Tag: US military

A Profile of USFK’s Western Corridor Camps

| January 13, 2010

For most GI’s serving in Korea right now the term the Western Corridor is probably something they have never even heard of before since the camps in the Western Corridor all closed down back in 2005. However, for those who served on these installations the memories of these camps will never die. The Western Corridor refers to the western sector of military camps in the 2nd Infantry Division area of operations just to the north of Seoul.  The Western Corridor camps are located to the west of the main US military hubs in Dongducheon and Uijongbu near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North from South Korea.

Camp Garry Owen

These camps in the Western Corridor housed the first line of American units that were tasked with slowing down any North Korean attack. The main unit tasked with this responsibility was the 4-7 Cavalry Regiment located at the now closed Camp Garry Owen:

Camp Garry Owen is named after an old Irish dance song that General George Custer liked after hearing some of his Irish troops singing it and he made it the official song of the 7th Cavalry Regiment. You can read more about the history of Garry Owen at the 7th Cavalry Regiment website. This camp wasn’t always called Garry Owen and in fact has gone through three name changes. It was first called Camp Rice at the time the camp was first established in 1951 during the Korean War. The land where the camp was built was originally an apple orchard. After the camp was built it was used as the headquarters for the United Nations Command (UNC) Military Armistice Conference Delegation. The UNC at the time was conducting armistice negotiations with the North Koreans and Chinese in the Pamunjom area. Two years later on July 27, 1953 UNC Commander General Mark W. Clark signed the Armistice Agreement ending the war in the Camp Rice theater. The theater was demolished in the 1970′s along with the camp changing its name to Camp Pelham in honor of a prominent Civil War artilleryman. It wasn’t until the 1980′s that the name Garry Owen would become the third and final name for the camp.

Here are the names of some of the units that have called Camp Garry Owen home: the 69th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Marine Division (which became 49th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division); 13th Field Artillery, 24th Infantry Division; 2nd Battalion, 19th Field Artillery Regiment; and 5th Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment; 1st Battalion, 4th Artillery Regiment; E Company, 2nd Engineers Battalion; and 5th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, which became the 4-7 Cavalry Regiment. The 4-7 Cav was the last unit to call Camp Garry Owen home before closing down the camp in 2004 and relocating to Camp Hovey.
The ville right adjacent to Camp Garry Owen is the small town of Seonyu-ri:

However, the ville was known to the soldiers as Yonjugol. Many of the shops of Yonjugol used to be oriented towards the tastes of the US military, but are now today converted to more conventional businesses:

However, some signs of the former US military presence in the town are still visible:

I have never spent any time in the Camp Garry Owen ville, but from what I have heard the Paradise Club was one of the big places to take newcomers. The challenge was for the new comer to make it to the back door of the club without getting tackled by one of the girls that worked there.
Finally here is a video posted on YouTube showing all the posts buildings and the ville area before the camp closed in 2004 and I especially recommend reading all the comments from people sharing their memories about the camp:

If you have any memories about your time at Camp Garry Owen feel free to share them in the comments section as well.

Camp Stanton

The military base where the 4-7 Cavs helicopters were stationed was at the small Camp Stanton. The camp was one of the smallest in South Korea with it only being home to about 160 soldiers. Camp Stanton was divided in two by the main road through the area. One side of the camp the actual base camp and the other side is where helicopters are parked:

The camp is named after 1st Lieutenant John B. Stanton. In March 1952, during the Korean War, 1st Lt. Stanton of the 15th Aviation Company, 24th Infantry Division was killed in action after crashing his aircraft for the third time during the Korean War. His final crash was a midair collision between his Ryan Avian observation airplane and a P-51 Mustang fighter.Besides being the home of aviation units the camp was also once the home of the 2/61st Air Defense Artillery Battalion. When the camp closed in 2004 it was home to 16 Kiowa helicopters that flew in support of the 4-7 Cav.

There isn’t much left of Camp Stanton today other than the walkway bridge used to cross from the main camp over to airfield:

As you can see, today the camp has been completely leveled after it was turned over to the South Korean government:

Finally here is another YouTube video in tribute to Camp Stanton:

Camp Giant

Just down the road from Camp Garry Owen is Camp Giant:

Camp Giant was supposedly named in 1969 by Korean civilian engineers in honor of a popular American movie at the time in Korea called “Giant“. Here is an image of the camp back in 1971:

Here is a picture of the front gate of the camp when it was open:

Camp Giant is very small and can house only about one company of soldiers. The last unit to occupy the camp before it closed in 2004 was A Company 1-506 Infantry Regiment that was part of the 2nd Infantry Division 2nd Brigade Combat Team that deployed to Iraq that year. Here are pictures of what the now closed out front gate of the camp looks like today:

Here is an overview of what the camp looks like today:

Here is a picture of the barracks on the camp:

As can be seen in the below picture, many of the quonset huts from the 1971 photograph are still existent today on the camp:

Here is a picture of the post’s small gym:

As far as a ville the soldiers at the camp could walk over to Yonjugol since it is located so close to Camp Garry Owen.

Camp Howze

The next major camp in the Western Corridor is Camp Howze:

The scenic little valley where Camp Howze is located was once a farm owned by the Cho family. In 1953 the family was relocated when the US Marines made the farm their headquarters:


Picture via the Stars and Stripes.

This pagoda on the Camp Howze dates back from when the Cho family farmed in this valley:


Picture via the Stars and Stripes.

After the Marines left Korea the camp was taken over by the 24th Infantry Division from 1955-1957. It was during this time period that the quonset huts were first built on the camp. Many of these quonset huts would continue to be used by tenets units on the camp until the day Camp Howze closed. In 1957 the camp was transferred over to the 1st Cavalry Division who named the camp after the unit’s first division commander and Medal of Honor recipient Major General Robert L. Howze. The 1st Cav used the camp as its division headquarters. In 1965 the 1st Cavalry Division units in South Korea were redesignated the 2nd Infantry Division, which continued to use the camp as a division headquarters.

Here is a 1971 aerial image of Camp Howze:

The 2nd Infantry Division headquarters would move to Camp Casey in 1971 and Engineer units would then occupy the camp instead. The camp would remain an Engineer post until its closing in 2004. The last units to call the camp home was the 44th Engineer Battalion which deployed to Iraq and the headquarters for the 2nd Engineer Brigade which would deactivate in 2005. On a side note the last Engineer Brigade Commander to command the camp was Colonel “Rock” Donahue who was quite the character for those of us who knew him.

Anyway here is a 2004 picture of the Camp Howze Chapel before closing that year:


Picture via the Stars and Stripes.

Here is an image of the now closed out Camp Howze front gate today;

I have never been to the Camp Howze ville so I really don’t know anything about the place, however judging by these photographs the economic effect of the base closing is quite evident:

Finally here is a YouTube video about Camp Howze:

Camp Edwards

The next camp profiled is Camp Edwards:

Camp Edwards is just up the road from Camp Howze and is named after the Korean War Medal of Honor awardee Sergeant First Class Junior Edwards.

Like its larger camp down the road Camp Edwards was home over the year to Engineer units. Here is a 1971 image of the front gate of Camp Edwards:

From the same website comes this aerial view of Camp Edwards as well:

Here is the view of the now closed out front gate of the camp today:

The last unit to call Camp Edwards home was the 82nd Engineer Company, which redeployed off the peninsula to Hawaii. Interestingly enough after arriving in Hawaii an accident involving the unit led to the largest traffic back up in Hawaiian history known as “Black Tuesday”.

Camp Beard

The final camp profiled is Camp Beard, which is also known as RC #1:

Camp Beard is located in a valley halfway between Camp Garry Owen and Camp Stanton. I mention Camp Beard simply because it is an example of many of the camps in the Western Corridor that were closed out long before the 2004 close out of all the camps in the Western Corridor.  Here is a 1968 image of the front gate of Camp Beard which was then home to the 2-72 Armor Regiment:

I could not locate the exact date when Camp Beard closed, but I think it was in the 1970′s.  Here is what remains of the camp today:

Conclusion

When driving around the 2ID area, many old camps, which are now mostly ROK Army compounds can still be seen. It would be an interesting project to identify and take photographs of all these old camps. For now though this and all my prior postings on USFK camps will have to do.  If any one has any pictures of the old camps they want to share feel free to post them in the ROK Drop Forums.

Further Reading:

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

Comments

I’ve been to a few USFK bases, and most of the buildings were barracks for soldiers and other facilities for those who work and live on base. They should let some of these anti-Americans on base. I imagine a few would become disillusioned with the movement given the chance to have the underwhelming experience of peeking behind the walls.

I don’t think that would help in the slightest. Ive dealt with these sorts of people over the years and there is no reasoning with them. If you let them tour a post, they would still swear there was polluted land in areas they were denied access (even if they were not denied access). They just hate America. Simple as that…

Great post.

I don’t know when the ADA battalion was re-flagged, but I do know that in 1992 Camp Stanton had HQ/A 5-5 ADA and D/5-5 ADA (Avenger), and that pedestrian overpass wasn’t there. My battery commander on Hovey hated having to go to the Western Corridor for weekly command & staff call.

HHB/5-5 ADA moved to Camp Sears a few years later and D/5-5 ADA moved to Stanley. I believe that was in 1996. At the same time, C/5-5 ADA (BSFV) on Casey was re-designated A/5-5 ADA.

Thanks for the memories, there are alot of them. There’d be more if it weren’t Soju…

Yes, great memories! I find all this bittersweet. Its sad to see mt old stomping grounds fading into history but at the same time this is evidence showing Korea is ready to hold its own. That is a good thing.

GI Korea,

I’m not going to pretend that I know even half as much as you do in this area, but it does seem to me that there is some merit to the claim that there has been environmental damage in the military bases. According to this article (Link), a meter-thick layer of diesel was covering the groundwater underneath Camp Edward. This is not some crackpot reporting — it is the most reputable newspaper in Korea reporting a site visit from the National Assembly.

I think part of the history is a little messed up,

The apple orchard is what became Camp Pelham and Camp Beard (RC 1) outside of Munsan, (Sonjuri was the ville next to the camps) with Pelham later changed its name to Garry Owen, and closed with that being its last naming.

Camp Rice, next to the ville of Yongugol, which was outside the town of Paju, became Garry Owen when the Cav added a second ground troop there, and the Air Cav troops moved from Camp Stanley up to Camp Mobile.

Before the Cav moved to Pelham and renamed it, there was an MP platoon there, which mainly patrolled the clubs in the local villes outside the camps in the western corridor

I was being facetious.

Very good read.

The American media is not much better, but Korea has NO “reputable” media outlets. The crazy cow bullshit just proves it.

With the billions and billions of dollars korea has made because of the stability offered by the presence of USFK, korea should clean it up.

American families and soldiers (consdired to be nothing more than “tripwires” to koreans) and the US taxpayers have suffered enough for ungrateful koreans like Tom to live in freedom.

Enough Americans have spilled their blood, enough American families have been torn apart and enough taxpayer’s money has been spent on korea. In general korea thwhich of course those who are anti-American for no reason, just aren’t worth it.

korea has to learn for once that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Oh come on! Yeah Korean media outlets are biased, but most Koreans aren’t like Tom and these protesters. Just because they would prefer we weren’t there and get bent out of shape when some Joe gets drunk and does something stupid doesn’t mean they are unappreciative. From my own experience I’ve probably gotten about three Korean “thank you”s for every one Korean “Yankee go home!”.

JohnT,

Which Korean media outlets did you read during the mad cow protest? The three largest newspapers in Korea were all staunchly opposed to the mad cow protest, often calling it “hysteria”.

RC1 wasn’t closed until the rest of Western Corridor in 2000 or so.

When I was at Camp Page there were a lot of pollution stories in the 90s. So we took the media onto the base and showed them the HazMat collection areas and how the water flows through post, same as Yongsan, and the Army did not let anything get into the creek. Whatever was in the creek came from the other side of post. But, of course it didn’t help. Those that hated the U.S. would just find another reason.

I was also in Area 1 on the baseops side when we discovered a leak at Camp Howze. You wouldn’t believe the expense we went to for cleanup. We had to take all of the soil out and have it treated/disposed of, and not just the wet soil, and soil that ‘might’ have been contaminated.

All in all, from my experience, the U.S. does a better job of keeping the area clean than the Koreans themselves. Just go to any garage in Seoul and watch the mechanics let the oil and radiator fluid flow right into the street drain.

And why no pictures of Camp Greaves? Liberty Bell? Camp Kitty Hawk/Bonifas? You left out some significant locations and their units: The JSA Battalion, 1-9INF/1-506thINF

One of my friends served in Korea before around the late 1970’s-early 80’s and I specifically asked him about pollution. He said at that time it was really bad. Again, that’s 30 years ago now though.

I drove past Greaves about 5 months ago on a USO DMZ tour. Probably no pics because it is so hard to get pictures of it. You can’t just drive your car up to the gate. When I drove past it on the bus it looked like nothing had been torn down, it was overgrown with weeds though. I hear most of the other bases in the Western Corridor will turn into satellite campuses for some of the universities in Korea.

What a lame excuse to pollute Korean soil. It would be like me devastating American forests just because Americans did it before.

You have totally missed my point. My point is if we pollute we clean it up. How did you not read that?

The other point about the U.S. keeping it cleaner than Koreans isn’t that it’s ok to pollute, it’s that politics cloud the issue whether we keep it clean or not and there is a clear double standard.

Yeah! *giggle* I mean, er, *cough* Yeah!… Korea is ready to hold their own… I guess if you are referring to their ability to bribe the norK’s, then yeah, they can hold their own.they can

“I hear most of the other bases in the Western Corridor will turn into satellite campuses for some of the universities in Korea.”

Umm,let me see, What are those called? Oh yeah, lies.

I am doing a separate posting on the DMZ area camps that I will eventually get posted. Be patient.

If you can read Korean I think it talks about their plans for the bases in these 2 articles:

http://www.paju.go.kr/open_content/paju_today/new…

http://www.paju.go.kr/open_content/kwangtan/kwang…

Great Job on these Camps. With everything shifting South, it is good to get this information while it is still available.

There were so many Camps in that area in the late 50s, till the big reduction in 71. Be impossible to list them all.

The camp pollution issue is much like the Yongsan water dumping incident. A few gallons of formaldehyde is dumped down the drain and processed through two water treatment plants before entering the Han River is twisted to wear Koreans are going to come down with cancer and responsible for causing a mutant to kill Korean civilians in a popular monster movie. While all this hysteria is going on the fact that Korean companies continue to dump far more dangerous chemicals and pollutants into the country’s rivers are ignored. I can remember in Uijongbu riding my bike along the river running through the city that flows to the Han and seeing ajushi with septic truck dumping raw sewage straight into the river.
http://rokdrop.com/2008/03/18/gi-myths-the-2000-y…

This same phenomenon has happened with the camp pollution issue. These camps have been there since the Korean War and home to large military equipment and of course things like fuel leaks from underground storage tanks will happen. However, USFK long before any camp close outs has spent a lot of money on dealing with HAZMAT issues. HAZMAT has long been an area checked by command inspection programs. A lot of work not only in USFK but around the Army in general is put into HAZMAT. People in the Army realize this. However, the anti-US groups make absurd claims like people needing radiation suits to enter these camps while ignoring the what is going on right outside the gates of the camp. As mentioned before these environmental groups were trying to hold USFK responsible for pollution in canals running through the camps that are polluted long before they even enter the camp. I have long said the ROK government should release the environmental report. Lets see what their complaints are?

By the way the Camp Edwards fuel leak was cleaned up:
http://www.environetinc.com/proj-rem-camp.html

Now when are these Korean politicians going to go dig around ROK Army camps and see what is in that soil?

I will fully agree that the formaldehyde issue and the HAZMAT suit issue are bullshit. But seems to me that the fuel leak contamination issue is still real. I’m glad to hear that it is cleaned up though.

And thanks for responding, as always.

I think we’re missing the main point here about the pollution problem. It is irrelevant whether it exists or not as it is controlled by the SOFA agreement. The ORIGINAL agreement stated that the lands would be returned “as is” when returned to the ROK. When the first major revision was done 1990-1992, they started up “working groups” to work with the ROK government and environmental agencies on the pollution problem, but they never changed the wording in the SOFA agreement. They continued the eye-wash “working groups” until present, but the wording remains the same. The camps will be returned “as is.” The USFK — as a goodwill gesture (snark) — only cleans up environmental hazards that are immediate risks.

This is the crux. Even if the camps are screwed up to hell, the US LEGALLY does not have any responsibility. Yeah, the USFK looks like the bad guy in the ROK’s eyes, but the document that was signed in 1963 and lasted till the present gives the USFK the out.

BTW when I visited my cousin up at Camp Gary Owens many years ago the first thing I noticed (and smelled) was the pig farms right across the fence from the camp. The other side of the camp was a Korean garage with oil-soaked earth. The point is the ROK community surrounding the base had just as much fault for polluting the ground water over the years as Camp Gary Owens seemed to be in a sump-hole when compared to the surrounding community. Though the camp would have the majority of the blame, it is still irrelevant because of the SOFA wording. This is why the USFK simply walked away from the camps in the end because they knew the ROK could not take them to any international court and win.

Irrespective of SOFA, isn’t there value in having a moral high ground, leading by example, and not pissing off an ally? OJ Simpson was found LEGALLY not guilty, but he hardly came out looking like a saint in the process.

The big problem is the ROK environmental groups wanted to turn the project in Super-fund base cleanup programs that would have cost the US government BILLIONS of dollars — possibly into a trillion — because the ground water tables are not only on the camp but extend far outward into the communities. That towns grew up surrounding the camps (Yongsan is a prime example) the real estate costs to effect a Super-fund type operation would be astronomically high.

This pollution problem is NOT a USFK problem but a problem of international treaties and intergovernment actions. This is at the Presidential level and Congressional/National Assembly level discussion. The “moral high ground” is irrelevant when we start talking in terms of billions of dollars being thrown at a problem WHEN THE US IS NOT LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

My personal experience of how messy this gets comes from being an EMS Maintenance Supervisor at George AFB, CA (a superfund base) many decades ago as the pollution leeched its way down to the Belen River many miles away from the base. The cleanup in the ROK would be a bloody nightmare as cities grew up to surround the bases. If the US even hinted at accepting fiscal responsibility, the costs would sky-rocket immediately into BILLIONS of dollars.

The pollution problems do not have any simplistic solution. Remember that the ROK is one of the worst polluters themselves for dumping industrial toxic waste into rivers, green belts and rice fields. This is a massive problem that even Korea continues to stick its head in the ground and pretend it doesn’t exist.

Agreed that there is no simple solution. It’s just that one thing about this issue keep on nagging at me:

Insisting upon legal rights is not the best PR strategy — especially when the treaty was entered into when Korea had hardly any leverage and a dictator was running the country. I recently argued here that the Basic Treaty between Korea and Japan is of dubious legality because, among other things, it was entered into by a dictator who did not properly represent the country. I find SOFA to be much, much more valuable than the Basic Treaty so I don’t want to make the same argument with equal vigor, but it still nags at me.

Basically, if we (America) want to keep our billions (and I agree that billions could be at stake, although trillion sounds like a stretch,) we have to accept that we are going to piss off Koreans. In fact, I’m not sure if we have any right to tell Koreans not to get mad if we insist upon our legal rights.

Korean,

I agree with you totally that the PR from the way that the US has been forced to handle the problem sucks. From the Korean point of view, it is totally abhorrent. I can sympathize with their outlook.

However, the reality is the ROK doesn’t want to pick up the tab — and the US refuses to pick up the tab. It is a no-win situation.

This is an on-going problem with noise pollution being the latest stick-in-the-eye for all ROKAF and USAF bases.

The ROK government killed their national level EPA in about 1995 and shuttled the responsibility to the provinces who in turn rammed it down the city level throats. The environmental protection in Korea is very weak. But here at Osan AB, the Pyeongtaek City government is constantly taking samples outside of the base of the water. The noise pollution levels are well-lit on a board near the railroad tracks.

The USFK will ALWAYS end up on the short end of the stick in the PR battle with the ROK over pollution. It’s not going away and there simply is nothing the USFK can do to improve their environmental image. The projects that worked in Europe and the states on DoD property will NOT work in Korea. SIGH…more bad news for the USFK.

I have noticed some mistakes in the text of your review of the old camps in the western corridor. I would be more than happy to provide you with the corrections if you’ll contact me.

This is my first visit here.

Ken Leighty

** 1Lt, A Co 2/72nd Armor

Camp Beard

Compound Commander

RC#4, Sonyuri

1967/68

Hi,

Was that Camp Edwards (west) gate ? as I was working or playing Gate guard back in 71-72…lots of free overnight passes! lol curious! lots of fun riding bikes to turkey farm!

Do you know the name of the ville across from Camp Edwards (west)? Lke to know if it is a city now?

Negative. It’s still just a sleepy little hamlet. Can’t recall the name. Was at Camp Edwards when it closed (as a contractor).

Mike Houser, the name of the ville across from Edwards, was Yong Te ri…

The had 3 clubs there, I can only remember 1 Tree Club.

CP Stanton was HQ for the corridor ADA throughout the 70s and early 90s. Nice to see they finally got around to finding a safe way for the troopers to get down to the lower compound safely. We lost one, and had numerous close calls with the speeding traffic. If I may be so bold, seems to me the cleanest places in the ROK were the camps!! Eventhough I love Korea, and It’s culture, they have a long way to go regarding the environmental issues. Forgot how many times I saw the mixer trucks dumping raw sewage into the paddys.

Don’t know if it’s spelled right but it’e yongtari. I was at Camp

Edwards West Dec 81-82.

This probably isn’t spelled right but it was yongtari, I was there dec 81-82.

another was 7 up club

I remember stepping outside the airport terminal in Seattle, WA to have a smoke after flying home from my tour in Korea. One of my first thoughts was that I could not believe how clean everything looked. I really think that the Korean protesters on the pollution issue need to come to the USA and have a look at how we live then compare that to the way their streets look, perhaps it might convince them to worry more about cleaning up their own lifestyles and to just be thankful UN and US forces put a stop to that nutcase up North.

Nice tour of memory lane. Was at Pelham. We had no MPs so one duty was to go to all the bars in town and stop fights on weekends. Remember the first day there and my visit to Paradise Club. Also there was a bar called Club USA or something. Had an American woman that owned it. If you have seen her, you remember her.

Bones:

I thought the ville across from Camp Edwards was Kumchan (Gum Chon)?

Oh, well. It’s been too many years since I was there.

I spent time hiking around the hills, but wasn’t in the ville much.

was stationed at camp stanton from 88-89. had a blast over there. i was in G Btry 5th ADA. it was 2/61 when i got there in 88

Response to GI Korea and 40 (4/7 Medic)

About the South Korean activists protesting about pollution on US bases in ROK, you have to remember who was in power in ROK when the protests started. Yes DJ (aka closet communist, or rather servant of Kim of North Korea) was in power. Casual observers of Korean affairs may not know but DJ didn’t have much love for US. It’s pretty apparent that he and his underlings were busy looking for mud to throw on US and USFK.

But you ask how could DJ and his underlings be so effective in rousing up the anti-US sentiment among ROK citizens? It’s called 9 PM news. Not too long ago in ROK, the 9PM TV news on the 3 channels (KBS1, KBS2, MBC which are all owned and operated by ROK govt) were the all powerful information outlet in ROK. They were the authoritative source of news in ROK and most people pretty much believed what they saw/heard. No internet and no cable TV as alternative. Some newspapers were more independent but not influential enough to overcome the power of TV news.

There were some stark changes in the 9PM News when Chun Doo-Hwan (gained power through military coup) was in power and when DJ became president. When Chun was president, the 9PM news ALWAYS started with what HE did that day. EVERYDAY. Many stuff were really trivial stuff.

However when DJ became president few years later, all 9PM news ended with clips of some kind of bad behavior by USFK. One I remember is when supposedly used medical equipment including used needles were dumped near an old, unused US radar installation. Another was when a neighborhood was repeatedly flooded in monsoon season because a US military camp nearby wouldn’t cooperate with requests for digging a deeper flood channel. The list went on and on. It’s possible that the ROK people were simply heady with the newly found freedom after the military dictatorship of Chun ended. But IMO, they happened because someone or some group coordinated to rouse people’s anger against USFK. When a populace keeps hearing same thing again and again, they will eventually believe it.

Even the mad cow disease was a hoax. It was found out later that the translation of one of the interviews was altered by the producer of the segment. One of the translator who translated an interview of an American came out and said what he translated was altered when it was actually aired. Had it not been altered, it wouldn’t have supported the argument of the ROK TV producers.

And you still ask how can that be? Well, it can happen because the ROK president appoints the heads of KBS1, KBS2 and MBC as they are govt entities. The previous head of one of the TV stations (not sure which one) appointed by President Roh (another US hater), practically had to be dragged out of his post. Not 100% sure but the heads of the TV stations report directly to the president of ROK.

And a response to 4/7 Medic, your perception of how clean/dirty ROK could be skewed depending on where you spent most of your time in ROK. Obviously the villes won’t be as clean as a major US airport. But when did you leave ROK? When I visited ROK recently, Seoul was pretty clean considering it was a city of 10 million. If you went back now, you’d be surprised.

I was at Camp Edwards (east) from 74-75 and I believe the ville was called Yong te ri, with the Tree Frog club which we frequented often. Lots of great memories:

– taking my platoon through a minefield of ‘bouncing betties’in the DMZ

-almost seeing my commission disappear as a flaming white phosphorus mortar round narrowly missed men and equipment after an exceptionally energetic EOD attempt

-hunting pheasant and deer in the DMZ

-getting knocked out for a half hour at the ‘combat basketball game’

Had a great time with best engineer company in the Army-Bravo Company, 2nd Engineers-Gunfighter’s Engineers

Was stationed at Greaves, Liberty Bell and Howze during my three years of duty in Korea from Nov. 86 to Nov. 89. You’ve mixed up the names of some of the villes, but other than that, a great read. Thanks.

Club Paradise was in Sonyuri, which sat between the gates of Camp Pelham and RC#4. Yongjugol was the ville outside the gates of Camp Gary Owen. Bongilcheon was outside the gates of Camp Howze (actually, up MSR 1 toward Edwards East and West was the real village of Bongilcheon, but we called the ville outside Howze’s gates Bongilcheon. That’s how it was in the late 80’s any way.

I used to live just down the alley and to the right of the 77 Club in your picture. Our first room we rented was in the basement of the landlord’s house and in the winter the only way to heat water for a “shower” was on the ondol heater.

I was at Camp Howze from Mar 88 – Mar 89, check out the Camp Howze group on facebook for lots of pics and videos.

Seem to have forgotten good ole Camp Edwards East. Small post across from Edwards. Smalll post home of B 1/5th Mrch

I bought a camcorder when I was at Cp Howze back in 88-89. I uploaded a bunch of pics and began uploading Vids on the Cp Howze Facebook group, I also have lots of footage of JSA/Liberty Bell and even a little Greaves, Warrior Base and Freedom Bridge area. I also have footage of MSR-1 and the front of Edwards

nice….been awhile, I was there..assigned to 1/4 Fa Camp Pellam, and attached to maneuver unit 1/5 INF camp howze but spent most of my time with B company 1/5 inf at edwards east…alwayways wondered what came of these places as I heard we no longer had them…

I WAS IN CAMP PELHAM IN 1968 AND 1969 IT WAS CAMP PELHAM THEN I HAVE MOVIES OF THE FRONT GATE. WOW WHAT MEMORIES HARD TO BELIEVE HOW THINGS HAVE SINCE THEN THE PICTURES FROM 2004 LOOK ULTRA MODERN FROM WHEN I WAS THERE.

Duke of Yongugal is right. There are a couple errors. It was still called Camp Pelham when I was there in ’92. The MP Platoon was 3rd Plt, 2nd MP. They were moved to Camp Howze shortly before my arrival.Camp Howze was the headquarters of the 3rd Brigade (Inf). I still have pics of the 3rd brigade “spade” posted there in late ’92. 44th Engineer took over thru the summer/fall of that year. Awesome postings.

2nd to none- Law of the Warrior!

Was at Camp Garry Owen in Jan. ’82 for a few months, (A troop) anyone remember “calculator man”? Then to Camp Howze to be Colonel’s driver (HHC 3rd Brigade, what a gig that was!!!), then my last few months back at Gary Owen (got caught “slickying” an overnight pass). What a trip those 13 months were. The first three didn’t even seem like reality.

Ditto on Yong-ti-dae, I have a picture I can look for that should have the correctly spelled name of the place. Not much there in the 90s, I only recall a small convenience store and a fried chicken place.

I was at Camp Edwards from 97-98. The town 10 minutes away is Kumchon in case anyone is wondering.

Sad to see my old base closed (Camp Howze too).

I miss the days of being a Yonjugol ranger

i was stationed at camp garry owen mid 70’s your post bring back a lot of memories. there was a club in yonjugol called the oasis. the club was most frequented by non-com’s. i sorded in s-4 the camp wasnot dirty by anyones image.the ville and roads leading into it were beyond words as being filthy.i was one of the nco’s who had the unpleasant duty of serving under gen brady. what a prud!!!! nco’s were not allowed to assoiate with known bussiness women. but hey guys sure appreciated the memories.

i have seen some off the pictures submitted.it saddensme to see what has become of some of the campswe called home. when i was there it was not near as modern looking as some of the pictures indicate.iwonder what became maj cameron s4 officer when i was there. he was a good officer and a person charater he was the type you could look up to.

’64-’65 I was stationed at Camp Rice (outside Yonjugol)- Hq. Co. 27th/702nd Maint. Bn. I’m really confused about Camp Gary Owen. When I was at Camp Rice, I’m fairly sure that Gary Owen was in our Bn., up near the DMZ. Did the original Camp Gary Owen close, and then was Camp Rice renamed to Camp Gary Owen?

