Tweet of the Day: Bad Day on the DMZ

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setnaffa
setnaffa
3 years ago

I am thinking that would be terrifying… Assuming there really are/were anti-personnel mines liberally scattered about…

ChickenHead
ChickenHead
3 years ago

Walking south in forrest.

Come across transparent plastic sign: ƎИIM

Think to self: Wonder why there is a sign in Russian this far north of a Korean army base?

Sgt. Dennis P. Urban
Sgt. Dennis P. Urban
3 years ago

Terrifying is nothing when it happens, I know, it happened to me twice during my 5 1/2 months in the z during ’68-’69. There really are mines there, all kinds of mines. The biggest problem is they were left over from the war that ended 15 years earlier, so they could go off anytime. Sometimes you’d see the three prongs sticking up out of the pine needles before you stepped on them, but once you did the fun began. Did you press down on the prongs? What do you do next? You stand like a petrified tree and let out a shout: MINEFIELD! Everyone around you freezes in place, just like you. Minutes pass by while everyone starts scanning the ground around them and each other, looking for more mines. Then each man slowly drops to the ground, pulling their bayonets from the sheaths, and figuring what their next move will be. The Sergeant in charge of the patrol, not the Lt., takes over control as each man tries to determine where this minefield began and where it ends. Man by man clears a way out to safely, leaving you behind. Once everyone else is clear, now it’s your turn. For over an hour or more you’ve watched everyone get clear, and now it is your turn. If it explodes, your done. No way you will survive, but they will. One man comes back, again it’s your Sergeant, and he pokes his bayonet around your foot, slowly but steadily until he determines the size of the mine, and if the prongs have been fully pressed down to the ground Then he tells you what to do next, after he has cleared the blast zone of the mine. He has made a pathway of stones for you to run thru. First you must flop down in a cleared area around you. If the mine doesn’t explode, which it most likely will, you then follow the path of rocks and clear the minefield. My mine didn’t explode, at least not right away. It took a number of rifle shots at it until it finally did. Yes, you shake your pants leg a few times after that. Sgt. Den Imjin River Scout Korean DMZ

setnaffa
setnaffa
3 years ago

Thank you Dennis for your service and your story.

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