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North Korean soldier's survival is 'truly a miracle,' says American rescue crew
Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/fahrenthold
After 12 years in the U.S. Army, Sgt. 1st Class Gopal Singh was on his last mission as a flight medic when his medevac crew got a call from the DMZ. So happy to be able to tell the story of their role in saving the brave North Korean soldier who defected.
Link to tweet
Asia & Pacific
North Korean soldier’s survival is ‘truly a miracle,’ says American rescue crew
From Left: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nathan Gumm; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Eric Tirro; Spc. Carroll Moore; Sgt. 1st Class Gopal Singh; and Pfc. Karina Lopez, all of the Eighth Army's 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, pose for a photo with a Black Hawk at Camp Humphreys, South Korea. The team was responsible for the medical evacuation, stabilization and treatment of the North Korean soldier, Oh Chong Song, who defected Nov. 13. (Staff Sgt. Joel Salgado/Eighth Army Public Affairs/U.S. Army)
By Anna Fifield December 2 at 5:00 AM
TOKYO — When the injured soldier was loaded into the Black Hawk helicopter, Sgt. 1st Class Gopal Singh, on his last mission as a flight medic, said a prayer. He did not think the man, who had been shot five times, was going to survive. ... “I could tell immediately that this guy was probably going to die in the next 15 minutes if we didn’t start working on him and get the aircraft off the ground,” said Singh, a medic in the Eighth Army’s 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, stationed at Camp Humphreys in South Korea.
The evacuation crew did not know it then, but their patient was a North Korean soldier who had just made a daring dash for freedom across the Joint Security Area, the neutral section in the demilitarized zone where enemy troops stand face-to-face. ... The soldier, a 24-year-old named Oh Chong Song, was shot five times by North Korean border guards Nov. 13 as he ran across the line, but he managed to get himself to shelter against a building on the southern side.
He lay there, in a pile of leaves, for as long as 30 minutes until South Korean soldiers were able to crawl to him and drag him to safety. ... While they were doing that, Pfc. Karina Lopez, the radio operator in a UH-60 medical evacuation Black Hawk crew that was on duty at Camp Casey, a U.S. base on the southern side of the DMZ, received a call saying they might be needed for a medical evacuation.
....
{ Dramatic video shows North Korean soldier making a run for freedom }
....
“It’s truly a miracle. From the time that I saw him on the aircraft, I thought he was going to die,” Singh said. “So to be able to see him make it, it’s been a good feeling for all of us as a crew.”
Anna Fifield is The Post’s bureau chief in Tokyo, focusing on Japan and the Koreas. She previously reported for the Financial Times from Washington DC, Seoul, Sydney, London and from across the Middle East.
Follow @annafifield
North Korean soldier’s survival is ‘truly a miracle,’ says American rescue crew
From Left: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nathan Gumm; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Eric Tirro; Spc. Carroll Moore; Sgt. 1st Class Gopal Singh; and Pfc. Karina Lopez, all of the Eighth Army's 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, pose for a photo with a Black Hawk at Camp Humphreys, South Korea. The team was responsible for the medical evacuation, stabilization and treatment of the North Korean soldier, Oh Chong Song, who defected Nov. 13. (Staff Sgt. Joel Salgado/Eighth Army Public Affairs/U.S. Army)
By Anna Fifield December 2 at 5:00 AM
TOKYO — When the injured soldier was loaded into the Black Hawk helicopter, Sgt. 1st Class Gopal Singh, on his last mission as a flight medic, said a prayer. He did not think the man, who had been shot five times, was going to survive. ... “I could tell immediately that this guy was probably going to die in the next 15 minutes if we didn’t start working on him and get the aircraft off the ground,” said Singh, a medic in the Eighth Army’s 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, stationed at Camp Humphreys in South Korea.
The evacuation crew did not know it then, but their patient was a North Korean soldier who had just made a daring dash for freedom across the Joint Security Area, the neutral section in the demilitarized zone where enemy troops stand face-to-face. ... The soldier, a 24-year-old named Oh Chong Song, was shot five times by North Korean border guards Nov. 13 as he ran across the line, but he managed to get himself to shelter against a building on the southern side.
He lay there, in a pile of leaves, for as long as 30 minutes until South Korean soldiers were able to crawl to him and drag him to safety. ... While they were doing that, Pfc. Karina Lopez, the radio operator in a UH-60 medical evacuation Black Hawk crew that was on duty at Camp Casey, a U.S. base on the southern side of the DMZ, received a call saying they might be needed for a medical evacuation.
....
{ Dramatic video shows North Korean soldier making a run for freedom }
....
“It’s truly a miracle. From the time that I saw him on the aircraft, I thought he was going to die,” Singh said. “So to be able to see him make it, it’s been a good feeling for all of us as a crew.”
Anna Fifield is The Post’s bureau chief in Tokyo, focusing on Japan and the Koreas. She previously reported for the Financial Times from Washington DC, Seoul, Sydney, London and from across the Middle East.
Follow @annafifield