I was driver for the Adjatant, and wouldn’t trade a minute of my Camp Rice experiences. I have many slides that I hope to get uploaded soon. I would love to hear from anyone stationed @ Camp Rice during that time.

Jerry Schrag

it was my understanding that camp rice became camp garry owen .it seems to me that there was a small sign still there in 76 that indicated camp rice,before it was removed shortly after i was there.which reminds me that all the roads in the camp (which were few) were to be named after MOH soldiers. this was assigned to a young lt of which i cannot remember his name.i must say he seemed to be a decent sort. i like some of you don’t remember all of the things from 35years ago.i would like to see more post from those stationed there during the mid 70’s may jog my memory a little.

Sgt. Wing- Thanks for your info. In the ’60s, Camp rice was across the bridge from yonjugol to Tajepol, through the village approx. a half mile, and Camp Rice was on the right. It was small- less than 100 personnel, and backed up against a hill. The pictures that I have seen on the web of Camp Gary Owen, do not look like the old Camp Rice. I believe 1Lt Ken Leighty has put up some Camp Rice pictures that do look like the Camp Rice that I remember. Perhaps there are some others that have memories of Camp Rice in the ’60s.

Is anyone the least bit concerned about the possible Agent Orange exposure to everyone who served at these camps(GI and KATUSA) AFTER 1971 ??? The half life of dioxin is 9-15 years in ground soil. We drank the water in the compound and in the ville. I remember vehicles with trailer drawn “foggers” spraying periodically on RC4 (circa 1979-80). Who knows what else we were exposed to ??? Wake up Warriors !!!! Dont let the VA sweep this issue under the rug.

I was stationed at Cp. Greaves (1st/9th Inf. Bn.)”Keep up the Fire!”

from Jan 84-Jan 85. Was placed in S-4 as they needed drivers when I arrived. Sweet gig, as a deuce 1/2 driver in HHC no humping and no BS, plus we had ongoing offpost driver’s pass…..so we could cruise or trucks through Sonyuri or Yongjugol at a whim. We always went down range to Yongjugol in a group and always to same hooch area and club for overnight pass.The Niagara club!!! There was the Honeybee club and Happy Club. In Sonyuri you had the paradise and Blue Angel club. All the girls in the seedy Blue Angel would put on Breakfast stage shows of ping ping ball and lesbo activity, you always stood the risk, high risk of getting burnt (vd) if you had one of them blue angel girls, but the guys said the vd was worth it. Highlite of your was Russian Student who defected from the north at JSA on my birthday 24 Nov 1984. The north korean soldiers chased him into the south and we killed about 3 of them with our Qrf.

Oh….I was also walking guard on Freedom Bridge when Diane Feinstein the mayor of San Francisco drove by on her way to a Pan Mun Jom tour in 84.

“I was also walking guard on Freedom Bridge when Diane Feinstein the mayor of San Francisco drove by on her way to a Pan Mun Jom tour in 84.”

You had a loaded rifle and you did nothing?

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/02/14/epas-supe…

I remember correctly the clubs in Yong ju gol.

Coming from Garryowen was the..

California

Chin Ju

Cotton

US America

New Seoul

7-up

Happy

Queen Bee

Oasis

It was so wild, the girls would get into fight and they cleared the club lol

I drove up there 2 months ago, didn’t realize where I was at. It has changed that much…..

For you old timers…the clubs in TDC that’s still around is the Rondevou, Dragon, Peace and Pop store.

#64 ChickenHead, You funny.

I remember the Happy Club had a lot of blonde haired girls. And I remember one that was upstairs, but I cant remember what its name was.

bones what year were you there? i can remember most of the clubs that you mention i just needed my memory jogged a little.when i was there i worked for a maj cameron and a cpt white which were the s-4 officers in charge.i must say they each were good and fair men. look forward to hearing more post in the future.thanks for the memories.

#64 That was one of those critical moments in history. A tipping point.

Who am I fooling. In the grand scheme of things she is perfectly meaningless. Still wish he’d have taken the shot for GP.

I was at Garry Owen from 75-77 and Hovey from 86-87, did some time at Warrior Base with the 1-503rd. The photos sure don’t look like anything that I remember except maybe the barber shop, it was just outside the rec center and was air conditioned. Got a haircut once a week. Remember Yong Ju Gol well, I think I paid for a building or two. Spent most of my time at the Niagara Club, but did manage to get some time in the Happy, Oasis, 7-Club and Queen Bee. I think there was a new club opened called the Paradise. Also spent some time in some “tea houses” drinking some dark brown liquid. The Turkey Farm was open for awhile, it was off-limits when I went back in 86. Oscar, OB beer, kimchi and Crest toothpaste. Falstaff beer for $2 a case and no ration, did have to go buy a can opener for it tho. Also managed to do a little soldiering while I was there and it was good.

I spent 15 glorious months on Camp Pelham and will never forget the experience. The true test of new comers was definitely a visit to the parasite i mean paradise club. the girls were super aggressive and intimidating to a guy just in from the states. I was there from Apr 90 thru July 91 during the first gulf war hence the extended stay of three extra months. Sonjuri was the paradise club on the surface but those of us who were stationed there knew of the back alley clubs where anything and everything goes. If you remember this was still during the ration years so cigarettes and booze went for a pretty price if you knew who to deal with. i brought a leather jacket and a wool suit for a bottle of Chevas Regal! insane! love the site keep up the good work and a great post about the western corridor. PEACE

Hey all, just wanted to let you know that basically everyone who served in Korea is eligible for the Korea Defense Serice Medal (KDSM). Not that it matters all that much, but for those of us who served in that strange land under that strange armistice, it’s cool to see our service recognized. Veterans can apply to have their DD214 updated and the ribbon sent. I’ve already done it but am still waiting for the paperwork.

Anyways, I thought that was pretty cool and wanted to let you all know if you didn’t already.

I was stationed at Camp Pelham (later renamed Gary Owen) in 1983 and am looking to re-unite with Army members and also I’m hoping to get any photos from that time. Please feel free to e-mail me at hiler8@gmail.com with any info or just a hello..thanks.

This site really helped me piece together the area on a satellite map (google earth). The strip of Sunjuri outside of Camp Pelham (later Garry Own) is now dwarfed by huge construction works behind the north side of the strip. I can send a file through e-mail if you want to see what I’ve been looking at.

hiler8@gmail.com

daniel would like the information on getting the service medal.i aslo have a couple of awards that did not get on my dd-214 any info on the procedure to get it done or addded sould be helpful . thank you and all the others that have brought back the memmories for me.

Hi Sgt Wing,

This website lays it out pretty easily: http://www.missilesofkeywest.bravepages.com/medal…

The layout for the request page has changed a bit so you won’t find the same icons, but the instructions are the same. I can also confirm that this Saturday I received my updated DD214 in the mail, with a letter stating that all of my previous (and new) medals will be sent to me within a couple weeks.

Good luck Sgt, I’m looking forward to seeing my ribbon and medal first-hand in a couple weeks!

You are correct, I was station at Camp Howze in the winter of ’71. I was attached to B Troop, 4th Sqdn 7th Cav. Before being relocated to Camp Rice. We were given the task to deploy to Dragons Mouth if and when the north made an attempt to move into Seoul. That is were 8th Army was assigned. I guess things have changed since then, in the 13 month of being there not once did I hear for our removal. Had a great time with some wonderful folks, drinking Oscar and trekking through the back country. Some hard working, poor yet proud peoples. We had them on an agricultural type of program back them. Then again it was 1971-1972 and they really hated the North. Pollution was not a big issue, however, that motor pool and diesel heater did leave a mess. Thanks for the info, I was not aware they had close the western corridor. I must say coming across this web sight has made me pull out those long ago picture I stashed away. I met some great guys, some a little crazy, some of I wouldn’t turn my back to and those I would give my right arm for. Good times I must admit especially the Moon Tea room in Seoul. Thanks for helping me recall those wonderful memories of my army days in that freezer call the Republic of South Korea….”Chav”

Help me with this issue…I have had a very difficult time with my health since I ets from Ft. Hood Texas in 1974. My face was swelling up and now I am trying to recover from nerve damage to my legs and hands. They are telling me it is neuropathy, it crippled me in 13 years ago!

Gary Owen, 81-82, A Troop 4/7th….. watching the video, did not recognize anything about gary owen….. all i know they had great living quarters…. we had the old quansin (sp?) huts, turtle ditches, maybe hot water 4 days a week…… what a time…. driving the tanks through the towns….. trying to stop 50+ tons on ice and the main gun going through a wall of one of the bars…… blowing a 9 ft hole with a HEP round in the bridge we drove across to get to the Korean tank range…… what a time…..

I just wish i could remember more of my buddies over there…. 30 years ago, where does the time go……

I spent 45 consecutive months in Korea from April 89 to January 93 and I miss it to this day. From April 89 to Aug 92 I was stationed at Camp Edwards West and the last part, due to our unit deactivation (296th FSB) was at Camp Casey with the 702nd MSB. Not only was the Army experience there less hassle and more mission driven than the state side duty stations but it was just down right fun. It is on my bucket list to go back soon just to see the country and the changes that have occured. I appreciate the write ups and such as it allows for some insight as to what has transpired since I left. As a note I saw something in the right up about the Paradise and it being in Yongjugol but I recall it being outside Pelham in Sonyuri.(Spelling) I guess they did some juggling of bases as Gary Owen was Pelham and the original Gary Owen was more south than the maps show here and at one time (during my stint there) there was Cp Howze, Cp Edwards West/East, Cp Stanton, Cp Giant, Cp Pelham and Cp Bonifas all in that area. 1/4 FA (M198 Howitzers) was at Pelham with some ADA (Avengers/Stingers/Vulcans) and the Tankers were at Gary Owen. FA at Sonyuri and Tankers in Yongjugol. But it seems they consolidated?

I was at North Camp Custer in Paju-ri with the 545th MP Co., 1st Cav. Div, from May,1964-June, 1965. Our MP station was in Yongu-gol, across from RC#1. Most of my off duty time was spent in Yongu-gol. The 21 Club, Oasis, 7up Club and the Queen Bee are the only ones I can remember. Of course none of us will ever forget the Turkey Farm.

#83, SGT Houlette. Why haven’t you gone back?? Based on what
you said, you have a strong yearning to do that. Go man!
I will bet you .25 cents hard cold cash there is no other
place you would rather visit on planet earth, what say you! If you have any trepidations about a visit there, contact me.
jfisher1946@gmail.com

Sgt. Houlette (702 MSB / 296 FSB)

Pelham was later renamed Garry Owen so there is some confusion as to the two adjacent villes. I was at Pelham in 1983 and I’m wondering if you were there and is so at what time? I’m hoping to get photos of that ville Sonyuri from the 90s. I have a good set of photos from about 1970 onwards but the 90s remains a blank. I have some further details you may want to know about or if your looking for photos let me know at hiler8@gmail.com and I’ll send some to you.

Chris Hiler

As to the time and the lack of pocket digital cameras I will admit I do not have as many as I wish. I would have been there right int he time you wanted when the “parasite” club with “Peggy” and the girls were all there. I was at Edwards from April 89 to Sept 92 and supported both the battalion of artillery at Pelham (1/4th FA) and also the guns that rotated out of 4P3 monthly from the rest of the Division for break/fix.

Of the Pelham area the ones i have found are of the field trainging area at the end of the ville at the fork where the M198′s used to setup. I found a few I snapped there when I was on the way to Camp Casey one day from the corridor with some guns which were laid for exercises and maybe the main gate. Do not think I have any others in Pelham…. carrying cameras then was not as simple and not a priority which I kick myself in the backside for all the time. I will admit the “Gun Bunnies” (13B’s) loved to party and were a bunch of great guys to know.

For the ville outside of the old Gary Owen I have some pics of the inside of the one club that looked like a cave inside with the white walls and had the “for your protection where prophylactic” in both english and korean suspending from the ceiling. yeah too funny I know.. I think at the time it was called the “Nabi club”. I will look and see what I have.

Sgt. Houlette,

I’ve seen quite a few mentions about “Nabi club” on other blog sites as well…sounds like that club and the ville Yonjugal was a real trip!

Leon LaPorte. A friend of mine on the USFK staff told me that when LaPorte was the USFK Commander, his nickname was SAM (Short Angry Man).

yongjugol was a fun ass place to be back in the day

Gary Owen was originally adjacent to the town of Yon Ji Gol before it moved to the former Camp Pelham, which is adjacent to SonYuRi. I was stationed at Camp Pelham in 81 82 as an MP and I know every nook and cranny in Paju Ri, which is the County within the western corridor. Some people don’t know about the original Camp Gary Owen and that Pelham was a separate camp with the 2/17 FA Bn, E Co, 2nd Eng, 4th Plt of the 2nd MP’s. RC4, which was right down the street from Pelham at the west end of the ville housed 2/61st ADA (Vulcan/Chapparel).

Scott,

Yeah I have seen a lot of comfsuion on blog sites about the two Villes by the original location of Garry Owen (Yon Ji Gol) and Pelham (SonYuRi). I was at Pelham and have been assembling photos and reading blog sites in an attempt to get a good sense of how the area of SonYuRi has changed over time.

http://www.camppelham.com/storiesCH.html

“confusion”

Chris, that’s a great website you have there. Brings back a ton of memories to me. I remember the Blue Angel, Kiss Me Club, Paradise Club (Kiss Me close and bought the Paradise) at that point we started calling it the parasite club. I had a great time there. Hope to go back and visit in the near future.

Hey Guys,
Was stationed in ROK in ’73. Arrived two weeks before Christmas at Camp Rice, B Trp, 4th Sqdn, 7th Cav, next to village we called Yon-gu-gol. In summer of ’73, B Trp packed up and moved south to Camp Pelham, I believe, which had a name change to Gerry Owen. Air field, helicoptors, was right across the road. Used to beg rides occasionaly. Had no crossover walkway when I was there. Flyboys were a crazy bunch, but we loved to party with them , especially “Crazy Charlie.”

Sorry, Camp Pelham was north and housed a friend of mine who belonged to an MP, or UP unit. Not sure what the name of the base we moved to was before called Gerry Owen. Will try to look it up in some of my pictures.

checked on it. the camp we moved to named Gerry Owen, was named Camp Stanton when I arrived there in ’73.

Hi Earl, good to hear from an “old timer” like you. Stanton ended up as the Air Cav camp. It was down the road from Gary Owen. I remember that place like it was yesterday. I went back in 91-93 as a civilian at casey, visited pelham and the area. Things really changed. I plan on heading back that way in the near future. I ended up getting out of the Army and joined the Marine Corps, went to language school and learned Korean….need to brush up a little.

Scott
I hope you take a digital camera with you. Man if I had the means I would take one and a flip and do a walking tour of a couple locations.

Wow Scotty,You are bringing back memories of our days stationed on Pelham in 1980. We were secluded from the troops because of our Military Police Mission. 217FA. ” If I were the cane I would go insane”. Living ,sleeping and eatong with Katusas. Teaching them american slang and all our bad 22yo habits. Living out with the locals in a hooch with my Korean wife and 2yo son. Honey Pots, Bug sprayers at night. Us out during curfew delivering the blotter From the DMZ to Camp Howze. Drinking the water pumped out of the ground next to a rice paddy. Travelling to Seoul on the red train from Munson. We all stuck together like real brothers. I got to go back to our old haunts soon and I will be coming next time.

I have some old pics of our old squad. I will post them soon.

I was at Camp Stanton in from late 72 and 73 and moved to Camp Garry Owen 74, Camp Stanton Was called Stanton Amry airfield and change to Camp Stanton and Camp Rice Became Camp Garry Owen Spent the best 2 years of my life there even thou I didn’t know it then, The camps were not dirty but they were polluited with old oil and deisel fuel, JP-4 and we did spray Agent Orange along the fence line with a garden sprayer that we filled from a 55 gallon drum that was stored in the back of the motor pool at stanton I was a PFC back then and you can guess who got detailed to spray the weeds along the fence I remember that we would pour used motor oil in back of the motor pool on the ground it look like asphalt pavement when it was dry and nothing grew back there not even wild pot plants one of the men tried I remember him using a pick-ax to try loosen the dirt it just chipped up in large chunks

@ 87 & 88, the club you guys are talking about, was the New Seoul club.

@ 84 were you there from 86 to 87? Sgt. Houlette nobody seems to remember 4P3, I do.

The Happy club had the blondes, until a GI brought his wife into the club,
(she was a natural blonde) after that the girls went to their natural hair color. The Happy club girls were the wildest (they would have you on the defensive).

The 3rd photo down from the top..an areal shot of Garry Owen (was Pelham in ’83 when I was there) and the Ville Seonju-ri. I can still make out the rout we used for PT runs.

I was at Pelham from 93-94. I was still a turtle when I celebrated a birthday there. My “friends” dropped me off at the parasite club after some heavy drinking. The next memory I have is waking up the next morning in my room, late for PT and the 1st Sgt screaming for me because my wallet was turned it at the front gate. Of course the wallet was empty. The good ole days!

I was stationed at Edwards (West)1987-88. I was ETSed in 3/88. The camp had the Forward Area Support Team (FAST), a medical company (or detachment)with helipad, some supply outfit, and my unit- C/702nd. Also, small px store, barber, nco (really for everyone) club, and a small commissary.

After a few months there I served as a vehicle inspector for vehicles being brought for repairs- good duty. Also, as CCI- case contact interviewer. Stange additional duty for a 63W. CCI had to notify club girls that a solder, uh well let’s say had too much fun with the wrong one. lol

Interesting link way above- my my office was feet away from those gas pumps. I recall a Senator (Ohio?) coming in a convoy on the way to DMZ stopping to fill up. He was kind of an ass.

Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

I served at Camp Edwards West as a medic from Feb 89-90, went through the name change from D Co 2nd Med to C Co 296 FSB. I have lots of good memories of my time there, some day I’ll get all my pics scanned in and some might be worth posting. Kum Chon was a few miles south of Camp Edwards, our Med co would run through their market every Friday on a PT run yelling our heads off. I remember the Tree Club, generally the lower enlisted went there the 7Up Club was usually the NCOs. Worked at the med clinic and saw the VD rates of the “working girls” across the Corrior. The Parasite Club was always above 90% positive.

We should get a western corridor reunion together. All years, all camps in the 3rd Brigade area.

Hey Bill W. (or anyone else), since it’s been a few years for me and I left before any closures, I suppose I fogot a lot about the planned closures. One thing that I’m not sure of as I google the Western Corridor closures is was Edwards (west) simply taken over by Edwards (east) and then simly became “Edwards”? I see some articles describe the Edwards closed in 2004 (?) and that that base had a px, commissary, etc. My memory is that West had those facilities and East did not. And, what year did West close (or at least get the change over from East)?
The picture in the link below shows “Camp Edwards” with 82nd Engineers, but it looks like Edwards (west) with the FAST being the first 2-story building and the second building being where my company had formation.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-edwards-pics.htm

And Scott- a reunion for the 3rd Brigade/Western Corridor would be kind of cool. In Korea!! Some of you may know that the Korean government has sponsored/payed for Kaorean War vets to re-visit- all expenses paid. Maybe they would help with some in-county costs for us non-wartime guys to have a reunion.

Erik when I was there 89-90 FAST 3 was there along with an S&T Co. a Maint Co. and our Med Co. we were changed to a Foward Support Bn and continued the old FAST duties in Oct. 89. The first building became Bn. HQ and the second bldg was my Med Co. HQ. Camp Edwards East was across MSR 1 and had a co. of Mech Infantry. All amenties were at Edwards West. The FSB was deactivated in Sep 1992, and I guess the Engineers moved in until the camp was closed in 2004.

Check out the Camp Howze group on facebook, there’s lots of pics and even some video from other camps and MSR-1.

Just found this post on the closing of Camp Edwards: http://www.stripes.com/news/camp-edwards-closure-contiues-with-move-of-vehicles-to-camp-casey-1.25862

I have started a facebook page for Cp Howze. Please join if you are interested in https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Camp-Howze-Korea/216209051770735keeping alive its memory.

  1. Lober- I found Camp Howze on FB, but there is nothing but a cut ‘n paste from wikipedia on it. About 40 ‘likes’, including me.

Bill- your link goes to FB, but reads ‘The page you requested was not found.’

As side note- I wonder if this would be more viewed if it were a “Western Corridor, Korea’ page? (dont mean to be greedy, just an idea).

Also, are there any Western Corridor specific veterans organizations? I see lots of wartime, infantry, etc. but not for the soon to be lost WC camp folks.

Thanks for all the info guys. I haven’t thought this much about Korea since I left 23 years ago! I especially enjoy the pics.

@Erik: That’s (sounds like) the Camp Howze page you found. Here’s a link (below) to the group I’m talking about, if it doesn’t work try searching Camp Howze, Korea on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/282799627947/

To Bill Weedman #107

I remember you… as a matter of fact I looked and you were in the 296th FSB annual when they started the unit back up. If you bought one and still have it check it out…lol I was there from April 89 (C CO 702nd) to Sept 92 (296 FSB) when they deactivated the unit and sent me to Camp Casey (702nd MSB). At the time you were there I was in the Armament Section in the old Firehouse by the barber shop and drove for the Battalion Commander for a bit.

Good to see another 702/296 troop around.

I was at Camp Edwards from ’97-’98. Assigned as a 62B working up in the shop on the construction equipment. There were fighting positions when I got there which were then completely disassembled on orders of our new incoming CO who remarked (honestly) that we weren’t fighters and our main mission would be joining the garrison down in Yongsan if the balloon went up. He also added, with a bit of dark humor, that Yongsan would be gone and the charges on the overpass/tank block on the road outside would have already been blown. Pretty cool stuff

Anyone of you older guys have any specific questions about Edwards circa 97-98? The movie theatre was closed, fyi. Not sure when it was last open.

Was at Camp Pelham in 67-68. Sonyuri was the village adjacent to it and was the only place we could go w/out a more official pass, which would get you as far as Munsani, Yonjugol, maybe. Saturday was the only day we could go there and we had to be back by 11 pm. Hq batallion of the 6/37 Arty was there, along with another Arty unit. We had 3 155 batteries and one 8″ battery scattered out by the Imjin and into the no man’s land between the Imjin and the DMZ. We also had nukes.

Ah Camp Edwards. For guys like myself who were stationed at Pelham from 90-91, Camp Edwards was the place to go to use your ration card at the class six and was as far as i know the closest place to Pelham where you could meet American chicks. A couple of nights at the parasite club was enough to get you to try and meet someone else! Great time in country, we were there during the first gulf war so it was 15 months for us. I did’nt complain though. PS soon discovered Casey and other points south and Edwards was soon forgotten as far as american chicks go!

Edwards had a movie theatre!? During my 87-88 stay in the C/702nd Inspection Section (next door to Katusa snack bar) we had:
-Barber Shop
-PX (mini-mart would be an exaggeration)
-Commissary
-Katusa snack bar
-Stage-type room (mini auditorium), maybe that became the theatre?
-a gym (closed the entire I was there for remodel)
– a pool (I think?)
-the officer/NCO/enlisted club (forgot it’s name was Parasite), not too bad
-and a woodshop- hobbyshop

Had to go to Howze for movie theatre and bowling(?)Howze was the big city for us, and Casey was the camps of all camps since our world didnt have anything larger.

It’s cool hearing from Edwards’ folks (and all Western Corridor guys as well).

Alex’s reference was to the Paradise Club in Sonyuri. The theater @ Edwards (which was closed by 89-90) was across the street from the Katusa snack bar, downhill from the all ranks club on the side opposite of the pool. In the time I was there, we used it once for the annual all bases alert to give instructions out to the battalion. There was also a Clothing Sales Store as well, tucked away behind the Commissary. To Sgt. Houlette, once I put a face to the name I remember you as well, although I was much younger and thinner than now! lol

Haha Erik yeah the movie theatre was the stage-type thing too, they must have dolled it up at some point then pulled the plug, so to speak.

We had the same stuff you mention, though I don’t recall any sort of working hobbyshop. The club had slot machines, don’t know if you remember that? We also had beer vending machines in the barracks, but those were soon removed after some people got stupid.

The gym was open when I was there. We also had a USO building on camp, small little place but cool for ping-ping, darts, snacks and movie nights.

Yep, there was a pool but I only remember it being open once. We had a dog with a bad hip named MRE that used to chase all the Korean Nationals on base, he never failed to chase them. Golden Retriever as I recall.

We had a library right up near the front gate where we could check out dvds. The place even had a computer w/ internet access, that’s where I created my first email address through a strange little website called ‘hotmail’. Lol, I still have my very first email saved.

You’re right about Howze and Casey. Howze had a lot more action, and Casey, whoosh…the camp of all camps indeed. Had to wait for the bus to arrive, then take a nap for the 1.5 hour ride with my ID openly displayed for the guard check. And Casey was the only place guys could get any guaranteed mama-san action, to be polite about things. In retrospect, those trips amounted to $40 spent terribly…terribly.

One thing for certain when I was there, our chow hall was stellar. We had Soul Food day once a week (or it might have been every two weeks). People came from other camps just to get a taste. BBQ ribs, cornbread, fried chicken, collared greens, man that stuff was tasty.

Any of you guys ever head out into the little town outside Edwards? I think it was called Yong-ti-rae or something, I hesitate even calling it a town. There was absolutely nothing of importance for me there. The only thing I saw even remotely interesting was a fried chicken shop, but it was never open. Had to head into Kumchon for anything resembling real life.

Man what a time. Hated it while I was there but now I remember it fondly and am very sad to see it closed down.

Dan (#123) Were the clubs across the street gone by then? No “tree club”? the second I am sure was gfone as the business was low compared to the “Tree Club”.

Also during my time the theatre was opened for a period (less than a year) by a few of the troops working with the chaplain. (between 89-93 probably around 91ish)

As for the drive to Casey we used to race from Edwards to Casey and back for the best time. I think our Sgt Wessenberg had the best time probably at damn near 30 mins. USed to love to hear those Hmmer tires bark around the corners and dodge the RPAV’s (Rice Pattie Assault Vehicles)

Dan and Sgt. Houlette- things sure did change in a short time after I left! The chow was not something to brag about. It wasn’t terrible, but the chow hall was so hot that cooks were constantly sweating on the grills and it was obvious to us the same happened throughout the kitchen. Kind of dampens your appetite. lol. When it wss the Forward Area Support Team, the FAST commander was a major. I don’t remember why, but my buddy (Sgt. Ron Johnson) and I ended up drinking with the major across the street. We didn’t have overnight passes and when midnight came (isn’t that the expiration time for passes?) Ron and I said, ‘we better get back’. The major said abruptly ‘why, are you forgetting that i’m the FAST commander?’ so Ron and I looked at each other, smiled and ordered another beer. There was no USO, internet, or beer machines for us. The wood shop/hobby shop was first building on the left when you came on base. I do remeber the slots and the club (what was the name?) and was it Mr. Kim who managed it? I thought it was a pretty nice club.

Bill Beatty started the Camp Howze Facebook page (nice job), but I wonder if a Western Corridor page would allow a button for each camp? I dont know much about the technical parts, but it would be cool to have camp-specific deicussions and pictures, contact info, etc. Any thoughts? This duscussion tread has given me more information on Edwards than i’ve found anywhere in the past 23 years because of you folks. Thanks.

Hey Sgt Houlette, yep there were no clubs at all across the street, at least nothing I ever heard about Americans going to.. I think I walked across there probably three or four times my whole year there, just to see if I was missing what was actually in the town. I wasn’t missing anything because there was nothing to be missed.

Erik, that is bizarre. I actually write under the pseudonym ‘Ron Johnson’. Whoa.

Love the Edwards history guys, I’ve been meaning to get pictures up for a long time so this might finally get me up off my ass.

To Erik (#125) – Yeah as FAST3 we had a major and when we transitioned to the 296th FSB I beleive he simply transitioned to the XO of the 296th (Major Dempsey was the last I remember of the FAST Side) and he was very into the Korean Culture. Good guy though.

To Dan (#127) – Yeah I assume that when we left in late 92 (when the 296 was deactivated) the one real club left was the “Tree Club” but it had taken a beating due to people going to other villages or Seoul/Camp Casey. Does not surprise me that it was gone as the two main women that ran it (we called them First Seargent and Seargent Major affectionetly) were older and such.

I am looking for a place to post the Annual they had created in the first year of the 296th being reactivated as I placed it into a PDF files scanned into the PC. Includes the people and the units and such much like a school annual. Once I find a place to post it I will link it here for some of you to check out if you want.

I believe their were two clubs across the street, neither were anything to brag about, but a place to get off base for a bit and have a few beers. As I walked across MSR 1 into the village, first business on the right was a dry goods store. The first corner on the left was a food (?) store and i recall fish being layed on the ground outside to dry. Wonderful smell! If you make that left there was a restaurant that was the only place to get food (I had Ramon one time) after hours. In the rear portion of the village were apartments. Sgt. Ron Johnson’s wife and three kids lived there, unsponosored of course. 1SGT wasn’t happy, but sort of accommodating – Ron got overnight passes a bit more often. I spent the nights when I was able to get the pass. BTW Sgt Houllete- was MJR Dempsey an African American? Could be the same guy. And Dan- I would love to have any pics of Edwards. Would you be willing to e-mail them to me?

Erik… You got the stores right… first left corner was a food store of sorts much like a convenient store I guess… the one thing that sticks in my mind is the fact that that when I got there in 89 there were no street lights or traffic lights or even cross walks for the people to cross MSR1. As there was no AC in the barracks and my room faced the MSR you could count the auto/pedestrian accidents every month as you heard every one. Over the next three years as the country got more and more used to automobiles, as it struck me that after the 88 olympics they realized they had to, we recevied crosswalks then warning lights and finally a red light. Those damn taxi cabs and “Orange Crush” (The dump trucks which were orange) used to run those Rock Drops coming from the south and never see you walking across till it was too late… lol We called it “Frogger”. I lived in the Village in 91-92 and stayed in two locations… one was the “Strawberry House” as the owner had strawberry bushes.. and the second hooch was out back on the second story of an individuals house they made into an apartment. Better place as it had oil heating and not Charcoal Major Dempsey was Caucasion.

