In 1953, the Korean War came to an end, and at about 10:00 a.m. on July 27 of that year, the DPRK, China, and the United States signed the Ceasefire Agreement on the Korean Armistice Agreement and the Interim Supplement to the Armistice Agreement at Panmunjom.
However, at the historic moment when the war was coming to an end, there was a dramatic scene that was ironic and dramatic—an American soldier was so happy, a little overwhelmed, drunk and excited during the celebration, crossed the three-eighth line in the middle of the night with a bottle of wine, drunkenly ran to the position of the volunteers, and became a prisoner in a daze.
In mid-to-late March 1953, the main forces of the 21st Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu River and entered Korea.
The officers and men of the 63rd Division of the Twenty-first Army braved heavy snow and marched for five consecutive days and nights to reach the changcheng and Myoxiangshan areas in time on March 22, forming a solid defensive line.
Immediately, the Sixty-third Division received orders from the Twenty-first Army to repair the road from Changcheng to Myoxiangshan to facilitate the march of the large troops. The road from Changseong to Myohyangsan in North Korea is a very important road on the west coast of North Korea, which has a very important strategic position, and has been bombed by US aircraft beyond recognition, making it difficult for heavy vehicles to pass.
The Sixty-third Division was originally the main combat division, and the operation was very brave, but it was inexperienced in road construction, coupled with backward construction tools and logistical support difficulties, the early progress was not very smooth. Fortunately, all the officers and men of the Sixty-third Division overcame many difficulties and finally completed the task of building the road within the scheduled time limit.
In July 1953, the 63rd Division received orders from the commanders to quickly reach the first line of the Uon-san-Wendeng Highway on the eastern front of Korea to take over the defense of the 33rd Division.
The Sixty-third Division marched in a hurry without stopping, and within the scheduled time, arrived at the predetermined location, immediately consolidated the fortifications, and laid out its defenses, and its troops were deployed as follows: the 187th Regiment served as the first-line defense of the front of Yuyin Mountain; the 188th Regiment served as the frontal defense of the Wenden Highway; and the 189th Regiment was deployed on the second line as the reserve of the Sixty-third Division.
At that time, in accordance with the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement and the Provisional Supplement to the Armistice Agreement, the Chinese and Korean armies on the north side of the 38th Line and the "United Nations" troops on the south side withdrew two kilometers from their current positions from the time of the armistice, and set up a narrow demilitarized zone bounded by the 38th Line, that is, a military no-man's land.
When the 187th Regiment of the Sixty-third Division had just entered the Yuyin Mountain position, the Chinese and American troops had just retreated, and the two sides of the non-military uninhabited area had not had time to pull up the layers of barbed wire fences or lay many mines. The Volunteers only inserted wooden signs on the north side of the "Northern Line of the Demilitarized Zone" written in Chinese, North Korean and English, and set up fixed posts along the line to demarcate it.
Therefore, at that time, it was not difficult to cross the 38th line, especially in the dead of night.
After entering the position, the 187th Regiment of the Sixty-third Division immediately set up fixed posts and observation posts in the positions of the first-line companies, and carried out 24-hour uninterrupted vigilance and observation of the American troops. However, at that time, the armistice agreement had been signed, the two sides had stopped fighting, and the pressure on the military confrontation had suddenly decreased, so in addition to the daily normal duty, training and political education, all the officers and men were reinforcing the tunnels and fortifications for the rest of the time, in order to prevent the United States and South Korea from unilaterally tearing up the armistice agreement and provoking war again.
In the autumn of that year, the patrol of the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 187th Regiment, under the leadership of company commander Li Caiqi, was patrolling normally along the side of the "Northern Line of the Demilitarized Zone," but suddenly found a bearded and disheveled American soldier on Yuyin Mountain on the highlands of the Eastern Front of korea.
At that time, the American soldier was hiding in a grassy area, trying to avoid the search of the volunteer soldiers, but did not want to be discovered by the sharp-eyed volunteer soldiers.
Seeing the volunteer soldiers falling from the sky, the American soldiers could not care about their fears and could not wait to ask the volunteer soldiers for food in fluent English. Because of the language barrier, the volunteer soldier could not understand what he was saying and carried him back with a gun.
Seeing that they had not received the food they had been waiting for for a long time, the American soldiers were anxious to use their hands to compare. It took half a day for the volunteer soldiers to figure out that the feeling was that the American prisoner was too hungry to bear it.
Volunteer soldiers escorted the American prisoner to the seventh company of the third battalion of the 187th Regiment, and then quickly reported it to the headquarters of the Sixty-third Division. Soon, the Sixty-third Division sent interrogation cadres and English interpreters. Through the translation, everyone knew the real reason why the US soldier came to the Chinese position.
It turned out that since the DPRK, China, and the United States signed a ceasefire agreement at Panmunjom, the Korean Armistice Agreement and the Interim Supplementary Agreement on the Armistice Agreement, many US soldiers were naturally very happy, and they also longed for peace and a peaceful life after years of continuous conquest. For several days, American soldiers celebrated the armistice and reveled all night.
One night a few days ago, this American soldier was a little overjoyed, drunk and happy, a little overwhelmed, carried a bottle of wine in the middle of the night, drunkenly crossed the 38th Line, and ran to the Yuyin Mountain Volunteer Army position on the north side of the 38th Line.
After dawn, he finally woke up drunk, but suddenly found that he had run in the wrong place. At this moment, the US soldiers did not have the courage to cross the demilitarized zone and then run back to the south side of the 38th Line, because if they did not get it right, they would be misunderstood by both sides, shot indiscriminately, and had no choice but to hide on the spot in order to find an opportunity to escape. However, after a few days, he never found the opportunity, he was really hungry, and he was ready to venture back to his position that night, but he did not want to be captured by the volunteers and became a prisoner in a vacuum.
The American prisoner was held in the Sixty-third Division for only three days before being transferred directly to the Volunteer Headquarters.
A few days later, the American prisoner was returned to the U.S. army by representatives of the Volunteer Headquarters.
This American soldier is likely to be the shortest American soldier to be captured since the beginning of the Korean War.
It turned out that when the US military discovered that a soldier was missing, it protested and negotiated with the representatives of the Chinese and North Korean armies at the negotiating table in Panmunjom. In order to prevent the US military from hitting a rake and refuting its framing of "undermining the armistice agreement," the volunteer army did not send this US prisoner up step by step through the channels of regiments, divisions, armies, and corps, but instead detained him on the spot in Yuyin Mountain, and after the interrogation was clear, he was directly escorted to the volunteer headquarters and sent to Panmunjom.
[Adhere to the original, do not forget the original heart, remember the history, taste life, welcome attention, common progress】