Ex-GIs Tell of Orders to Fire on Korean Civilians

Two ex-GIs who handled radio and message traffic told Pentagon investigators that American troops had orders from higher headquarters to fire on civilian refugees at No Gun Ri in the early days of the Korean War.

The sworn statements by Lawrence Levine and James Crume, who were assigned to the headquarters of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry regiment, are the first from a higher command level to publicly support recollections of some other veterans that they were ordered to shoot civilians for fear that North Korean infiltrators were among them.

Although official Army documents don’t mention infiltrators at No Gun Ri, both men say they believed in July 1950--and today--that disguised enemy soldiers were a serious threat to the U.S. troops, then taking part in a chaotic southward retreat.

“Our understanding was, and it was an understanding, not absolute fact, that amongst these people there were North Korean spies and soldiers, who were reporting our positions,” said Levine, 72, of Encino.

According to former U.S. soldiers and Korean survivors, many South Korean civilians were killed at a railroad bridge near the No Gun Ri hamlet. The killings are the subject of yearlong investigations by the U.S. Army and the government in Seoul. Findings in both inquiries are expected next month.

Crume and Levine told the Associated Press recently that the order to fire on civilians came down the chain of command from division or higher headquarters and was passed on to the battalion’s line companies. Both said they gave a similar account to Army investigators in spring.

“I’m sure the battalion commander and the S3 [operations officer] discussed it . . . even before they put the order out to stop the refugees,” said Crume, 72, of Kennewick, Wash. “All I know is the order was given--’You’re not going through,’ and the order was given to the heavy weapons company, and that was it.”