About

About

Over 40 years have passed since my departure from "the Land of the Moing Calm." I have often reflected on my service in Korea and tried to understand the larger military and political context within which it occurred. My unit, Company A, a part of 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division (A/2/9/2ID) was permanently assigned north of the Imjin River. Company A had a security assignment during the release of the Pueblo crew in January 1969. I joined the unit in April a few days after the EC-121 Naval reconnaissance flight had been shot down. Tension was high on the peninsula in 1969.

www.imjinscout.com is the result of many hours of reminiscing and collaboration between the comrades who served together during the "in-between years" along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, the years after the Korean War (1950-1953) and before the reduction in U.S. Forces Korea personnel that took place during the Nixon presidency. It was during the early 70's that the 7th Infantry Division was withdrawn from Korea and the 2nd Infantry Division was reduced by a Brigade. It was also during these "in-between years" that many of the pictures and stories that are a part of this site were collected.

My thanks to Don Nye, a true Imjin Scout who has helped me recollect the days and long nights on the DMZ. That Don Nye and I should have found each other after more than 30 years was remarkable in itself. 1969 seems like several life times ago and in some ways it is. In other ways and almost in spite of this, many of the images and recollections are vivid. Some of the photographs are of reasonable to high quality and belie the 40-some years that separate these events and pictures from the present. As Don Nye and I have recounted and recollected the months of 1969 that we spent on the real estate north of the Imjin River along the DMZ, on so called Freedom's Frontier, we have reminded each other of things we might have otherwise forgotten. It motivated me to dig through boxes of Army memorabilia and has brought back many memories of the life and times along the DMZ.

This site is dedicated to the men and soldiers of the United States Army who served as Imjin Scouts in a far away land so many years ago and to Ken Leonard who I trained with at Fort Polk, Louisana. Ken was killed in Vietnam on September 15, 1969.

 

GOD BLESS AND KEEP UP THE FIRE!

Don Lopez
Webmaster
EMAIL: don@coastalvit.com
Don C. Nye
January 19, 1945 to
February 3, 2010
RIP Brother

 

we shared so many hardships,
remember "only the strong survive?"
even mail call could let you down ...
"Dear John?"... Dear Who???

as the sun fell below the horizon,
OP O'Malley faded into darkness,
a black abyss that swallowed everything
around us and beckoned us to muster
the fortitude to see it through another night.

the nights were longer out there
than anywhere I've been...
thank God for the light missions,
that beam from a distant jeep;
and the occasional flare,
and its ominous red shadows
animating the hills below

the enemy cajoled our spirits
with sounds from boom boxes
rippling through the crisp night air.
an entreaty to leave
this God forsaken land,
before it was too late

aha! we thought,
if only we could go back to "the world"
but reality prevailed as
we retued to our hooches
bleary eyed and exhausted
shortly after sunrise we
darkened another square
on our girlie "short-timer" calendar

so far away from home,
atop a rumbling APC,
I still see your youthful face
caked with dust from the DMZ
you are my comrade,
you are an Imjin Scout
KEEP UP THE FIRE!