Korean War Project

DMZ War Bulletin Board Results

Korea Defense Veterans Alliance

Return to DMZ Era BBS

DMZ Era Messages posted to this BBS:

Entry Name	Last Message
RON REIGSTAD	September 4, 2019
LYLE WILLOCK	June 24, 2019
PHILIP CUNNINGHAM	August 3, 2018
DAN DEBAAR	March 6, 2017
JOSEPH DUNAGAN	November 15, 2014
PAT NATALE	October 31, 2014
HUGH MOORE	September 30, 2014
JAMES BONEY	July 14, 2014
SCOTT ROBERTSON	June 22, 2014
TIZZA LUCAS	November 14, 2013
TED BARKER	December 8, 2005
CW5 LARRY MULL	April 17, 2005
WILLIE T. LEE	October 18, 2002
JIM MILLER	August 23, 2001
MICHAEL WITMER	August 21, 2001

Entry: 8338

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

RON REIGSTAD wrote on September 4, 2019

St. Cloud MN

Comments:

I agree the date that the date should be extended especially because of
Commander Robert Ballinger KIA and others WIA in the discovery of a Tunnel in
November 1974 by a North Korean booby trap and an invasion Tunnel being
discovered in March 1975 , the date of termination of the DMZ War should be
July 14th 1977 with the 3 hostile deaths from a U.S. helicopter shoot down
over the DMZ.

Entry: 8218

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

LYLE WILLOCK wrote on June 24, 2019

Coon Rapids MN

Comments:

Medic, Spec 5, Senior Aid Man, Dispensary, Camp Howze, 11/69-1/27/71.

Entry: 7586

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

PHILIP CUNNINGHAM wrote on August 3, 2018

Lancaster PA

Comments:

I served with HQ Battery, 2nd Bn. 8th Arty, 7th Infantry Division a Camp
Parris from October 16, 1966 to October 16, 1967.

Entry: 7161

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

DAN DEBAAR wrote on March 6, 2017

Grand Rapids Michigan

Comments:

Dec.68 to Dec 69 JSA Panmunjom

Entry: 6695

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

JOSEPH DUNAGAN wrote on November 15, 2014

Pendleton OR

Comments:

If you are in need of proof of spraying being done I have a
picture taken in August of 1962 and my affadavit about the
spraying being done under Freedom Bridge in 1962.

Entry: 6686

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

PAT NATALE wrote on October 31, 2014

NORTH BRUNSWICK NJ

Comments:

I was with 618 Medical Co. Clr. Camp Nabors 1966-1969. The
night the North Koreans seized the USS Pueblo in
international waters off the coast of North Korea I was
awaken by Katusas to get arms and ammo, I was in supply and
they though I had the keys. The months ahead we were
pulling guard duty not really knowing the real danger of
being in S. Korea. Look up The Forgotten DMZ and find there
were more that 300 hostile acts from 1967 through 1968, 15
US solders killed and 65 wounded.I did get all the awards
from writing to National Personnel Records Center St. Louis
MO. National Defense,Armed Forces Expeditionary and Korea
Defense Service medals.

Entry: 6680

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

HUGH MOORE wrote on September 30, 2014

Abbeville Alabama

Comments:

I was in the 2nd 72 Armor Camp Beard in
1970.

Entry: 6650

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

JAMES BONEY wrote on July 14, 2014

Atlantic city New Jersey

Comments:

I was. In survey/recon platoon of the 1/17th FA HQ Battery from 1968 to
1969. We were in support of the second infantry division. I was sent there
instead of Vietnam because of the Pueblo incident. I have always felt
cheated out of serving in Vietnam since I joined the army and volunteered
for duty in Vietnam . Now that our service has been recognized with the
award of the Korea defense ribbon, I feel better about it. Only the guys
like us who spent time up north of Seoul know what we did and it is long
overdue.

Entry: 6634

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

SCOTT ROBERTSON wrote on June 22, 2014

Minneapolis MN

Comments:

Was a Vulcan Crewman in 2/61 ADA, but got
lucky and was a clerk and personal
chauffeur for Major Lonnie Hartley in G3,
AME at HHB, Camp Casey during the
summer.of 76. Saw Ali after he fought
Antonio Inoki. Thank you all for your
service. NEEMY Sheemy pec poji da. JK.

