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In the middle of August in 1951, while the rest of the First Marine Division was in reserve, Recon began patrolling the Punch Bowl in the mountains along the extreme eastern front. The Punch Bowl was a 4-5 mile wide crater presumably an extinct volcano. The rim generally was at least 1,000 meters high in elevation with the valley floor several hundred meters below. The purpose of our patrol was to locate and eliminate any forward observers in the Punch Bowl. These forward observers (FOs) had been calling in artillery and mortar fire on our own units. |