BTW Dan- before I was assigned to the inspection section I worked in the shop that you descibe working in. As you walk past the Katusa snack bar and gas pumps (cant remember what side of the gate the pumps were on), through the ‘maintenance yard’ gate, inspection section is a few feet on immediate left, ‘shop’ is all the way to the right, maybe a couple hundred feet. I believe the shop was built a few years before I got there. The the other/older buildings in the yard where welding shop, recovery (M88 tank tow truck basically), and machine shop.

I was stationed at Camp Edwards 74-75, worked at the East camp but lived at the BOQ at the West side. Since we were Engineers on the East side we made our own theatre and headquarters shack, had our own NCO club and ammo dump, not bad for a company sized unit and a lot better than what the West side offered. Although we had some legendary ‘hail and farewell’ parties at the BOQ on the West side. The camp commander would designate an LT to procure several women from the Tree Frog Club who then brought them in under cover with the band.

Yeah dude whenever i get down to scanning them in i’ll post up in here again (i’ve been sitting on an Edwards blog for awhile now so i’ll put the pics up there and you can just copy them straight off).

Ah yeah man that’s the shop I was in on the right side of the hill. The center shop was the wheeled vehicles bay. Petrol shack was way off on the left w/ the pumps.

The Katusa Snack Bar…ahh, memories of ordering Ramyun and Yakimandu while hammered on cheap beer on Friday nights in the barracks. They used to deliver to our rooms. Relatively tame in comparison to some of the stories here, but it really is cool that so many of us have awesome memories of ROK, even through different periods of time.

ALL – I have to ask if anyone here knew “Hank” the House Boy on Edwards West. The man was old enough to be my Father in 1989-1992 but he was a hard worker and busted is backside for all of us. It was my understanding that he was there for years and some of the older soldiers from the area (earlier 80′s) or even after (93 and on) from the Engineers that took over Edwards West might have known him. Always wondered what he did when the 29th FSB Deactivated. Any pics?

DAN #133 – Can you drop the link to the Edwards Blog you have?

I don’t recall the name of our house’boy’ (much older than I), but your description fits him. $30 per month for excellent services. I wish I could get the same here!

Erik & Sgt. H I was at Camp Edwards (89-90) the barracks on the left as you come on post on the rear. I don’t remember a name either. My memory though was leaving my unit coin in my pants. I went and asked him if he had seen it. He proceeds to pull out a 3 lb. coffee can full of unit coins! He said he always found them in the laundry and put them in the can until someone claimed them. I wonder whatever happened to that can…

Funny Bill. I recall my ahjussi being honest. NEVER one problem with his service, honesty, or anything. I slipped him a bottle of something rationed (Jack Daniels?)during Christmas. He was very happy with that.

Here’s another funny; aa a CPL I was on the CQ duty roster instead of CQ runner. For some reason I only pulled it one time during the year, although I didn’t make a stink over it :). We were to walk the camp every hour, I believe starting at midnight. My first round started off as a nice walk- nice weather, quiet, etc- but it was pitch black. I started from the orderly room (I believe that became the engineers orderely room) toward the gate and followed the road on around past the barber shop and eventually to the commissary and back up past the Katusa snack bar. Anyway, when I came close to the first gaurd tower i’m thinking, he’ll be saying ‘HALT, WHO GOES THERE’, etc. But he says nothing and i’m sure he could have heard me, especially as I got closer and closer. Duriing my tour the Korean gaurds in these towers were packing shot guns and they were civilian, and not known for being the best of the best. SO now i’m getting a bit worried (shot gun + trigger happy + language barrier) and I yell ‘HELLO, CQ HERE”. I then hear a little movement, but no voice. Now i’m more worried. Does this guy think i’m someone he needs to have a strategy with? Is he trigger happy? So I yell again, “HELLO, CQ HERE”. I then hear in very broken english, “WHO THERE”. “THIS IS THE CQ, CPL ANDAL”. After a long pause I hear “OK”. So not fealing real confident in this guy I say “CAN I PASS”. Another long pause and “OK”. And I was on my way. As I left that postion I had three thoughts; 1. I hope the other gaurds that I approach are more on top of things, 2 I’m glad I didn’t get to experience friendly fire first hand, and 3. i’m glad I don’t get this duty very often.

Erik… too funny.. they went on strike during the time I was there and we manned those little shacks for a time. Some of us also learned how to be “fireman” as they also turned our old armament shop near the barber shop back into the firehouse and they were going to strike also. By that time the Armament shop was down in the motorpool on the lower compound.

Just leaving a request that anyone serving at Camp Pelham during the year 1983 contact me. I have really enjoyed gathering people and stories from those times and I don’t expect to stop now!

Keep up the fire!
Spc4 Hiler
hiler8@gmail.com

Talk about a long and interesting read…I was assigned to Camp Howze from 1985-1986…Retired from the Army and lived at camp howze in the red brick apartments by the MSR until 1993…All these posts brought back many Great memories of the Villes outside most bases in the DMZ area…Those places gave a real meaning to the word Party…As a First Sergeant I had to go down range to insure my Soldiers were treating the Local working girls with respect…At least that is what the Brigade Commander Col Stack said…Col Leach was a whole different Ball Game…Division Commander Gary Luck was also a Village Monger and loved to tip a few with his men down-range…My 2 Won Worth…

Times have changed…..”lived in the red brick apartments”…in my day we had a hootch down in the ville.

Let’s see…we lose 58,000 lives preserving freedom for at least half of Korea…thousands more have sacrificed since the war. I have spent over 6 years in ROK military and civilian; I love Korea but they need to pick up the tab on this issue OR we need to pull out and let them handle their own problems from here on…

Scott M. Conn
8:48 pm on October 13th, 2011 141 Times have changed…..”lived in the red brick apartments”…in my day we had a hootch down in the ville.

Yes Times did change, Watched it being built, paid 13,000,000 won at that time it was about $15,000 usd 3 bedroom…Sold it prior to the base being closed and moved to Seoul (Yongsan area)…

Man,you guys brought back some memories! I was at Howze, 1/31 Inf Feb 84-85. I thought I was crazy when I read the confusion about Sonjuri and Yongjugul, but we cleared that up. I was 11b and recall my summer in the DMZ/Warrior Base.
Those 10 man, 24/48 hour patrols in the DMZ were some of my best memories. We shot the place up one night in summer ’84. Had to sit thru an interrogation by some brass and others afterwards, but Lt.Col Reid, our Bn CO backed us up totally. Great Commanding Officer. Anyone remember the long, steep hill getting into GP Collier? And GP Oullette was like being in the Twilight Zone. Hell, the DMZ was the Twilight Zone back then, with all the music blaring.
My back still hurts from jumping over the the fence at Howze after midnight curfew. MRI (years later) revealed a compressed disc from that little night of adventure, but no big deal, that’s my battle injury I guess!
I’d love to be part of a Western Corridor vets group, great stories!.

Check out the Camp Howze group on Facebook, there’s lots of pics and even some vids there. Also, anybody here stationed at Ft Campbell in the mid 80s to early 90s? I know a lot of guys came to the ROK from Campbell or (like me) PCS’d to Campbell from the ROK.

The 101st was my first permanent duty in 1985. 801st combat support bn. We went to NTC, West Point, and International Task Force 11 (Universal Trek) in Honduras. The big thing that sticks in my mind was how much of a running fool our bn. commander was. We didn’t look forward to those runs. What unit were you in Lourn? And, does everyone still head south (TN) to drink because of the stict laws and law enforcement in KY?

I was with 1/502 from 89-91, our previous BN Commander died from a heart attack during a run just before I got there. I saw a lot of guy’s from (1/5 INF) Camp Howze around Ft Campbell. Yeah, we started at the 101 Club on post then the Red Carpet on Tiny Town Road, then from there we usually went to the go-go clubs (Mona’s Log Cabin, Why Not?, Joann’s Back Door, The Pink Lady) working our way down 41A. The Pink Lady had the best dancers, we’ed usually start there then make a circut and finish where we started. There was another club you may remember called “The Penthouse” that burned down before I got there.

Hey guys, I haven’t forgotten about the pics I have from my time at Camp Edwards (97’98). Just been very very busy w/ work and writing. Once I get them scanned and on a computer I’ll post back, never fear.

Lourn- not much has changed at Ft. Campbell. as I was finishing a 10-mile air assualt run I saw a CSM collapse. It was a heart attack, but he survived.

Dan- Pics of Edwards would be way cool.

Erik – I did that run too, I think it was in July too and hot as a MF. A female Captain kept passing me until we got to that long steady (incline) hill. I took it easy up the hill and and let her take the lead and she even got out of my sight, when I finally reached the top of the hill and it leveled out I saw a croud around her as she was laying flat on her back, they were fanning her with towels and splashing water on her. I kept chugging away and finished the run I think at 1:13 hrs, not too bad for a 200+ pounder in that heat.

Lourn: I knew a SSgt Leib, guy with red hair, believe his first name was Randall. He was my squad leader in ROK (Camp Edwards), and I know he was previously stationed at Ft Campbell. Sound familiar?

No, was he with 1/502?

Erik – So you must left Ft Campbell for Korea in 87? Did you spend much time at any of the go-go clubs on 41A? Hey could you reply through either facebook or my email suflex@hotmail.com

Anyone from Pelham or Gary Owen (after the name change in 96) may want to join the following group on Facebook. The membership and activity on this group is increasing.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/122375117791145/

Need members for the Cp Howze, to post pics, memories, etc. thanks!!!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Camp-Howze-Korea/216209051770735

@ Bill Beatty; You know there’s already a Camp Howze group on facebook with lots of pics and even some videos, nothing wrong with having a page also except for some reason facebook won’t let me like anything anymore. I do like the pic on that page, that’s my old barracks in the foreground and I took a similar pic from our rooftop.

As an FYI I asked and now see that Joseph Helou now updated the Camp Edwards Facebook page so I will be posting some of my pics there and such. I have a few of Pelham and such and will try to get on those groups also as since I was a 45L I supported the M198′s and 4P3 from Edwards… would be cool to see some of the “Gun Bunnies” I knew….

Camp Edwards Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/139877136033939

Hi Everyone.
On a personal perspective, I like the Camp Howze FB page as that was my division HQ and a place I visited for various reasons- dental, edcucation counselor, etc. But, I also like the Camp Edwards FB page. Being such a small camp it is important for me to see conversations and pics that are specific to that camp because I would likely otherwise never see or hear anything significant about the small chunk of land that I spent a year on. I have enjoyed both pages very much and I’d sure like to see a link between the two pages. In fact, what about a link between the Howze page and other small camp’s pages? Just a few thoughts. And, thanks to all who have given me back memories that I haven’t thought about for years (mostly good )

Also, thanks to ROK Drop as well. I believe this too is an important page as it covers all of Korea’s issues/past. I certainly didn’t mean to downsize the great work here. I suppose I see the comparison between all the pages like an old high school web page (very cool), but also smaller and more focused groups like the ‘class of 1978′ would be valued as well since it focused on just those interests. Thank you all for this website, the Howze FB, and the Edwards FB.

I was stationed at Camp Edwards in 1989-1990 when it’s mission was DMZ Support (Med, Maint, S&T) we were re-designated 296th FSB while I was stationed there. Thank you to ROK Drop for keeping these bases alive, if only in the memory of us old soldiers. Thank you Erik for reminding me I have a box of photos somewhere that others stationed in the Western Corridor might find familiar. For what it’s worth, I recently saw online that the 3rd Bde of the 2ID is headed to Afghanistan. I don’t know all the units in 3rd Bde, but I do know that 3rd Bde HQ was at Camp Howze, and our FSB fell under their command, although we were still a part of DISCOM. Never quite figured that out, but I was a PFC then. I will dig out those pictures and start posting them on the Facebook page, or here on ROK Drop.

Bill
Was there a Lt. Cole there when you were there? African American, shop officer for the C/702nd maintenance activities and XO of our company. You may recall the shop office was next door to the Katusa Snack Bar. Good guy. He may have left not too long after me (March, 1988), but I just don’t recall when his tour started/ended compared to mine.

Erik
I don’t recall a Lt. Cole, my tour started in February of 89 so he may have been gone by then. I do remember the Shop Office as most of my tour I was assigned to the new MTF (Medical Treatment Facility) that was probably under construction or dedicated during your tour. It was just downhill from the Katusa snack bar.

A couple of people pointed out a simple mistake regarding 4-7 Cav and Camp Garry Owen in particular. I was in 4-7 Cav in 76-77, both HHT and C Trp. LTC Hahn was Sqdn Cmdr at the time. There was a MAJ Mcmanamay and MAJ Machioroli as XO and S-3, 1LT Philip K Duchin was the CE officer. SFC Paul Hogan was the PSNCO. SGT Walker was the Sqdn Courier, CPT Jack Ellertson commanded C Troop. The motor pool was on the left as you entered the gate, HHT barracks on right. Sqdn HQs on top of the small hill next to some Korean graves. The large dirt field shown on current photos was the baseball field and the Rec Center stood at the north end of it. The old NCO Club is still visible on google maps

Everywhere the 4-7 Cav is stationed, they call Camp Garry Owen. There was even an FOB Garry Owen in Iraq. When I got to Camp Garry Owen in 76, it was right outside YongjulGol. Supposedly it had been called Camp Rice before the Cav moved in.
Delta Troop, the Air Cav Troop was down the road at Camp Stanton.
They had one Platoon of Infantry called the Delta Blues which was the Div Cdr’s personal pet platoon, allowed special uniforms etc. Soldiers had to go thru a special training course to be in the Delta Blues. The culmination of which was a helocast where the chopped would “accidently dunk them in a local lake. That process was stopped by the Div Surgeon because every time a soldier went in the local water he had to be given shots for a bunch of diseases (cholera/hepatitis) if he had any open cuts or ingested the water.

Supposedly, across the street from Garry Owen was what had been called RC #4 which had been given to the ROK Army. RC = Recreation Center and there was what remained of a large swimming pool that the ROK had allowed to become filled with garbage. TaejuPol was the small village before you crossed the river/bridge into Yongjulgol. Also called the “Turkey Farm”, most well known place was the “Blue Door” which was famous for cheap oral thrills.

The gate to Garry Owen circa 1976-77 is located at 37.824963, 126.844049

I might try posting a map/annotated photo when I get the chance.

We lost our telephone communications for two days once. We were on the Giant telephone exchange. You picked up the phone and told the Korean Operator what unit you wanted and they connected you. Two Sergeants First Class stood up the Korea gals who worked as operators on a date and they responded by not not allowiing any of our calls to go through except on the line line we had to Casey which was direct dial. The CSM had to tell them to go and apologize so we could get phone communications back.

@161

Erik,

Do you remember the 1SG (s) Walton and Belardo? How about commissary mom, who
was married to a Korean and sold pictures at the entrance. I was on the Contact team with SSG Christian, SGT Reilly, SPC Legg and SPC Cole. There was guy who could out drink the Koreans (Soju)he ended up in track 3 treatment, What do you know about a guy name Mosher. LOL….SFC Deramus was the 3rd shop NCOIC and CW3 Peters was the OIC. Do you remember when GEN Luck called an ALERT while we were in the chow line? LOL I could go on and on about the comical crap that went on.

@163

Greg,

I agree… When I was in the Western Corridor from 89 to 93 the Garry Owen I knew was one in the same with yours to include the Air Cav down the road at Camp Stanton. Your Coordinates nailed it. The U.S. Army played name games later when the armor moved to Camp Pelham (where 1/4 FA was) closer to Munsan and the newer RC4 (from what you knew) and closed the Garry Owen you and I knew.

greg you nailed it. camp garry owen as you described it was as i remember it. i was stationed in the s-4 shop during that time i worked for a maj cameron and later cpt/maj white. the ncoic was sfc rodell which i replaced for a short time until a replacement came in. the 1st sgt was named hawke.the ones i remember most were sgt felix sfc white ist hawke maj cameron etc. we usually frequently went to the oasis club the momason there looked out for us,we were alerted when gen brady was in the area if you remember nco’s were not allowed to associate with known business women.funny i never saw any women in the clubs that were not bussiness women ha!

Here is an annotated photo of the camp as best I remember it:

http://gregberge.com/Camp Garry Owen.html

I included some of my personal memories.

@164

Hi Bones- I believe my first 1st Sgt was Belardo. He was an ass and had something wrong with his trigger finger that made it extend always, like he was pointing. He bragged when he got orders for Leavenworth and talked abouot how he wouldn’t mind making the prisoners lives more uncomfortable. We were SO glad when his replacement arrived. My second 1st Sgt. was a big dude, black, and commanded respect just from his posture. In reality, we all respected him because of him. Good guy (if you didn’t screw up). I can’t remember his name. I was only in the commissary a few times and so I don’t remember many of the regulars/staff. Mosher does not ring a bell, but my memory sucks anyway. Wher’d he work? And, our Shop OIC was 1st Lt. Cole (good guy, I wish I could locate him), 3rd shop office was CW3 Woods (another good guy i’d like to locate), and Cpt Virgilio was our CO for most of my 2007/08 tour. When were you there, what did you do?

RE: #164, I meant 1987/88 tour, not 2007/08.

Sorry for the goof.

Greg,
Thats the Garry Owen that I spent 75-77 on in HHT. Funny that mentioned Philip Duchin, I worked for him at Ft Huachuca in the early 80′s, he was the CO of the 505th Sig Co. I remember that we called him Disco Duck when he was in the 4/7 CAV. He was quite the character.

Many fine memories of those years.

Erik,
Was CW3 Woods first name Tom, if so he’s retired and living in El Paso, TX?

HANABMF

Yes, it is Thomas! Do you have any contact info? If so, this would be the first contact I’ve had with anyone from Edwards since 1988.

BTW- how do you know him?

Erik,
I’ll get you his email address when I go back to work on Tuesday. He works for a contractor on Ft. Bliss as the PM for the DOL. I met him in the early 90s when he was the BDE Maint Officer and I was a BN Maint Officer. Good guy!

Great! What a small world. You can send me his e-mail and/or phone # to erikandal@att.net

Let him know that I was ‘the’ corporal inspector. He was a good guy, and he had a sense of humor.

BTW- what is “BDE” maint. officer? What unit?

Thanks.

He was the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade Maintenance Officer. It is a small world and even smaller in the automotive Warrant Officer field. I’ll get his email to you tomorrow.

:Thanks for the memories was at Pelham 90-91 with the 502 River Rats .

Solders of the western corridor were the best I served with in my 21 years!

Camp Stanton, 95-96 F-troop 4/7 I was just leaving when they finished that overpass. Before you had to take your chances with the light and the terminator trucks.
I didn’t know that all the camps were closed. To bad no Camp Howze drink girls.

I was in seonyu-ri 62&63 CC4 is the only name I recogonize also MUNSON. I was in 77th field artillery 1st cav. HD battery. Could some one help me out with name of camp? There was a little creek dividing Seonyu-ri and camp. Was station there during Cuban crisis.

#179 – I was there from ’86-89, so the names may have changed…. when I was there, Camp Pelham was the FA camp in Sonyu-ri.

#179, I was an at north Camp Custer in Paju-ri from 64-65. You were definitely at Camp Pelham. Traveling north from Sonyu-ri you came to slicky boy corner. Stay to the left and Camp Pelham was a short distance up the road to the right. They changed the names after we left so it will be confusing but I assure you that you were at Camp Pelham. 15th S&T was also there.

Thomas,Paradise club and pictures of fish alley bring back memorys of seonyu-ri in 62. Every thing was dirt roads only hard surfaced rd was to Soel. We were country boys. All field exrecise’s was in Jan or Feb. Did all the girls want to go steady in the 80′s?

#179 I forgot to mention that slicky boy corner was in Munsan-ni. You probably remember that. Cuban Crisis found me at the Automotive School at Ft. Knox.

#182 – back in the 80′s, the girls were still all Koreans and yes, many did want to get married.

The ’88 Olympics are really what changed Korea from what it was, to what it is today. I look to the ’88 Olympics as the point in time that Korea truly emerged from their Hermit Kingdom.

I drove all those roads on a regular basis. I was a truck driver in the 17th Trans Bn at Casey and hauled to and from all the camps north of Uijongbu in 60-61. The MSR was blacktop to gate 2 at Casey, and the one from Seoul to Munson Ni was blacktop to the check point. Dirt roads with some gravel

Robert Johnson: I was a Instructor at the Automotive School at Knox 62-63 in the Chassis Section. Remember we had a Master Sgt Maxwell with a glass eye, SFC Merradith, Msgt Abshire,a Staff Sgt with a huge mustach. I was a buck sgt. I was also a platoon sgt for one of the wooded barracks. I let one of the students paint some hot rodded pictures of armt trucks and jeeps on the walls in the barracks, 1st sgt had a fit.

#185 Most of our NCO’s were shipped out during the Cuban Crisis. Only one I remember was Staff Sgt. Hershel Taylor. He came to Korea in 1965 as our new motor Sgt. I recognized him immediately and introduced myself in frontof the CO. He asked the Co if I was any good? The CO told him I was the best. Later, Taylor must have gotten a dear john because he became a vegetable. He got a compassionate reassignment back t the States. I drove him to Kimpo. The only other NCO I remember who as a black dude who could call cadence like nobody on this earth. If we weren’t in class, we had dismounted drill all the time. A pain in the butt except when he was in charge. We actually looked forward to it. I lived in an old wooden barracks that was actually at the corner of Wilson Rd. and 7th Avenue.

185 Yep, that is where I learned to march troops. I looked every where for photos from there, nothing. If you have any, I sure would love a scaned copy of ant of the school area or barracks.

I was a gear head back then, and still am. Here is my weekend play car.

http://members.tccoa.com/392bird/

185 I never had any pictures from the school or anywhere at Ft. Knox. I was a car nut long before I joined the Army. I had a 55 Chevy parked in a private lot on Wilson Rd.. The last night there, we were all going home for a couple of weeks for Christmas. They told us that we weren’t allowed to travel by POV during hours of darkness. About midnight I went to the orderly room for something and the CQ asked me why I was still there? I told him what we had been told and he laughed and told me to hit the road! Five of us with all our duffle bags and other stuff made for an interesting drive to Cincinnati. No Interstate highway, just US 42

1985 TO 1986 Camp Pelham 2/17th FA looking back on the first night we landed in South Korea and stayed in Seoul Hotel , I was fortunate and will always pride my self for that tour of duty, I have lost touch with most of my army buddies Mario Lavlenet, Art Carter , Roberto Jones, I would give anything to meet them today over a cup of coffee and reflect, some how life throws us around and we neglect to keep the best times close, I was just browsing my Face book time line change and found the Life Event page and started a post to my military time I served in South Korea which brought me to search the web and found the ROK site the pleasure to find the postings brought back vivid reflections and a smile to my face to see that although time has passed and the future is always bright , we can connect with people and a time that can improve our understanding of life and the reasons why we do the things we do, I think I shall update my life events in face book since my child hood days as see what happens,P.S. keep in touch .

To PVT Linwood Schey…( Post 189 )

Make sure to look up Camp Pelham on Facebook if you have not already as there is a Facebook page for Pelham and also Camp Edwards… not sure about the others but those two I am aware of and participate on. Never know… there might be some people there ya know of the 100 or so members.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/122375117791145/
or seach for the following entry: Camp Pelham, South Korea 2nd Infantry Division

Mr. Houlette- room dog. I was your “room-mate”, even though you lived in Yong Tae Ri.> sp. I was at Camp Edwards from ’90 to 91. 18 months, involuntarily extended. I remember a dog named JP4. Mama san at the club across the street, hung out there a lot and drank a lot of Jungle Juice??(what’s in that stuff anyway?) Did our CO’s girlfriend get killed trying to cross MSR1? Loved hanging out at the NCO Club and pool. Thank god for the NCO club. Someday I will try to post my photos too. We went to the field quite a few times supporting the artillery guys from Camp Pelham. Our 1SGT had a dog (a shepherd mix)that got kidnapped and someone shaved it’s head, hilarious. The 1st SGT also bragged that he was related to Brian Setzer?? Korea was a long strange trip.

I was stationed at Camp Stanton 1984-1985. HHB 2/61st ADA. Learned a lot about myself and the Korean culture. Kind of crazy seeing the walkway across the road to the airfield which was not there when I was. I found working with the ROK soldiers to be very enlightening and would love to see some of them again to catch up. I have some photos of the base from the top of the mountain behind the base. Does anyone know if the tank traps are still there?

I had to stop reading about the alleged pollution issue because I remember the area did not have any real sewage system. Raw sewage all over the place. I hope the new leader to the north has more sense than his predecessors?

I also remember finding all kinds of propoganda literature which was said to be dropped by the North using balloons. I have few copies of that as well.

I would give anything to live those times over again. 77-78. I was assigned to HHT at Camp Garryowen. Anyone remember SP4 Maggio? CSM Dimitri? Cpt Couch? SP4 Watson? I just remember being so young and crazy and full of life. This is a great forum and really rejuvenates me. I want to go back someday. Here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRdftI18E2k&feature=related you can see the camp as Camp Rice before it became Camp Garry Owen. The helo pad was still a helo pad but it was also the rec center’s open space. The Quanset huts were updated to more rectangular one floor barracks when I was there. What a time warp it was.

SGT STERK-thanks for the youtube video, I sure remember all of those buildings well. I was a mechanic in Troop Maintenance back in 75-77 and spent many hours in the old barn that we called a motor pool. Its fun to remember old memories but more fun to make new ones.

SGT Sterk,

Thanks for the video. I believe Rice was renamed Pelham then later Gary Owen. There are a couple groups on Facebook dedicated to this camp and I would like to post this video in one of them. Please confirm my info above is you see this, Thanks

Chris Hiler

Camp Beard;
The pin locating Camp Beard is in the wrong place. That is Recreation Center #1. Camp Beard is across the road (top center) going up the narrow valley.

Camp Giant;
Prior to it assuming the name ‘Giant’, the compound was simply know as Post Engineers. However, a map dated July 1 1968 does refer to it as Giant. I arrived in country Oct 67 (2nd BN 72nd Armor, Camp Beard)and knew it as the PE compound.
http://koreaatourofduty.us/Installations68.html

Camp Pelham;
Officially named Camp Pelham May 9th 1960. To download the history ; http://koreaatourofduty.us/MiscTest.html

Camps that temporarily used the name Gary Owens;
Camp McGovern, Camp Rice (Yongjugol), Camp Pelham
This name Gary Owen is associated with the 7th Cav and units of it could use the name if they desired to.
http://news.webshots.com/photo/1079038943027034894fOvVhc

For those following this thread that haven’t seen this already, the below link takes you to a complete list of my “Profile” series of postings of different USFK related areas in Korea:

http://rokdrop.com/2011/08/15/archive-of-rok-drops-a-profile-series/

Chris Hiler, Use the link of Camp Rice and the same Camp Pelhem if you like. I found it on YouTube. HANABMF you are correct. Making new memories is great but lately I have gone back in time to conjure up old times. I am almost 60 years old so I’m looking back these days. I’ll get over it soon enough I suppose. I’m still trying to find SP4 Maggio who worked with me at HHT. Anybody have a 1978 HHT yearbook that would give me a first name? Thanks. By the way, this website has some great fast turn around comments.

Thank you for your post…brings back a lot of memories. I arrived at Greaves in August 1971, serving with 1/17th(MECH) Infantry, and after some months, we pingponged south of the Imjin to a Camp McKenzie. Thus far, I’ve been unable to find any info on the latter, although I found the remnants of Greaves on Google Maps. I suppose 40 years has wrought too much change. I’m interested if anyone remembers McKenzie and/or its location. I still have the same camera I used all those years ago to take a good many photos of Greaves, the DMZ, McKenzie, etc.

@ Harry Tinsley – http://www.koreaatourofduty.us

Check with the guys from the 4th SQDN 7th Cav who were also at McKenzie – Operations Center, Units, 2nd Div, 4/7th Cav

@168

I was there from June 86 to June 87, I was on the Contact team. Your right about
about 1SG Belardo with the finger, but he was cool for the time I was there. He retired at Ft. Riley and got a job selling insurance.

@189
You guys had issues with 4/7 CAV lol, there were a group of guys who called themselves “The Family” from HHB.

I was stationed with HHB, 5/5 ADA at Camp Stanton in 1992 and 1993. D Btry, 5/5 ADA was also on the camp. A and B Btry’s were at Tong du Chon. i never understood why an avenger battery and a HHB would be that close to the DMZ, but we were. If anyone was there during that time, feel free to contact me.

Sgt. Houlette! Get you A** in order and fix that M2 now! And you better not fall out in the morning PT run to Kum Chon… j/k

I was stationed at Camp Edwards in 1981-1982(Armament), 1984-1985(Armament NCOIC), 1987-1989(Armament NCOIC). I have a ton of pictures and some videos. Not only pictures that I took but also from 5 different year books. I’ve always thought about scanning the yearbook pics and putting everything up on one of my websites. I actually have a video where I mounted a Sony betamax camera in the back of a jeep and filmed the entire drive (through the front window) from the front of the Armament Shop all the way across Freedom Bridge to 4P1 on the DMZ to fix an M102 howitzer. Nice to see people from that time still around and hello to everyone that was stationed there that I don’t know. Sgt. Houlette? You remember Mike Kelly? Believe it or not, we both work here on APG in Maryland. Hope to hear from you some time!

  • Sgt. Houlette (702 MSB / 296 FSB)
    12:09 pm on     May 9th, 2012 205

LOL at SGT Stotts… glad to see ya and touch base… you need to tell Mike that I have tried to track him down and been unsuccessful..

