Re: OT Iowa (Gnork)

On Jan 9, 2:43 pm, Gnork <gn...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jan 8, 9:50 pm,Doug Reese<dre...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:





The DMZ in Vietnam, not Korea.

I believe Gnork was up there during the war . . . the war in Vietnam,
that is :)

Doug Reese

On Jan 9, 12:38 pm, BadgerBC <neilrichardson3...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Jan 8, 6:14 am, dougrees...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

On Jan 8, 5:34 pm, BadgerBC <neilrichardson3...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well, I for one am glad you made it home ok.  And thank you for the
service.

Ditto.

And next time I'm up around the DMZ I'll say hello to the locals for
you :)

Well I was there seven months ago (visited Camp Bonifas) and I'd been
going back periodically every time I'm in Seoul.  I don't know if
you've seen the JSA some time ago (say in the 1980s) but take a close
look at KPA guys who are stationed there.  Back in the 1970s and
1980s, those men were usually 5'9", 5'10" which is a little taller
than an average Korean male of the time.  The same applied to the ROKA
contingent in those years (usually handpicked guys from the Capital
Division).  We usually had guys from 1-9IN, 2-9IN or 1-506IN who were
at least 6' or taller.  It's just an effort on the part of all sides
to project "strength" and try to intimidate the other side (esp. the
ROKA contingent who stand in modified joonbi stance).  I was stunned
that those KPA guys I saw last year were no more than 5'5", 5'6".  I
had heard two years ago from a friend in 4-7CAV at Hovey that the KPA
guys across the Z were getting shorter and shorter.  He had surmised
that the terrible famine of the late 1980s/early 1990s  had finally
come home to roost in the new group of conscripts who were born or
were very young in those years.  Just a remarkable development from my
POV.  And my thanks to you as well for your service.  The FISTers
certainly were highly regarded as they took more risk (as they
obviously were high value targets) than an average tank or APC/IFV
crew.

Not that far north. I was stationed just about exactly midway between
Danang and Chu Lai. It was about 8 miles north of the city of Tam Ky
where they had a very nice Mac-V club.When we heard the weather
reports on Armed Forces Radio in the summer it was usually about 10
degrees cooler where I was than down in Saigon (say 102 compared to
112). That was very appreciated. In the winter it got rather cold at
times. If you were ever in Chu Lai, I think you would agree that it
had one of the most beautiful beaches you have ever seen.

It used to be that when guys went up to see Chu Lai, they had to look
down from a nearby hill, because the VN military was usuing the base.
Two years ago they opened the airport for civilian traffic, after
enlarging the place, so now we can go in.

I never did get out of the vehicle and go over to see the beach,
though. The vets I was with told me it was excellent.

Doug Reese

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT Iowa (Gnork)
    ... I believe Gnork was up there during the war. ... that those KPA guys I saw last year were no more than 5'5", ... It was about 8 miles north of the city of Tam Ky ... If you were ever in Chu Lai, I think you would agree that it ...
    (alt.sports.baseball.bos-redsox)
  • Re: OT Iowa (Gnork)
    ... than an average Korean male of the time. ... ROKA contingent who stand in modified joonbi stance). ... that those KPA guys I saw last year were no more than 5'5", ... guys across the Z were getting shorter and shorter. ...
    (alt.sports.baseball.bos-redsox)