Korean border troops verify removal of each other's posts
Source: AP News
INSIDE THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE (AP) Dozens of North and South Korean soldiers crossed over the worlds most heavily armed border Wednesday as they inspected the sites of their rivals front-line guard posts to verify theyd been removed, part of inter-Korean engagement efforts that come amid stalled U.S.-North Korea nuclear disarmament talks.
Soldiers from the two Koreas exchanged cigarettes and chatted as they inspected the dismantlement or disarmament of 22 guard posts 11 from each country inside the Demilitarized Zone that forms their 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long, 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide border.
The inspections Wednesday were mostly symbolic the removals will leave South Korea with about 50 other DMZ posts and North Korea with 150, according to defense experts in South Korea but they mark an extraordinary change in ties from last year, when North Korea tested a series of increasingly powerful weapons and threatened Seoul and Washington with war.
A small group of journalists was allowed to enter the zone to watch a South Korean team leave for a North Korean guard post Wednesday morning and a North Korean team come to a South Korean guard post later in the day.
Read more: https://www.apnews.com/955d1db2ad1b4788b77d00d5a56bc273
pecosbob
(7,542 posts)I was searching through the story to see what posts they were referring...I thought they were talking about social media and not actual guard posts. I think I'm going to find a nice Luddite cave to crawl into now.
turbinetree
(24,712 posts)Haggis for Breakfast
(6,831 posts)He was in the first USMC detachment into North Korea when war was declared. He fought at Chosin . . . The Chosin Few he called them all. All of them that survived that is. He was awarded two purple hearts for heroism and courage/bravery above and beyond the call . . . He refused to accept them. He told me that he could not accept medals for living when so many others of his unit didn't make it. Their losses were about 87%. He was the bravest man I ever knew.
turbinetree
(24,712 posts)he was a armament specialist and demolition specialist, and when we got shipped to Japan, he went over to the peninsula, and was there for over 2 years, I was only two when we went. When ever I ask him about it, he doesn't say much, but his eyes would water and then he would get a stare.
I never pushed him on the issue, I always think he will say something some time, but nope he never does. I am so proud of him he is my hero, my best friend, and always will be. He is going on 88 years of age.............................To your father............
Haggis for Breakfast
(6,831 posts)My Dad never talked about that war either. I never pressed him on it, but my younger siblings tried. I once told him "What happened over there in Chosin was between you and God." He said "You're the one that understands." Dad got his wings on January 4, 2014. I miss him every day.
And that "stare" you mentioned has a name. It was captured beautifully by the artist and correspond ant, Thomas Lea, in what is called "The 2000 Stare." It was originally supposed to capture the face of a Marine at the Battle of Peleliu (1944). It's now on exhibit at the United States Army Center of Military History at Ft. McNair (in DC).
Tell you Dad I sent him a salute (I'm retired from the NAVY.).
turbinetree
(24,712 posts)oneshooter
(8,614 posts)His unit flew WW2 vintage gun nose B-25's on night interdiction sorties against the Norks and the Chinese. he dies 12 years ago, and rarely spoke of his time in country. He was with the 13th Bomb Group (light).
Haggis for Breakfast
(6,831 posts)never did a lot of talking, oneshooter. Unlike a lot of other vets, these men kept their silence. I once told my Marine father that I thought it was unfair that they didn't get a parade or the accolades (like the WWII vets did). And you know what he said ? He told me, "We were just doing what were sent there to do."
Sorry that your Dad is no longer with you. My Dad got his wings in 2014. I still miss him every day. He was larger than life to me. Still is.
oneshooter
(8,614 posts)As were the Vietnam Vets. This cost them dearly as membership in the Vetrens groups that did so, now need them to keep their posts active.