I was stationed with S2, HHT 4/7 Cav at (old) Camp Garry Owen 1979-80. What a great bunch of guys. We were all so miserable together it was actually fun. At that time HHT and A Troop (Armored Cav) were at Camp Garry Owen, B and C Troop (Air Cav) were just a few clicks south at Camp Stanton by Changman-yi, and D Troop (Air Cav) was at Camp Stanley outside Uijong-bu with 2ID DivArty. The Romance Club and the Giant Tea Room were next to the police box at the East side of Yongju-Gol on the road to Beobwon-Ri(pronounced “Pobwonyi”). There were a few Hawk Missile ADA Batteries up on the mountains around Beobwon-Ri. YongJu-Gol was like the wild west back then. Damn near anything went. We worked hard and partied hard. I was a punk-ass 19-year old buck private when I got there and left a well-trained Spec4 in need a of rest from all the hard work and partying. When I came home in May 1980 I remember getting on the plane at Osan to fly back to Travis. I was so happy it was over and I was “going back to the world”. I swore I’d never go back to Korea again. Little did I know that I’d end up spending 8 more years in Seoul after the Olympics 88-95 and TDY throughout the Korea as a soldier and 3 more 96-99 as an Army Civilian at Yongsan. I learned to love the place. Life is a trip, no?

As the NCOIC for the 2ID carrier service, I went to every camp in the division area from Che judo to Cp Howez. Not one accident.

For everyone following this posting the below link may be of interest for those who served in the Western Corridor in the 1950s and 1960s:

http://rokdrop.com/2012/06/28/filmmaker-looking-to-interview-us-rok-military-veterans-for-documentary/

Thanks for the memories, guys! RC#4 89-91 “Attack Battery”, 5/5 ADA

My, how things have changed, especially the names of the camps.

I had a little guy named Paschall that I put thru BT in 1983. Then when I got off status and went to Germany, there he was. Is that possibly you, Pashall?

I was stationed there at camp pelham back in 1990 to 1991. I think it was the perfect place to train for our artillery exercices that we went out to the field for to prepare for any battle to come our way.

I was at C 702 86-87 I worked in 3rd shop with Sgt.D. I remember playing softball with spc Legg,sgt Holmes,sgt D,sgt Ericson, Mosher was from one of the great lake states, he was my room mate but iI don’t know anymore about him. He was a kick in the pants. I do remeber 1st sgt’s walton, and Belardo. they were both cool with me. as well as cpt.Davis. The office clerk was Balisha Jefferies.we partyed a little when she got back to the world. lost track of her. One of the most vived memerys was of sgt Riely grabbing some jackass’ junk and pulling him through one of the clubs, can’t remember the name of it but it was a cave.

Ed- I was in 702nd Co C from 87-88. I was first assigned to 3rd shop, then assigned to inspection section. I remember Balardo, but it seemed he wasn’t regarded as the nice guy. I recall him being excited to PCS to Leavenworth. We didn’t have use of the pool or old gym as they were closed for upgrades my entire tour. Was Lt. Cole there during your stay?

Erik- Was Lt Cole the shop officer. I think my chief officer was CW4 Peters. I also remiber a Sgt. Dove. For some reasone your name seems familar cant spell worth a crap sorry. I left in late May 87. I also worked with Sgt. Thorp.

You guys bring back memories. Peters was CW3 SFC was Deramis, Belardo replaced 1SG Walton, Jefferies was Company Clerk, Belardo Retired at Riley ended up selling Insurance. Legg PCS along with Kidd, Rielly was a Biker, Christian went to Carson, Mosher,you are right, if he was in jeans he was cool,if he was in a suit,look out. Garner, Commissary Mom, Katusa Snack Bar. Tree Club If you guys were to see me, you say Ohh Hail No.

#215 – Bones I was there in October of this year to see what all had changed after 20 years of being gone. the “tree club” as we knew it was demolished and a new building built in its place. the “Spring water” was done the same… seems the community was simply wanting to move on. Not to mention the entire post is demolished… no buildings at all. Have some pics and will need to simply post them up.

Bones- yea I Rembimber Mosher, he came back to post with his head bashed with a bottle, after the meds patched him up he pulled a cptQ out, put his kill a commy for mommy T on, then waited for the gate to open. He was dead set on getting who ever smacked the shit out of him. Commissary mom was Sherrie she moved to the ft Lewis area. Sg.Houlette did you do a lot of weight working.

#217 – Ed Harris I was not a big weight lifter… was more interested in lifting the OB bottles Spent a lot of time in the tree club or on bus 32 heading to Yong Ju Gol / Taking Cabs to Son Yu Ri outside of Pelham. Well…. when I was not keeping the M198′s firing for the 1/4th or supporting 4P3

Hey! Is there any way to have this website correct the order of camps up the MSR from Camp Howze? They skip over Camp Edwards West and go straight to Camp Edwards East. No mention of Camp Edwards West. Anyone else notice that? Maybe they moved the camps around and got rid of the original East Edwards during this posting of the camps, IDK. But the pictures and description clearly only show East Edwards and no West Edwards.

Sgt Stotts…. the entry they discuss is Edwards West (main Edwards by the gate and aerial view due to Commissary and such) the engineers took it from us when we disbanded 296th FSB in 1992. The Edwards East (across and down the MSR north of the ville) was our Med Company during the 296th FSB days I beleive. At one point there was an infantry company there I think when you were there in the mid 80′s? I think the confusing part is that Edwards had Engineers way back (prior to FAST3 and 296th and the Engineers of the 1992 and later era) the black and white pics of east you see… 1970 or so.

Hi Chuck, thanks for posting. Actually this website has some mistakes regarding this. Looks like they are referring to both east and west as a whole making no mention of the units that were the core of Camp Edwards West for many many years. That third picture is what was at Edwards East during the years I was at Edwards West. B Co 2nd Engineer Bn. I have a letter of appreciation for repairing their CEV (combat engineer vehicle) In 1982. The same vehicle that was used to block the North Koreans from coming across the bridge of no return during operation Paul Bunyan in the 70′s following the tree cutting incident. The last picture shows the front gate of Edwards West with the caption below it saying “the last unit to call it home was 82nd Engineers”. So I guess they took over Edwards West after your unit left? What I’m confused about is if the med unit went to Edwards East, where did the Engineer unit go that was there? At this website http://rickinbham.tripod.com/KoreaPhotos.htm scroll down to the picture of Mr. Cho and Miss Ko. They were at the NCO club at Edwards West when I was there. And you’ll also see 1971 pictures of the same 2nd Engineer Bn at Edwards East sign that was there when I was there. I don’t know exactly when C Co 702nd Mt Bn became active at Camp Edwards West but according to Ricks website it was there in 1971 and I’ve seen post on other websites indicating it was there as far back as 1968. So I can only assume that this website is only referring to the last days of the camps. But even still, they got it wrong in the fact that the last unit to call Edwards East home must have been the Med unit. So my main point is they seem to only refer to Edwards east and west as a whole and infer that the only units ever there were the Engineers.

Hello everyone I was a medic with D Co 2nd Med which became C Co 296th in Oct. 1989. We were at Camp Edwards West, there was a company of infantry at Camp Edwards East from 1989-1990 1/5 Mech I believe, do not recall the company. Our orderly room was the 2nd building on the right, just past FAST 3/ FSB HQ Bldg. The housekeeper we had said the post belonged to the engineers in the 1970s, at some point they moved the S&T Co.& Med Co. in and we became the 296th. Once the 296th was deactivated in Sep 1992, the Engineers moved back in until it’s closure in 2004.
http://www.stripes.com/news/camp-edwards-closure-contiues-with-move-of-vehicles-to-camp-casey-1.25862

As stated in Post 222 the FAST 3 to 296th transformation changed the units on both WEST and EAST. one by designation and the other by rotation. Engineers did not return until Sept 1992 (Being gone since some time in early 80′s). As 2ID Doc stated, when Fast 3 was in place the Med was on WEST due to the Infantry at EAST. (1/5th sounds correct) During the 296th run the MED company of 296th moved to East until our deactivation in Sept 92 and I was sent to Casey (C Co 702nd AGAIN) for the last few months before leaving country in Jan 92.

I got a bit confused from the posts above. From my memory, during my 87-88 tour in C702nd; D Co Meds, C 702nd, and FAST 3 were on Edwards West. Engineers were on Edwards East. I do not recall infantry on East during my time.

Erik, When I arrived in Feb 1989, the infantry was across MSR1 and as you said FAST 3, 2nd S&T, 2nd Med, & 702nd Maint were all on West Edwards. In October 1989 we were all reorganized and renamed 296th Foward Support Battalion. According to the war plan the infantry was supposed to cover our evacuation south to our first position to provide brigade support. Sgt. Houlette spent several years at Camp Edwards & in 2ID so he may be more familiar with the timing of the Engineers at Edwards East. I know it was infantry at East when I was there, I stitched more than a few up after fights. Spc Bill Weedman

More info on Camp Edwards …..
http://koreaatourofduty.us/MiscTest3.html

After the division moved out of the area it becomes very difficult to keep track of what units were moving to were as information is not as widely published.
I knew that some infantry had occupied Camp Howze over the years but never knew they also were at Edwards. It’s one of those camps you just don’t hear much about.

Erik, I was at Edwards from 86 to 87 the Contact Team (SSG Christian) 1/31 Infantry was at Edwards East. They were banned from Yongju gol.

Garryowen – 4/7 Cav
Howze – 3rd Brigade
Stanton – 2/67 ADA
Pellam – 2/17 FA, Engineers I think the 52nd
Giant – I forget
Greaves – 1/9 Infantry
4P3 – FA rotation
RC4 – detachment 2/67 ADA

Belardo was the 1SG, CPT Davis was the CO, Do you remember Mosher?

I was at Howze early 84 into 85, in 1/31 Inf (Mech). We would go to Younju gol all the time. Loved that place. What Camp was the one at Young ju gol?? I was at Edwards for 1 month, around Christmas time, helping with the mail (even though I was a grunt). The only Edwards I recall was a bit north of Howze, on the opposite side of the MSR. Not sure if that would be east or west. But west would be logical. They had a rail road line going thru it, where we (infantry) would put our APC tracks on (along with ourselves) to go down south for Team Spirit in March. I just don’t remember another Edwards, but it was a long time ago, as we all know.

Ok. Maybe you guys can help me out. I am confused. Pelham was the Son Yur-i Camp? What Camp was the Yung-ju-gol Camp? (In 1984, when I was there). Spent time in both ville’s, but really was never exactly sober while in them. The Son-yur-i girls were by far the scariest bunch. Yong-ju-gul was better. And how did some of you guys spend 3 or more years there, consecutively? They let us do that? If I had only known. Although I was crazy homesick as a 19-20 year old there. But all in all, Korea, western corridor was way better than any stateside duty. Stateside was just mundane and boring, 24/7. Western Corridor was The Twilight Zone, but it was one heck of a ride.
When I came down on levy and got my orders for Korea, everyone was laughing and telling me how screwed I was. They were telling me, “Worst place ever, bro, it’s all over for you, you will freeze to death, Frozen Chosen/Chosin”…etc etc. I was at Ft Bragg at the time, 82nd Abn.
Finally one Sgt came up to me and said, “you are going to have the time of your life there, kid.” He was right, although I didn’t believe him at the time.

Bones- I remember CPT Davis and 1SG Belardo. Mosher sounds very familiar, but I can’t place him. Where did he work?

Mike- the tracks went through Edwards West to support the S & T efforts.

Erik, ok, thanx. I should know, since I lived there for a month, temporary mail helper during Xmas time. But I just can’t recall an Edwards east. I do recall the small ville though, Yong te ri or something like that, a couple of clubs.

to Mike in #229 – YOu are correct on the Cp. Pelham situation as it was in Sonyuri(with the utopia and paradise clubs).. YongJuGol (Aju club and the like) was next to Cp.Gary Owen and Cp Stanton(air field) down the road.. Now before people on here start freaking out I want to highlight that this is the way it was between 89 and 93… at some point after that some cav commander decided to rename Cp. Pelham in Sonyuri to Cp Gary Owen all because they moved the cav to that location from Gary Own in YongJuGol. It has been discussed on a number of occasions that this “ranking officer” did not follow the proper process and the documentation around the change is missing or confusing to say the least. All i know is what was there when I was there from 89-93 and I supported M198 Howitzers at Pelham in Sonyuri and Cav M60′s and Bradleys at Gary Owen.

@Sgt Houlette;
A letter dated 22 Jan 1999 states ….

“Camp Pelham was re-designated to Camp Garry Owen in 1996. The Cav CMDR there did so on his own initiative. Subsequently, on the official records the camp is still known as Pelham. We tried to tell him how to do it by the book, but he would not listen”
‘R. Miller, EUSA Command Historian’

I’m still trying to get a conclusive answer as to whether or not the former Camp Rice (Yongjugol) was renamed or just re-designated Garry Owen. The name was also used at Camp Coursen and Camp McGovern when the 7th Cav occupied those locations back in the 60′s.

Webmaster
http://www.koreaatourofduty.us
www

Ah. That clears things up a bit for me, as I thought I remembered Pelham at Sonuri, and I was kind of sure I also remembered Garry Owen at Youn ju gol, in 1984.

How some commander can just switch a camp name like that is bizarre.

It’s like switching Ft Hood to Ft Bragg, by the stroke of a pen. Of course, 30 years later it’s going to be nothing but confusion for guys trying to recall it all. And the Soju and OB beer probably doesn’t help trying to recall. Good times.

I was positive that Camp Garryowen was not in Yongu-gol in 1964-65. I worked at the MP station across from CC-1 and Camp Beard was right next to our station. Never could understand why the change in names over the years. Pelham was definitely at Sonyu-ri in my day. My home was at North Camp Custer at the base of Charlie Block. God only knows what it may have been called in later years.

The only camps that went through temporary name chances were Camp Rice (Yongjugol) to Gary Owen and Camp Pelham (Sonyuri) to Gary Owen. In both cases the change took place after the 7th Cav moved into them.
Prior to 1964/65, Camp Coursen was temporarily called Gary Owen (again, occupied by the 7th Cav) and Camp McGovern carried both names on it’s sign. Camp McGovern, written on the left side of the arc, and Gary Owen, written on the right side.
There were other camps were the 7th Cav was stationed over the years, but there was no name change at these locations(Camp MacKenzie and Camp Jeb Stuart, to name two of them.)

I might also mention that in order for a camp to be renamed, it must follow 8th Army guidelines.
Otherwise, the name change is simply a re-designation.
Camp Pelham was re-designated Camp Gary Owen.

I was stationed at Gary Owen back from 80-82 (end of 79 to Jan 82) with A Trp 4/7 Cav. as a mechanic working on 48a5′s, 113′s, duece n a halfs, goats..etc.., etc.., etc.. went through the ROK ranger course, qualified a 48a5 during gunnery (we were short on a crew for one of the tanks so SFC Williams (motor sergeant at the time) volunteered a couple of us wrenches to shoot the tank).., I used to hang out at the Chin-ju club (interior was designed like a cave).., majority of the mechanics hung out there. I had a hootch in tagibole or however you spell it (ville right out the gate before you crossed the bridge to yongjugol).., good times there, havent been back since I left but I will return there someday.
Some of the mechanics that I remember., Doobie, Tompson, Baker, Audie, T, Valaeo, Lindy, Allen, many others that I can remember their faces, but their names slip my mind.
Thanks for the site! Brings back some really kick-ass memories!!

I remember reporting to the turtle farm in nov 1989. from there went to 1st Battalion 4th Field Artillery Regiment at Camp Pelham. Seonyu-ri was the ville outside the camp’s walls. There was this store to the left outside the gate where the koreans store keepers made custom sweat suits and sold other items. there was this pretty korean girl working there. A lot of my soldier friends tried to talk to her but she wasn’t having it. One day I went into the store and asked her brother why did she act the way she did towards us soldiers. He responded, look over the counter and look at her leg. I did as he asked and noticed that she had only one leg, also that there was a prostetic leg sitting in the corner where she was working at. He then went on to tell me that a soldier had something to do with her injury. I was astounded. He never got into detail, and I never asked for any more info. I had some good times up there, especially at 4P3 for those soldiers who know what that is. I will return one day to see how the western corridor has changed, if they allow us up there anymore.

Erik- Mosier worked in third shop when he was not on the gate. He was my room dog. I can recall one time he came back from the vil. he was shitfaced, he remberd that he had tossed a sandwich out the window earler that day he went out and retrieved it and ate ants and all.

Ed, I was drinking coffe when I read that post and spit it all over my keyboard. Thanks for the laugh. Never met a crazier bunch of guys.

I remember while in a drunken stupor one night having our cook at the EM Club fry me a whole chicken that was frozen solid. After several minutes of bickering, he decided to do it. Looked good! Bagged it up and headed for the hooch. Discovered the thing was still frozen and just left it on my footlocker. Woke up later and found my buddy, Haines was cooking it on top of our oil heater. It worked! 545th MP. Co., Camp Custer, 1964-65.

I am writing in response to some comments about the 4/7 CAV. I was there July 1973- July 1974, this being my 2nd tour in Korea in 10 years. I was Platoon Sergeant of 3rd platoon C Troop. When I arrived the name of the compound was Camp Rice and was changed to Camp Garry Owen about September that year suggested by our new CSM Hood and Squadron CO. Not only that,but they also removed an 8th Army heli pad which used to be just behind the Aid building and in back of our supply room. In 1963 I was in Aco, 2nd Bn. 15th armor which was located across the Imjim supporting the 8th and 9th CAVs with our tanks in case anything happened. The rest of our Bn. was in Yon ju gol across the road from the RC. at the same time. up the road across from the compound I was at later in 73-74, was another US compound, an artillery unit. I was there with one of our platoon sgts. visiting his brother who at the time was operating the NCO club. In 73 when I got there, that compound was ROK army and our old Bn. compound was also ROK army. In 76-77 I was back again at Casey, Platoon sergeant 2nd Plt. 1/72nd armor. We made one run across the river at night and past my old area from 1963-64 and from what I could tell all of the quanson huts were gone and the area empty. I sure hated to see all those thing sgone. Now after being retired from the army for 26 years after 24 1/2 years service, I see how life has changed over the years. Vic Pitts, 1SG, USA RET

Well what Ican give thanks to you for the geografic history
so well gather and presented.That wouldbe very apreciated memory of the camp that i expend time during the flower of our youth on the defense of Korea.

My family we have 3generations of doing the Samuel sotomayor 1952 Company D 65th infantry myself, Federico Sotomayor 1976 1977.Co B 2nd Engr Batallion.My Son Ricky T.Sotomayor served 20010 on aviation unit here by we only have a fallen cousin in Korea. well thanks for a job well done.and best regards( Federico Sotomayor)Senior

One thing wrong with the timeline is when the name changed from Pelham to G. Owen. I was at Pelham from 1993 to 1994 as part of the 5-17 Cav. So, it changed after that. I would like to see about the other camps not mentioned as well. FYI…Liberty Bell was handed over to the ROK’s the same year I arrived in 93, but was home to Ranger and LRRP’s units before it closed.

@ JW
You would be correct as only the 7th Cav has the right to use the name Garry Owen. Other compounds that temporarily used the name Garry Owen were, Camp Rice (Yongjugol) Camp McGovern and Camp Coursen. All compounds at the time the name was used were occupied by units of the 7th Cav.
I might also mention that Pelham was not renamed but only re-designated, as a renaming can only be done following 8th Army guidelines for it to be official. And the commander of the 7th Cav at Pelham did not follow the proper procedure and guidelines. Thus, when the camp closed, it closed as Camp Pelham in the 8th Army books.

Was at Garry Owen 84/85, A troop 4/7 Cav. The CO was William Shatuck. I recall the names of Glen Pelkey, Rae Howery, David Foster, Eric Leon, Lewy Grebin. Had a great time there in my youth, it was like another life. Like most, I have experienced some of the worst times as well as the best times while there, and to this day, damn near 30 years latter, I recall only the good times. I only spent 1 tour in the army but it allowed me to further my education upon my ETS. I’m close to 50 yrs old and often think back on my time in Korea and the great guys I met. What wonderful memories.

I was station at camp Pelham A Btry 2nd bn 19th FA,MAR 1962 April 1963. I liked the Soldiers also the South Korean people, really wouldn’t blame any of them for whatever they done.

I was stationed at Camp Edwards West in 1974. I was in Charlie Co. 702nd Maint Bat., 3rd shop and had some crazy times. Some of the people on base were Sgt Tripp ” Don’t let that biscuit ring Sparks, Sanutti, Staples, Brashears,Wortham, Spann,Evans and many others . The Tae Kwon Do instructor was Choi Song Sik, 8th degree black belt and truly a great master. We spent a lot of time in Yon Te Ri, the Tree Club and also at the “turkey farm”. We were rousted one night and told the North Koreans had come across Freedom Bridge and that this was the real deal. We had a Deuce and 1/2, a generator and 12 guys and we drove to Freedom Bridge that night with the top down, M60 at the ready and lots of rain. The North Koreans had driven a tank around a little and then went back. We also had some great party’s up near the helipad. One memorable band was the ” Nobody Like A Lizard Band”. This site brings back a LOT of memories.

I was in the 4/7 Cav at Camp Stanton in 78-79. Flew AH-1G Cobras during that tour. The little village that was basically just outside the gate of Stanton was called “Pie Won Knee”(Obviously not the correct spelling, but that’s how it was pronounced). One of the highlights of my tour at Stanton was the infamous naked march out of the officer’s club and through the village outside the gate. I was not a participant during this march (was in Seoul at the time), but there were some pilots that got in some real trouble over this midnight march which also included some very loud cadence that obviously woke the local residence out of bed … I wish I could have been there to see it! We also had the annual “Chicken Drop”. Aircrews would buy live chickens down in the village and do everything from rigging parachutes on them to placing them in cushioned boxes. We would then fly over the airfield at 1,000 ft in a UH-1 Huey, and the participants would drop there individual chicken … Closest chicken to the target on the airfield (the chicken had to survive the fall) would win the prize money. Anyway, we had some pretty good times at Stanton … Had some miserable times too.

My mistake … That little village outside the gate of Camp Stanton was called “Sinsan-ri”

I was at Camp Stanton from Jan 86 to Jan 87 when it was the ADA HHB. I worked in S-1 as a legal clerk and then as the distribution clerk. I would go to Kwang-tan to drink with the Koreans and get laid at the Korean whore houses. I did not live a “good” life while there, but I sure had some fun. Met a Korean named Jimmy who could speak English as well as any American. My friends’ name was Frank Alvarez & would like to be get in contact with him sometime as well as Paul Hansen.

KOREA IS THE ARMY’S BEST KEPT SECRET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Agent Orange Review, Vol 26 No.1 Winter 2012; Expands dates of agent orange from 1968-1969 to 1968-1971.I received a copy Mar 21,2013, I served in A Btry 2nd Bn 19th FA 1st CAV Div Camp Pelham, Mar 1962- 1963, I hopes this helps for somebody.

Was at Cp Pelham from Dec 95- Dec 96 was there when it reflagged from 5/17 to 4/7. Lots of great memories!!

I was at Garry Owen from April 1986 till May 1987 and it was HHC 4/7 and my unit A 4/7. It a time I will never forget

The info on Camp Garry Owen is incorrect. The camp name changed from Camp Rice to Camp Garry Owen in 1974. I was there when that happened. Camp Pelham is a different camp.

Ken Leighty asked: “I’m still trying to get a conclusive answer as to whether or not the former Camp Rice (Yongjugol) was renamed or just re-designated Garry Owen.”

Yes, the renaming was official. I was the squadron adjutant and did the paperwork to get the name changed. It was all done by the book.

Charles you are correct about the renaming of Camp Rice to Garry Owen for I to was there then. Not only was the name changed but the 8th Army helipad was removed if you remember and if I remember right a ball field or something else was put in its’ place. The CSM was CSM Hood and had not been there too long. I was the platoon sergeant for 3rd platoon in “C” Troop and was there from late June 73- July 74. Sure do miss those old days. I went to Fort Riley Ks. from there and in 76 volunteered to go back to Korea for my 3rd tour. I had orders for “A” troop, but when I got to the replacement station at Casey, the CSM from 1/72nd armor was told I was there and was told I was an E7 19E40 so he high jacked me and had my orders recut for “C” company 1/72. At first I was sort of ticked off, but at least I wound up with a great company of tankers and the tour turned out great. I did 3 tours there, January 1963- January 1964, 1 half with 7th ID, 40th Armor, then my company was moved across the Imjim and redesignated “A” company 1/15 Armor, of which I liked it better being on the “Z” for the duty was better and had more meaning. I retired 1 January 1987 after 24 1/2 years, and today 26 years later, I still miss those days. and the army life.

For several years, I have been trying to identify the post- referred to as “Camp Rice”. From ’64-’65, I was stationed at “Camp Rice”, which was about 1/4 mile over the bridge from Yogjugol to Taejepo. At that time, it was HQ and A Co., 27th (later 702nd) Maint. Bn. Most references- and video- do not seem to be the same Camp Rice- rather, the camp across from RC #1 in Yonjugol.
One of Ken Leighty’s pictures of Yonjugol, looking across the bridge into Taejepo, shows the original Camp Rice in the distance. Can anyone confirm that this is the camp that is being discussed here? Thanks for any help in clearing my confusion.

@ Jerry Schrag. Camp Rice was just as you described it. I was with the 545th MP’s in Yongu-gol from May, 1964 until June, 1965. 27th Maint was there when I was. Over the years I have become greatly confused with the Camp names because the names were shuffled around. My hootch was at Camp Custer at the base of Charlie block. I thought the compound across from CC-1 was known as Camp Beard but other’s have told me that Beard was actually the name of the compound that CC-1 was located.

I was stationed at camp pelham, Mar 1962-1963 A Btry 2nd bn 19th FA Bn 1ST cav Div Arty. I am 72 years old and old enough to be your great grand pa’s, and camp Pelham was called Camp rice before that, and the Village was named songju-ri and thats that.

William Mitchell…. I believe the army has tried their best to confuse us over the years. I remember a huge POL storage area in Sonyu-ri. I also remember that 15th S&T was not far away but at what we knew as Camp Pellam. You had to go through Slicky Boy corner in Munsan-ni and Pellam was on the right. Railroad track ran to it.

William Mitchell…By the way, I sailed home on the USS General “Billy Mitchell” 21 day luxury cruise!

Robert Johnson-
Thanks for confirming my Camp Rice memories. Talk about confusion…..

I was stationed at Garry Owen from 90 to 91, actually spent a few extra months in country because of stop loss for the Gulf War. Reading these posts bring back some great memories. From going downtown and falling in a turtle ditch because i was slightly intoxicated to trading MREs in the field for a hot cheesy ramen and a coke.I remember being amazed that we had beer in the soda machines in the barracks. We spent alot of time in the field freezing and dodging slicky boy, remember watching Cobra helicopters at a live fire and Koreans were beneath the birds with open trash bags catching the falling brass. Great Times Bros!

Beer in the Coke machines in the barracks. I remember that in ’84. You can bet your life that never happens these days. It truly was a different Army. Being a grunt up in the Z, I was always like “what the hell am I doing here”? But I look back with nothing but fond memories of a lot of crazy guys.

I served with first Cav attached to an armor unit in a compound adjacent to yongugol. There was also a pc there. What camp was that. 1963-1964

Great memories would like to find old Korean friends is that possible?

Sam

@Sam Leonard. They camp was Camp Beard. 2nd Bn. 15th Armor, 1st Cav. Div. I worked out of the MP Station that was next door to Beard 1964-65. The camp changed names later but I’m not sure what it became. I believe the camp was closed around 1970.

#247- Primm,

I remember CPT Shatuck. He gave me my first Article 15 (LOL) for black marketing. My RCP card got me. 1SG was Palomino (hoped I spelled it right). I was at Gary Owens from July 83 to Dec 84. I extended for 6 months as I did not want to leave as it was so fun. I remember Zettler from Arizona, Smith (Smitty) from NY, Ramos from Chicago and Stafford (?). Zettler was 3rd PLT in the quonset huts while the rest and I were in the barracks in 1st PLT. Talking about fun.

Arden Collier

I was stationed at RC#4 which was right in the middle of these camps. We were a Vulcan Stinger Btry, 1988-1989, A btry 5/5/ ada 2nd inf.
There was also Camp Pellam which was field arty.
I consider that one year in nine years of service to be my favorite!

I just found this website and it brings back many memories. I spent two years 1977-79 on a mountaintop communications relay site just above Yongugol. I was part of 1st Signal Brigade. My recollection is that Camp Beard was the ROK Ranger training base at the base of the mountain where the site I worked was located. The pictures here look so different. A lot of time has passed. I spent a great deal of my time at Mr.Won’s gym studying Tae Kwon Do. He had many US students and also taught on Camp Stanton. In the 70′s the area had a rice field right in the middle of town. The communications site I was on deactivated in 79 after the link was reengineered to a new path. I’m planning a trip to Korea in the next couple years and hope to visit this area.

I served as an 11 Delta for C/4/7 at Camp Rice/Garry Owen from March ’74/May ’75. I turned 18 there. I drove a scout gun jeep for SSgt. Johnny Brannon from Tennessee. I remeber Pvt. Miller, Sgt. Quinata from Guam, ‘wee wet willie’ Willy Williams from Bloomington, Ill., and another tall, lanky, dark-haired fellow from Mansfield, Ohio with glasses – can’t remember your name. My Top was 1st Sergeant Rheinhart and CO was Capt. Miller, I believe. It’s been awhile. Anyone that served there during that time frame please contact me. I miss you guys!

Hi guys, I was at camp Howze ( Ville ) Dongducheon the end of 1971: with the combat engineers unit. 3 months later we moved to John C Pelham (ville) Seonyu-Ri. Then I became a (UP) unit police for the duration of my time. I had a bad industrial accident, I was hit by the bucket 2 1-2 cubic yard. That was 23 yrs. ago. I have a closed head injury. The only guy I remember was Billy Batson from Mo. Other then that if anybody remembers me please contact me at wildmanrd@yahoo.com Thanks guys.

