While I was in Korea in 65 & 66, I noticed that the 44th Engineer Bn (Construction), part of the 2nd Engineer Group, was known as the Broken Heart Battalion. Can anybody tell me how this came about? This is not a game, I don't know the answer and would really like to know the story behind it. If any of you have the answer, please fire away.

The 44th Engineer Battalion

Insignia History

The scarlet, broken heart is for service in Korea, and is the identification mark used by the organization in that theater.

Sorry this too much help - but its a little...




edit for syntax error

Thanks for the info. It was a good start but I still don't know the story behind why the unit's service in Korea gives it the Broken Heart symbol.

Thank you

Hello Tom Tom,

My name is Larry Owens and I served in the US Army from 1/66-1/69. I was in Korea from 6/67-7/68. I currently reside in the Atlanta, GA area with my wife of 36 years.

One of my earliest duties when I got to Korea was to evacuate weapons from the forward based 702 Mt BN at Yon-Ju-Gol, Korea (near the DMZ) to Taegu. Once in the rear echelon camp I had several days in which to relax before my trailer was reloaded with fresh, or repaired weapons and I was on my way back to Camp Rice.

While in the camp at Taegu I observed a large hill outside the camp. (This by itself is not noteworthy as EVERY camp had a hill outside its tape line). But this one was different. ON the hill and almost at its peak was a LARGE image created by painted rocks and gravel. There was a LARGE (50ft wide) heart shaped pattern made of large (1ft. dia. avg) white painted stones. The interior of the heart was inlaid with small gravel and all of it was painted blood red. Through the center of the heart was a jagged cut of smaller stones also painted white, and intended to give the impression of a heart that was broken. You had to work to get to the top of this hill but I did manage to go up once and inspect it quite thoroughly.

Of course something as large as this MUST have a story behind it and it did. NOW! Is the story true, I DON'T KNOW. But I will share it with you anyway.

It seems that the 44th had been left behind as it were in Japan after the end of WWII. There was much military work to be performed and lots of civilian work to be attended to also, and they were there.

Well, all GOOD things must come to an end (I quote none other than Gen George S. Patton) and so did the work of the 44th in Japan. They were put on a boat and set sail for the Golden Gate Bridge for mustering out and just all around getting to know each other again. They had not been home, some of them, in over 7 years.

As the story goes, the ship SAILED under the bridge at San Francisco and while STILL in the bay, turned around and set sail for Korea. The date was 26 July, 1953. One day after the Korean War broke out. The Pentagon need them in Korea and they needed them NOW.

Young men and anticipating brides, wives, and girl friends and a whole ship of war weary and tired soldiers ALMOST touched hands that day in the bay, but it was not to be. It was enough to break anyone heart.

It is said that they returned to Korea and had to fight their way into battles. Their work as military engineers demanded a high degree of effort and skill but in this theater there was no one to go before them and clear away hostilities. They had to do that themselves.

I was never made privy to the number of casualties suffered by the 44th. By the time I had heard of their story, the country had pretty much settled down and commerce was on their minds. I was a young lad of just 21 and although I had remembered a cousin going off to war in a far away place called Korea in 1950, never to return. But the Broken Heart on the hill was a powerful metaphor of past grief and heartache. It is also not clear to me if the particular hill I mentioned was in fact a hill of contention between the two forces or if it was merely a marker set outside the compound where the 44th was eventually to settle down.

It's a nice story. Very romantic. I tell it true to the way it was told to me. But, is it true? I do NOT know.

There MIGHT be some meat in this story for you to research and see if any of it has the ring of truth. The compound is (was in 1967) part of a massive military installation with considerable storage and manufacturing facilities on the grounds. It was known in the trade as "Rear Echelon" so the location and description should lead you to the "hill' that I spoke of. The accuracy of the "Rest of the Story" will be for you to uncover.

Good luck.

Larry

Thanks for the info. It was a good start but I still don't know the story behind why the unit's service in Korea gives it the Broken Heart symbol.

Because it looks cool?

Thanks for that info, Larry.
And Welcome to the forums.

I can't vouch for any of this but here's something from a poster at Military.com:

THIS UNIT GOT ITS NAME WHEN A GROUP OF SOLDIERS WHO HAD HEARTS PAINTED ON THEIR BAGS WERE SENT TO KOREA FOR THE WAR ONE OF THE SOLDIERS BAGS RIPPED AND WHAT MADE THE HEART APPEAR BROKEN EVER SINCE THEN THE UNITS NAM HAS BEEN BROKEN HEARTS.

And this from koreanwar.org

Comments: In 1950, the 44th was part of the army of occupation in Japan and was scheduled to be deactivated and all of its members were going to be transferred back to the US.
Before they were deactivated, the North Koreans attacked the South. The deactivation order was cancelled. The soldiers who had been looking forward to going home were now going to go to combat, and their hearts were broken. The 44th was selected to be part of MacArthur's invasion at Inchon. They needed some way to identify all of their equipment as it came ashore, so they painted red broken hearts on all of their equipment. After the invasion, the troops continued to use the broken heart emblem on everything they built, and it has become a tradition that somewhere on any project they build, there is a broken heart.
The 44th had been a construction battalion, also known as a combat heavy battalion. When I was there from 1985 to 1987, HHC, Alpha Co, and Charlie Co, were at Camp Mercer, Bravo Co was at Camp Nimble, and Delta Co was at Camp Indian. The battalion was assigned to the 2d Engineer Group in Seoul, but since 1992 has been assigned to the 2d Infantry Division and now located at Camp Howze.

