Hector Cafferatta would describe himself as the world’s worst baseball player, but that didn’t stop him from whacking over a dozen grenades out of the air with his entrenching tool as he fought for his life at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. That in itself would be a fascinating story from the history of war. Combine it with the fact that he did it all with frostbitten feet, a shredded right arm, and fighting side by side with a blind Marine you get a Medal of Honor story that makes you stop and take notice.
After hours of night-fighting in this condition, it was a sniper’s bullet that finally sent Cafferatta to the ground. But killing Hector Cafferatta through freezing temperatures or enemy fire would prove no easy task.
Despite the best efforts of the Chinese and North Korean Armies, Hector Cafferatta would go on to live until just this April of 2016 where he finally passed away after a long and fruitful life. But thanks to his action on a cold November day in 1950, his legacy will continue to live on.
From Football to War
Hector Cafferatta was born on November 4th, 1929 in New York City. He would eventually move with his family to New Jersey where he would develop an excellent reputation as a football player in High School. The powerful 6-foot 2-inch man would go on to play semi-pro football before eventually enlisting in the Marine Corps Reserves in 1948. He was subsequently activated during the Korean War, and Cafferatta along with the rest of 2nd Battalion 7th Marines were headed for the action.
What awaited Cafferatta in Korea was one of the most harrowing battles of survival in the Korean Conflict. On November 27th, 1950, over 120,000 Chinese troops began a surprise attack in freezing snowy weather designed to encircle and destroy the United Nations forces in North Korea.
The strategic situation and subsequent Marine resolve were succinctly summed up by Marine General Chesty Puller who, when informed of being surrounded by 100,000 Chinese troops said, “Good, now we can attack in any direction.”
The Marines on the ground were in store for a fight of legendary proportions. The attack on the 27th of November was brutal, and as darkness fell and the Marines sought to dig in for the night, they found that the frozen ground simply wouldn’t budge. For Cafferatta and this fellow Marines, this led to them cutting down a few branches for shelter from the snow. They settled in for the night unsure of what would come as the 28th dawned.
A Brutal Winter Fight
At approximately 1:20 AM, Cafferatta was awakened to the frightening sound of a massive Chinese assault. With no time to properly dress against the incoming wave of enemy, he instantly rushed out into the fight in nothing more than stockinged feet and a light jacket. The initial assault proved costly to the defending Marines, and many of Cafferatta’s platoon had already been wounded and taken out of the action.
With little regard for his own welfare, Cafferatta could be seen moving up and down the line filling gaps in the defense wherever they could be seen. And yet wave after wave of Chinese infantry continued the assault. When a grenade landed in a ditch next to wounded Marines, Cafferatta rushed to their aid and threw back the grenade just as it exploded causing severe damage to his right arm.
During the continued fight, he encountered a fellow Marine who had been temporarily blinded by a grenade blast. Telling the blind Marine to grab on to his ankle, he crawled to a small wash near the perimeter and told the Marine this is where we stand and where we will fight.
The blind Marine would load a rifle while Cafferatta fired another allowing for a rapid pace of fire. Firing his rifle so frequently it began to glow, Cafferatta was forced to cool it in the snow pack around him. Throwing grenades and firing his rifle, Cafferatta was now in a one-man battle with a significant portion of a regiment-sized element.
For hours during the fighting, he would witness a Chinese grenade hurling through the air in his direction as they tried to neutralize the enemy that was holding them at bay. His response was to step into the batter’s box with his spade (entrenching tool) and send them back like a home-run in their direction.
To Cafferatta, this was retrospectively one of the most amusing elements of his story as he exclaimed he could easily be considered the world’s worst baseball player. And yet throughout the night, he continued until a well-placed sniper’s bullet found him, sending him to the ground. Only then did he relent for medical treatment.
Medal of Honor
When Cafferatta finally arrived at the aid station, they found him with a severe loss of blood, a partially functional right arm, and blue, frostbitten feet. They were astonished he could have survived fighting for so many hours in the sub-zero temperatures without worse damage to his body. For his actions on November 28th, 1950, Henry Cafferatta would be awarded the Medal of Honor.
He is officially listed in his citation as having killed 15 of the enemy and wounding more, but officers issuing the reports counted over 100 dead Chinese soldiers surrounding the ditch in which Cafferatta fought. They didn’t include the full number in the citation because they were unsure if anyone would believe it.
After the war, Cafferatta would return home and eventually open up a tavern in New Jersey which he would own and operate for decades. While many people in his hometown were aware of his exploits, this was a history lesson they likely didn’t learn from him.
Cafferatta was known as a quiet, friendly man who rarely spoke of his time in the war. In a 2014 interview, he would state that he simply did his job by protecting his Marines. He protected them, they protected him and of that, he would be more proud than of his Medal of Honor. Hector Cafferatta passed away on April 12th, of 2016, a hero of the Korean War and a shining example of humility and honor.