Hi Rob, I was at Howze in ’84, but the Ville outside of it was not Dongduchong. It was Bong-Il-Chon. Although the truly correct name for the area is Paj, I think. Maybe I misread your post. Sorry you got hurt over there. All the best.

Joshua Key is a Fraud and a Liar and I Have the Facts to Prove It

| February 8, 2009

I appreciate all the links and interest my posting on Joshua Key has created because I believe it is important that the lies he is continuing to repeat are exposed.

US Army deserter Joshua Key in need of a serious hair cut and shower.

Something else I found interesting is that someone has posted over at Joshua Key’s Wikipedia page that the ROK Drop is involved in a “controversy”.  Get this the controversy is that I stated that Joshua Key was the first deserter to go to Canada since the Vietnam War when in fact two other deserters Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey went to Canada before him.  I should have been more clear, Key is the first deserter to actually have served in Iraq to seek refuge in Canada.

What you see at Wikipedia is the usual tactic of many people of the far left, they try to twist one sentence to discount everything else that was in my posting about Joshua Key.  Notice they cannot dispute the facts so they try to change the subject.

It is hard to take people like this seriously especially when they write songs like this, The Ballad of Joshua Key:

It is just me or did this guy cover every lefty cliche’ imaginable?

Anyway when I originally wrote the Joshua Key posting I had not read the book and just based the posting off of radio interviews Key did and book excerpts available on the Internet.  I have since read his entire book and the holes in Key’s story are only greater after doing so.  I was just going to let the first posting I did be the final word on what I think about Key, but since Key’s buddies updating his Wikipedia page want people to believe there is some controversy going on, then lets start a controversy; namely one where Key can explain all these facts I’m about to lay out after reading Key’s book.

Fact #1:  Cow Tipping is Impossible

The lies start out early in Key’s book when he is describing his childhood.  On page 25 he talks about how he and his friends would go cow tipping when cows go to sleep standing up. He says the cows would fall over like “bowling pins”.  I grew up in the country with cows in a field behind my house.  Cows do not sleep standing up and cow tipping is an urban legend.  Go to YouTube and find a successful cow tipping.  If it could be done it would be all over YouTube.  Key is lying because there is absolutely no way he was knocking over cows like bowling pins.

If you don’t believe me go try it yourself and film it.  So since he is clearly lying about this it puts into question everything else he describes about this childhood in Oklahoma.

Fact #2:  Timothy McVeigh was Not a Gunnery Sergeant

On page 30 of the book key claims that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was a Gunnery Sergeant in the US Army 1st Infantry Division.  McVeigh was not a Gunnery Sergeant because there is no Gunnery Sergeant rank in the US Army.  This book is so sloppily written that the writer Lawrence Hill couldn’t even bother to do a simple Internet check to figure out that McVeigh was a Sergeant in the Army.

It also further shows the incompetence and stupidity of Joshua Key that he didn’t even recognize there wasn’t a Gunnery Sergeant rank despite having once served in the Army.  There are only Gunnery Sergeants in the Marine Corps.

Fact #3:  Key’s Recruiting Claims Are Full of Falsehoods

Towards the beginning of Key’s book he states that his recruiter’s name was a Staff Sergeant Van Houten.  On Army Knowledge Online everyone in the military has an account that can be looked up.  Even people who have retired or left the Army can still be looked up on the system.  So I looked up Sergeant Van Houten on AKO and guess what, there is no Sergeant Van Houten, there is not even one Van Houten of any rank in the Army.

Key also says a government employee by the name of Daniel Russell also worked at the recruiting station.  However, there are no government employees by the name of Daniel Russell on AKO.  There are three contractors, but none of them working for recruiting.

In the opening chapters of the book Key goes on and on repeating every left wing talking point about recruiters praying on poor people and minorities even though as statistics show this is not true.

Key also claims on page 44 that the recruiting building he was in had a poster that said that “Desertion in the time of war means death by firing squad” and that he had to sign a document saying he understood that poster.  This sounds like utter BS to me because I have never seen such a poster and I signed no such document when I joined the Army and I know of no one else who had as well.  So considering Key has an imaginary recruiter this sounds like an imaginary poster and document as well.  Has anyone else seen such a poster and document?

If you listen to this Canadian radio interview with Key he claims 99% of the soldiers in his unit were recruited because they were poor and had no other options in life, but to join the Army.  For you all in the military reading this, did 99% of the people in your unit join up because they were poor and had no other options?  Of course not and the statistics show this.

If you look at this graph that displays recruiting numbers from the Pentagon the highest number of people in the military are from  the middle class.  A very small number of recruits are considered poor and their total number is below the national average for 18-24 year old recruits.  The upper middle class and even the wealthy are at or above their percentage of population for 18-24 years old.  Once again Key is full of crap.

Finally Key claims that his recruiter told him that he would go to a unit that would never deploy or see combat.  If you can believe this Key joined the Army after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and thought he would never have to go to war.  The guy is an idiot if he thinks he would never have to face the possibility of going into combat after 9/11.  He is even more of an idiot that he thought he would never have to go to combat when he voluntarily chose to become a combat engineer.  You would think the word “combat” would have tipped him off.  Furthermore the secondary military occupational specialty of a combat engineer is an infantrymen!

In this Canadian radio interview Key also claims that being stationed in CONUS means you do not have to deploy.  That is not what CONUS means.  CONUS means Continental United States compared to OCONUS which means Outside the Continental United States.  CONUS simply means you are stationed in the mainland US.  It has nothing to do with whether you are deployable or not and Key had to know this unless he is that incompetent.

He additionally says in the interview that 47 Army recruiters went AWOL two months before his interview which is another lie.  In fact 37 members of Army Recruiting Command went AWOL between 2002-2005.  Army Recruiting Command is not all recruiters.  It is a huge organization that has all the elements of a typical Army command to include supply sergeants, personnel clerks, mechanics, chaplains, etc. that could have gone AWOL.  Plus 37 people going AWOL in four years in a unit composed of five brigades isn’t unusual.  Plus many times when people go AWOL they come back.  Key is once again not telling the truth.

Key is clearly both an idiot and a liar.

Fact #4:  Rent in the Military is Free

On page 42 of his book Key claims the military lied to him saying that rent in the Army is free, but when he joined he later found out that they docked $700 a month from his paycheck for rent.  What Key doesn’t tell you is that Basic Allowance for Housing is added to a servicemembers paycheck to pay for housing. I have long chronicled here on the ROK Drop the various people getting arrested for BAH fraud because they were falsely claiming BAH for a city their spouse did not live in.

That $700 coming out of his paycheck every month is from his BAH to pay for his on post housing.  Key is either so dumb he doesn’t know what pay he is getting in his paycheck or he is lying.  Either option doesn’t look favorably upon him.

Fact #5:  You Don’t Receive 8 Shots of Anthrax at One Time

Key on page 43 of his book claims the military gave him 8 anthrax shots at one time.  First of all you do not receive 8 anthrax shots at one time.  In fact only six anthrax shots are given over an 18 month period:

Although many servicemembers experience temporary pain or soreness at the injection site, most individuals experience no significant reaction. The anthrax vaccine series consists of six shots: the initial, then at two and four weeks, then again at six, 12, and 18 months. Following the initial six-shot series, members only require annual boosters. No shots are ever repeated in the series, rather members will receive the next shot they are due based on the last shot they received in the series.   [Osan AB]

This is a straight up lie that cannot be explained away.  However, Key’s lie is even greater because the military was not issuing anthrax injections at the time he claims he received 8 anthrax shots.

1998 — Defense Department starts a program of inoculating troops with the anthrax vaccine.

June 2001 — Inoculating troops temporarily suspended because of a lack of anthrax vaccine when the manufacturer, BioPort, changed its manufacturing process without approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

June 2002 — Defense Department resumes inoculating troops after FDA approves vaccine and manufacturing process, lifting the temporary suspension from a year earlier.  [Stars & Stripes]

Key says the injections took place prior to him signing his Army contract on April 13, 2002.  However, in June, 2001 the Pentagon stopped issuing anthrax shots and did not start issuing them again until June, 2002, which is after the time that Key said he was given 8 anthrax shots.   Key is a total liar on this claim.

Fact #6:  Basic Training is not 17 Weeks Long

On page 47 Joshua Key claims that he was not able to call his family for 17 weeks.  Phone calls during basic training are a privledge but generally soldiers can call their families more then once during basic training.  However, in Key’s case he must of went to some super special long boot camp because I have never heard of a 17 week long basic training.  In fact basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood where Key received his training is only 9 weeks long.

In the book he also states that drill sergeants regularly cursed at him and told him that Muslims were terrorists and sand niggers.  They also recruited Key to regularly beat other recruits.  By regulation drill sergeants are not allowed to curse at recruits, make derogatory statements, or beat other recruits.  Considering all of Key’s other lies in the book I find these claims unlikely.

Fact #7:  Key Changes Story on Wanting to Fight in Iraq

In the book on page 57 Key says:

As I’ve stated, I thought it was better for me to help stomp out terrorism and defend America then to leave the job to my own children.

However, in this socialist newsletter Key writes he had a different reason for going to fight in Iraq:

I called Brandi: “I’ve been fooled!” After several months of training I was re-assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado, to the 43rd Company of Combat Engineers. Brandi came to live on the base with the kids. And, in the fall of 2002, the rumurs about Baghdad began. Everything was done from the perspective of fighting in the desert, against Iraqi troops. The war games became more intense. Whole regiments were kept on stand-by. Be ready to leave from one day to the next, we were told. And myself, I kept on believing, clinging to their promises. I couldn’t believe they’d lie to me. I wanted to put the question to an officer, but I was made to understand that I should keep quiet if I didn’t want my family to suffer. I was trapped.

So in his book he was more then happy to go fight Saddam and then in an interview he only went to combat because he was trapped and didn’t want his family to suffer.  So which is it?

Fact #8:  Highly Unlikely Key was Limited to One MRE and One Liter of Water a Day in Kuwait

On page 59 Key claims that his unit was given only one MRE and one liter of water a day while in Kuwait.  This sounds highly bogus because when I was in Kuwait we had more food and water then we needed because of the contractors that cooked up food for all the servicemembers in these huge circus tents.  In fact we regularly had steak and lobster in Kuwait.  In Kuwait the only time we ate MRE’s is if we had to go out to the range.  If you didn’t watch yourself you could put on wait while in Kuwait.

Key also claims he had to steal water from other units so his unit would have water to drink.  So even if Key’s story is true he admits to being a thief which according to the book isn’t the first time he admits to being a thief because regularly in the book he describes stealing money and jewelery from the Iraqis.

Fact #9:  Highly Unlikely that Under 24 Hours After Being in Iraq Key’s Unit Was Conducting Raids

On page 69 Key claims that under 24 hours after being in Iraq his unit was conducting raids, bashing in civilians, and arresting people for no reason.  Think about this his unit used flat bed trucks to go from Kuwait all the way to Ramadi which would take many hours to complete such a convoy and then download all their equipment.  So after doing such a long movement the first thing the unit would do is go raid houses?!!!  It doesn’t make any sense at all considering they hadn’t even set up a unit area yet.

He also claims that every night they would raid up to four houses and arrest all men over five feet tall.  I don’t know of any company sized element in Iraq that would raid up to four houses every night, especially an Engineer unit.  Once again it sounds like utter BS

Fact #10: There is no M-16 Grenade Launcher

On page 131 Key claims a member of his unit tried to commit suicide with an M-16 Grenade launcher which there is no such thing.  There is an M203 grenade launcher however.

Key said that the soldier shot himself in the ankle with a grenade that didn’t go off.  Anyone with basic training on an M203 knows that a grenade from the M203 has an arming distance. Why would a soldier try to kill himself with a grenade he knows cannot go off?

Fact #11:  You Cannot Take Half Pay for Three or Six Months

On page 133 of his book, Key claims a soldier was docked half his pay for three months for asking a visiting colonel a question about why he did not have Interceptor body armor.  First of all any JAG would have an easy time defending any soldier given non-judicial punishment for simply asking a question.  Secondly Key’s commanding officer cannot legally give such a punishment.

Here is what company commanders are authorized to give as non-judicial punishment otherwise known as an Article 15:

  • Restriction to specific limits (normally work, barracks, place of worship, mess hall, and medical facilities) for not more than 14 days
  • Extra duties, including fatigue or other duties, for not more than 14 days
  • Restriction with extra duties for not more than 14 days
  • Correctional Custody for not more than 7 days (only if accused is in the grades E-3 and below)
  • Forfeiture of 7 days pay
  • Reduction by one grade, if original rank in promotion authority of imposing officer. Not imposable on E-6 or above for USMC, or E-7 or above for other services
  • Confinement on diminished rations for not more than 3 days (USN and USMC E-3 and below only, and only when embarked on a vessel)
  • Admonition or reprimand, either written or verbal.

Here is the punishment the battalion commander can hand out under a Article 15 offense:

  • Restriction to specific limits (normally place of duty, barracks, place of worship, mess hall, and medical facilities) for not more than 60 days
  • Extra duties, including fatigue or other duties, for not more than 45 days
  • Restriction with extra duties for not more than 45 days
  • Correctional Custody for not more than 30 days (only if accused is in the grades E-3 and below)
  • Forfeiture of one half of base pay for two months
  • Reduction by one (NCO below E-6 in USMC or E-7 otherwise) or more (sub-NCO) grades.
  • Confinement on diminished rations for not more than 3 days (USN and USMC E-3 and below only, and only when embarked on a vessel)
  • Admonition or reprimand, either written or verbal.

No where in there does it say a soldier can lose half his pay for 3 months. Additionally Key cannot even keep his lies straight because in this Canadian radio interview Key says this soldier lost half his pay for 6 months!  So which lie is it?

It is pretty hard to keep all your lies straight, huh Joshua Key?

Fact #12:  You Cannot Get an Article 15 for Crying

On page 148 Key claims an officer from another unit threatened to tell his unit officers that he saw him crying which would lead to him getting an Article 15 and loss of pay.  He evens says the officer gave him a written reprimand.  I have never seen an officer in another unit give a written reprimand to a solider he doesn’t know in an entirely different unit.  It makes no sense because that officer is not his chain of command thus rendering anything he wrote utterly pointless because he has no UCMJ authority.   Plus once again a JAG lawyer would have a field day defending any soldier given an Article 15 for crying.  Finally Key if received a written reprimand, where is it?  What is the guys name because he doesn’t disclose it in the book.

Fact #13:  Avengers Do Not Have Two .50 Cals on Them

On page 169 Key makes the claim that an anti-aircraft humvee, which is an air defense artillery Avenger, used its two mounted .50 cals to kill some civilian crossing into Iraq from Syria by firing hundreds of round at him.

First of all an Avenger only has one mounted .50 cal which is mounted below one of its two stinger missile pods which you can see above.  The .50 cal only holds 200-250 rounds and could not have possibly fired the “hundreds” of rounds that Key claims.

Fact #14:  Key Provides No Evidence to Support his Massacre Claims

At various points in the book Key makes claims about US soldier committing massacres such as on page 81-82 he claims in Fallujah that members of the 82nd Airborne massacred about a dozen civilians for no reason.  He claims on page 106 that members of the Florida National Guard were playing a “twisted game of soccer” with the heads of civilians that they had beheaded.

However, in this video interview of Key, the claim is made that they were the heads of decapitated Iraqi soldiers while in the book they were the heads of civilians that were decapitated by M-16 fire from US soldiers:

Once again it is hard to keep all the lies straight I guess.

He also makes multiple claims about randomly shooting cars while on patrol and makes the outrageous claim that one one of his sergeants used a .50 cal to ignite a trail of gasoline on the road from a car they had shot at and the spark of the .50 cal round ignited the trail of gasoline which caught up to the car and blew up its fuel tank.  I want to see Mythbusters try and prove this Hollywood Rambo story.

He even says they used captured Mercedes to go and conduct raids with.  When I was in Iraq the only servicemembers I saw conducting operations in civilian vehicles was US Army Special Forces soldiers.  Not once did I see regular Army soldiers regularly conducting raids using civilian vehicles like Key claims.  How many of these vehicle would you need to put a platoon of engineers in with all their equipment to conduct a raid?  You would need a huge convoy of civilian vehicles not to mention the extra exposure to IED’s in an unarmored civilian vehicle.  I do not find this claim credible.

The one common thread in all of these incredible stories is that he provides no proof.  How come no one is his unit has come forward to support his claims?  On his webpage and on his Wikipedia page there are no attributions from anyone that served with Key that can verify all his stories. We are left to take Joshua Key’s word that all these wild stories happened as claimed.  However, as I have already shown Joshua Key is a proven liar.

Conclusion

Key has plenty of other stories in the book to include female lieutenants that would go on the prowl asking privates for sex to entrap them and give them punishment, medics not helping wounded Iraqi civilians, soldiers raping Iraqi women left and right, Abu Graib style abuse of prisoners, and get this even soldeers trying to bring ears back with them to the US.  He even says one guy tried to bring a severed arm back with them. When he went AWOL his stories of government agents stalking him was really quite comical considering the Army allows civilian law enforcement to turn in deserters when they are picked up for routine traffic stops.  I wonder if he saw black helicopters looking for him as well?

The bottom line is that any leftist talking point you can think of, Key includes it in his book in order to reinforce all the left wing stereotypes about the military.  So there are plenty of references to My Lai, poverty draft, killing kids, etc, etc.  This book is nothing but pure propaganda.  For those of us who have served in Iraq, Key’s claims are entirely unbelievable and actually quite comical.  If what Key claims is true and he is facing deportation from Canada, then why isn’t he lining up members of his prior unit to testify in his defense?

I think everyone gets the point by now that Joshua Key is a liar and an absolute disgrace not that people on the far left care.  Key is simply a tool for these people to bash the US military with and Key is more then willing to play long because the livelihood of his family in Canada is dependent on him telling his tall tales.  That is why you have all these journalists and radio hosts giving him softball interviews in order to tell his lies.

Key is also part of the leftist attempt to create a perception of discontent within the ranks like the leftist plants from Amnesty International tried to create before the 2006 Congressional elections. This group just happened to be backed with a media campaign led by the biggest liberal public relations firm, Fenton Communications. (You need to read my prior postings here and here to understand what I’m talking about.)

These people are just as disgraceful as Key for spreading blatant propaganda.  I am willing to bet that many people on the far left believe that even if Key and his cohorts are lying, the ends justifies the means.  That is why despite all the evidence to the contrary these people will not denounce liars like Joshua Key. That is why you don’t see anyone in the media trying to locate members of Key’s former unit to interview them to corroborate his stories.  How hard could arranging such an interview be?

The US government needs to bring Key back from Canada and court martial him. I want Key to try and explain the various lies I have uncovered.  Could you imagine what lies an investigator interviewing all the members of his unit could uncover much less what I have disclosed?  He should be deported and be given a fair trial where we can all see if his lies stand up in court.  After seeing what I already have uncovered about Key is it any wonder he has no interest in seeing if his claims would hold up in a court martial and instead prefers to hide in Canada?  Canadians deserve better then to have frauds like Key living in their country.  Hopefully the Canadian courts do the right thing and deport Key back to the US where he would have to take responsibility for substantiating all the tall tales he has told.

Hows that for some “controversy”?

ROK Drop Book Review: Seasons in the Kingdom

| May 28, 2008

There are very few countries that have had as many things happen to it in such a short time then Korea.  The nation in just the past 55 years since the end of the Korean War has faced communist insurgencies, coups, break neck economic development, assassinations, economic collapse, as well as a successful democracy movement.  Throughout all these years American servicemembers rotating for mostly one year tours on the peninsula have bared witness to all the set backs and accomplishments of the Republic of Korea.

Despite this constant presence of the American military in Korean society, very little has been written about the GI experience in Korea.  This is what makes Tim Norris’s book, Seasons in the Kingdom such a unique addition to the growing number of Korea related books.  Norris’s book is a historical work of fiction that follows the life of a US Army soldier who was drafted into the Army and instead of being sent to Vietnam was sent to South Korea to complete a tour of duty on the peninsula between 1973-1974.


1964 picture of ASCOM City.

The soldier, Mike is given orders to work as a guard at the 8th Army Confinement Facility, which at that time was located on the outskirts of Incheon in an area known as ASCOM (Army Support Command).  ASCOM was the US military’s main logistical support hub at the time and the only remnants of it that remains today is Camp Market.  The story initially develops by following Mike’s interactions with fellow soldiers in the barracks before getting into the meat of the story, which is his life in the “ville” which are the small camptowns located outside US military installations in Korea.


1968 image of a ville outside a US military camp.

For those that have served on the Korean peninsula during or near this time frame; this book should really bring back memories of what it was like back then as Norris explains in great detail, not only what the life of a GI was like in the ville, but the girls working there as well.  Norris does a great job describing the girls working in these clubs by really bringing home to the reader that these girls were more than just prostitutes, but people who also had hopes and dreams before being shackled by the club system.


1968 photo of US military barracks bunk.

In order to describe the life of the numerous Korean prostitutes working in the GI camptowns, Norris has Mike meet the beautiful Songhi.  Songhi’s life like many in Korea was filled with bitter disappointment and strife after she was locked into the club system by a scheming ajumma when she was forced to quit college due to her father not having enough money to pay for her education and Songhi’s younger brother as well.  Songhi like many girls working in the ville dream of marrying a GI in order to escape the club system that has trapped her and to bring her a better life in America.

The rest of the story develops as Mike eventually purchases Songhi from the club ajumma to become what was known back then as a “yobo”.  The yobo system no longer exists today, but back then GIs could purchase girls from the clubs, set them up in a small apartment, and that woman would effectively be their girlfriend for the entire year they were in Korea.  Being a yobo was highly sought after by the club girls because it meant they no longer had to prostitute themselves in the club anymore and increased their chances of marrying a GI.


1968 photograph of a Korean girl outside a US military club in Korea.


Sign posted on base in 1968 warning soldiers of club girls with STDs.

As their relationship develops both Songhi and Mike have unrealistic expectations of each other, but neither seems to realize it until Songhi becomes pregnant with Mike’s baby.  The book concludes with Mike completing his tour of duty in Korea and having to come face to face with what kind of life and future he wanted to have with Songhi.

The story is compelling, but the real reason why I recommend people should read this book is not for the story, but to get a better understanding of the conditions servicemembers serving in Korea during this time frame experienced.  This book makes clear the latent racism and the huge drug problem that plagued the US military in the 1970s.  The drug problem in the ranks was so bad that soldiers were arrested for using their M-16s to murder Korean drug dealers when drug deals went bad.  In fact two soldiers were so high on drugs that they took their weapons and had a stand off on Seoul Tower with the Korean police before finally giving themselves up.

The book also describes how some guards used to beat black prisoners and how some clubs became segregated by race as well. The racism was just between white and black soldiers but many soldiers also directed their racism and frustrations at the Koreans as well.  Even in the 1970’s “gook” was still a common term for a Korean.


1969 picture of Korean women in Seoul.

Likewise the Koreans themselves were very racist.  The prostitutes in the ville were considered the bottom of society and often insulted in the streets for associating with GIs, especially black GIs.  Children of these women often had no other options in Korean society other than becoming workers in the camp system themselves.


1968 image of a village woman.

In many aspects the US military’s behaviour back then was less then admirable and it is easy to see why many 386 generation Koreans still hold negative stereotypes of the US military based off their experiences from growing up during this time frame.  Like the incredible progress Korea has made over the years, US military has come a long way as well and this book is a welcome reminder of that.  Hopefully one day the ville system still in place today will be the last reminder of this time.

____________________________________________________

Note: More reviews of the book can be read here and Seasons in the Kingdom is available on Amazon for those interested in purchasing the book.

That Mishelov site is great for pictures of that time period.

A wall with Korean whores names with STD’s. It seems as if Korea was one big whore house then.

I guess with all the red light dist, room salons, business clubs, da bang’s (coffee shops), booking clubs (sure is a long list and there is more LOL)in Korea these days, things sure have changed and sure have stayed the same.

It is a great site for pictures especially high quality color pictures of that time period.

[…] GIKorea at ROKDrop.com reminds us that the US forces in Korea have come a long way since 1974 as well. May 26, 2008 […]

Thanks for the great review of my novel, Seasons in the Kingdom. I appreciate it and all that you do.
Best,
Tim at nandupress!

[…] from reader’s of this novel, many by Korean Service Veterans & others. ROK Drop Review. Go here to read review at ROK Drop, which includes other links for Korea and Korean Veterans. This is the most recent review, but be […]

I was stationed on a missile tact side in south korea in the year 1970, while there i caught Tuberculosis and had to be flown back to the states to be treated for my ten remaining month in the service and was given a early release in feb 3 1972, my memory of the place is not so good , i nearly died over their with active Tuberculosis , and still suffer with breathing problems assocated with my old Tuberculosis, I think if i had not had relationships with the korean woman my health and life would have been of a better quality..but i was young and stupid like all young people back then, and i never knew the risk that i was taking back them as far as my health was conserned, I have never read the book about korea, maybe i will in the future ..good day stanley Ray Mcqueen

Tim no problem it was a great book and I enjoyed reading it.

Stanley sorry to hear about the TB. Korea has come a long ways since then but it is still not uncommon to hear about people getting diagnosed with TB unfortunately. I do recommend you check out the book since you were stationed in Korea back then. You would probably enjoy it.

I visited Ascom City on my recent trip to Korea. Amazingly parts of Sin-Chon, my village, and Cherry Hill are still there. Photos to follow soon on my website. I visited the house where I lived and walked some of those alleyways. The rice fields around our compound are now all apartments blocks that loom over the remaining parts of the old villages. Will update when photos are available.

Best,

Tim Norris

I have just posted images of Sinchon, Cherry Hill, and the village nearby. These images are from my recent trip, but they alleyways are still there from my time in Korea. I also have a few comparative shots of the village from then and now.

Best, and more to come.

Tim

I was on the DMZ in ’67-’68 and I can tell you it was all business when we were on the zone, very serious stuff. There was a huge difference between being stationed on the DMZ and near Seoul. I only made it to Seoul once and it was only about 35 miles away. The life in the ‘ville was probably the same except for the racism, as far as I knew all races coexisted very well. I had a number of black friends, although we didn’t have too many black guys in my infantry unit, perhaps more were stationed down south. The Koreans were still very much appreciative of what we did for them during the Korean War although many GI’s were jerks to the Korean people.

I will buy the book and thanks for writing of your experiences.

I enjoyed reading your book Tim.

As I worked for the NCO Club Admin office I seen a lot of the interaction between the Korean women and the GI’s as you spoke of in your book.

I spent a few days at the Ascom City base just prior to my departure from Korea.

I really enjoyed the Korean language cross refrence in your glossary. I liked the Military Language and Bamboo English too.

I look forward to seeing your recent pictures of Korea.

Paul in Tampa

Tim, great photos of the old ville. I liked your before and after shots that show how much the area has changed.

I’m glad you enjoyed your return trip to Korea.

Sounds like me…I ordered the book…I’m sure it will be a great read and a real memory jogger. I was there in the late 50s and 1969-70.

I was in the 249th 1968-1969

If you will tell me how I will send you a picture.

Paul, be sure to check out my website at http://www.nandupress.com.
thanks tim

Tim

Thank you for helping Ronnie Partin and I to get in touch with each other after over 35 years, since being in the 249th together in 1968.

I was fresh out of basic training in 1979 assigned to the 249th MP Det Confinement Facility. As soon as I reported to the First Sergent he had me, himself and two of my buddies breaking the ice up in the duck pond. I knew this place was wieird. After my tour I releized how much I missed it. No I did’t have a YOBO I was still playing the bars and saving money instead one sucking me dry. We only had one attempt escape.

Steve,

I’d like to hear from you. You would probably down at Camp Humphreys. I remember when we moved the stockade down there in ’75. It was a big deal to move into modern facilities. I have many posted pics and more coming of the 249th at Ascom City. Any photos or stories please send them my way.

Best,

Tim Norris

Steve,

website is http://www.nandupress.com.
Thanks. Tim

Tim,

I have no pic’s I was just 17 and too excited leaving home for the first time, my one year flew by fast. We had a pretty good softball team and that duck pond we had came in handy in the summer months. By the way chickens can swim. The problem with the pond was the ducks and chickens kept missing, we thought it was the KATUSA. found out it was the perimiter guards that stayed in our compound, TASTY If you have pics of the Humphry’s 249th mp could you send them at steven.gunn@kbr.com I’m presently a civilian in IRAQ for DOD.

Hi Tim,

I have just ordered the book! I was one of the few civilian women who followed my husband to South Korea.

05/69-09/70. We lived in the village of Bupyong Dong about a 15 minute walk from the post. We took many pictures as we spent a lot of time at the craft shop on the base. We did the developing ourselves. It sure was an interesting time. We have a lot of stories! I was fortunate to secure a job at the 121st evacuation hospital and witnessed the Pueblo crew arriving. I have often wondered how the area is now. Anxious to read the book.

Jennifer, glad to hear from you. You can contact me direct at nandupress.com…I have my email addresses there. Best to you. Interested in pictures of the village when you have the time to share. Tim Norris

Jennifer,

Thanks for commenting and I would be interested in seeing any photos you may have as well. If you want you can post them over at the ROK Drop Forums to share with everyone:

http://rokdrop.com/forums/

Where is the lovely song you had on your site “arirang”.

tim,

i have many photos of ascom and the guys

in my unit,the 728th MP, company A.

i was stationed there from january 1968 to

may 1969.

have not read your book but plan to do so.

gerry landrum

Gerry,

Thanks for your comments. You may want to check out my website where I have some excellent donated photos to look at. Look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Tim

tim i was in the 249th mp 1969-1970 i was the only one that was in the stockade, tdy and perment party all in 18 months

Gerry,

Just wanted to check to see if you received your book?

