In March of 1951 United States Forces Korea (USFK) was executing their annual Team Spirit exercise. Team Spirit was the major joint exercise held annually with the Republic of Korea (ROK) military from 1976 to 1993. Team Spirit ended in 1993 as part of the efforts to end the nuclear crisis with North Korea that began that year. Team Spirit exercised the logistics of supporting US warfighting units on the peninsula and joint operations between the US and ROK militaries.
In 1981 USFK held its largest ever Team Spirit exercise up to that point that featured 27,000 US military personnel stationed in Korea and 33,000 US military personnel from outside the peninsula. In addition to the US military personnel, over 100,000 ROK military servicemembers participated in the exercise as well. The April 8, 1981 Stars and Stripes called that year’s Team Spirit “the largest ground field maneuver exercise in the Free World”. This was the first Team Spirit exercise held during the Ronald Reagan administration where US and ROK ties had noticeable improved after much deterioration during the prior Carter administration.
The 1981 Team Spirit exercise featured a scenario where North Korea attacked southwest across the Han River which caused US and ROK forces to fight a delaying action southeast of the river. After completing the delaying action, US and ROK forces would then launch a counterattack to push the North Koreans north of the Han River again.
On March 15, 1981 soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 31st Mechanized Infantry (C/1-31IN) from the 2nd Infantry Division stationed in South Korea found themselves participating in the counterattack portion of the exercise. Their unit was participating in a river crossing exercise where their armored personnel carriers would cross a pontoon bridge constructed on the Namhan River outside of the city of Yeoju, 35 miles southeast of Seoul.
City of Yeoju located on the far bottom right and Seoul on the upper left. The Namhan River can be seen flowing north from Yeouju and connecting with the Han River that flows through Seoul.
Due to the many large rivers in South Korea, river crossing exercises are an extremely important skill to master. To this day river crossing exercises are conducted on major rivers in South Korea to include the Namhan River:
However, for the soldiers of C/1-31IN, the river crossing exercise executed during the 1981 Team Spirit exercise quickly turned deadly. 12 soldiers found themselves fighting for their lives when two armored personnel carriers fell into the frigid water when the pontoon bridge broke apart. Eight of the soldiers were rescued, but the accident ultimately cost the lives of four USFK soldiers. Sergeant Harry Pickins, age 26 of West Memphis, Arkansas was the first body recovered on the same day of the accident. He was assigned to the 17th Field Artillery battalion:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 21, 1981
The Stars & Stripes newspaper reported five days later that the body of 18-year old, Private First Class Philip Pidgeon from Carbondale, Pennsylvania had been recovered about one mile downstream from the accident site:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 26, 1981
Two weeks later the Stars & Stripes then reported that the body of 21-year old Sergeant Vernon Cude was recovered from the river:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 12, 1981
Sergeant Cude reportedly helped others to find their life vests before the cold water and fast current washed him away. The only other body that had not been recovered was of 22-year old Sergeant Gary Schlecht. Much like Sergeant Cude, he attempted to help save soldiers without life vests before the swift current washed him away. I could not find any additional articles in the Stars & Stripes archive reporting on whether Sergeant Schlecht’s body was eventually recovered. However, the Find A Grave website does have a memorial marker for Sergeant Schlecht in Dayton, Ohio.
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 8, 1981
Unfortunately this accident would not be the last deadly river crossing accident in South Korea. The May 10th, 1985 Stars & Stripes newspaper reported that a US soldier lost his life when an armored personnel carrier fell off a pontoon bridge on the Imjim River. In 1998 four US soldiers and a Korean Augmentee to the US Army (KATUSA) lost their lives when once again an armored personnel carrier fell off a pontoon bridge on the Imjim River. It was this accident I remember being briefed to my unit when we conducted my first river crossing exercise on the Imjim River back in 2000. Safety was of the up most concern during every river crossing exercise I have ever done in Korea since then and fortunately there has been no other deadly accidents since 1998.
Remembering the tragic deaths during the 1981 Team Spirit exercise serves as a reminder of the importance of safety during potentially dangerous training and making sure all efforts are made to mitigate risk. I don’t know if everything was done to mitigate risk before this tragic accident in 1981, but leaders today owe it to the memories of those killed in tragic accidents like this to take all measures to prevent future accidents.
