Valor Friday

M/Sgt Ernest Kouma

Pictured above is Master Sergeant Ernest J Kouma. As you can see from the silk blue ribbon and five-point star hanging around his neck, he received the Medal of Honor. If you know your US Army uniform history you can date the photo to a short period of time around the Korean War, which is where he earned the medal.

For those not in the know, the steely-eyed Top is wearing the small (2-inch) chevrons that were only issued from 1948 to 1951, as they were understandably unpopular. The tiny stripes did come in two color varieties based on the soldier’s MOS. Combat arms troops wore dark blue on tan stripes, and support troops got the reverse color scheme. While unpopular with male troops, the smaller scale stripes were retained for female servicemembers. The above photo is from May 1951, just a couple of months after the “Goldenlite” stripes started their phase out.

Sorry for the digression, it’s just not often you see a photo of these stripes in use. Kouma was 32 at the time of this photo, and a native of Nebraska. Why might he look older than his age? I think men of his generation, Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation”, looked a bit older from the hard lives they’d live. Kouma was a farm boy, coming of age during the Great Depression, and on the periphery of the Dust Bowl. As if that weren’t enough hardship, he enlisted in 1940 into the Army, and saw some things.

Kouma was trained as a tanker, and with the 9th Armored Division, he entered Continental Europe in September 1944 at Normandy. Students of World War II trivia will remember that most of the American armored units in Europe were assigned under George S. Patton. The 9th Armored Division would be a part of Patton’s storied Third Army.

Entering combat in late October, the 9th Armored Division saw relatively little action as the Third Army raced eastward. When the Germans kicked off their winter offensive, now known as the Battle of the Bulge, the untested men of the 9th Armored Division were thrust into the thick of the brutal fighting in the unusually harsh winter conditions.

It was elements of the 9th Armored Division that held off the Germans at Bastogne long enough for the 101st Airborne Division to dig in for their famous last stand in the village. The valiant tankers that had made defense of the city possible were trapped with them for the nearly week-long siege. I can’t find record of Kouma being in Bastogne, but the division saw heavy action all through Belgium and Luxembourg during the Bulge.

The 9th Armored Division had their greatest triumph of the war when they captured the Ludendorff Bridge during the Battle of Remagen in March 1945. The Germans’ demolition charges had failed to blow, so the division’s soldiers swung under the bridge from girder to girder tossing off the still live charges that could blow at any moment. Taking the bridge intact shortened the war and saved countless lives.

Post-war Kouma made the Army a career. He served in occupation duties in South Korea and then Japan. By the start of the Korean War in 1950, Kouma was a tank commander in the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. Being a west coast unit, they were some of the first mainland units sent to fight back against North Korea.

When the 2nd ID arrived in Korea, the situation was dire. The North Koreans, with their massive surprise attack, had nearly conquered the whole of the Korean Peninsula. Landing at Pusan they reinforced the breakout of the Pusan Perimeter. The successful breakout would see the United Nations forces gain ground against the communists quickly. By the end of August 1951, Kouma and his men were in the area of the Naktong River, between Daegu and Pusan, less than 100km north-northwest of Pusan.

The 2nd Infantry Division replaced the 24th Infantry Division, which had been fighting for months. The North Koreans were unaware they were facing fresh troops eager to fight, and launched an attack against what they thought was the battered and beaten 24th ID.

On 31 August 1950, the North Koreans made to move across the river. At 2000 hours a fog began obscuring long range vision. Kouma was leading a patrol of two Pershing tanks and two motor gun carriages (think anti-aircraft artillery mounted to the base and tracks of a tank). At 2200 hours, North Korean artillery began firing, hitting Kouma’s A Company about 15 minutes later. The Americans responded with their own counter battery fire. The A Company men reported hearing noises on the opposite bank of the river and then splashes.

At 2230 hours the fog lifted, and Kouma was faced with a North Korean pontoon bridge being laid across the river right in front of him. His men opened fire, with Kouma taking the top .50-caliber machine gun on the top of his tank. As the tank’s main gun blasted, Kouma sunk several enemy boats attempting to cross the river.

About 2300 hours, Kouma and his men heard small arms fire north of their position, within the A Company lines. Though it only lasted for a few minutes, Kouma received word that the company was ordered to retreat. Instead of trucking out of the area, Kouma decided to remain as a rear guard. He was soon wounded in the foot while trying to reload ammunition, and then fought off another North Korean attack with his machine gun.

Then the tankers were ambushed by North Koreans wearing American uniforms. Kouma was shot again, this time in the shoulder, as he was repelling repeated river crossings. The enemy repeatedly fought to within a few yards of the tanks, with Kouma driving them back with his machine gun.

Eventually, the two self-propelled artillery vehicles and one of the tanks made a hasty exit. Only Kouma’s tank remained to defend their retreat. Through the night, Kouma held off the North Korean Army with just the one tank despite his wounds. Kouma repeatedly had to hold off communist infantry from point blank range. When the ammunition for his tank’s guns ran out, he used his pistol and hand grenades to hold out against overwhelming odds.

After the sun rose, at 0730 hours, with very little ammunition, and no supporting troops, Kouma retreated. They had to travel eight miles through enemy-held territory. Along the way, Kouma somehow destroyed three enemy machine gun positions. They’d been in constant contact with the enemy for more than nine hours.

Making it back to friendly lines, Kouma attempted to resupply his tank and to return to the front. One of the officers saw him with his night’s injuries, and ordered him to evacuate and get treated. Even after he was being removed to the rear, he again requested to return to the front.

Kouma killed an estimated 250 North Koreans in his gallant stand, more enemy soldiers than Audie Murphy famously claimed in his Medal of Honor stand atop a flaming tank during World War II. Kouma was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, but this was soon upgraded to a Medal of Honor. He was also promoted front Sergeant First Class to Master Sergeant, and returned to duty just three days after his battle.

Soon though, Kouma’s pending MoH meant that he was returned to the states. He got the Medal of Honor from President Truman at the White House. He was honored at the same time as Carl Dodd and John Pittman, both also 2nd ID soldiers. His days at the front were over. He served as a recruiter and then a gunnery instructor at Fort Knox. After the war he again was a recruiter for a time and then a tank commander at Ft Carson and in Germany.

Kouma retired from the Army in 1971 at the age of 52. He’d spent 31 years in the Army. He lived a quiet life near Ft Knox and died in 1993 at age 74. Kouma had been one of eight children. Among his siblings, James Kouma (1924-1984) served in the Navy during both World War II and Korea, and Anthony Kouma (1922-2004) retired as a sergeant major in the Marine Corps. As a corporal fighting on Saipan in the Pacific War, Anthony earned the Navy Cross. He also saw service in Korea and Vietnam during his Marine Corps career.

Category: Army, Historical, Korea, Medal of Honor, Valor, We Remember