Originally Posted by DubleDeuce

Hello Tom Tom,

My name is Larry Owens and I served in the US Army from 1/66-1/69. I was in Korea from 6/67-7/68. I currently reside in the Atlanta, GA area with my wife of 36 years.

One of my earliest duties when I got to Korea was to evacuate weapons from the forward based 702 Mt BN at Yon-Ju-Gol, Korea (near the DMZ) to Taegu. Once in the rear echelon camp I had several days in which to relax before my trailer was reloaded with fresh, or repaired weapons and I was on my way back to Camp Rice.

While in the camp at Taegu I observed a large hill outside the camp. (This by itself is not noteworthy as EVERY camp had a hill outside its tape line). But this one was different. ON the hill and almost at its peak was a LARGE image created by painted rocks and gravel. There was a LARGE (50ft wide) heart shaped pattern made of large (1ft. dia. avg) white painted stones. The interior of the heart was inlaid with small gravel and all of it was painted blood red. Through the center of the heart was a jagged cut of smaller stones also painted white, and intended to give the impression of a heart that was broken. You had to work to get to the top of this hill but I did manage to go up once and inspect it quite thoroughly.

Of course something as large as this MUST have a story behind it and it did. NOW! Is the story true, I DON'T KNOW. But I will share it with you anyway.

It seems that the 44th had been left behind as it were in Japan after the end of WWII. There was much military work to be performed and lots of civilian work to be attended to also, and they were there.

Well, all GOOD things must come to an end (I quote none other than Gen George S. Patton) and so did the work of the 44th in Japan. They were put on a boat and set sail for the Golden Gate Bridge for mustering out and just all around getting to know each other again. They had not been home, some of them, in over 7 years.

As the story goes, the ship SAILED under the bridge at San Francisco and while STILL in the bay, turned around and set sail for Korea. The date was 26 July, 1953. One day after the Korean War broke out. The Pentagon need them in Korea and they needed them NOW.

Young men and anticipating brides, wives, and girl friends and a whole ship of war weary and tired soldiers ALMOST touched hands that day in the bay, but it was not to be. It was enough to break anyone heart.

It is said that they returned to Korea and had to fight their way into battles. Their work as military engineers demanded a high degree of effort and skill but in this theater there was no one to go before them and clear away hostilities. They had to do that themselves.

I was never made privy to the number of casualties suffered by the 44th. By the time I had heard of their story, the country had pretty much settled down and commerce was on their minds. I was a young lad of just 21 and although I had remembered a cousin going off to war in a far away place called Korea in 1950, never to return. But the Broken Heart on the hill was a powerful metaphor of past grief and heartache. It is also not clear to me if the particular hill I mentioned was in fact a hill of contention between the two forces or if it was merely a marker set outside the compound where the 44th was eventually to settle down.

It's a nice story. Very romantic. I tell it true to the way it was told to me. But, is it true? I do NOT know.

There MIGHT be some meat in this story for you to research and see if any of it has the ring of truth. The compound is (was in 1967) part of a massive military installation with considerable storage and manufacturing facilities on the grounds. It was known in the trade as "Rear Echelon" so the location and description should lead you to the "hill' that I spoke of. The accuracy of the "Rest of the Story" will be for you to uncover.

Good luck.

Larry

I very much enjoyed reading this post, for my part thanks for sharing this.

Thank you, DTop

DTop's second story on the origin of the Broken Heart battalion is correct according to the history I learned while serving in the 44th. I served in the 44th Engineer Battalion from 1982 to 1985 first with D Company at Camp Indian in Uijongbu (spent most of my time elsewhere in South Korea though) then in HHC as a staff officer then HHC Company Commander.

The 44th was on their way home to the US and portions of it were at sea loaded up with equipment when McCarther called for everything he could get to attack in Inchon. All units going in were instructed to mark all of their materials and equipment so that they could easily identify it. The 44th came up with the broken heart becuase they were all literally broken hearted about being turned around to fight in a war that had not been going well up to that point in time as they were about to finally go home from a long deployment in Japan.

We did put the broken heart on everything we built. It is embedded in concrete abutments, foundations, decking, and support columns all over South Korea. It used to be painted on roofs and decorating the countryside near the Battalion's larger projects as well. Many of those have probably faded or been covered by now but if you drive on country roads in Korea you will eventually cross a bridge with a broken heart still on it particularly the closer you get to the DMZ.

The rest of the insignia history is solid as well. Service in France and other parts of Europe in World War I building roads, rails, and ports and service in the Pacific Theater in World War II staying in Japan helping to rebuild and modernize their country durring our occupation there.