ANACORTES — The mark of being one of the “frozen Chosin few” can be seen on Bob Legan’s right hand.

His fingernails are brittle and discolored. It’s the mark of barely escaping frostbite from the 30 degrees below in the mountains and hills surrounding the Chosin Reservoir in northeastern North Korea.

Legan, a platoon sergeant, and other Marines had been issued lightweight jackets and mittens rather than gloves. To use their rifles and other weapons, they had to remove one mitten, he said.

During the battle of the Chosin Reservoir, Marines and other United Nations troops braved frostbite and almost overwhelming numbers of Chinese soldiers who entered the Korean Conflict to aid the North Koreans. The battle lasted from Nov. 27 to Dec. 13, 1950.

Estimates of the casualties differ. The United Nations estimates that 1,029 were killed, 4,582 wounded and 4,894 missing. The U.S. Marine reports state 4,000 battle casualties, of which 718 were killed. Precise casualties for the Chinese are unknown, but the United Nations estimated that 29,800 were killed.

Legan was in charge of 33 men of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. He also served in World War II.

He doesn’t talk in detail about the battles he’s seen. He says he doesn’t have anything to add to the numerous articles and books that have been written about the Chosin Campaign.

“I don’t talk about it. Even my kids don’t even know what I did,” Legan said. “My dad was in World War I in France in the trenches. I figured he didn’t talk about it, why should I? I blanked it all out of my mind.”

He’s among the hundreds of veterans in Skagit and Island counties who will be honored today at Veterans Day ceremonies in the area.

Legan won’t give his exact age because he likes to keep his fellow members of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Anacortes guessing. Their guesses range from 75 to 90, he says.

Legan is a retired quality control supervisor for Ford. He and his late wife, Jacquelyn, lived for a number of years in Southern California but retired to Anacortes, near Deception Pass, where they both loved to bring their children camping. He goes out dancing four times a week, an activity he and Jacquelyn enjoyed.

Raised in Joliet, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, Legan decided to enlist in 1942 because like many young people after the Depression, he wasn’t able to make ends meet. His father had warned him to join the Navy, but the recruiter didn’t have any openings. As Legan stepped outside, the Marine recruiter saw him and said there was a place for Legan. 

Legan’s service record in World War II from April 1942 to December 1944 reads like a history book of the Pacific War. He fought in the battles of Tulagi and Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan and Tinian.

For his service during WWII and the Korean conflict, he received a letter of commendation with valor and four Presidential Unit Citations.

When he came hope to visit his family, his mother noticed that he had a tattoo, drank beer and smoked. He told her they couldn’t get food at Guadalcanal but they did get cigarettes. He’s since quit smoking.

After returning home, he met his wife and enrolled in college. While attending college, one of his former Marine buddies suggested they join the Marine Corps Reserve. Committing to the reserves would give them extra money and they could afford to take their wives out for dinner or dancing.

“My wife was an excellent dancer,” Legan said. “She made me look good.”

When the Korean War started, Legan was activated and sent overseas to take part in the Battle of Inchon, Sept. 15, 1950, which became one of the turning points of the war. His buddy stood on the dock in Southern California waving good-bye.

The second day after landing in Inchon, his unit’s lieutenant was shot in the foot. The wound was “nothing serious, just enough to get home,” Legan said.

“My lieutenant got shot, so I was running the platoon,” Legan said.

He said that after Inchon, his unit went onto Seoul and then onto the 38th parallel, the dividing line between the two countries.

“We got to the 38th and they pulled us off, and we went to Chosin Reservoir,” Legan said.

When Legan landed in September, the weather was beautiful. In November at the higher altitudes of the rugged mountains surrounding the reservoir, conditions turned bitter and then got worse.

With only light jackets, the Marines weren’t prepared against a killing cold. Neither were the Chinese, who greatly outnumbered the U.N. forces two to one by some counts. At night, the temperature dropped to at least 30 degrees below zero. Marines huddled together to keep warm. Legan said he can feel the effects of that winter in his feet, which get numb, and his right hand.

The Chinese had the advantage of higher ground, Legan said. They surrounded the U.N. forces, but the Chinese weren’t prepared for the weather either and had underestimated the strength of the U.N. forces.

Legan said Easy Company was deployed near Kotor-ri, southeast of the reservoir. He and his men spent most of their time patrolling or watching the perimeter. Legan guessed there was at least 3 to 4 feet of packed snow on the ground.

“It was hard. You didn’t sink in it. It was like concrete. You couldn’t dig a foxhole,” he said. “We didn’t have anything to build fires with.”

The lack of fires meant the troops ate cold hash, pork and beans, and greasy stew straight from the can.

While on patrol, one Marine would take the “point,” looking for Chinese soldiers, Legan said. When they saw the enemy, the troops would deploy, firing.

“You just walked until you’d see them or they’d see you,” he said. “We came across a lot of them who had just frozen to death.”

With the 7th Marine Regiment acting as the vanguard, on Dec. 6, 1950 U.N. troops began to break free of the surrounding Chinese soldiers and headed for Kotor-ri, where Easy Company was positioned.

“They made a statement to the effect they were going to eliminate the 1st Marine Division,” Legan said. “We decimated them. Seven Chinese divisions were unable to fight after we got out of the reservoir.”