Fix bayonets: Everyone goes with me!”

By Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan DeLong, 3rd Battlefield Coordination Detachment-, Walter T. Ham IV, Eighth Army Public Affairs

Fix bayonets

What do you know about the bayonet? The bayonet transformed the musket from a medium to long range weapon into an effective close range one.

Battle of Hill 180, the site where the storied Korean War bayonet charge took place.

The battle, which occurred on Feb. 7, 1951, was conducted in support of Operation Punch, an effort to halt the advance of Chinese and North Korean forces south of the Han River in Seoul. Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment (Wolfhounds) of the 25th Infantry Division, commanded by then Capt. Lewis Millett, led the charge to secure Hill 180. Millett, cognizant of the psychological impact of cold steel on his adversaries, gave the standing order to his men that bayonets would be fixed whenever Easy Company attacks.

Led by Capt. Lewis Millett, the 27th Infantry Regiment’s Company E, was on point near the Korean city of Osan during Operation Thunderbolt, Feb. 7, 1951. The company came under heavy machine gun fire from Communist Chinese forces on Hill 180. A seasoned combat veteran who received a battlefield commission during World War II, Millett decided the only way to dislodge enemy forces was with bayonets.

Outnumbered and outgunned by the enemy, Millett personally led his beleaguered forces up Hill 180 in a bayonet charge, killing an estimated 50 enemy Soldiers. For his heroic actions, Millett received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor. 

Braving the intense enemy machine gun fire, Millett yelled, “Fix bayonets. Everyone goes with me!” 

With Millett leading the charge, the Soldiers of Company E ran up the steep mountain slope and evicted the enemy forces from their strategic perch. 

Because of their legendary feat on Hill 180, the 27th Infantry Regiment’s Company E, earned the nickname “Cold Steel Easy” and Millett earned the Medal of Honor. 

Although injured during the battle, Millett went on to serve with distinction in the Vietnam War and retire from the U.S. Army as a colonel. 

Today Hill 180 is also called “Bayonet Hill,” and Millett Road runs up it through Osan Air Base, home to the U.S. Air Force’s 7th Air Force and 51st Fighter Wing.