Best, Tim

Charles,

Glad you have made contact…check out my website http://www.nandupress.com for photos and other information about 249th MP Detachment…best, tim

Tim

I just came back from Korea, I went in October 2009 returned to America November 2009. I did not go back to where the old 249th was when I served there in 1968-1969,the ASCOM Area, but much has changed and become very modernised, I spent one month in down town Soul Korea on my last trip to Korea in 2009.

Landrum, I was assigned to A Co. 728th MPs November 15, 1970 for about 3 months before being transferred to Yongsan. I never really knew what the hell the post’s name was. Did you know Daniel Dwyer, Joins, or Roy Areana?

Oh! believe me when I say C Co. lived on a condemmed ROK Marine compound it wasn’t better then A Co. barracks. Yongsan Compound was nice but the MPs didn’t live there, we were half way between Yongsan and the Han River, right by the bus station.

I was assigned to A co. 728th MP Co. February 1968 to May 1969. Co. C 728th Mp Bn 1969 to 1971. 1975 Camp Market. 2ND infantry div MP Camp Pelham, PDSK 1978 Wanshmnee Security for the Norther Operations district for the pipeline. A total of 8 years in Korea.

I’d like to comment on Dave L’s statement:

“although many GI’s were jerks to the Korean people.”

John Duncan, director of UCLA Center for Korean Studies, made a similar statement. His first contact with Korea was, you guessed it, via US Army.

“He (John Duncan) also recalled that during his Army stint he was repulsed by the behavior of many fellow G.I.’s towards South Korean employees and locals they came in contact with near the demilitarized zone.”

Here’s the link:
http://www.international.ucla.edu/korea/news/arti…

I was stationed at camp Wentzel for a short time in 70. Was a section sgt with a 4 duece mortar platoon 2nd/9th/HqHq. I remember life being quite grand there, modern facilities and all. I remember Spoonbill Bridge as a pontoon structure close by on the river. I also remember my first of many visits to the vil. We soon packed up everything, turned the camp over to the Korean Army and moved down the river just north of Libby Bridge. Our platoon however was stationed several miles away from the main camp out closer to the MDL. Our little camp was knowns as RC#10. It was quite primative but we had alot of freedom there and took turns with long stays in Souel, ChangPaRi and I believe PoeWaNe, parden my spellings. It was an interesting experience at RC#10, to be caressed to sleep each night by the loud Speakers on the north side of the fence. I recall a huge hard drug problem in at the main camp but our tight little group preferred beer and pot. I also recall our platoon being all white or asian. But I had several black friends I had made prior to our separation from the rest of the Company and I often joined them in the village. One night all hell broke loose and two of my black friends came into the club where I was, grabbed me saying nothing and slipped me down a dark ally and they told me to get the hell out of there. The next day I learned that there had been a big clash between black and white soldiers with serious injuries. The girls were my fondest memories as they by the most part were attractive and very pleasant ladies. I had a yobo for most of the time I was there and she was beautiful and very smart. The guys I hung out with were polite and always helpful to the Koren people. Needless to say I enjoyed my stay in Korea and have very fond memories of the Korean People and especially the home rice and the kimchi.

I was at Greaves and Liberty Bell… what camp was north of Libby? I remember RC#4 and Camp Pelham in Sonju-ri, but north of the river, when I was there in the 80’s, we only had Greaves, Liberty Bell and Bonifas (plus tent city).

Found your blog on AskJeeves, great information, but the site looks awkward in doing my browser setup, but will work fine in IE. choose figure.

I read this book and am kind of torn over hit. The story of Mark and Songhi is magnificent and they way he brings the juicy girls into three dimensions is simply wonderful. But the editing was horrible! And I am not referring to a misspelled word here in there. Repeat sentences and even whole paragraphs one after the other is just a total no go!

One minor point. I found Songhi’s background story to be a tad distracting. Yeah, I know you can find club girls in similar situations. But come on, did she have to be a drop out from an elite university?

Was stationed at Taegu with the 503 MP Det. After ASCOM started to close we be came A Co 728th MP Bn, had alot of MP’s from ASCOM. We were split up between Pusan Taegu and Waegwan. I ended up at Camp Carroll in Waegwan with many of the MP’s from ASCOM. Went there the first time to escort three GI’s to the stockade after the Taegu riots.

Chris in Dallas: I agree. I haven’t been able to finish it yet because of the editing and some of the writing. I can’t understand why broken English was used to portray a conversation between two Koreans (presumably speaking Korean). I thought it somewhat demeaning. Also, some of the prose used to describe various scenes was waaaay too wordy. But, I will finish it for no other reason than the story line.

I WAS STATIONED WITH 121ST. EVACUATION HOSPITAL IN ASCOM CITY, FROM NOVEMBER 1960 – FEBRUARY 1962. I WAS A MEDIC WITH THIS HOSPITAL. THE LONGEST TIME I EVER HAD OFF IN ALL THOSE MONTHS THERE WAS 3 DAYS. MY RNR WAS CANCELLED BECAUSE OF WHO KNOWS WHY! THEN I WAS EXTENTED BY UNCLE SAM FOR 3 ADDITIONAL MONTHS. I CAME HOME ON THE USS GAFFEY. AFTER SERVING THERE I WAS STATIONED UPSTATE NEW YORK, WHERE I BECAME ILL AND WAS GIVEN A MEDICAL RETIREMENT FROM THE ARMY.
ALBERT PACELLO

A Profile of the Korea Training Center (KTC)

| May 25, 2008

Introduction

A place soldiers in the 2nd Infantry Division become very familiar with during a tour in Korea is the Korea Training Center (KTC).  The KTC is where gunneries for Bradley and tank crews is often held along with live fire exercises for both aerial and rotary wing platforms.

Helicopters parked at the Korea Training Center.

The KTC has additional ranges and land for just about any other type of training exercise needed for Second Infantry Division units.  The range is located about 16 kilometers northeast of the Second Infantry Division installation of Camp Casey as the crow flies, but due to the rugged terrain the drive to the KTC takes about an hour to complete from the camp by a military vehicle:

The KTC is bordered by the small farming community of Yeongpyeong-ri which is considered part of the larger Pocheon city municipality:

Driving through Yeongpyeong-ri no one would have any idea that in the valley just to north of town is Korea’s premier range training complex if it wasn’t for the one sign indicating which direction to turn to reach the range.  The small village is totally unlike other villages and cities bordering US military installations because there are no clubs and absolutely no signs of a US military presence in the area due to regulations restricting soldiers from leaving the range complex.

Local Concerns

However, just like we have seen with other USFK range locations, the local residents are demanding compensation for having to live next to the range:

Pocheon city officials are asking the South Korean government for millions of dollars worth of funding to make up for the continued presence of U.S. Forces Korea’s largest live-fire range.

Although USFK plans to relocate its northernmost bases south of Seoul by 2012, it will continue to use the 22 ranges within the Rodriguez Range complex in Pocheon.

Kim Hong-jin, chief of Pocheon’s Policy Development Division, said that local residents put up with noise, property damage and disruptions to daily life that call for governmental compensation.  [Stars & Stripes]

As of 2008 no agreement has been reached on paying any compensation to residents living near the range complex. (Update: As of 2016 still no agreement has been reached.)  I have always found it interesting how it seems that residents only complain about USFK tanks, bombs, and airplanes making noise while the Korean military’s noise does not draw the same complaints.

(Update: Misfired TOW Missile Strikes Building Outside of Rodriguez Range Limits)

Rodriguez Range

For troops stationed in the 2nd Infantry Division the noise at the Korea Training Center means they are receiving the best live fire training available in South Korea:

Tanks doing gunnery at the KTC. Image via VOA News.

The multipurpose range complex (MPRC) at the KTC is primarily used to support Abrams and Bradley gunnery exercises on the main Rodriguez Range (Called Rod Range for short by GIs) as well as on the adjacent Warrior Valley range.  The range is a bit unusual to most gunnery ranges in the United States because units literally fire into the side of a mountain:

On the other side of the mountain there are actually a number of South Korean villages:

With the threat of civilian damage maintaining range fans is extremely important when firing at the KTC compared to firing at ranges located in the United States.  Watching night fires at the range can be extremely impressive when viewing ricochets hit off the side of the mountain and put on a mini fireworks show.

The US armored crews are not the only ones that use the range, the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army units use the range as well:

US and ROK soldiers train together at the KTC. Image via Army.mil.

Having fired Bradley Table VIII gunnery on Rodriguez Range more times then I can remember, I have found it to be one of the most difficult ranges to fire on during the summer months because of vegetation and that obscures the green pop up targets. Guys that fire well on Rod Range earn it.  However, I have also fired on the Warrior Valley range and have found that one to be quite an easy range to fire on thus causing most units to want their crews to fire on Rodriguez Range if possible to get the maximum training value out of the gunnery exercise.

Other Training Ranges

The KTC is also able to support Artillery, Mortar, Close Air Support, and Apache gunneries as well.  The range is also used for aerial gunnery from Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters.  The range is also being increasingly used by Stryker units that have been rotating to the peninsula in recent years for training.  The KTC also has a number of small arms and grenade ranges as well for soldiers to train on.  The range is also being increasingly used for convoy live fires by logistical units as well:

Finally the range has been upgraded to include an Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) range.  This new range was recently used by the US Marines who deployed to South Korea during the recent Key Resolve exercise to teach and train with the Korean military in urban warfare tactics:

Support Facilities

Something soldiers stationed in Korea appreciate about the KTC is that the range has a small support area with open bay barracks, showers, a KATUSA snack bar, and even a small pizza shack.

However, for those of us who have under gone Bradley Table VIII gunnery at Rodriguez Range there is little time to enjoy these facilities because firers spend the vast majority of their time out on the range mostly waiting in line to fire and simply sleep in their vehicles.  However, the soldiers out there to support the gunnery live quite well in one of the best support facilities I have seen at a US gunnery range.

Conclusion

Overall the Korea Training Center is a good facility to keep USFK soldiers properly trained and certified on their respective weapon systems.  The range continues to improve with more technological updates and innovations being installed at the range.  There is probably not a more important training area for USFK in all of Korea then the KTC.  This means that the Korea Training Center will continue to play a major role in the training of USFK forces now and well into the future.

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

Comments:

Small update… there is no longer a small pizza shack, as well as a Shopette trailer. Right next to the haircut place, they now have a somewhat bigger shopetter and an american snack bar that serves anthony’s pizza as well. Hell they even now have an internet cafe in there. And as a bonus for shits and giggles they have an ajosshi with a table right outside selling his little wares and every now and then the brand new car salesman are there with a car on display.

Dont know about how well the support facilities compare to others as I havent been to JRTC and NTC in awhile, but YTC (Yakima Training Center near FT Lewis) has pretty good facilities.

Thanks for the update. It appears the support facilities at KTC continue to improve.

Last time I was at NTC just the big shoppette behind where units put their tents up was allowed to be used by trainees. YTC has the small camp area but when I did gunnery there we were not allowed to use it. We stayed out in the field in tents the whole time and fired gunnery and went back to Lewis.

[…] in South Korea were messages to his comrades on top secret military targets. Sometimes he was just too blatant about it. His little “Korea Finder” games he played where readers had to guess the […]

I was stationed in this area on 2 of my tours. I spent several months just north of this at Camp Kaiser, nex to Uncheon City. Back in 1960 it was called Unchon-ni. I drove a truck, and used the back road that went just to the west of Rod Range, up through what was called Greek Valley, then into the rear gate of Cp Kaiser.

The other place was at Camp St Barbara, which was just about 2 miles west of Rod Range, where old highway 37 crossed the Hantan river. There is a air strip there that is still used by some of the aviation units while at Rod. It is R228 or G228.

If any of you guys use 228, please get some pictures. I was there in 1970.

The village there is Baekui-ri. Had some GREAT Times there.

[…] http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/ckaiser.htm &#149 Found on Google, Windows Live, Yahoo! Search, Ask.com A Profile of the Korea Training Center Pocheon city officials are asking the South Korean government for …. I spent several months just […]

[…] urban warfare facility at Rodriguez Range has really come along over the last few years to provide some great training for 2ID […]

I was at K-2, Taegu, June 1952 to May 1953. I am looking for the site of the Naktong Gunnery Range so I can post a brass plaque in commemoration of the site. It was on the Naktong River 5 hours in a 6by or 83 miles along the river to the North. No one living today seems to know where it was including 3 who were there. If you know please contact me at 44-208 Malae Place, Kaneohe, Hawaii 808 254-1221. I will give you photos. I have returned to Korea 4 times, 5th at the end of August 2010 on a revisit program sponsered by the Korean Government. I wish to return to the site and leave a commemoration plaque. Please help if you know. aloha, Harry

Bruce,
Here’s a google map shot of Baekui-ri today. If you zoom in you can see the airstrip you spoke of just north of Highway 37. Doesn’t seem like much is happening there that would qualify as GREAT Times. Would love to hear your war stories from back in the day! My first tour there was in 90 and my last in 2011. Trying to get hired as a contractor up at KTC and if I do, I’ll get you some street shots of Baekui-ri when i do.
Matt

Harry,
If you’d like, shoot me any info (local landmarks, etc.) you have near the Naktong Gunnery Range and I’ll do what I can to help. Is it up by Andong? If so, it’s likely a ROKAF range now or overgrown, but I’ve lived in Daegu on and off for six years (my dad was stationed at K2 for a year in 69) and I also do alot of hiking. Wish me luck!
Matt

Matt,
Between some of the readers here, and GI Korea, I have added some recent photos of the southern part of Camp St Barbara and Baekui-ri (called Peggy Lee back in the day). It was a small village, but had at least 8 clubs back in the 60s and early 70s when the camp was occupied full time by US troops.

Here is the most recent photos:
http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/stb-now-2.htm

Bruce,
Looking at those pictures gives a great idea of what St. Barbara was like (I’m assuming the camp is now the ROK military camp that abuts the airfield)? The range facilities look like they’re kept up (I noticed range towers near some of them), but I’ll bet most units just roll down to Rod Range to shoot small arms vs. trying to coordinate with the ROKs. Cool! My offer is still on for the street shots if I get that job!
Matt

Matt,
Would love to see anything you can get from the area. The big thing about Cp St Barbara was the 8 inch and 175 mm Arty units that were there, a Battalion of each, plus the St Barbara Artillery Range that was at the north end of the camp. All the 1st Cav, 7th Inf, and 2nd Inf div, and I Corp Artillery units did all there firing there.

The small village was like a large Recreation Center, since the locals treated the GIs very well. I had 4 tours in Korea, and the time at St Barbara was the best of them. I walked the road from there, up past Rod Range, on the back road to Uncheon, called Unchon-ni back then. Nice scenery

i spent three or four days out at G228 in early 2009 for crew drills. it was pretty overgrown at the time. google maps shows some development on the parking apron and nearby that wasn’t there four years ago. sorry no landmark photos, but we took a group picture.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=73457341678
http://goo.gl/maps/Gc4o9

Wow, this brought back a few memories! I was there serving as Apache Troop 1SG Dec 96-Dec 97. Not sure if this is the right forum for a question, however here goes. I Squadron photo was taken at the Korean Training Center during one of our Gunneries. I believe it was mid summer / early fall and was shot between the snack bar and ready line. The photo included the 4/7 Command Group standing in frount of and on top of an M1A1. I would love to have a copy for my collection. I PCSed before I could get a copy. Thanks for listening and loved the site. ‘GARRY OWEN’

A Profile of US Military Bases In Seoul

| May 13, 2008

Introduction

The heart of United States Forces Korea is without a doubt Yongsan Garrison, which is appropriately located in the middle of the city that is at the heart of the entire nation of South Korea, Seoul.

Seoul is a vibrant and massive city with a population of over 10 million people. In the middle of this megalopolis is the expansive USFK camp Yongsan Garrison. To put the location of Yongsan Garrison into perspective imagine a 630 acre foreign military base in the middle of Manhattan in New York. That is what Yongsan Garrison is like.

The camp wasn’t always surrounded by such dense urban sprawl. It was originally constructed as an Army garrison during the Imperial Japanese colonial period of Korea between 1904-1945. In fact some of the older buildings that remain on Yongsan can be dated back to the Japanese colonial period. When the Japanese built the Garrison is was located south of Seoul which was mostly farmland at the time and close to the Han River. The Han River was where boats from the Yellow Sea would travel up to deliver goods to Seoul. This was also convenient for transporting military supplies and personnel as well to the garrison.


Old Japanese brick prison administration building picture via Army-Technology.com.

Interestingly enough the Yongsan area was actually used even prior to the arrival of the Japanese colonial forces as a military area for foreign armies due to its closeness to the Han River. In the 13th century the area was used as a garrison for the occupying Mongolian Army as well as in the 16th century by the invading Japanese samurai as part of the Hideyoshi invasion of Korea. Prior to the Japanese colonization of Korea in the 20th century the area had been used by the Chinese military as well who set up a headquarters in the Yongsan area in 1882. Due to its foreign military history it is easy to see why many Koreans have mixed feelings about the location of US troops at Yongsan Garrison.


Regimental Bachelor Officers’ Quarters; later Imperial Japanese Army Hospital; now JUSMAG-K Headquarters.

During the colonial period, Yongsan Garrison would remain under Japanese control until it was handed over to the United States military with the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Army at the end of World War II. The garrison was used by US military occupying forces until 1948 and after the withdrawal of the occupying force, the garrison was used by the US military’s Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG) soldiers that advised and helped train the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army.

In June 1950 with the start of the Korean War, Yongsan Garrison was captured in less then a week by the invading North Korean forces. With the September 1950 Incheon Landing Operation led by General Douglas MacArthur, Yongsan would be recaptured by the US military to only be lost yet again a few months later with the Chinese entry into the war. By March 1951 the US military and their allies had recaptured Seoul and Yongsan Garrison once again from the Chinese. Considering the amount of warfare the garrison saw during the Korean War it is amazing how many of the old Imperial Japanese buildings actually survived the conflict.

Today most of the brick buildings seen on Yongsan Garrison date from the Japanese colonial period.

After the Korean War, Yongsan Garrison went on to become the home of United States Forces Korea (USFK), the United Nations Command (UNC), the Combined Forces Command (CFC), as well as the home of Eighth United States Army (EUSA). With such commands that are important both militarily as well as diplomatically, Yongsan Garrison is of extreme importance to both the United States and Korea.

Yongsan Garrison Today

Yongsan Garrison is currently home to over 25,000 US military servicemembers, DOD civilian contractors, and their families. In addition approximately 1,000 Korean Augmentees to the US Army (KATUSAs) serve on the compound along with 3,000 Korean civilian employees. Some of the major units stationed on Yongsan or its satellite camps are the USFK headquarters, 8th US Army headquarters, 18th Medical Command, 121 General Hospital, 175th Finance, Armed Forces Network Korea, Corps of Engineers Far East District, 1st Signal Brigade, and the 501st Military Intelligence to name a few.


8th Army Headquarters on Yongsan Garrison.


Combined Forces Command Headquarters on Yongsan Garrison.

Yongsan Garrison is currently considered one of the top installations in the entire US Army by recently receiving third place in the Army Communities of Excellence competition. The recognition is well deserved considering the excellent facilities on the post. The post is divided into North and South Posts which are divided by a wide Korean public road. In recent years an overpass was constructed over this road to allow vehicles to drive from each side of the garrison without having to exit on to the Korean road.


121 General Hospital image via Wikipedia.

As I said before the facilities on the post are excellent. Yongsan has a very big Post Exchange (PX) and a massive commissary stocked with every type of American food you can think of. The post has most of the popular fast food restaurants as well as fine dining at restaurants located at the four star hotel the Dragon Hill Lodge on south post. The post’s Navy Club also continues to be a popular attraction on the compound. (Update: Navy Club closed in 2015.)


The Post Exchange (PX) on Yongsan Garrison.

An important difference between Yongsan Garrison and most other USFK facilities in Korea is the amount of families that live on Yongsan. Due to the number of families living on the post the installation operates a number of schools and community programs to create a good family environment on the compound. For soldiers stationed in the 2nd Infantry Division without their families it is a strange experience to go to Yongsan and see junior NCOs driving privately owned vehicles and taking their families shopping at the commissary.


Yongsan Apartment Housing.

The majority of the command sponsored families live on South Post or over at Hannam Village. The majority of housing on South Post is in individual homes while Hannam Village is composed of a highrise apartment complex of 1162 apartments that vary between 2, 3, & 4 bedrooms that are a 20 minute walk from Yongsan Garrison. I have heard nothing but good things about the housing on South Post where the majority of senior leadership lives; however I have heard nothing, but bad things about the Hannam Village where mostly junior soldiers live. Not only have I heard and read bad things about the apartments from people who live there, but the Stars & Stripes has reported on it as well.  (Update: Hannam Village was closed in 2014.)

Those that are not housed on South Post or over at Hannam Village are authorized to live in an off post apartment. Off post apartments can be very hit and miss in quality and are notorious for landlord sharks defrauding the military and servicemembers out of money.

Dragon Hill Lodge

One of the key attractions of USFK is without a doubt the Dragon Hill Lodge hotel located on the south post of Yongsan Garrison. This massive hotel opened in May 1990 and was constructed using Morale Welfare & Recreation (MWR) funds raised through soldier programs such as the slot machines in operation on USFK camps in Korea. No Congressional funding was used to construct the hotel and to this day the hotel operates through an MWR program called the Armed Forces Recreational Centers. The Dragon Hill Lodge is one of four AFRC hotels across the globe with the others being in Hawaii, Germany, and Florida.

The hotel has 394 rooms and suites that come with queen size beds, sofas, private bathrooms, DVD players, etc. The hotel also has a number of western style restaurants to include fast food such as Subway and Pizza Hut. My personal favourite is the Oasis Mexican Restaurant that I believe serves the best Mexican food in Korea. The hotel also has a massive exercise and swimming facility for its guests. It is also popular for weddings and other large catered functions.

The Dragon Hill Lodge is rated as a four star hotel and for those staying there it definitely deserves its rating. I have only stayed at the Dragon Hill Lodge on TDY orders and have enjoyed every time I have stayed there. However, the one downside of the hotel is its price. Prices for rooms are based on rank and duty status and the average cost for a room is over $200. There are various reasons for the high prices at the hotel, but for soldiers on leave most can get a hotel room for less then a $100.


The Dragon Hill Lodge on Yongsan Garrison.

Even with the projected closing of Yongsan Garrison by 2012 the Dragon Hill Lodge is scheduled to remain a US military property which will mean that US servicemembers will be able to continue to use this great facility even after it closes.

Camp Kim

Located literally across the street from the main post of Yongsan Garrison is Camp Kim. Camp Kim is known to most GIs stationed in Korea as where the Seoul United Service Organization (USO) is located. Going to the USO is the only reason I have ever personally visited Camp Kim. The USO actually runs an excellent facility at Camp Kim and the best I have seen in USFK. Definitely worth checking out if you are a soldier stationed in Korea.

However, there is more to Camp Kim then just the USO. The camp is also home to the Special Operations Command – Korea (SOCKOR) which is the lone US special forces unit assigned to the Korean theatre of operations. The 1st Signal Brigade Project Support Directorate is also located at the camp. This directorate provides a number of technical and communications support capabilities for USFK.

Camp Kim also houses the Vehicle Processing Center for USFK which provides customer service for privately owned vehicles (POVs) of USFK servicemembers and their families. Finally the Korean Service Corps (KSC) is based out of Camp Kim which is a large organization of Korean civilian workers that provide direct peace time and combat support services to the US military in Korea.

Camp Coiner

On the northern part of the land that encompasses Yongsan Garrison is the small USFK installation of Camp Coiner. This camp was named after 2nd Lieutenant Randall Coiner assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for actions taken in 1953 during the Korean War near the village of Sokkagae.

Quonset huts on Camp Coiner.  Picture from the Stars & Stripes.

Prior to the US military taking control of the camp from the Imperial Japanese Army, Camp Coiner was used as a garrison for a horse drawn artillery unit. Currently the camp is home to elements of 8th PERSCOM, the 8th MP Brigade, 17th Aviation Brigade, and the 1st Signal Brigade. The camp is relatively small and only encompasses a total of 55 acres.  (Update: In the future Camp Coiner will be tore down and become the location of a new US embassy compound.

Far East District Compound

The US Army’s Corps of Engineers Far East District has been based out of the extremely small Far East District Compound a block from Seoul’s massive Dongdaemun shopping district. The land that the compound was constructed on was originally owned by Seoul National University, but with the outbreak of the Korean War the South Korean government seized the land in order for the Corps of Engineers to start operations from the camp in 1951.

Since then with the economic development of Seoul, the surrounding community has swallowed up the small camp which some citizens of Seoul view as a eye sore. It also has been targeted by anti-US protesters from Hanchongryun that burned a hole in the US flag on the post. Recently the camp has been targeted by protesters angered by not being paid for services rendered while working on the project to expand Camp Humphreys.

The Far East District Compound is scheduled to be handed over back to the Korean government as part of the USFK transformation plan which has led to internal Korean fight between the ROK Ministry of Defense and Seoul National University over who really owns the land. Currently the compound is scheduled to close by 2012 and the land will be sold by the Ministry of Defense to the Korean National Housing Corporation. The camp is 142,000 square feet in size and is estimated that each 10.8 square feet in the compound is worth $85,000. The property is worth hundreds of millions of dollars thus making it quite clear why Seoul National University and the Ministry Defense are fighting over who controls the property.

Camp Jackson

Located in the far northern Dobong-gu suburb of Seoul is the small US military installation Camp Jackson. The camp was named after Private First Class George W. Jackson who was awarded the Silver Star during the Korean War. The camp is one of the smallest in Korea but probably has the prettiest back drop of any camp with the massive granite spires of beautiful Mt. Dobong soaring over the camp.

Camp Jackson used to be home to a field artillery Target Acquisition Battery that was assigned about 100 soldiers on the camp. In 1968 on the slopes of Mt. Dobong outside of the camp a continuing gun fight with Korean soldiers against North Korean infiltrators sent to kill Korean President Park Chung-hee erupted and could be heard from the camp.

Today there is no field artillery unit stationed on the installation and instead Camp Jackson is home to the Wightmen Non-commissioned Officer Academy that trains newly promoted US Army E-5 sergeants in basic NCO skills. Camp Jackson is also home to the very unique Korean Augmentee to the United States Army (KATUSA) training academy. Korea is the one US ally that has a sizable number of soldiers that serve side by side in US units. These Korean Army soldiers are called KATUSAs. The KATUSA program was first initiated in the early years of the Korean War to provide US units with translators and local cultural knowledge. KATUSAs continue to provide these important capabilities along with conducting clerical, driving, maintenance, etc. work within their respective units.

All ROK Army draftees that are selected for the KATUSA program after passing rigorous English language tests must attend the KATUSA academy at Camp Jackson. For all KATUSAs this is their first initiation into serving with US soldiers. The NCOs that train both the NCOs and KATUSAs at the academy are of high quality but unfortunately a sexual assault against a KATUSA trainee mired the school’s image a few years ago. Since then the academy has had a clean record and continues to produce great young NCOs and KATUSA soldiers for the United States Forces Korea.

Camp Jackson is scheduled to be handed back over to the Korean government as part of the USFK transformation plan by 2012.  (Update: The relocation plan to move the NCO Academy to Camp Humphreys has been delayed to 2017.)

K-16

The K-16 airbase is located just south of the Han River in the Seoul suburb of Soengnam. The airbase was actually the old Seoul City Airport which during the Korean War was converted into a full time military base. It received the name K-16 because airfields during the war were given code names. The original name of the base was Seoul Airbase but its codename of K-16 is what stuck and it continues to be identified as K-16 Airbase to this day.

The airbase today is 86 acres in size and controlled by the Korean Air Force 15th Composite Wing who plays host to the US Army’s 2-2 Aviation Battalion and its support units such as the 595th Maintenance Company. The 2-2 Aviation Battalion is equipped with Blackhawk helicopters and only moved to the base in 2005 from their former home at Camp Stanley in Uijongbu. The battalion was moved from Camp Stanley as part of the USFK transformation plan. K-16 also hosts a small security force that is responsible for defending Camp Post Tango located on the base. CP Tango is the primary warfighting center where any contingency on the Korean peninsula would be commanded and controlled from.

The airbase is also the entry and departure point for many VIPs flying to and from Seoul to include the South Korean president and American government officials. However, the thing that K-16 is probably most known for to USFK servicemembers is the nearby Sungnam golf course. The Sungnam golf course is not only popular with US servicemembers but with Koreans as well.

It is important to note that there are no plans to close the airfield as part of the USFK transformation plan to consolidate units around the hubs of Camp Humphreys and Osan Airbase. In fact money is actually flowing into K-16 now with major upgrades to the facilities taking place including brand new apartments for the servicemembers to be housed in.

Camp Market

Camp Market is yet another military installation that was originally constructed by the Imperial Japanese army in the 1930’s as a logistics base for supplies coming through the port of Incheon. Like with Yongsan Garrison, the Camp Market area was handed over to the US occupation troops after World War II. The area was captured by the North Koreans in the opening week of the Korean War and was recaptured in September 1950 with the Incheon Landing Operation. After the landing General McArthur used the area as a logistical base. The camp was lost again in December 1950 with the entry of the Chinese into the war. The camp was recaptured from the Chinese in March 1951.

After the Korean War the area became known as a logistical base for the US Marine Corps and in 1963 the area was given to the US Army which established the Army Support Command (ASCOM) in the area. ASCOM became the main logistical hub for the US military until most of the land and facilities for ASCOM was closed and turned over to the Korean government in 1973. Only the Camp Market area was not turned over and remains a small logistical base for USFK in Incheon.

Today Camp Market is composed of 34 warehouses that has a combined total of 852,495 square feet of storage space to store goods and supplies for USFK facilities. The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office as well as the Army Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) distribution and bakery is based out of Camp Market to provides products and baked goods to PXs and commissaries across USFK. Approximately 600 civilians work at Camp Market with the vast majority of them being Korean contract workers.

