Excerpts from Flame Dragons - The Book

Wolmi-do
“whenever we called on them, they were right there for us. I saw them blasting into the caves with their machine guns, and the NK (North Korean defenders) coming out with their hands up, wanting no part of those flame throwers . Any place, like clumps and possible machine gun emplacements, were hit by direct fire from the Flamers .”

Photo Courtesy Len Martin

Seoul Firestorm -- A tanker, opening the pistol port of an M26 Pershing, captures the fiery scene of buildings and utility wires after Flame Tanks unloaded their napalm during the street fighting in Seoul.

Seoul
“When they entered the streets in that place, it was like a firestorm, shooting napalm into those buildings …The whole city was ablaze …We (M26 Pershing tanks) would hit that building and keep on hitting it, but it wouldn’t fall down. That’s when we’d call in the Flame Tanks. They would just burn ‘em out. They’d put their flames into the bottom floors and pretty soon that whole building was ablaze all the way to the top floor …Buildings were on fire, telephone wires, strung out all over the place, were burning …The railroad station was the last to get torched …When the flame tanks started pouring napalm into the station, there was nothing but devastation, and panic… the NKPA were on fire, running out of the building.”

Hell Fire Valley – Task Force Drysdale
“We (Second Platoon, Dog Company tanks) were between Koto-ri and Hagaru when we came under a lot of fire from the Chinese. The road ran down the valley . The Chinese controlled these hills most of the way . We got into a terrific firefight that night (in Hell Fire Valley, halfway up that 11-mile stretch of the MSR) . We were under fire for a good five or six hours. We had a hell of a fight on our hands . Finally, the Chinese were beaten off and the road was cleared, although the task force still remained under fire . ”

Breakout from the Chosin
“They set up two of them (Flame Tanks) on each side of the road. They had their turrets swung right and left facing the hills . They didn’t use their flame guns, but fired their 105s and machine guns into the hills keeping the ridges clear and keeping the Chinese heads down . Further down the road, there were two more flame tanks and they were traversing their turrets from one side of the road to the other looking for targets.
“ We could see them (Chinese) . We used the 105 with canister shot when the gooks got close to us. It did the trick for us . The gooks were all over us and we had to use the canister to blow them off . We used the 30s . But, on occasion, the guys in the turret would have to pop the hatches and man the 50-caliber . ”

Spring ‘51
“A couple of our tanks (M26 Pershings) became trapped and surrounded …If it wasn’t for Flame tanks and their 105s, we wouldn’t have made it out … ”
“We (Flame Tanks) got the word to fire at will …I walked my fire across the top of the ridgeline with both the 30 and 50 caliber machine guns …Frankly, I was having a ball.”

Korean ‘Honey’
“I never did see an outhouse there . ‘Honey pots’ smelled anything but like the tasty nectar produced by bees . On a very hot summer day, it smelled like the whole damn peninsula was coated with ‘honey’. ”

Hill 1052 --The Rock
Luke The Gook’s Castle
“I was about to start 22 (Flame Tank F22) down the hill … the sergeant was about five or six feet off to the left … He was standing on the edge of the narrow road just opposite our left sprocket… There wasn’t a thing I could do . A whoosh, and a thud — a millisecond before a tremendous explosion . it hit next to the left track, a little forward of the turret . I saw the Sergeant . My God, that poor guy. ”

Photo Jack Carty

Luke’s Castle Aftermath – Damaged Flame Tank sits behind Hill 758 after being dragged off a ridge opposite Luke the Gook’s Castle. After burning the slopes of the Castle, F21 hit a mine. The mission eventually cost the life of a Service Company mechanic.

Siberia and Bunker Hill
“Siberia was one of the big ones for Flame Tanks …a diversion …taking Bunker Hill …When we got to Siberia we couldn’t see very well. So, we shot little spurts to give us enough light to see where we had to go …When the flame tanks reached the top of Siberia, they lumbered down the far slope, firing in shorter bursts and sweeping the area with machine guns …We shot the flame out as far as we could for whatever we could see in the way of enemy fire. When ever we picked up something like their tracers, then we would throw some 105 rounds at them – direct fire…“

On The Wire! In Front of the Wire!
“No matter how many times you have been in front of the Wire, the feeling is eerie at best . Most of the time on line, one could not see the man in the next fighting hole . after an hour or so on watch, especially in the winter, shrubs seemed to be closer to you than they were the last time you looked in that direction. Trees, if there were any, sometimes appeared to move laterally. Rocks became prone Chinese soldiers sneaking up on you. Rats were raiding parties. On patrol, it was twice as bad. ”

Operation Clambake
“Operation Clambake was just one day in South Korea. There were many, many more, but that day was probably the most memorable …seeing those Flame Tank crews up in the shit much like it was when I was on Iwo Jima …”

“About this time we started to hear alarming transmissions over the radio …‘ My tank’s on fire’ …‘One of the flame tanks is burning’ …‘Tank has been hit. The hatch is open and all I can see is a bloody head sticking out of the turret, but there’s at last one man left alive in the tank!’ …‘Enemy is closing in’ …Have them close the hatch and we’ll bring’ VT fire down on them’ …

“The flame tanks had it worst. They ran into a veritable nest of close-range anti-tank fire. Two took three solid hits each. One was set on fire and had to be abandoned by the crew …
“ …my heart is heavy tonight …the Operation, like most military operations, can be characterized as successful …This commander’s melancholy is occasioned by the loss of one officer killed and six men wounded in today’s action…”

Photo Courtesy Leatherneck Magazine

Operation Clambake – Seriously wounded crewmembers of F31 are removed from F12 by fellow tankers after their Flame Tank was hit by Chinese rockets on Kum gok during Operation Clambake. The two Marines survived, but an enemy rocket, penetrating the F31 turret, took the life of the Flame Platoon commanding officer and mortally wounded his loader.

The Phone Call . 49 Years Later
“ …When I picked up the receiver, little could I imagine that I truly was going to be jolted back in time …I still wasn’t sure what I was hearing, but my mind was racing. So was my blood pressure. I began shaking, and I felt my forehead moisten with sweat …
’My name is Scott McAdams. I’m the youngest of three McAdams Brothers …’"My memory exploded with bits and pieces of the day nearly 49 years ago when Lt. Michael McAdams was killed by a Chinese rocket piercing the turret of the Flame Tank that was sitting just in front of our tank at the base of a small hill called Kum gok …He had never seen his youngest son who was only six months old at the time …Now, that son was talking to me …He wanted to know about his father …”