"In th e rly 195 e ere
inte r ted, but we ere till "Soldier, thi i norder-Get
eparated," • portion of tbe text b c up there. Now!," he said.
from Court y t nley's upcom­
in boo re d •
·"Th re N! three of us from
the 9th regi en: e alld two
white boys-. We wem down into
no-man'. land to hdp out a
patrol fro the 23rd that had
gotten ambushed.
"Shuck, all, I don': kllow
what motivated me to votunteer.
Just waSIl'1 leltillg enougt: ac­
tion, I gues .... Oh, Iliad been ill
Korea about a month.
"Lih Ullg·I!_0LJ shot alld
killed all ellemy oldier; and in
the crossfire, the few others scat­
tered. It was the first humall life
I had taken. But 011 the battle
line; it's either you or them!
"This bringing back the
woullded and helpillg to save
other lives was considered all act
of bravery. A lid this is what you
gel citations for sucb things.
'above and beyond the call of
duty. '
"The two white boys were put
up for citations; My nam« wasn't
ever mentioned: These fellows .
knew beuer.,.. I was th« one who
killed the attacker. It looked like
sparks bounced ol/him when I
hit his brass buIIOIIS. Allyway,
my buddies kepi their mOllths
�t ejJ ibn" de' i"i&l�al ot Ji�
.'ory. .
"1 don't kllow why btu being
Black, YOII just have to do so
':'uch thai's' outstandilag. Still,
you may not get allY recogni­
/i01l. "
The narrator is a current resi­
dent of Detroit, Mich. Now at
age 57, he i a husband and
father of seven boys and two
girl.
Courtney Louis Stanley was
18 when he left tbe 10th gr de of
Mansfield's DeSota Parisb
Training School.' Entering tbe
Army fulfilled a boyhood ambi­
tion for him; six months later, he
was in Korea.
Stanley had established him­
self early in the shooting range
as a gunnery expert and was one
of six sucb experts in his com­
pany who bad been assigned an
ammunition bearer. Stanley was
tbe lone black marksman.
Now a mild-mannered, soft­
talking cburch deacon, Stanley
nevertheless recalls the heated
reali m of the Battle of Little
Gibraltar on March 16, 1953:
"THE PLATOON was
pinned down under an assaul t
from about 1,000 Chinese. Hell,
you could bardly bold your bead
up witb bullets and grenades
flying everywhere!
"But we needed to get
some machine-gun belp to the
top of the bill. Who does the
white lieutenant choose? Well,
you know it.was me!"
The officer shouted: Get up
tbat bill, Stanley, and give us
ome cover!"
Obeying, the buck private got
near the pinnacle but his ammo
assistant was blown away while
Stanley, himself, caugbt a graz-
ing bullet across tbe mouth. On
both hand and knees, Stanley
got back to his old spot.
"I just don't know what hit the
guy," Stanley said of his mortal­
ly wounded ammo assistant. "I
never saw him no more while I
was in service. It must bave
been a beavy shell, though; I
don't recall anybody ever men­
tioning him again."
"The lieutenant aw me
wiping aw y blood and sweat.
from my lips and forehead,_1et
e h d no mercy," St nley con­
tin d.
" , DI, et b c
up on tbat oded mned hill .... or
you'll e court-m rti Jled I," the
lieuten nt yelled.
"In the melee, I could ee 11
o th ot er men duc ed do n.
nd 100 . n c red. And for tbe
ir t time in my life, ye , I
cared, too!
"emembering fe
e rlier en I
credit in my first b ute, I yelled
bac : 'You got 11 of the e damn
hite boy b re, end ome of
them up there:" St nley
rec lled.
It w
human
tak n.
the first
IIf I had
But on the
battle line, It'
Ith r you or theml
"That's the first thing you're
taught in the military, is not to
disobey a superior officer," Stan­
ley ays be quickly recalled.
"Even though I did it reluc-
tant I Y . tJ ·v�· Jb���1 ... ��
I followed at or e. is t after
I made it to tbe top, tbe men were
all killed or wounded by heavy
mortar fire, including the squad
leader who gave me the order."
STANLEY, who would later
receive the Distinguished Ser­
vive Cross and the Purple Heart,
continued with background
events that led to his moments in
• bistory.
"Our command post was in a
bunker on the hi 11 top. Lt.
Colonel Harry A. Clark was
felled by grenade fragments.
While William Wuorinen, a
medic, worked on the command­
ing officer, I was alone trying to
hold up the rear.
"I just went crazy, I guess. I
emptied every gun I could get my
hands on, firing 31 magazine
clips with my 'BAR' (Browning
Abtoinatic Rifle). I also used 12
rounds with Wuorinen's M-1,
wbile killing at least eight.
"Tbe reinforcements finally
came. As the colonel was car­
ried away on a stretcher, he
asked about me: 'Wbat is the
name of tbat soldier? The
bravest man I ever aw!' .
"BUT I HAD no concern
about praise, medals or anything
else. I was tired. .... I mean I
was really tired. I was told that
there were 40-0r so bodies laying
around, but I didn't really notice.
The air reeked with the stench of
blood, but at the time, it didn't
bother me. I sat on the hill and
thanked God.
"I wouldn't have made It if the
Lord wasn't with me. I didn't do
it. The Lord did it. I just said to
myself, "The Lord is my
hepherd; I'shall not want."
"An Army new t am came
for po itive Identification pur- .
po es and complimented me.
Thel told me both Wuorinen
and an Army ob erver in a dis­
tant tower-who I never knew
wa watchin the operation­
were wi tne ses. The te m c­
comp ined me to headquarters.
"On the way, I was taken to
see my commanding officer who
had been bospitalized for tbe
three day ince the battle.
When I walked into tbe room,
he rai ed up and pointed at me,
m n I ever
Thus, th rep
tion by the colonel re rdin i
opinion of St nley' br very
nd heroi lend redence to the
title of St nley' utobiogr phy
nd -"The Br ve t
M n."
H 00, which will be
written by lifelong friend,
ndy ater, ill con i t of
m ny unique nd h rd-core e -
perience nd will be rele ed
oon. ccording to Stanley.
Stanley came home to hero'
� elcome,
In Shreveport on Augu t 29,
19 4, mo than ,000 per on
turned out at Youth Stadiumv , It wa the I rge t event nd
w ha t i now Independence perhap tb 1 rge t BI c gather­
St dium on the Louisian St te ing ever to honor w r hero.
Fair .Ground to honor thi full- Sponsored by the Shr veport
.IIU
Win
tuff Dr mAl
16th
ry .
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7·' lit a, MAftN "'_ -RIll M-'
m,l71.