The Future of USFK Facilities in Seoul

As the decades passed in Seoul and the Korean economic miracle took hold of the city, it began to grow at a remarkable rate to where today Yongsan Garrison has been totally engulfed and surrounded by the city. A dense urban environment surrounds the garrison on all sides instead of the farmland that surrounded the garrison when it was first constructed by the Japanese.

This urban development has caused many problems for the US military in Korea because the 630 acres that composes the garrison causes both development and traffic problems for the city of Seoul. The location of the garrison also allows activists groups to easily use the garrison to conduct their anti-US protests at any time.

Recognizing the problems of the current location of Yongsan Garrison the United States military has tried for years to get the base relocated outside of Seoul and has been continually met with South Korean governmental delays to any proposed move. The first proposal to move the garrison was actually initiated back in 1987 with then Korean President Roh Tae-woo. By 1990 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to relocate Yongsan Garrison.

However, in 1993 a new Korean president had come to power, Kim Young-sam who that year canceled the plan move, deeming it to expensive because Seoul was to pay for the cost of moving the garrison. However, it was probably no coincidence that the Korean government also killed the Yongsan move the same year the North Korean nuclear crisis was happening and the nation was on the brink of war with the North Koreans. After war was avoided with the signing of the Agreed Framework talks about relocating the garrison were effectively delayed even further with the onset of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997.

Talks to relocate Yongsan did not seriously heat up again until 2003 when US President George Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pushed the Korean government to relocate the garrison. On January 17, 2004 during the Sixth Future of the Alliance talks, an agreement was struck to relocate Yongsan Garrison to Camp Humphreys which is located about 50 kilometers south of Seoul. A small area of land would remain controlled by the US military at Yongsan to serve as the home for a new US embassy as well as keeping the Dragon Hill Lodge for the use of US servicemembers. The remainder of Yongsan was supposed to be turned into Seoul’s very own Central Park, but business interests and politics may sink this idea.

The original plan was to have the base relocated by 2008. However, technical problems and South Korean governmental delay games pushed the date of the relocation back to 2010, then 2013 and then finally back to 2012. Now there is even attempts by the South Korean government to push the relocation all the way back to 2015. With such governmental delay games being played out it is easy to see that Yongsan Garrison is probably going to be around for many more years to come and I can think of quite a few people who will be happy about that.  (Update: Most of Yongsan Garrison is hoped to be moved to Camp Humphreys by the end of 2017.)

Note: You can read more from the ROK Drop featured series “A Profile of USFK Bases” at the below link:

Comments

 

[…] TChahng: May 12th, 2008 at 10:55 pm […]

In my opinion the 2012 move date will never happen. Years ago I believed all the misinformation being put out by leadership about a 2008 move – not anymore!

Great work GI Korea, nicely written. And thanks for including the FED Compound. Most folks don’t even know we’re here.

Just one correction. The Google Earth image for Dragon Hill incorrectly identifies the building. The push pin identifies the First Replacement Company’s facility, Bldg. 4034 which is across the parking lot from DHL. DHL is actually the large “X” shaped gray roof at the bottom of the image (under the copyrights).

thanks again.

Fred, thanks and you are correct about mislabeling DHL. I was sloppy with the pin mark and have fixed the image. Thanks.

Pete I am at the point now that I won’t believe Yongsan will really move until I actually see it happen with my own two eyes.

Great post. How do you find the time to do these?

And I think you’re right on the final point, Yongsan will likely be a USFK base for the foreseeable future. Any ROK politico with half a brain knows that soon after the U.S. is gone from Seoul and then Korea, either the Chinese or the Japanese will want to establish a foothold. Stability in northeast Asia hinges on stability on the Korean peninsula.

Who can Korea depend upon to be the Hidden Dragon behind her Crouching Tiger? Someday that will be necessary, and I will say, Hell Yes!

These long posts like this one I actually type up as a Word file and leave it saved on my desktop and just slowly add to it over time. Once it is done I just cut and paste it into my blogging program. I have been slowly typing up this Yongsan post for probably about three months.

You forgot CP TANGO…

I too admire how you can keep a fairly steady stream of these posts coming week after week given your busy professional schedule.

I admire the consistency – which I sorely lack. I can only manage to work in heated spurts.

[…] Click here to read more. Click here to return to Korea Click here to return to MySpace News. […]

[…] main logistical support hub at the time and the only remnants of it that remains today is Camp Market.  The story initially develops by following Mike’s interactions with fellow soldiers in the […]

[…] … metacomm.co.kr/forum/USAG%20Humphreys%20Relocation… • Found on Google A Profile of USFK Camps in Seoul May 13, 2008 … The US Army?s Corps of Engineers Far East District has been based …. Camp […]

[…] expect to live in back in the states. Even families that are command sponsored find themselves in Yongsan for example living in the Hanam Apartments which I have often heard referred to as “The Ghetto”. This is a […]

I was in the 135th FST and i served in Korea from 1996 to 1997, i will never forget the team of people i met there, if anyone can read this please email me any jobs that can help our soldiers in the duty. I am a US Army Vet, and i am so proud of the work we did there, we took over Mash, i designed the coin for the 135th FST, I would love to hear from anyone there, it really brings back so many good memories. To all those in 121 GH i miss you all…….

Great stuff. I have a picture of Camp Coiner in my collection that will show how the area looked in 1960. I am sure you can not see any of that big hill now, since the area is all high rises now.

http://www.qsl.net/wd4ngb/cpcoiner1960.jpg

I spent 61-62 at Camp Coiner and going to all signal corps sites to set up our carrier communications deuce and a half. any pics of TV hill Uijongbu, Pyontec

I was with MILPERCEN-K at Coiner in 80-81 and USAGY in 84-85 (and even Camp Stanley in 73-74). If anyone has any photos of these locations during these periods, I’d appreciate the memories.

Station at Camp Coiner, 67-68, looking to conect with others, signal

Stationed at Camp Long Wonju 1973-1974 lookimg for buddie Robert Gambrell stationed Camp long 1972-1973

in 1973 K-16 was little more than the small Air Base and maybe 10 farm houses across the road does CXamp Long still exist where I set up communications van on a duce and a half with generator

I was station at Camp Market. It seems surreal that I spent two years there. I was only required one year, but within the first 6 months I extend my tour for the rest of my enlistment. What a weird place. You could run around the installation in less than half an hour and it was surrounded by large apartment buildings. At times it was a lonely place when everyone left home for the weekend. Once you step outside, it was a diffrent world. It seemed I was the only foreigner walking around on that part of the city. I use to get stared at all the time. Alot of shady deals went down at the commisary and at the “club” or casino. Korean women who were married to officers showed up in their BMWs and load their vehicles with beer and other items they would sell of post. The casino was closed for GI’s at 10pm during the weekend, but oddly you could see the Korean national patrons playing the slot machines with the doors locked. The club manager always kicked me out when I showed up with my camcorder!

I was 1SGT of an MI Co on Camp Coiner in 1987-88 (the Olympics). Great tour of duty, loved Itaewon.

What can you tell me about Camp Grey (not to be confused with Camp Grey Annex), located (previously) in Yongdungpo.

Greatest time of my life spent @ Seoul American High School,,71-74..Those who hated Korea, never really “saw” Korea, the culture shock of the far east and the pre concieved ideas blind some people.

Raul N Aguilar

I’m wondering why it never occurred to me to extend my stay in Korea at Camp Pelham in 1983. Had I known how boring stateside duty was (at least at Fort Ord)I would have spent my whole enlistment time in Korea. I clearly remember that moment on the runway..leaving the country..we all cheered when we heard and felt the rubber wheel lift off that runway when we departed. But deep down I felt sad..feeling like I had just scratched the surface of the experience and yet was leaving and would probably never be there again. I’m so grateful for sites such as this where I can check out the scene there a little bit and see the same sort of sentiments from others who served there. If ESL teaching paid a bit more..I’d probably be heading back now.

For anyone that served in the Seoul area in the 1950s or 1960s the below link may be of interest:

http://rokdrop.com/2012/06/28/filmmaker-looking-to-interview-us-rok-military-veterans-for-documentary/

I think there is a small error about Ascom City in your history. Ascom was indeed a Marine supply point during and for a short time (no pun intended) after the Korean War, but I think it became property of the US Army in early 1954. I went to Korea on my first tour in 1956 on the USS Freeman and we processed through Ascom and boarded unheated trains for Uijongbu. I spent a month in the 121 Evac hospital in 1961 on my second tour and it was indeed at Ascom and I didn’t see a Marine. The Marines withdrew from Korea in either 1954 or ’55 and the 24th Infantry Division took their place. I served with the 7th Div just south of Kumwha.

Richard Sullivan has it right. I went thru there in Feb 1960 also was assigned there July 1962 thru August 1964. It became ASCOM when the seven technical services were combined and consolidated I believe early 1963 to form a depot. I worked on the eventual movement of supplies to Waegwan Camp Carroll before I went to Japan.

Ascom was a supply depot before the Korean War as I was surprised to read on page 509 of Roy Appleman’s “From the Naktong to the Yalu” nearly 50 years ago in his account of the Inchon landing and subsequent liberation of Seoul.

“…During the night of 16-17 September, the 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, occupied a forward defensive position commanding the Seoul highway just west of Ascom City. Behind it the 1st Battalion held a high hill…”

Anyone as rabid about military history as me or someone with just a little curiosity of what happened where they were assigned would find the Army’s official history very interesting.

Ascom was a supply depot before the Korean War thats very true I believe the 24th Infantry Division had it prior to the war but not sure. I actually found a picture showing the Marines moving thru Bupyong Dong about three days ago sent it to my son who was a marine and a avid Korean War junkie. Him and his brother actually lived for a year on that same street while I was in Vietnam.

Sorry Richard your right 24th took it after the war from the Marines my mistake. Sometimes its had to keep it straight in my head. Ha Ha

Ron, I never made a MISTEAK! Where/when were you in Vietnam? I was there also.

1st time was 1965 at the Inventory Control Center down by the docks in Saigon. Then I was at Hq,USARV Long Binh 1968,1969. I was pretty lucky tour wise. Also spent two tours on Okinawa, Panama,Hawaii,Korea (two times) and one year at the Pentagon before I retired.

My 1st tour in Korea was 1960 7th Cav Camp Custer. I recall the 1st meal in Korea while at ASCOM was always a steak. Anytime of the day. Beat that junk on the ship.

I arrived in Korea on 5 January 1965 at Incheon aboard the USS Breckinridge bound for 7th Inf Div at Camp Casey. On Aug. 15, 1965, was transferred to Yongsan Garrison for assignment with the 199th Personnel Services Company. Separated from the US Army as SP5, at the 38th Replacement Co., then stationed at ASCOM/Camp Market on 23 Feb. 1966. Was hired as a temp GS3, Clerk-Typist with the ACofS, G5, Civil Affairs, 8th US Army on May 1, 1966. Thus began my civil service career. With the exception of nearly 3 years (Oct ’81-April ’82 and May 2007 – May 2009) I have lived in Korea and worked as a Public Affairs Specialist or Officer for about 35 years. Retired on 30 Sep 2008 at my last Public Affairs Officer position with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, California with 41 years of service (included 2 years of active duty). Worked on Yongsan Garrison for most of my life and living in numerous places in Seoul and now living in Yongin, near the Korean Folk Village.
I enjoy living in Korea and probably know more about this nation than I do about the US. I’ve traveled to almost all of the US military installations in Korea in the ’60s and ’70s and less travel in the ’80s, 90s and later.
Enjoy reading the comments and seeing the photos on the web related to our US military presence in the Republic of Korea. Appreciate the efforts of people like you who post these items of history.

I was never a military brat but I lived with my father in Seoul for many years. My dad worked for Dunham and Smith who supplied the military with food stuffs, electrical goods and you name it. So I was familiar with many of the bases. Especially Osan. I am looking forward to going back to Yongsan where I spent many of fond memories.

GI Myths: Is the US Military Crime Rate in Korea Out of Control?

| February 26, 2008

Quiet possibly the most common complaint from Koreans about being host to thousands of American servicemembers is that they commit an inordinate amount of crime and then get away with it because of the “unfair” Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). This belief is widespread and believed by many in the country with no one stopping to ask themselves is it true?

usfk logo

I have even heard from KATUSAs (Korean Augmentees to the US Army) that GIs commit crimes and get away with it because of the SOFA. When I challenge them and others that have made these statements to provide an example of a soldier committing a crime and getting away with it because of the SOFA, they always bring up the 2002 Armoured Vehicle Accident as evidence. I always appreciate them bring up that tragic accident because it is so easy to debunk and makes a great teaching point. The accident in question happened while the soldiers were on duty which clearly states in the US-ROK SOFA that it falls under the jurisdiction of the US military just like the SOFAs the Korean government has signed with nations that host Korean troops.

The American SOFA with Korea is actually better than the SOFAs that Korea has signed with other countries because it allows US soldiers to stand trial in Korean civilian courts for crimes committed while off duty while the Korean SOFAs do not. Some examples of the Korean SOFAs being activated to clear Korean soldiers from being tried in foreign courts include the 2005 shooting of an Iraqi soldier by a Korean servicemeber[i] as well as a 2006 traffic accident that killed a Kurdish political official in Irbil, Iraq[ii]. Each of these incidents were handled by Korean military courts because of the SOFA Korea signed with Iraq. Even more telling is that ROK military servicemembers in Korea do not stand trial for crimes committed while on or even off duty. This just begs the question of if Korean civilian courts are not good enough for their own servicemembers who speak Korean and understand the system, than why should Korean civilian courts be good enough to try US servicemembers who do not understand the system much less even speak the language?

Let me make clear before I move on that I am not advocating for any revision of the current SOFA to exempt American servicemembers from Korean courts. I am only pointing out the sheer hypocrisy of those in Korean society who do want to change the SOFA to be able to try US servicemembers for incidents that happen while on duty when it is something their own military will never agree to, even for crimes committed while off duty.

Despite Korean conventional wisdom that the SOFA allows GIs to literally get away with murder and fly back to America, the truth of the matter is that there is not one reason to blame for why GI incidents occur; GI incidents are a product of simple statistics, the environment in Korea, and leadership. Statistics of criminal activity show that the usual troublemakers are immature, young, male, junior enlisted soldiers. Guess what USFK is primarily filled with, young, male, junior enlisted soldiers. Then these soldiers are thrown into a sleazy “ville” (entertainment areas outside US camps) filled with alcohol and prostitutes; is it any wonder why these soldiers commit the most crimes in United States Force Korea (USFK)? Trouble from this pool of soldiers has happened long before now and will continue to happen in the future. It is a statistical certainty. What is important to determine is the measures taken by USFK to limit incidents from happening and how the USFK crime rate compares to the local population.

When looking at GI crime rates, people need to take a historical perspective on incidents in Korea. Just a decade ago the ville was a much more misbehaved place than what it is now. Back then I was appalled by the conditions in the entertainment districts located outside US military bases. I could not walk through the Dongducheon ville north of Seoul without being approached by multiple prostitutes or seeing a fight break out somewhere. Some of the older soldiers in my unit were stationed in Korea in the 80’s and they told me the ville was tame compared to what I saw then. With the environment that soldiers were thrown into in the ville it should come as no surprise that in prior decades there was much more serious crime occurring involving USFK servicemembers than there are now.

A Historical Look at GI Crime
The USinKorea website maintains an archive of GI Crimes in Korea through published American newspaper reports such as the New York Times and the Washington Post[iii]. The newspaper articles show that there were a number of violent incidents involving US servicemembers over the decades that are truly a disgrace to anyone wearing the uniform, however they also show that since the US-ROK SOFA was first signed in 1966 that US servicemembers have been regularly tried in Korean courts to include even receiving the death penalty. For example the first documented rape that was handled by Korean courts was in 1967, the first murder was handled by the Korean courts in 1968, and the first reported taxi cab related incident was in 1969. The rapes and murders continue through the years and this list is just what the site’s webmaster was able to dig up through published US newspaper reports, imagine how many more incidents happened that were never published. As appalling as all these incidents may be it is also instructive because it shows that the argument that US soldiers can literally get away with murder in Korea and fly home because of the SOFA is totally untrue and has been untrue for decades because all these American criminals that were tried and convicted in Korean courts.

Part of the reason that feeds this perception of GIs getting away with crimes is that in the past the Korean media which was controlled by authoritarian governments would not publish stories about GI crimes fearing that it would harm the alliance between the two countries. As democracy came to the country and the media received increased freedoms, stories about GI crimes began to appear in the news such as the 1992 murder of a Dongducheon bar worker Yoon Geu-mi by Private Kenneth Markle[iv]. Markle had brutally murdered the woman after he found out that she had been with another man the night before. Markle bashed her and then sexually assaulted her with an umbrella and Coke bottle before pouring laundry detergent over the body. The scene was horrific and photographs of the murder spread across Korea and the conventional wisdom soon became that US troops have been doing these types of crimes for a long time and had been getting away with it. However, as I have already demonstrated yes, horrible crimes have happened over the years involving USFK servicemembers, but they were tried and convicted in Korean courts for those crimes; it was just that the Korean public never heard about them. Markle went on to be tried and convicted in Korean court and sentenced to fifteen years in prison, just like the GIs criminals that came before him starting way back in 1967. The only thing that made his case different was that it was widely published.

Reporting GI Crime Today
In the past the Korean media may not have reported incidents of GI crime, but today the exact opposite has happened. Now the media reports the smallest incidents involving GIs. For example just last year a Korean newspaper ran an article about how an American GI brushed a Korean woman with the mirror of his car[v]. Would such an article have ever been published if the woman was brushed by the mirror of a vehicle driven by a Korean? Of course not, but the Korean media will report any incident involving a GI which further feeds the conventional wisdom of out of control GI crime.

Additionally, the proliferation of the Internet has only further added to the perception of surging GI crime. Often times the Internet will be the catalyst to publicize a perceived injustice by a USFK servicemember. For example the 2000 Yongsan Water Dumping Incident and the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident were greatly amplified with an incredible amount of disinformation and outright lies on the Internet before the media picked up the story and reported the same disinformation to further inflame the Korean public.

To further add to the perception of out of control GI crime is the sensationalism that the Korean media often adds to the reporting to inflame public anger. The best example of this is the 1995 Seoul Subway Brawl involving four USFK soldiers[vi]. One of the soldiers on the subway patted the behind of a Korean woman with him. A group of Korean males than confronted the American soldier about patting the woman’s behind. The woman explained to the male Koreans that she was in fact the soldier’s wife. After hearing this, the Korean males began to spat on and slap the woman for being married to the soldier. Needless to say the husband and friends intervened to prevent the Koreans from beating the soldier’s wife. However, the story that was published in the Korean media was one of drunk, American GIs sexually assaulting a Korean woman on the subway until confronted by concerned local citizens.

Here is how the Korea Times reported the case[vii]:

“The four went on the rampage in the subway station in May and beat Cho who tried to stop them, causing him injuries requiring three weeks of treatment, the prosecution claimed. They were indicted without physical detention on May 19.”

With a dishonest media narrative such as this, the incident quickly became one that inflamed anti-US sentiment in the country. This belief was only reinforced when the four GIs and the Korean wife were arrested and convicted of assault. Three of the GIs received monetary fines while the GI husband was sentenced to six months in jail while his wife, the one spat on and slapped, received a fine. The Koreans that started the fight in the first place were never even indicted. This is justice in Korea, that I show later in the essay, continues to be practiced to this day.

A year later the GI husband was able to successfully appeal his case and quietly his jail term was reduced to a fine just like the others involved. If the US-ROK SOFA had not been in place at the time he would have been imprisoned in Korean jail the entire time his case was awaiting appeal for an obvious travesty of justice. This case is one of many examples of why the US needs a SOFA with a country like South Korea where a sensational media and rampant xenophobic nationalism often makes any fair trial of an alleged crime by a USFK servicemember difficult.

Another more recent example of an outrageous arrest of USFK servicemembers was in 2002 when three American GIs were assaulted and then kidnapped off a Seoul subway by known anti-US activists.[viii] One of the kidnapped soldiers was taken to a packed college sports stadium and forced to make a coerced statement to the crowd condemning USFK that was broadcast on national television. Then the soldiers were taken to a hospital and forced to apologize to the anti-US activist who attacked them on the subway in the first place. Despite being assaulted on the subway, kidnapped, and then forced to make coerced statements on national TV, the soldiers were then booked by the police for assault.

A travesty of justice doesn’t begin to describe how despicable this case is. Could you imagine what the Korean reaction would be if a mob of US soldiers assaulted three Koreans, kidnapped them on to a US military installation, and then forced them to make coerced anti-Korean statements on the Armed Forces Network? There would be nation wide outrage in Korea, yet when it happens to US soldiers they are the ones charged with a crime. It truly boggles the mind.

As evidence that the railroading of American soldiers in Korean courts continues to this day look no further than the case of PFC Mark Feldman. Feldman was convicted of attempted rape of an off duty Korean policewoman, along with another USFK servicemember SGT Anthony Basel. Basel confessed and was convicted for the crime, but Feldman told police that he was outside trying to catch a taxi while Basel was using the restroom where the attack occurred. The victim did not see Feldman in the bathroom and initially the restaurant owner that broke up the attack did not see Feldman either in his initial sworn statement to police. However, later the police were able to get the restaurant owner to change his statement and were able to arrest and convict Feldman. Additionally the police pressured Basel to write a statement implicating Feldman in order to reduce his own jail time. During Feldman’s trial he was not even given an adequate interpreter to understand what was going on.

When Feldman was convicted the senior judge presiding over the case encouraged Feldman to appeal the conviction because it was so dubious, which he did. After sitting in Korean jail for 113 days PFC Feldman’s conviction was reversed because of lack of evidence and changing witness statements[ix]. Under the pre-2001 US-ROK SOFA, Feldman would have never been in jail to begin with because the old SOFA only sent USFK servicemembers to Korean jail after their appeals process was complete. Since the 2001 revision soldiers are now handed over to Korean authorities before the completion of their appeals process. Yes the SOFA is unfair; it is unfair towards American soldiers not Koreans.

The Statistics of GI Crime
The Korean media and politicians like to play with statistics as well in order to feed the conventional wisdom of out of control GI crime. Often statistics will be released that shows a high USFK crime rate, however the media will inflate the statistics by including such minor offenses as parking tickets to support their claim of out of control GI crime. Left wing Korean politician Lee Young-soon in 2005 released statistics from the Seoul police department that USFK soldiers committed 780 criminal acts over a six-year period and were not held for trial[x]. To sensationalize this statistic even further, the newspaper headline read, “No US Soldiers Held in Hundreds of Crimes”. Of course this statistic was inflated with unpaid parking tickets but the article also made no distinction of whether the soldiers not tried in Korean court were found to have no involvement in the crime by the police or were handed over to the US military for trial for minor crimes. From personal experience I have seen Korean police hand over soldiers for minor crimes such as urinating on a building to be handled by the military justice system so they do not have to prepare all the necessary paperwork to handle a US servicemember case in the Korean justice system. It should come as no surprise that this politician was later linked to a North Korean spy scandal[xi].

So what do the real criminal statistics say about GI crimes in Korea? For example let’s start with the statistics for SOFA status persons convicted of crimes in Korean court in 2007. These statistics are compiled from the ROK criminal court records involving USFK members published every month on the USFK website:

  • Crime Soldier Dependent Contractor
  • Rape 2
  • Sexual Assault 1
  • Assault 11 2              1
  • Bodily Injury 5
  • Larceny 3
  • Robbery 1
  • Drugs 2
  • DUI 10
  • Prostitution 1
  • T.M. Violation           2
  • Totals: 36 4 1

USFK currently has approximately 27,500 soldiers stationed in Korea. This means that .00131% of the population of USFK servicemembers in Korea are the ones causing trouble while the other 27,464 soldiers are minding their own business and respecting Korean law. Further more if the number of USFK servicemembers is divided by the number of incidents the ratio comes out to 1 criminal incident for every 764 soldiers.

This ratio is even further improved when just serious crimes are considered. The Korean National Policy Agency considers Murder, Robbery, Rape, Violence, & Larceny as major crimes when compiling Korean crime statistics. Of these five major categories USFK soldiers committed 23 cases of serious crime. When the USFK population is divided by this number, the ratio comes out to 1 serious crime for 1196 soldiers.

So how does this compare to Korean crime rates? The Korean National Police Agency has 2007 statistics for serious crimes committed by Koreans on their website. The KNPA has arrested 385,704 Koreans for serious crimes out of a population of 49 million Koreans[xii]. Here is how the statistics break down:

  • Crime Number
  • Murder – 1,062
  • Burglary – 3,731
  • Rape – 7,795
  • Theft – 102,688
  • Assault – 270,428
  • Total – 385,704

Korea has a conviction rate of 99% which means that of the 385,704 people arrested that comes out to roughly 381,847 people convicted.  If the total Korean population of 49 million is divided by the number of serious criminal convictions, the ratio comes out to 1 serious crime for every 128 Koreans. As I have just demonstrated the USFK crime rate isn’t just lower than the Korean crime rate, but is significantly lower.

These statistics are even more interesting when compared by individual crime. For example by using the same equation as above, for assaults 1 in every 183 Koreans are arrested for assault compared to 1 in every 1,718 USFK servicemembers. The Korean statistic for rape is much high then the USFK number with 1 in every 6,350 Koreans are arrested for rape compared to 1 in every 9,166 USFK servicemembers. For combined burglary and theft 1 person is arrested for every 181 Koreans compared to 1 person arrested for every 6875 USFK servicemembers. Finally, for murder 1 in every 45,623 Koreans are arrested for murder compared to zero arrests for murder for USFK servicemembers.

These numbers are truly stunning and show how hard USFK has worked in recent years to lower what was already a low crime rate to begin with. The most stunning statistic the last few years has been that no USFK servicemember has been involved with murdering a Korean.

If you look at murders from 1990-2000 there was the infamous 1993 Kenneth Markle murder[xiii] of a Korean prostitute in Dongducheon, followed by another murder in Dongducheon in 1996 of another prostitute by Steven Munique[xiv], then a 1998 murder by Jerome Henrix[xv] of a prostitute in Itaewon, and then the 2000 murder of yet another Itaewon prostitute by Christopher McCarthy[xvi]. Additionally a USFK dependent murdered a Korean man at the Itaewon Burger King in 1997[xvii].

Now compare these murders to the time period between 2001 through 2008 where not one murder of a Korean civilian was perpetrated by a USFK servicemember. In fact a USFK servicemember was more recently murdered by a Korean than vice versa when in 2000 Major David Berry was murdered in broad daylight in Itaewon by a deranged Korean man[xviii].

The Spread of Disinformation
What else is interesting is that the most notorious Korean anti-US group USA Crime has launched a campaign claiming that USFK is releasing mentally deranged soldiers into Korea due to their service in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that they are committing increasing crime in Korea[xix]. The statistics above prove that this is nonsense especially the murder statistics. How does USA Crime explain that during the peace time military before 9/11 that USFK servicemembers were responsible for murdering four Korean civilians, but after 9/11 not one Korean civilian has been murdered by these so called mentally deranged soldiers? They can’t explain it and they won’t explain it either because their sole purpose is to spread anti-US disinformation to the Korean public, which they are very effective at doing. They could care less about the actual truth of USFK crime rates.

It is because of the blatant smears, disinformation campaigns, and subsequent publicity that the Korean public continues to believe that USFK is responsible for an inordinate amount of crime in Korea. This perception problem has caused a command environment within USFK where commanders are trying to prevent every incident when preventing all incidents is statistically impossible. There is approximately 40,000 USFK servicemembers, contractors, and family members in Korea. Is there a town of 40,000 people in either the US or Korea with no crime?

Conclusion
The USFK attempt to create a crime free utopia is statistically impossible. In order to create this utopia, a curfew is implemented, the battle buddy policy exists, the loss of driving privileges for most of USFK service members was enacted, blood alcohol content (BAC) regulations in the 2nd Infantry Division were implemented, certain areas of Korean cities are put off limits, along with a host of other regulations to limit the amount of incidents involving USFK servicemembers.

All these regulations greatly effect soldier life in Korea which effects morale and has the side effect of creating a negative perception of Koreans because everyone knows these restrictions are enacted on them because of a general Korean public that believes GIs are out of control criminals. This perception will not change until the Korean media stops reporting every Korean brushed by a USFK servicemember’s car mirror as well as the media stopping the sensationalizing of major USFK crimes without providing context of how the USFK crime rate is significantly lower then the Korean crime rate.

The Korean media is only going to change the way they report when USFK and the American government begins to vigorously defend the rights and reputations of American servicemembers stationed in Korea. Korea has a long pattern of arrests of GIs, such as the 1995 subway incident that are driven solely by xenophobic nationalism. When these incidents happen why are American politicians and media silent while US soldiers are being railroaded through Korean courts? As long as America’s political leaders and media continues to be ignorant of the treatment of USFK servicemembers on the peninsula, cases of nationalistic xenophobic prosecutions will continue for little regard of whether the soldier is guilty or not simply to appease the masses in Korea that desperately want to believe GIs are out of control criminals despite all evidence that says otherwise. Just because Korean authorities are more concerned with appeasing the masses instead of rendering justice doesn’t mean our political leaders should be as well. USFK servicemembers deserve better than this.

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Note #1: I would appreciate if everyone DIGG this story by clicking here and if you have a blog to link to this posting. The internet is filled with disinformation about USFK GI crimes and I want to get this posting pushed up the Google page rankings as much as possible to combat the high level lies and propaganda on the Internet that only continues to feed the perception of out of control GI crime in Korea. Thanks.

Note #2: This posting has been updated with the latest 2007 KNPA criminal statistics and adjusted to reflect a 99% ROK criminal conviction rate.

