Arlington, Virginia. (November 8, 2024): As America celebrates Veteran’s Day, the Marines celebrated their 235th Anniversary by honoring a member of the “Chosin Few.” In this photo by Sergeant James Stanfield, Marine Corps PFC Rudy Meekins, a veteran of the Korean War, meets with the 20th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Sergeant Major Carlos A. Ruiz at the Pentagon. Meekins was a member of 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, who landed at Inchon, earned four Purple Hearts, and fought in the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir.
During World War II, the 11th Marines fought in Eastern New Guinea and the Battles of Peleliu, Guadalcanal, and Okinawa. Dispatched to Korea in 1950, the 11th took part in the famous Inchon landings that sent the communists fleeing north in defeat. As the brutal Korean winter set in, the 11th was ordered to seize and occupy the Chosin Reservoir, a desolate outpost connected to the coast by a single lane highway.
During the last week of November, the Chinese attacked with twelve divisions in three armies (numbering 150,000 soldiers—mostly infantry with mortars and machine guns) that threatened to encircle and destroy the Marines. What followed will live in Marine Corps history as the 11th conducted a fighting retrograde back down the single highway, through several mountain passes, until they reached transport ships at the coast.
During the weeks long ordeal, the Marines faced temperatures as low as fifty below with wind chills reaching negative one hundred degrees. The cold weather caused many casualties including some eight thousand suffering frostbite. In all, the Americans and their South Korean allies lost 2,400 dead and another 5,000 wounded yet they managed to reach safety despite the odds.
On this special Veteran’s Day, Support Our Troops extends thanks to PFC Meekins and the 11th Marines along every American who has worn our nation’s uniform.