Tag: Camp Walker

Some new housing has opened up for Soldiers stationed in the Daegu area of South Korea:

A new housing tower opened recently on Camp Walker, providing 90 additional units for households serving in Daegu, about 150 miles south of Seoul. The tower, which includes 60 three-bedroom, 26 four-bedroom and four five-bedroom apartments, is the last of four built for Walker residents, the Army said in a Feb. 29 news release.

The first tower broke ground in 2015; the last in 2020, U.S. Army Garrison Daegu spokesman Phil Molter said by email Tuesday. All four towers cost nearly $250 million to build. Walker is part of U.S. Army Garrison Daegu, which includes Camps George, Henry and Carroll. The base has a nine-hole golf course along with a commissary and post exchange.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Via the Stars & Stripes comes word that a U.S. military dependent has contracted the coronavirus:

A U.S. military dependent who visited base facilities on a southeastern base tested positive for the new coronavirus in South Korea, officials said Monday, as they raised the risk level for the military community to high.

South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “informed us today a [U.S. Forces Korea] dependent in Daegu tested positive for COVID-19, making this the first time a USFK individual has tested positive,” a USFK statement said.

“USFK has raised the risk level to ‘high’ for USFK peninsula-wide as a prudent measure to protect the force,” it added.

No active-duty service members have tested positive for the coronavirus that has rapidly spread in the country over the past week, Camp Humphreys garrison commander Col. Michael Tremblay said separately at a town hall-style meeting Monday.

He said the woman who tested positive was a 61-year-old widowed dependent.

USFK said the woman had visited the post exchange on Feb. 12 and 15 at Camp Walker in the southeastern city of Daegu, which has been the epicenter of a recent outbreak.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Camp Walker became the first location in Korea to establish a monument in honor of Korean War Medal of Honor recipient Captain Emil Kapaun:

A chaplain who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for refusing to abandon troops during combat finally has been recognized with a monument in the country where he died more than six decades ago.

The dark gray granite stone, erected by U.S. Army Garrison Daegu in front of the Camp Walker chapel, includes an image of Capt. Emil Kapaun supporting an injured soldier and the inscription, “He paid the ultimate sacrifice and consecrated the soul of Korea.” The monument, about four feet tall, was unveiled Dec. 19.

It’s the first memorial on the Korean peninsula for Kapaun, who died in a prisoner of war camp in May 1951 after being captured at Unsan the previous November. Although U.S. forces were surrounded and ordered to evacuate, the Roman Catholic priest stayed behind to comfort the wounded, despite the certainty of capture, and made rounds even as hand-to-hand combat broke out between U.S. and Chinese troops.

“We need inspiration and motivation to continue to serve the country,” deputy garrison chaplain Maj. Moon Kim said of Kapaun’s legacy. “People get easily discouraged or demotivated. But we see those forefathers who have gone before us and died, and they inspire us.”

The chaplain, a native of Pilsen, Kan., was awarded the Medal of Honor in April 2013.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.