Posted on 11/03/2004 8:00:17 PM PST by SmithL
YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — In a low-key end to more than fifty years of history, U.S. troops quietly transferred leadership of the security mission at the Joint Security Area to South Korean forces on Sunday, officials confirmed Monday.
The mission handover, long scheduled to occur on Oct. 31, is one of 10 to be transferred gradually to South Korean forces under a plan to give them a greater role in defending their country, officials said.
The handover was in the works for weeks, officials said, and was completed Sunday. U.S. Forces Korea said no formal ceremony was held to mark the mission transfer.
In practice, the handover means the number of U.S. troops working at the truce village of Panmunjom has been reduced from about 220 to around 40, with most of those remaining in an administrative capacity. The Joint Security Battalion, of which those U.S. troops will remain a part, manages security in the JSA, where the armistice agreement ending the Korean War was signed.
For years, U.S. and South Korean troops were responsible for joint patrols along the Demilitarized Zone, which runs the length of Korea and often is called the world’s most heavily fortified border.
But under agreements reached over the past several years, most of those patrol missions have been handed over to the South Korean military. U.S. forces remained at Outpost Ouellette until this week, handing it over as part of the mission transfer.
Outpost Ouellette is about 75 feet from the Military Demarcation Line, which constitutes the two Koreas’ border; observers can see the North Korean city of Kaesong. Presidents including George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have visited the spot.
The JSA also is the site of the infamous “ax murders” in which two U.S. Army officers were hacked to death by a group of North Korean soldiers. The U.S. officers, Capt. Arthur Bonifas and 1st Lt. Mark Barrett, were killed Aug. 18, 1976, as they led a group that was to trim a tree obscuring areas of the JSA.
At least 89 U.S. soldiers died in the 1960s and 1970s from ambushes, downed aircraft, land mines and other actions near the DMZ, Pentagon records state.
Among other military functions the South Koreans will assume are decontamination missions for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons; the laying of land mines; and counter-artillery, South Korean officials have said.
Korea defended by Koreans, wow, what a concept.
Excellent. GW, Cheney, Rumsfeld getting the job done.
Damn! Does this mean I can no longer needle the 'rats with my always-ready, "How about an exit strategy for KOREA?" line...?
Hear, hear. From what I understand the South Korean soliders are plenty tough. Not that this has any bearing on anything, but I remember from the LA riots that it was the Korean jewelry store owners who actually locked and loaded and were ready to shoot back at the rioters to protect their stores.
= )
But there are plenty of leftists in South Korea who've found a certain raison d'etre because of our troops there, in spite of all the good it really did do that corner of the world.
But the fact that they really are tough strengthens, not lessens, the case for having South Korea defended by South Koreans totally.
But there are plenty of leftists in South Korea who've found a certain raison d'etre because of our troops there, in spite of all the good it really did do that corner of the world.
But the fact that they really are tough strengthens, not lessens, the case for having South Korea defended by South Koreans totally.
Yup, Time to sell my "In Front of Them All" stuff
Here's to looking towards the day when future freepers are looking back upon their posts in Afghanistan and Iraq as they're turned over to the locals.
Heck how about the current ones.
I still have a couple of the old banned t-shirts:
"Nothing is too good for the Warriors of the 2nd Infantry Division -- and nothing is what you get."
On a later tour (one of eight) I made myself immensesly unpopular. A lot of Indian Head units would post a makeshift sign in the field saying "Second to none." My sign said simply "None".
Yes, I had a large and distinguished fan club.
When out with ROK units using the "Hamyon doemnida" logo, I changed mine to "Ramyon doemnida".
I spent a year in South Korea, and I can tell you from personal experience that a great many Koreans don't like Americans and don't want us there (except to spend American dollars in their bars and buying their knockoff designer purses). It's about time for us to get out of there and let them take care of themselves.
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