Soldiers from the Army’s Special Warfare Command show off their martial arts skills during a ceremony at the Korean Navy 2nd Fleet in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Sept. 28, 2017, to celebrate the 69th Armed Forces Day. (Yonhap)
New ROK President Moon Jae-in was once a ROK Special Forces commando who served during the 1976 Operation Paul Bunyan. Moon’s involvement with this operation reminded me of this story of the crazy ROK commandos who accompanied the US soldiers who chopped down the tree:
Moon was a commando in the Korean Army in 1975, a year after a court gave him 10 months’ probation for leading an anti-government demonstration in 1972. [Korea Times]The dumptruck with the engineers pulls up next to the tree, so they can stand on it instead of having to use a ladder. The ROK’s with us, who are “supposed to” be limited as we are, with just .45’s and axe handles, begin throwing sandbags out of their deuces, Under the sandbags they have M-16’s, M-60’s, and a few M-79’s.
Several f them head over to Exum’s deuce and stand around watching the KPA guards across the bridge. I’m on the detachment that’s facing north, and I can see the 4 guards over there frantically running about and trying to get a hold of a superior on the phone. I look over at KP#3, a North Korean checkpoint just outside of the JSA and situated up on a hill, and I can see the guards up there run outside with a machinegun and set it up covering us. About two minutes later, a bunch of the KPA guard trucks and several buses pull up across the bridge from us. It seems like they sit there forever, several minutes at least. A few of the ROK marines with us unbutton their shirts, showing that they have claymore mines strapped to their chests and they have the clacker (firing mechanism) in their hands. They start yelling and waving at the KPA to come on over. One of the ROK’s is laying on his side, on the ground, supporting his head his his hand, looking all casual and care free. Once in a while he lifts his head a bit and hits the rear tire of Exum’s deuce with the back of his fist, shaking the entire truck bed. Anybody who’s ever been on a deuce knows that’s not easy.
Unfortunately President Moon was not one of the crazy commandos with claymores strapped to their chest. He was in a back up role to respond to assist the crazy commandos if trouble was to occur. Regardless it must have been interesting for Moon to be part of such a major moment in South Korea’s modern history.
To counter charges by opponents that he is pro-NK ("jongbook"), Moon Jae-In started highlighting his service in special operations. pic.twitter.com/nUKGQwz6cq
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Jang Jun-gyu speaks during a send-off ceremony for the 11th batch of South Korean troops in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Special Warfare Command in southern Seoul on July 19, 2016. Since 2011, the UAE has been home to some 150 troops charged with training UAE special forces and conducting joint military drills. Their unit is known as “Ahk,” an Arabic word meaning “brother.” (Yonhap)
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