TALES FROM THE DONUT SHOP BY JULES A. STAATS

Full 30 rounds:

This is a deadly event that happened to a fellow Army Military Policeman who was to be killed by a North Korean infiltrator:

South Korea is a country that has over the years built great buildings, roads and industries to become a huge industrial nation now prospering in many ways. In the summer of 1963 the real restoration of the country was just beginning. There were many areas that were not to be improved for years and which would be called slums by Americans at that time.

The fact that there was only a Cease Fire in the Korean War in the summer of 1962 inspired many persons from North Korea to sneak into South Korea to attack and kill both military and civilians. Today we might call them Terrorists or Insurgents. The attackers did not wear North Korea military uniforms so they could blend into the population. That they brought fear to the residents was a fact. Tonight more were heading south to spawn more evil. These insurgent actions were never reported by the media.

The fact that there were once again invaders from North Korea caused a state or readiness called a General Alert. At that time all United States military personnel would file into their respective armories and be given a rifle and ammunition for possible combat duty. Yes, the war could resume at any time and these frequent military alerts reminded soldiers that they would immediately be in harm’s way. The Headquarters 8^th Army personnel would be given M1 Garand 30-06 rifles and several eight round clips of ammunition.

The M1 Rifle is called a clip-fed shoulder weapon, and is one of the very few guns in the world that uses a spring clip that holds the bullets together. Also, the old .45 ACP caliber revolver requires half-moon clips to keep the rimless bullets from falling out of the cylinder. With the M1 Garand Rifle the Clip is ejected with the last empty shell. All semi-automatic pistols and almost all rifles are Magazine fed. A person who speaks about a “clip” for an automatic pistol is showing verbal proof that this speaker knows very little about personal firearms.

Bob had responded as before to this military alert. He knew that in the event of an alert, the Military Police who did accident investigation in the Seoul Korea area were then required to park their marked sedans in exchange for jeeps that had Military Police stenciled on them. Bob and the other M.P.’s in Traffic did not like to carry the long and heavy 8 ½ pound M1 rifle in a jeep, as the possibility of actual firefight combat was foremost in their minds as they patrolled the streets. As a result, the troops of this HQ outfit usually drove over to the Korean (R.O.K) military and each checked out a fully automatic M2 Carbine along with six thirty round fully loaded magazines. These light weight machineguns worked well with the M.P.’s as they continued their day-to-day duties of responding to traffic accidents, with deadly threats possibly nearby.

The alert had been in effect for three days. Of the group of five that made it into South Korea, four had been spotted and killed this afternoon by R.O.K military. Bob was glad to hear that news, as he had to continue to work his 24 hour accident investigator shift, possibly placing him in the dark streets late at night.

Bob, along with the rest of the American M.P. traffic unit were running in a highly conservative mode. No joy riding or touring of the patrol areas were attempted; as such driving around without purpose could result in getting you killed.

It was getting close to midnight and Bob was safely parked near the west gate of his military reservation compound. They were all resting in his Jeep presently consisting of a crew of a R.O.K. M.P. and a Korean National Policeman. None wanted to just patrol due to the unknown deadly danger out there. The recent firefight in the afternoon up north was still fresh in their minds and they did not wish to present themselves as targets in the night.

However, there was one type of incident that would stir up everybody and have them throw caution to the winds. That was another M.P. in dire and deadly trouble. That is exactly what came over the radio. The information disclosed that there was a Military Policeman that had just been shot, and was lying prone in an alley about two miles away.

The red lights and siren were immediately turned on as the Jeep sped down M.S.R. 5 toward the location of the shooting. Bob was advised by the R.O.K. M.P. that he was now just less than two blocks away. Bob had been a Highway Patrolman in the middle-west part of the country when he was drafted, so he knew to turn off all lights on the vehicle and run silent while they closed the final distance to the alley.

Once stopped, Bob racked back and released the bolt on his M2 Carbine, feeding a live round into the rifle chamber while moving the selector switch forward to full-automatic fire. He then slid the safety lever off as he got out of the jeep. There was very little light, but they could see well enough to observe there was nobody on the ground. It was probably a false call, but there had to be a reason that the emergency call was dispatched in the first place.

Bob heard the chilling dull click of a rifle hammer striking a bullet primer. The noise came from close behind him and above. Bob then heard the tell-tale sound of the bolt of an AK-47 machinegun as it was manually cycled and stripped another cartridge from the 40 round magazine as it was once again made ready to fire.

Bob did not think, as there was no time to pause as he pointed the M2 shoulder weapon at the shadowy figure standing above him with the fully-automatic rifle and pulled and held the trigger back. In less than two seconds, thirty .30 caliber bullets poured out of Bob’s automatic rifle, the flash and flames from the barrel lighting up the alley.

The attacker with the Ak-47 paused, and then slumped to the floor of the deck above Bob. After that there was absolutely no sound in the area. Bob stood there for a while holding the heavily smoking rifle before realizing that he needed to reload if more threats were in the area. He quickly dropped the empty magazine on the ground and reloaded. Bob stood there looking for another deadly threat; however there were no more combatants in the vicinity.

A few minutes later hoards of Army Infantry vehicles converged on the scene with heavily armed, well trained soldiers ready to engage in combat. The entire area was searched including the adjacent residences for possible insurgents. The results proved that there would be no more firefights tonight. However, it was over two hours later when Bob was released by the response team Commanding Officer to go back to his barracks. The North Korean insurgent’s rifle and ammunition were held for investigation by the Army C.I.D. [1]

A few weeks later the investigation was complete. Bob was summoned to appear in the offices of the Provost Marshal; the equivalent of a local Police Chief. The P.M. Captain told Bob to stand at ease while he again reviewed the final reports. The Provost Marshal smiled as he told Bob that the North Korean infiltrator was hit 29 out of the 30 bullets fired in one burst of automatic fire. Asked how he responded so accurately to the high stress of a deadly attack, he stated; “I was too scared to move the rifle. I just held it as steady as I could as it jumped in my arms.

A live Russian 7.62X39 rifle bullet that somehow failed to fire and had a dented primer was found ejected at the scene. It is highly improbable that a military rifle bullet would misfire. Had the round worked as designed, there was a high chance that Bob would have been instantly killed in this dark alley from deadly enemy machinegun fire.

As for Bob, his fully-automatic rifle had been guided to respond with deadly and highly accurate aim, and thus save his life. However he never forgot and knew Whom was helping him this evening so that he could safely return to his family and children and resume his career as a Law Enforcement Officer with a Midwest area Highway Patrol.

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[1] US Army Criminal Investigation Command are an equivalent to civilian Police Detectives.