Jan/Feb 2008 - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

Capitol in Seoul, built by Japanese and neglected (10/54)
Ruins at Ascom City (9/54)
paddies, the “Dust” men didn’t make
required Eighth Army announcements,
so the broadcasting was switched over to
a group in Seoul, named “Vagabond.”
My first trip to Seoul as a “sightseer”
included a visit to the main post
exchange. This “department store with a
post office” had crowds on its three
floors that reminded me of Macy’s at
Christmas time. Outside, droves of GIs
augmented the already large population
of the city.
With troops from other nations, as
well as American servicemen, the town
bustled with a colorful mass of souls. It
made finding a few square feet to park
the truck next to hopeless. While he sat
in a parked truck once, guarding it,
buddy Bill Claypool had his camera
snatched from under his nose. When he
told a cop about it, the policeman went
straight to the boy who took it to get it
back!
People, people, people—selling and
buying everything under the sun, flooding
sidewalks, spilling onto the streets
between crawling vehicles, mostly Army
jeeps and trucks, loading and unloading
from queer-looking buses and trolleys,
women carrying large bundles balanced
on their heads, a bundle in each hand,
and a baby strapped to the back.
Buildings, some big, some small, well
built or shabby, beautiful or coarse,
bomb shelled or intact.
In Seoul, Radio Company had a VFH
unit on top of Hill 3 (South Mountain)
with a commanding view of the Capitol,
a beautiful domed building built by the
Japanese and neglected. The Korean
hatred of the Japanese for their harsh
occupation was palpable and we heard of
50
Rice paddies in early summer (6-54)
Shoeshine boy Han at Radio Co. (1/30/54)
January-February 2008
The Graybeards