Entry: 6548

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

TIZZA LUCAS wrote on November 14, 2013

Ripley Wv

Comments:

looking for sgt charlie franklin william t boyd,Bob
Johnson, Bob Yule ,Plt.Sgt Smith. andy kroner.,David
Flowers ? would like to catch up. Would like to know if Tae
Kron Do instructer Kim Kron Suk ever made it to the states.
look forward to hearing back from you.Or any others that
remember me. 1975-1976

Entry: 2175

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

TED BARKER wrote on December 8, 2005

Comments:

I am reposting my Feb 2004 notice to follow up what Norm Tredway got started. Hats off to Norm!!

Folks, putting out a newsletter with the details.

Here is the official DOD document. Get your DD214 out.

https://www.perscomonline.army.mil/tagd/awards/KDSM_feb04.doc

DD 214 information and supporting documents will need to be forwarded to NPRC, St. Louis. per the document instructions. Veterans, active duty, retiree's all need to read the DOD release.

Time period: Service in Korea from July 28, 1954 to DTD (date to be determined).

The Korean War Project would like to give a tip of the hat to Norm Tredway and the yoeman work of the KDVA- Korea Defense Veterans Alliance (formerly Korea Deployment Respect and Recognition Committee) to getting legislation introduced and passed!

Entry: 636

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

CW5 LARRY MULL wrote on April 17, 2005

Comments:

I have served three tours in Korea; 1974-79 at Camp Stanley and Camp Page, 1985-86 at Camp Casey, and 1999-2000 at Camp Humphreys. Early on my during my first assignment we had a greens inspection and I was admiring a ribbon on my squad leaders uniform. Asking what it was he stated it was the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM). He further stated that everyone got one for coming to Korea regardless of where they were assigned. Upon checking to see if I was authorized one, I found out that they had stopped awarding that after July 1974 (which coincides with the twentieth anniversery of the Armistice signed in July 1954)and I got to Korea in December so wasn't authorized. I don't know the regulation off the top of my head but I can get it for anyone who needs it, but the reg states that the AFEM is awarded to all service members assigned to the Republic of Korea starting the day after the Armistice was signed to twenty years after that date, July 1974.

Regarding the three medals. The Korean Service Medal is for soldiers that served in the Korean War up until the Armistice was signed. Anybody who was still in Korea after that date up until July 1974 gets an AFEM. I feel that the Korean Defense Medal should only be awarded to soldiers serving in Korea after July 1974. The guys who were in Korea between July 1954 and July 1974 are getting two medals for the same justification.

I remember Operation Paul Bunyon well. I met, married my wife during this tour and my first son was three months old when this hit the fan. The post was locked down and if you were married, living off-post you found an open bunk in the barracks to crash on. My wife was allowed on post because she was a US ID card holder, knew that something was going from the Korean Press and thought the world was coming to an end but I couldn't tell her anything. We busted butt to get all the helicopters (especially the Cobras)before the operation. I was a door-gunner for one of my unit's Huey's and I don't know the unit but I know we picked up 2ID grunts carrying them to an area south of Panmunjom.

I was also there when the Chinook got shot down in North Korea (dumb pilots), was going to be flight lead on that mission, but Jimmy Carter wouldn't let us launch.

By the way I have been on active duty since Feb 71. I am a Vietnam Vet 1972-73 (closed that place down), Grenada from Fort Bragg, Panama from Fort Ord, Beirut Air Bridge (Island of Cyprus), Desert Shield & Storm, Operation Provide Comfort (Turkey/Northern Iraq), Hungary for Bosnia, Macedonia for the UN Border Watch Operation Able Sentry before Kosovo went down, Iraq for the war, and I leave this September for my second trip to Iraq.

Entry: 323

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

WILLIE T. LEE wrote on October 18, 2002

Comments:

I served a bakers dozen on the Korean peninsula on the DMZ
from Apr'69 to May '70. Sometimes I feel that it was tour
in the twilight zone. Everything that was, someone higher
up says it wasn't. We got hostile fire pay but we were not
in combat because someone defined combat as being shot at
five times before you are called a combat vet are if you
are hit or killed you were a combat vet. As an infantryman
I strongly agree with what Gen. Patton said don't die for
your country let that soldier from the other side die for
his. Awards was few and far between for the guys in the 7th ID 31st Inf. Our unit had the misfortune of having the
last KIA of 2nd Korean War (DMZ).

