12/04/2025
On this day, 75 years ago, December 1, 1950, 35-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Raymond G. Davis – commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines – led his men through the frozen mountains of North Korea during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
He and his Marines were encircled by a numerically superior Chinese force, and a Marine rifle unit (Fox Company) was cut off at a vital mountain pass that controlled the only road for the division’s escape.
Aware that reaching them meant breaking through enemy lines and advancing about eight miles over icy, snow-choked trails in subzero temperatures, Davis volunteered to lead the rescue mission.
After nightfall on December 1, he set out with 800 Marines, leaving behind vehicles and nonessential gear to move faster through the knee-deep snow.
They carried mortar rounds on makeshift stretchers and packed their rations close to their bodies to keep food from freezing in the −30°F cold.
Chinese troops fired flares and sprayed the darkness with gunfire, but Davis ordered absolute silence – his men would not return fire when fired upon, slipping past enemy outposts without revealing their approach.
Soon the battalion confronted entrenched enemy blocking the ridges ahead. Davis personally spearheaded the assaults up the steep, ice-covered slopes, leading from the front in hand-to-hand combat as his Marines stormed one enemy position after another.
In the chaos of one attack, a shell fragment struck his helmet and two bullets pierced his clothing, knocking him down, but he got back up and pressed on at the head of his men.
All through the night, he moved among his Marines, inspiring them and directing relentless attacks over three successive ridges despite the withering fire and freezing cold.
By daybreak they had fought to within 1,500 yards of the beleaguered Fox Company.
As they drew near the isolated company’s perimeter, Davis halted to avoid friendly fire and waited for first light.
At dawn on December 2, they caught the enemy by surprise. Davis’s battalion burst through the Chinese lines and reached the stranded Marines of Fox Company, relieving them after days of desperate siege.
Without pausing, they seized control of Toktong Pass from the enemy, finally reopening the road south.
Davis made sure all of his wounded – including 22 Marines on stretchers – were carried out safely as they began the withdrawal
army.mil The Chinese launched furious counterattacks, but Davis and his men held the vital high ground against repeated onslaughts, buying time for two trapped Marine regiments to move through the pass toward safety.
On the morning of December 4, 1950, Lieutenant Colonel Davis led his battalion, battered but intact, into Hagaru-ri, successfully escorting the last of the division through the escape route.
His bold leadership and tenacity had saved Fox Company from annihilation and prevented the encirclement and destruction of thousands of fellow Marines at Chosin Reservoir.
Two years later, on November 24, 1952, U.S. president Harry S. Truman presented the Medal of Honor to Raymond G. Davis in a ceremony at the White House, recognizing his extraordinary heroism in Korea.
Davis continued to serve in the Marine Corps and eventually retired in 1972 as a four-star General and Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps.
He died of a heart attack at the age of 88 on September 3, 2003, in Conyers, Georgia.
