Since retirement

[HAB911]

13. I was there 13 months

The DMZ is ~160 milles long and ~2.5 miles wide. The part near Seoul is north of the river Imjin.

Being stationed there was only slightly better than combat living conditions (we were paid hostile fire pay, same as my brothers that were dying in VN). Barracks were single story fiberglass coated plywood with diesel space heaters, one big room with 100 bunk beds. We were allowed to wear civilian clothes only after going south of the river, never in the DMZ. All dirt roads, right up to the end of my tour when a majority of units rotated to south of the river. A funny story, after 13 months of never being in a vehicle going faster than 25 mph and returning home to Interstate driving at 70 mph was mind bending. It was much harder to adjust to coming home than going over.

The Korea of 1970 was not the powerhouse it is today, it was sleepy, rural, rice paddies and other farming. I do very much admire the Korean people, several worked along side us and were know as KATUSA, Korean Augmentation to the United States Army.