[i] “Korean Soldier Accidentally Killed Iraqi”, Chosun Ilbo, 13 April 2005, http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200504/200504130032.html

[ii] Jung Sung-ki, “Kurd Official Killed in Traffic in Erbil”, The Korea Times, 02 February 2006, http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2006/2/kurdlocal98.htm

[iii] USinKorea Site, http://www.usinkorea.org/crimes/, accessed 14 February 2008-02-14

[iv] “Former GI Convicted of Murder Released from South Korean Prison Early”, Stars & Stripes, 29 October 2006, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=40120&archive=true

[v] “Woman Demands Justice for Hit & Run Accident”, The Hankyoreh, 27 June 2007, http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/218697.html

[vi] Nicholas Kristof, “Subway Brawl Inflames Issue of GI’s in Korea”, New York Times, 24 August 1995, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CEED81430F937A1575BC0A963958260

[vii] “US Sergeant Involved in Subway Brawl in May Given 6 Month Jail Sentence”, Korea Times, 22 December 1995

[viii] UsinKorea Site, http://usinkorea.org/issues/subway/, accessed 07 February 2008

[ix] Jimmy Norris & Hwang Hae-rym, “Soldiers Jailed in Attempted Rape of South Korean Policewoman Freed”, Stars & Stripes, 16 January 2008, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59127&archive=true

[x] “No US Soldiers Held in Hundreds of Crimes”, Chosun Ilbo, 26 September 2005, http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200509/200509260010.html

[xi] “Prosecutors Accuse 5, Including American of Spying for North Korea”, USA Today, 08 December 2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-12-08-korea-espionage_x.htm

[xii] Korean National Police Agency, http://www.police.go.kr/eng/index.jsp, accessed 14 February 2008

[xiii] “Former GI Convicted of Murder Released from South Korean Prison Early”, Stars & Stripes, 29 October 2006, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=40120&archive=true

[xiv] USinKorea Site, http://www.usinkorea.org/crimes/1996_murder/, accessed 14 February 2008

[xv] USinKorea Site, http://www.usinkorea.org/crimes/1998_murder/, accessed 14 February 2008

[xvi] “US Soldier Guilty of Sex Killing”, BBC, 16 June 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/793426.stm

[xvii] Terri Weaver & Hwang Hae-rym, “South Korean Murder Victim’s Family Wins Settlement”, Stars & Stripes, 21 January 2006, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=33581&archive=true

[xviii] “US Strengthens Safety for Its Troops in South Korea”, CNN, 19 July 2000, http://edition.cnn.com/2000/ASIANOW/east/07/18/skorea.us.military.ap/

GI Myths: The Unfair US-ROK SOFA Agreement

| February 21, 2008

Introduction

A myth in Korea that is persistently held by many in Korean society no matter how discredited it is, is the belief that Korea has signed an unfair Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States. A SOFA is a document signed between the US and the host country of US military personnel in order to clarify each side’s rights and responsibilities in regards to a variety of issues that arise with the stationing of US troops in a foreign country.

korea us flag image

A SOFA between different nations is never the same because each nation has different legal and political systems that influence the way in which a SOFA is written. For example in the United States people expect that someone accused of a crime should have the right to remain silent and have access to lawyer. It is important to realize with Status of Forces Agreements, that unlike civilians, troops are ordered to go overseas. Since troops are under orders they are owed the legal protections they would find in the United States. Ambassador Thomas Hubbard summarizes this best, “we sent them under our system, and we owe them those protections.”[i]

Not all countries the United States has troops in respect these rights. For example the SOFA between the US and Japan allows the military to hold servicemembers accused of crimes until they are indicted by a Japanese court, to which then they are handed over to Japanese authorities[ii]. The holding of a servicemember prior to indictment is to protect their rights to remain silent, not to have coercive interrogation tactics used against them[iii], and have access to a proper lawyer, which is not something readily available to them if held by local Japanese authorities[iv]. It is legal differences such as this that make detailed status of forces agreements necessary.

The US-ROK SOFA

Like all other nations that hosts US troops, Korea has its own SOFA in regards to the stationing of United States Force Korea (USFK) personnel in the country[v]. Here is how USFK summarizes it responsibilities under the US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement:

The SOFA sets forth each nation’s responsibilities with respect to many subjects, including facilities and areas used by U.S. forces, entry and exit of U.S. personnel, customs, taxation, criminal jurisdiction, claims procedures, health and sanitation, use of utilities and USFK’s employment of Korean citizens.

The SOFA applies to members of the U.S. armed forces, civilian employees, invited contractors, technical representatives and their dependents. Civilian and military personnel of the U.S. Embassy and JUSMAG-K enjoy privileges under the SOFA, but are covered by separate agreements with the ROK government.

SOFA-status personnel are obliged to respect the laws of the ROK and abstain from any activity inconsistent with the spirit of the agreement and, in particular, from any political activity. In some cases the SOFA supersedes or abridges Korean law. For example, active-duty military personnel are exempt from passport and visa requirements and SOFA-status personnel are exempt from Korean taxes on wages and salaries paid by the U.S. government. […]

The SOFA also fully acknowledges the ROK government’s right to exercise criminal jurisdiction over USFK personnel accused of violating Korean laws. Accused military personnel may be placed in ROK custody upon indictment in serious cases, and the ROK may retain custody upon arrest in some of the most serious murder or rape cases. Civilians may be placed into ROK custody if the charges are serious and their presence for trial cannot be guaranteed.[vi]

The original SOFA was established in 1966 and has numerous revisions over the years with the most recent revision coming in 2001 that take into account the maturation of the Korean legal and political systems, which leads to the transfer of more rights and responsibilities to the Korean government.

However in Korea the SOFA has become a very convenient issue for the anti-US movement in the country to demagogue in order to create anti-US sentiment within the general Korean population. Like many of their other misinformation operations in Korea, the anti-US groups have succeeded in creating a widely held belief in the country that US servicembers can literally get away with murder and there is nothing the Korean government can do to stop them.

The 2000 Yongsan Water Dumping Scandal

One of the more recent and well known attempts to pass off this disinformation to the general Korea public was with the 2000 Yongsan Water Dumping Scandal where a USFK mortician ordered 20 gallons of formaldehyde to be disposed of down a sink in the mortuary. The formaldehyde was of no threat to the public because it was diluted with water and passed through two different water treatment plants before the wastewater was discharged into the Han River[vii]. Despite these facts the anti-US groups in coordination with their media allies were able to launch ferocious anti-US protests over this issue claiming that USFK was intentionally poisoning the Seoul city water supply and exposing everyone in the city to cancer. These groups distorted the amount of chemicals poured as well as the fact that they could not cause any cancer because they passed through two different water treatment plants.

waterdump2
Korean activists protest the dumping of formaldehyde by a USFK mortician.

These were inconvenient facts that were simply ignored. The anti-US groups also demanded that the USFK mortician be tried in a Korean court even though under the SOFA he was legally not eligible to fall under Korean jurisdiction since his alleged crime happened on duty. According to the US-ROK SOFA, all crimes committed on post or while on duty anywhere in the peninsula fall under USFK jurisdiction. Any crimes committed off a US military facility while the servicemember was off duty falls under Korean jurisdiction. The case of the mortician did not meet either criteria. Despite this the mortician was tried in absentee in a Korean court and fined. USFK actually paid the fine, but the anti-US groups were not happy with the fine and demanded a re-trial. Thus the Korean courts re-tried the case even though they had already reached a verdict. In the re-trial the mortician was sentenced to six months in jail, which was a longer sentence than what a child molester in Korea would receive[viii]. This was all because of the Korean court’s attempt to appease public sentiment instead of holding a fair trial to render justice.

This issue gave the anti-US groups a platform to bash the US-ROK SOFA, but if anything this issue only demonstrated to the United States why the nation needs a SOFA with Korea in the first place, to protect US servicemembers from politically charged trials. Even more telling is that Korean logging companies that were caught dumping 271 tons of lethal chemicals directly into the Han River without passing through any water treatment plant were simply fined with no one receiving jail time yet the USFK mortician is sentenced to jail[ix]. Such hypocrisy in the Korean courts and subsequent bashing of the US-ROK SOFA is not uncommon in Korea and the greatest example of this is the aftermath of the 2002 armoured vehicle accident.

2002 Armoured Vehicle Accident

On June 13, 2002 a USFK armoured vehicle struck and killed two thirteen-year-old Korean schoolgirls walking to a friend’s birthday party. The incident was clearly a tragic accident that led to apologies from every commanding general in USFK, the US Ambassador to Korea, and even President George Bush himself. In accordance with Korean law USFK payed over $150,000 to each of the effected families in compensation for their loss. Additionally $22,000 was raised for the two families through a candle light vigil fundraiser held by US soldiers after the accident and another $30,000 was eventually raised by US soldiers to fund a memorial for the two girls.[x]

Despite all of this, the anti-US groups were able to very successfully portray this accident as an act intentionally committed by US soldiers and that they were exempt from Korean justice because of an unfair SOFA. This perception only grew when the two soldiers were acquitted of negligent homicide charge after the conclusion of a military court martial. The USFK Commanding General Leon LaPorte felt that a military court martial could be used to disclose all the facts in an open setting to show the Korean public that this was simply a tragic accident. General LaPorte however unintentionally fed the frenzy because the perception of a court trial in Korea is very different from what Americans perceive trials to be in the US.

In the US defendants are presumed innocent and trials are held to have an open debate about the facts of the case with a verdict rendered by either an impartial judge or jury. In Korea when someone goes to trial, they are already presumed guilty; the only question to be found out during the trial is how guilty that person is. So when the two soldiers were acquitted, the Korean public took it to mean a cover up by the US military because if they were not guilty to begin with than why put them on trial? This belief of a cover up by USFK validated many people’s feelings of why the SOFA with the US must be changed so Korean courts can try soldiers who commit crimes while on duty.

After the not guilty verdict, anti-US groups and their media allies were able to feed this perception of a cover up and injustice by making claims that US soldiers regularly avoid Korean courts by claiming on duty status. Others even claimed US soldiers were never tried in Korean courts at all because of the unfair SOFA. However, US soldiers have actually been regularly tried in Korea courts since the 1960’s with some even receiving the death penalty[xi]. With such information easily available to those willing to look for it, it was incredible to see how the Korean media would simply avoid such inconvenient facts in their reporting.

Legal Status of ROK Military Servicemembers

The most hypocritical aspects of the anti-US groups and the Korean media’s claims of an unfair SOFA is that servicemembers in the Korean military are not subject to civilian courts whether they commit a crime on or off duty. For example, four young Korean males attacked and stole two K2 assault rifles from two on duty Korean soldiers. The gang was not able to get any ammunition for the rifles until one member of the gang stole ammunition from his ROK Army unit while conducting his annual reserve training. The gang used the weapons to execute a bank robbery in 2002 where they stole over $11,000[xii]. When the gang was apprehended by authorities, all four of the gang not just the reserve soldier who committed a crime while on duty were tried in a ROK Army court martial.

Another more recent example is when in 2007 a South Korean man struck two patrolling South Korean Marines with his truck and then assaulted them with a knife, killing one of them and then fleeing with their weapons and grenades. A manhunt ensured for the killer and he was eventually apprehended a week later. However, even though he was a civilian he was handed over to the Korean military to be tried by a military court martial[xiii]. The fact that ROK military personnel never stand trial in Korean courts and the fact that civilians can be forced to stand trial in a military court martial is an inconvenient fact that many Koreans would rather not acknowledge. A USFK servicemember on the other hand is subject to Korean civilian court for any crime committed while off duty. With the differences in jurisdiction between the Korean and American militaries, it makes you wonder if the Korean civilian judicial system is not good enough for the Korean military than why should it be good enough to try American soldiers in? This is an inconvenient fact that is left unaddressed by the anti-US groups and their media allies

Korean Media Disinformation

This avoidance of inconvenient facts would continue long after the 2002 accident. A year after the tragic 2002 accident, a USFK servicemember was involved in a DUI hit and run that killed a Korean woman. The servicemember was handed over to Korean authorities and put on trial in Korean court. A Korea Times headline about the trial of the USFK servicemember read, “First US Soldier to be Tried in Korean Court”[xiv]. What is quite ironic about this article is that the first GIs tried in Korean court was in 1967 when an airman was tried for arson and assault [xv]. In the article covering the rape convictions the newspaper said, “This is the first case which the Republic of Korea has exercised criminal jurisdiction over an American serviceman”.  Nearly 40 years later and the media is making the same claims.

Later on other incidents that happened between GIs and Koreans that were ultimately handled by Korean courts would be covered in the Korean media with passages that would say, “However, many U.S. soldiers have evaded the South Korean jurisdiction by citing their exemption from the SOFA clause by claiming on-duty status.”[xvi] This claim in the years after the 2002 accident was made repeatedly in Korean newspapers in regards to incidents with GIs. I e-mailed the newspapers that made these proclamations to substantiate their claim by providing one example of when a soldier was off duty and claimed to be on duty to avoid prosecution in Korean court, I did not receive one reply back.

Probably the most stunning hypocrisy of the SOFA criticism is the fact that the Korean military has status of forces agreements with every nation that is host to South Korean military personnel. In every one of these SOFAs, the ROK Army has primary jurisdiction of crimes committed by their soldiers both on and off duty. A couple of recent examples of when the ROK military’s SOFA was activated were both in Iraq and involved the deployment of the ROK Army’s Zaytun Division outside the Kurdish capitol city of Irbil. In the first case a South Korean soldier was playing with his rifle when an accidental discharge killed a nearby Kurdish soldier[xvii].

The SOFA was activated and the Korean soldier was handled by a ROK military court martial. In 2006 a Korean soldier driving a military truck was involved in a traffic accident where he caused the death of a 53 year old Kurdish politician. Once again the South Korean military activated their SOFA. This is what Colonel Ha Du-cheol told reporters after the accident, “The traffic accident occurred in the line of duty, so we are seeking ways to compensate the victim’s family.”[xviii] Sound familiar? It should because it is the same thing the US military did after the 2002 armored vehicle accident, which everyone demanded SOFA revisions for, however when a nearly identical situation happens with a Korean soldier it receives a small passage in the newspaper and no righteous indignation from anyone complaining about an unequal SOFA between Korea and Iraq.

The Korean military has never allowed one of their soldiers to be tried in a foreign host nation’s civilian courts, which shouldn’t be surprising considering that Korean soldiers do not even stand trial in civilian courts in their own country. Despite all of these inconvenient facts the anti-US groups and their media allies have the nerve to condemn USFK for an unfair status of forces agreement. The hypocrisy is really quite stunning.

US Camp Pollution Claims

In recent years the claims of GIs getting away with crimes in Korea because of the SOFA have become more muted probably because of the sheer hypocrisy of it has become too evident as I noted. Instead the anti-US groups and their media allies have decided to shift their focus back on to so called USFK environmental crimes. This logic is a recycle of the anti-US tactic used in 2000 in regards to the Yongsan Water Dumping Scandal. However, this time the anti-US groups were not making claims that USFK is poisoning the Seoul water supply, but rather that the bases USFK was closing down and handing back to the Korean government were grossly polluted and a threat to their surrounding communities. USFK was handing back the bases as part of a USFK transformation plan made between the United States and the Republic of Korea that would see all 2nd Infantry Division bases in the north of the country and Yongsan Garrison in Seoul closed down and consolidated on an expanded Camp Humphreys base south of Seoul.

This agreement was made in compliance with the SOFA, and the ROK government stated that the Korean government would receive all the USFK land “as is”.[xix] This is because in the SOFA it states that USFK is “not obliged … to restore the facilities and areas to the condition they were at the time they became available to the U.S. armed forces, or to compensate the government of the ROK in lieu of such restoration.”[xx] The reason for this is because the ROK government is receiving 33,000 acres of prime real estate with many modern buildings and amenities already constructed on them. For example when Yongsan Garrison in the heart of Seoul is closed out, the Korean government will be receiving 615 acres of land, nearly the size of New York City’s Central Park, right in the middle of a city with some of the world’s highest real estate prices. Plus the Korean government will be receiving at no costs modern facilities on the camps such as the brand newly refurbished hospital on Yongsan Garrison[xxi]. Any costs in regards to cleaning any pollution on handed over USFK camps can easily be covered with the profits the Korean government is sure to make from the sale of the acquired USFK land.

hump4
Korean activists protest the expansion of Camp Humphreys.

Once again the claims that the environmental clauses in the US-ROK SOFA are unequal compared to SOFAs the US has with Japan and Germany are totally unfounded as well. For example when the US closed camps in Germany the US was responsible for cleaning any environmental damage on the closed camps. This is a fact that the anti-US groups like to trumpet to claim that the US-ROK SOFA is unfair, however what they don’t tell people is that the German government was responsible for buying back all the facilities built on the camps. The money the US government received from the German government to buy back the facilities was more than enough to cover the environmental clean up associated with closing the camps[xxii]. In the US-ROK SOFA the Korean government receives all the facilities on the camp free of charge. For example the renovation and added wing to the Yongsan 121 General Hospital that the Korean government will receive free of charge cost USFK $39 million dollars. The cost savings the Korean government will receive from conducting an environmental clean up compared to paying to receive all the USFK facilities will be enormous.

Likewise the anti-US groups will also not mention the environmental provision in the US-Japan SOFA. In this SOFA the US has no responsibility to clean any environmental damage when handing over closed out bases. The Japanese government bears all the costs in cleaning the returned land[xxiii].

Unequal SOFA Claims

Finally another common claim is that Korea has an unequal SOFA with the United States compared to the one the US currently has with Japan or Germany. As I have already shown in regards to environmental regulations, this claim is totally bogus, however the rhetoric does have a grain of truth to it, but the vast majority of the people making the claims have no idea what they are talking about[xxiv]. Both SOFAs with Japan and Germany are reciprocal meaning that German and Japanese servicemembers have the same rights granted to them while in the United States as American servicemembers have while stationed in their respective countries.

The US-ROK SOFA however is not reciprocal and this is because Korea does not have permanently stationed troops in the United States while Japan and Germany do. The Germans and the Japanese have air defense soldiers stationed on Ft. Bliss, Texas for example. The Germans even have their Luftwaffe flight-training center located just outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico. South Korea on the other hand does not have permanently stationed units in the US and ROK military soldiers that do travel to the United States are usually soldiers there to attend training. International soldiers who attend US military training schools fall under a separate status of forces agreement.

This is the only reason how the SOFAs between these nations are unequal, but the common people who make the unequal SOFA claims think that Japan and Germany have greater rights over American servicemembers than Korea does when in fact the opposite is true. The latest SOFA revision in 2001, before the armored vehicle accident, gave Korean authorities the right to hold US servicemembers before their trials. In comparison to the US-Japan SOFA there is nothing written that says that the US has to hand over servicemembers to Japanese authorities before being indicted. However, the perception in Korea exists that the agreement does allow Japan to take custody of US servicemembers before a trial because the US military often hands over servicemembers suspected of serious crimes to the Japanese authorities as part of a gentleman’s agreement. When one views the US-ROK SOFA without an agenda, it is quite clear that it is not unfair compared to the over 80 other SOFAs the US has signed with other nations that host US troops[xxv].

Conclusions

If people in Korea want to complain about unfair status of forces agreements they can start with the agreements their own military has signed with foreign nations. As I have clearly demonstrated the US-ROK status of forces agreement is much more fair than agreements Korea has with other nations that host Korean troops. I have also demonstrated that the US-ROK SOFA is just as, if not more fair to the Republic of Korea than similar agreements signed between the US and with Japan and Germany.

The fact of the matter is that the anti-US groups and their media allies could care less about how fair the US-ROK SOFA really is. The anti-US groups find an issue that will appeal to the wider Korean public and then the groups demagogue the issue by only presenting facts that support their side of the story while ignoring all the other evidence that says otherwise. Their media allies than spread this disinformation around the country without challenging the veracity of the claims. These anti-US groups manipulate issues such as the US-ROK SOFA in order to create increased anti-US sentiment in the country as well as drive a wedge in the US-ROK alliance.

Past political leaders in Korea would not show any leadership in exposing the untruthfulness these groups’ claims and often time were complicit in their activities. With all this misinformation being passed to the public is it any wonder why the average Korean has such a skewed view of the US-ROK SOFA when all they are fed by the Korean media is one-sided propaganda?

 Endnotes

[i] Ambassador Thomas C. Hubbard’s KBS-TV “Sunday Analysis”, http://seoul.usembassy.gov/19_jan_03.html, accessed 07 February 2008

[ii] US-Japan Status of Force Agreement, http://www.niraikanai.wwma.net/pages/archive/sofa.html, accessed 07 February 2008

[iii] Manabu Kimura and Yuichiro Nakamura, “Interrogation Methods Questioned”, Daily Yomiuri, 26 January 2008, http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080126TDY03304.htm

[iv] David T. Johnson, The Japanese Way of Justice, (Oxford University Press – 2002), pg 83

95% of lawyers in Japan never bothered to attend their client’s interrogation , 2/3rd of lawyers in Japan never recommended that their clients remain silent, and 3/4th of Japanese lawyers never asked a judge to have the prosecutors release evidence. The book’s list of Japanese defense lawyers colluding with the prosecution is extensive.

[v] US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement, http://www.shaps.hawaii.edu/security/us/sofa1966_1991.html, accessed 07 February 2008

[vi] United States Force Korea Website, http://www.usfk.mil/usfk/welcome/sofa.html, accessed 07 February 2008

[vii] David Scofield, “The Mortician’s Tale”, Asia Times, 28 January 2004, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FA28Dg02.html

[viii] David Scofield, “The Mortician’s Tale”, Asia Times, 28 January 2004, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FA28Dg02.html

[ix] “Dumping of Toxic Chemicals into Streams”, Korea Times, 03 November 2003, http://search.hankooki.com/times/times_view.php?term=han+timber++&path=hankooki3/times/lpage/opinion/200311/kt2003110317083811300.htm&media=kt

[x] US Embassy Seoul, http://seoul.usembassy.gov/june13acc.html, accessed 07 February 2008

[xi] “South Korea, Sentences to US Soldiers to Death”, New York Times, 04 December 1970, http://usinkorea.org/crimes/5_dec_1970_1.JPG

[xii] Robert Neff, “Gun Toting Robbers Set Sights on Korean Banks”, Oh My News, 17 November 2006, http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=327489&rel_no=1

[xiii] T.D. Flack & Hwang Hae-rym, “South Korean Indicted in Murder of Marine”, Stars & Stripes, 12 January 2008, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59037&archive=true

[xiv] Byun Duk-kun, “First US Soldier to be Tried in Korean Court”, Korea Times, 15 December 2003

[xv] USinKorea Site, http://usinkorea.org/crimes/12_22_1967.JPG, accessed 07 February 2008

[xvi] Korea Herald, http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2005/07/18/200507180024.asp, accessed 07 February 2008-02-07

[xvii] “Korean Soldier Accidentally Killed Iraqi”, Chosun Ilbo, 13 April 2005, http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200504/200504130032.html

[xviii] Jung Sung-ki, “Kurd Official Killed in Traffic in Erbil”, The Korea Times, 02 February 2006, http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2006/2/kurdlocal98.htm

[xix] Teri Weaver, “97 Percent of Yongsan Garrison will be Turned Over to South Korea As Is”, Stars & Stripes, 21 December 2004, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=25240&archive=true

[xx] T.D. Flack, “USFK: Total of 33,000 Acres to be Returned to South Korea”, Stars & Stripes, 16 July 2006, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=37742&archive=true

[xxi] Teri Weaver, “USFK Opens New Wing at Yongsan’s 121 General Hospital”, Stars & Stripes, 23 January 2005, http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=25790&archive=true

[xxii] LTC Park Kwang-ok, “Misunderstandings and Truths on Return of US Bases”, Defense Daily, 21 July 2006, http://www.usfk.mil/org/fkpa/News/newsArchive.asp?id=120

[xxiii] LTC Park Kwang-ok, “Misunderstandings and Truths on Return of US Bases”, Defense Daily, 21 July 2006, http://www.usfk.mil/org/fkpa/News/newsArchive.asp?id=120

[xxiv] David Steinberg, Korean Attitudes Toward the United States (M.E. Sharpe, 2005), pg 201

[xxv] US Embassy Korea Webpage, http://seoul.usembassy.gov/june13acc.html, accessed 07 February 2008

US Military Meets 2007 Recruiting Goals, What’s Ahead in 2008?

| October 5, 2007

Has anyone else noticed that the fact that the US military met their 2007 recruiting goals is hardly mentioned in the media? Back in August I called the media’s attempts to politicize the fact that the active duty Army did not meet their June and July recruiting goals a “False Recruiting Crisis” and the final statistics prove me right.

Could you imagine what the headlines would be if the military did not meet their recruiting goals? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Now here is my prediction for headlines next year. In 2008 the military is going to have a hard time making the recruiting mission because of the plan to expand the force. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates shares my concerns:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he is “inclined to approve” an Army request to cut a year off of the five-year plan to expand the active-duty force.

“I’m probably going to recommend that they go ahead and give it a try,” he told reporters during a Pentagon press conference.

However, Gates said, “my questions are focused principally on whether they can do it, in terms of recruitment, and whether they can do so without lowering standards.” [Stars & Stripes]

To increase the Army by 74,000 soldiers over five years means that the Army would have to recruit at most an additional 14,500 soldiers a year. This number can be off set by the number of re-enlistments which I think will continue to be strong. However, recruiting next year is going to be tough because of the January announcement to further expand the military. If the military does not meet the recruiting goals expect sensationalized media reports with little no context about the expanding of the military. Additionally it’s an election year and the final recruiting stats will be released a month before the presidential election.

So I fully expect the Democrats to jump on this as an example of a “broken military” as they have in the past. Remember next year that you heard it here first; to expect the politicization of US military recruiting numbers in 2008.

Pat Tillman Murdered?

| August 3, 2007

The Pat Tillman case has taken another twist:

Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman‘s forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player’s death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. […]

The documents show that a doctor who autopsied Tillman’s body was suspicious of the three gunshot wounds to the forehead. The doctor said he took the unusual step of calling the Army’s Human Resources Command and was rebuffed. He then asked an official at the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division if the CID would consider opening a criminal case.

The M-16 fires a three round burst and three wounds located close to each other would likely come from a closer source than the story that was claimed that he was shot from friendly fire by soldiers shooting from a distance.  I doubt it was criminal because anyone that wanted to kill Pat Tillman would know killing him would lead to huge headlines.

This is all speculation on my part, but I think the most likely possibility is an accidental discharge by someone that was with him.  Accidental discharges do happen and have killed people before.  An accidental discharge is a definite possibility, but such a thing happening to Pat Tillman would be highly embarrassing to the Rangers who pride themselves on being an elite unit.  If an accidental discharge killed Tillman that would not explain the wounds on his arms and legs.  I have to wonder if his unit to cover up the accidental discharge shot him a few more times in the arms and legs to give further credence to their story?

This would explain why the overall Special Forces commander at the time, the now retired Three Star General Philip Kensinger would lie to Pentagon investigator and try to cover up the case.  The embarrassment of an accidental discharge killing Tillman would be bad enough, but I don’t think it would cause a three star general to cover up what happened.  However, the unit shooting him after he was already dead in order to cover up an accidental discharge would be such an embarrassing set of circumstances, that maybe even a three star general would cover it up.

No matter what happened the Tillman case has been handled very poorly and people involved in the botched handling of this case need to be held accountable.  So far only General Kensinger has been censured for his actions, but surely more people are some how involved.  The Tillman family is owed a full investigation and all those responsible need to be held accountable.

Korean Politicians Complain of Pollution on US Camps

| June 16, 2007

Is anyone surprised that Korean politicians are demagoging the environmental issue:

Politicians are poised for their own investigation into the process in question.

Lawmakers of the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee said they will conduct an on-site inspection Thursday at three bases north of Seoul, which were returned last month.

The inspection is part of preparations for a two-day hearing from June 25 on the issue, in which Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo, and Lt.Gen. Stephen G. Wood, the USFK’s deputy commander, are scheduled to testify.

“We will focus on whether or not the process of returning the bases was appropriate,” said Rep. Woo Won-shik, who recently bolted from the pro-government Uri Party.

Still, it remains uncertain whether the lawmakers will shed light on the allegations raised by environmental activists.

These law makers just happen to be from the liberal political parties like Uri and the DLP who currently have favorably ratings of 9.1% and 10.3%. They are trying to demagogue the pollution issue to their own political advantage. During the 2002 election season they had the June 13th accident to demagogue and since they have no accident this year to demagogue they are relying on the camp pollution issue instead to hopefully rally anti-US sentiment to garner votes.

These environmentalists could care less about pollution in Korea in general because their only concern is manufacturing anti-US sentiment. As many of you I’m sure remember, the environmental groups along with a large block of the DLP political party have been linked to a North Korean spy ring.

These lawmakers and environmentalists have little creditability and I suspect much of the camp pollution findings have been “Dr. Hwang-ed” for political purposes. I have been saying this for months, I would love to see a detailed line by line report on the supposed environmental damage in every camp. What I suspect is going on is that these demagogues are making claims of pollution due to the presence of asphalt on the camps for example. Oil is used in making asphalt thus they can make claims of oil slicks on the camps based on the presence of asphalt.

USFK should use this scheduled hearing to go on the offensive. I have been saying this months as well that USFK should conduct environmental impact studies of the land surrounding USFK camps compared to the land inside the camps. I know quite a few areas outside of USFK camps in Uijongbu that are highly polluted by the local Korean community.

The Korean government would probably never agree to this, but it would also be useful to compare USFK camps to ROK Army camps. I am willing to bet the USFK camps are much cleaner than ROK Army camps. By the government refusing to carry out such a impact study could be used by USFK to support their claims they have met government standards for environmental clean up if the Korean government is not willing to conduct the same type of pollution studies on their own military’s land.

By presenting evidence that USFK camps are cleaner than the surrounding community would greatly diminish the claims by the demagogues. However, what will probably happen is that the demagogues will get their chance to grand stand and bash the US military while USFK officials just take it and hope it all just goes away.

HT: Marmot