Entry: 252

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

JIM MILLER wrote on August 23, 2001

Comments:

I served with Co B,2/38Inf.,2nd Inf. Div. I was there Aug. 1969-Oct.1970.
My bases in Korea were to be a battallion size camp called Blue Lancer Valley and a company size camp named Camp Clinch.
BLV was a beautiful valley surrounded by green mountains, maybe hills. How would I know,I was a 19 year old from the flatlands of Wisconsin. BLV, surrounded by fence, was terraced with quonset huts much like the terraced rice paddies of Korea. Headquarters was on the high end of the valley and rifle companies were along the sides tapering down th the motor pool and the gate.
Camp Clinch was a compact little camp north of the Imjin river. The officer's and elnisted men's club were combined. I don't recall that being a problem. The routine was Barrier Duty: Observation,Patrols,Ambushes,and Guarding the Fence. There was a cross on a hill above the camp. It was a reminder of a machine gun ambush from that spot. I remember a goat that lived at the camp. His name was "Charlie". He stayed when the unit rotated. My memory of him, was that "Charlie" had been shot, stabbed, kicked, and fragged at one time or another. His M.O. was to wait outside the EM Club to beg or to butt. Anyhow, that's the story I recall.
Barrier Duty was a collection of days that seemed like weeks, weeks that seemed like months, and months that seemed like lifetimes. I remember claymores being turned around to face south toward us. I remember an ambush that was triggered and seeing green tracers and yet no evidence of an enemy. I remember GP Johnson(?) engulfed in fire late one night. We put out the fire. The grenades were so hot, they burned our hands. The cases holding the 90mm
behive rounds were charred. (I hope those munitions were destroyed.) I remember being put on "point". We all took our turns. But, the interesting thing that happened was; as we was moving along in waste high grass, there was motion in the grass coming toward me. I froze and raised my weapon and a small brown furball ran across my feet. It was a DMZ deer. It had canine teeth that grew out of its mouth like tusks.(Nobody believes that animal exists.) I remember filling canteens with stagnant water and iodine tablets to fight the heat exhaustion in the summer. On winter ambushes, we were so cold in the morning, it was hard to stand without falling down. Yes, there were hardships, but Korea was a whole new world. Language, culture, customs, food, villages, etc. combined to broaden one's horizons. KATUSAs were our information link to Korean culture. They could explain the ebb and flow of life in Nul-o-ri and Chang-pa-ri the two villages nearby. To this day, I will order Kimchee when the opportunity arises.
I didn't ask to join the Army. I didn't ask for Ft. Campbell, or Ft. Polk, or Camp Clinch. My country called and I answered. But, because I made it through Basic Training, AIT, and 14 months in Korea, I felt a little prouder and stood a little taller when I left the Army. Then when heading back home as a civilian in uniform, I was hit by a tomato thrown by one of the "Antis" of the times. What the hell happened to America while I was gone? That tomato hurt more than the cold, or the heat,
or the fatigue.
Now, 30 years later, I think I understand that tomato. And I feel veterans from that corner of the world deserve more than a tomato. But, a word of caution, that tomato mentality is still alive and with us.
Please forgive my rambling. I hope to leave you with a smile on your face and a tear in your eye. I know they are there in your heart if you were there. I just wanted to tug them up to your face, if only for a moment.
JJMiller-Wisconsin

Entry: 251

KOREA DEFENSE VETERANS ALLIANCE

MICHAEL WITMER wrote on August 21, 2001

Comments:

Remember these dates--August 18 to 21, 1976--twenty-fifth anniversary of the Panmunjom ax murders and Operation Paul Bunyon. Historically speaking, 1976 should be the actual termination date of the "Second Korean Conflict" (traditionally timed from 1966-69). 1976 was the year that North Korea brought the peninsula to the brink of all-out war. Although not involved in continuous guerilla warefare during 1970-76, North Korea engaged in its largest military build-up since the Korean War and actively prepared for re-invasion--all coinciding with U.S. withdraw from Vietnam. All of my research has led me to this conclusion. I'm incorporating this background history in a Cold War novel that I hope to have completed and published within a year. Happy anniversary to all Bunyon vets--I missed it by 3 years--and cheers to all DMZ vets; I'm looking forward to that Korea Defense Service Medal. Please write me your thoughts.
Mike Witmer, Ph.D., history, 1/15 F.A. 1973.

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