DMZ Déjà Vu - (Korea) Day 185

ROK soldiers facing North Korea at the JSA. The concrete line half way down the
building in front of them is the border between the North and South

Work call was at 0700 this morning. Well it wasn't really work call. Me, SPC Mick and our sergeant were going on a field trip to the DMZ with a number of other staff from our building. I had already made the trip with the USO, but when asked if I wanted to attend this one I said sure. It's free, I get to wear civilian clothes and I don't have to go to work…I'm in!!

We boarded the bus and headed out around 0730. The entire trip was very similar to the USO trip except we didn't have a tour guide giving us little tidbits of information the entire trip. Because of this I would have to say that the USO trip was better, but I'm definitely not complaining. We ate lunch at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. I thought for sure our bus took a wrong turn as we started driving down a dirt road with a number of rice patties on either side. We arrived at a restaurant where we all sat on the floor (traditional Korean style) to eat. We could order either beef, duck, or spicy pork. They brought it out raw and we cooked it on the table. It was pretty good, always nice to eat straight off the grill.

We then visited the 3rd Tunnel. Since I went down last time I chose not to do it again. I saw it once and I'm sure nothing's changed. It was also a bit hotter and there were more people going up and down the tunnel. When our sergeant and SPC Mick came back up they were dripping with sweat! Our sergeant said it was hot as hell down there. I would suggest to anyone coming to Korea to go on a tour to the DMZ. It's all very informational and interesting. It's also crazy to hear about some of the incidents that have happened at the JSA over the years.

We got back around 1600 and I headed to my room to do some schoolwork. Have I said I'm ready for this class to be over? I was able to finish my portion of the team project and handed it over to the rest of the team.

A memorial in the JSA where some North Koreans attacked and killed some
US Army soldiers with Axes. The US Army soldiers were trimming a tree
and the North Koreans took it as an act of aggression I guess.

DANGER!!! Land-mines!!!

Rice patties surrounding Korean Ginseng. The Korean's believe ginseng can
cure just about anything, it's very popular here.

Lunch...Korean Style

Anonymous

Hi Brandon,

For some reason the pictures are not holding.  As we are living vicariously through you, we love your journal and pictures.

Mick's Mom and Dad

Thursday, June 2, 2011 - 10:23 PM

Brandon

Hmmm...you'll have to let me know what you mean by "not holding". I know the page doesn't print well, so I suggest making a PDF of the page before printing. If they are not showing up correctly on the web page, please let me know what operating system you are using and what browser you are using. I use Safari on a Mac to view and test, but I know it's not the most common browser out there. If you let me know what you use I can test it out and see if I have the same issues.

Thanks,

Brandon

(Also...glad you like the blog) :)

Friday, June 3, 2011 - 02:38 PM

Mick's mom

Hi,

The pictures are not showing up.  It only flashes the meal then it is gone.
With the other blog entrys the pictures are fine.  Just this one entry....go figure.

O/S is Vista.  The internet browser is Windows Internet Explorer.

Friday, June 3, 2011 - 09:39 PM

(Side note...with the transfer to WordPress all issues with the pictures should be resolved)