise to nearly all. Watson said there was little doubt the Marines would be heading over there. "We knew we'd be going. I didn't feel any apprehension at all. It was one of those things."
Watson was assigned to the Seventh Marine Regiment, First Battalion. One day, an officer came in and asked all the clerks to line up against a wall. "We didn't know what this was all about. They came in and looked at everyone." When the scrutiny was over, one Marine was picked to be the runner for the battalion commander, and Watson was picked to be the runner for the battalion's executive officer.
Not long after that, Watson was bumped up to being the commander's runner. The commander was Lt. Col. Raymond G. Davis, a World War II veteran who had earned the Navy Cross at Pelieu.
The unit arrived in Japan in September and was soon on its way to Inchon and then up to Seoul. The Seventh Division was the backup division for the landing. "By the time we got there, it was mostly a mopping up operation. There were isolated pockets of resistance."
Watson had many duties, but the most important was his ability to bring a message, often verbal, from Davis to the company commanders and others. "I had to be fully aware was the situation was, and it was absolutely important to repeat the message verbatim as much as possible."
Other duties included whatever the colonel told him to do. One hot and humid day, Davis observed that a crew member of a tank had been overcome by the heat and was being carried away. "Red," David commanded Watson, "Get up in that tank and do whatever he was doing."
"I must say I did not know what I was getting into when I signed up a year prior, but it was getting exciting."
In October, the First Battalion was pulled back. The Marines boarded an LST, and eventually were landed at the Wonsan port on the east coast of Korea. The Marines then marched up toward Hagaru-ri, on the southern end of the Chosin Reservoir.
Fighting was sporadic, "until one night, unexpectedly, the war changed." Watson remembers having five tanks pull into the command post with their lights on. One of the Marines loudly and angrily yelled at the tanks, "Hey, turn those &*%$#$%! lights off."
When the lead tank answered with machine gun fire, it was apparent that they were not friendly forces.
The Marines advanced steadily northward to Yudam-ni. "The road was not much more than a path. It was one vehicle at a time." Thanksgiving dinner was delivered at Turkey Hill, and it was much appreciated.
"It was hot at one point, but by the time it got to the troops it wasn't hot, but we were glad to get it."
The cold was becoming intense, and the men received heavy shoe packs, parkas and mountain sleeping bags. Most of the Marines had several pairs of socks, and they were instructed to change socks every day, taking off the wet socks and put them under their shirt next to their belly where they would dry out. The socks became wet from condensation, and wet socks soon froze.
The Marines came under heavy attack at Yudam-ni, and it became clear that they would have to break out along the same narrow, twisting, mountainous road they had come in on. A key point on that road was Toktong Pass, held by a single rifle company.
"We knew Fox Company had been riddled, and was down to a small percentage of survivors. We also knew that if they gave up their position, there would be no way for us to get back. The decision was made to send the First Battalion to relieve Fox Company."
The battalion left late in the day. It did not head down the road but instead went over the hilly terrain in a direct line to Fox Hill. "It was slow going this time. Sometimes it was one step forward and two steps back. We had to hold onto the parka of the guy in front of us, and hold onto a branch of a shrub with the other hand.  There were about 500 of us on the march, and I was hanging close to Col. Davis."
The troops maintained a strict silence as they covered the miles through the darkness with Chinese troops all around. They could see the Chinese firing mortar rounds into the convoy below, but could do nothing about it because it might jeopardize their mission.
 "Several times, Col. Davis would get under his poncho to take a compass reading. By the time he'd come out from under the poncho, he'd have forgotten the reading. The cold was that bitter. It was nearly impossible to concentrate."
Watson was often sent forward with messages to the company commanders. The messages usually were brief and to the point: "Slow down," "What's the hold up?" or "Take a break."
"Everyone was in a weakened condition, both from the numbing cold and also from the fact our C-rations and water were frozen solid and we had nothing to eat or drink."
The First Battalion finally made contact with Fox Company, and joined them on December 2. Men from the First Battalion immediately filled in the weak spots on the line.
"I remember the next morning seeing the huge pile of dead bodies stacked up like piles of wood."  Watson also witnessed the battalion surgeon coming out of a medical tent and being felled by a single sniper's bullet.
"At one time, a helicopter flew overhead, and all of a sudden, its engines quit spiraling. It crashed down just a few yards from where we were standing."
Watson recalled that the corpsmen would carry four surrettes of morphine in their mouth to keep them from freezing.
Air drops kept the Marines supplied, mainly with ammunition. "But I do remember one drop that contained freshly baked loaves of bread and Tootsie rolls. That was a good drop."
Late in the afternoon, the unit moved out with the truck convoy that was now using the pass that Fox Company had protected. They arrived in Hagaru-ri later that night. "There were a lot of us who thought we were out of the woods at that point, but in reality the First Marines were engaged in a heavy fire fight around Hagaru."
Watson has one good memory of Hagaru. "We went over to this tent to get some hot food. It had been a long time since we'd had hot food. It turned out it was noodles, just plain butter noodles and nothing else, but, boy, it was good."
The next morning, Watson woke up sick. "I thought I could pull myself together, but Col. Davis took one look at me and said I was to be evacuated." Watson joined 4,300 sick and wounded Marines who were flown out of Hagaru on a makeshift airstrip. He was transported south to another part of Korea, and then to a hospital in Japan. He had pneumonia.
After recuperating, Watson came back to be Davis' runner again, and when Davis was made the executive officer of the regiment, Watson stayed with him. In June of 1951, he was rotated back to the United States.
Watson served 12 years in Marines before returning to St. Paul where he worked for the Post Office and later as an iron worker. He and his wife, Gayle, have five children.
Watson is president of the Upper Midwest Chapter of the Chosin Few.