More Spooky October

[HAB911]

[Irish_Dem]

1. What are the military insignia?

I can see there are a lot of stripes Sarge.

[HAB911]

2. lol, Just three stripes

Sergeant E5, patch with the bullet was 197th Infantry Brigade, Ft Benning/Moore (1972) supporting Non Commissioned Officer/Officer Candidate Schools.
Second patch is 2nd Infantry Division, HHC 3rd Brigade on the DMZ (1970-71) in support of the UN. If you would be interested in the DMZ experience, check it out:
https://jamesdevore.smugmug.com/PHOTOS-BACK-TO-THE-1960S/DEMILITERIZED-ZONE-CIRCA-1970

[Irish_Dem]

3. Wow Amazing pictures.

Loved the sign: OFFICERS CLUB AND OUTDOOR LATRINE.

A very isolated post on the DMZ but fascinating and important work.
What was the DOGE switch?

Pictures of the barbed wire and the bridge to hell were something to behold.

I am an USAF kid and we loved the airmen with one or two stripes.
Once they got three stripes we ran the other way when we saw them.

[HAB911]

5. LOL!

one or two stripes are precursors to one of two paths in the military, one then goes into either a specialty, a technician, with a different patch structure, the other is just more stripes, which roughly equates to management/leadership non-commissioned officer ranks, so yeah more stripes equals more manager attitude.

The Dodge switch was a 250 line manual switchboard I was in charge of. In 1970 cessation of hostilities had only occurred 17 years earlier so it was barely more than combat conditions, we were paid hostile fire pay same as VN, all dirt roads, no dial telephones, etc. The switchboard was replaced by a dial office just as I came back to the states and the roads got paved just before all the Army moved south and turned the DMZ over to the Koreans. I was a draftee (2 year stint) that joined for an additional year to ensure I got to use my previous telephone experience as opposed to combat arms.

[Irish_Dem]

14. Thanks for the info!

We were stationed overseas on small USAF bases in Southeast Asia during the Viet Nam War.
Our fathers were flying back and forth to Viet Nam all the time.

The one and two stripe airman ran the rinky dink pool, library and TV station.
TV was a few hours a day and they played old children's shows.
And during a typhoon when the shit hit the fan the airmen kept the station
running 24 hours with our favorite shows.

They were always kind to us. Once they got three stripes they were
different beings.

The interesting thing is that we were mostly officer's kids. But we knew not
to upset the NCO's because as our fathers would lecture us, the NCOs keep
the damn airplanes in the air. And they make sure you have food to eat
in the commissary, etc. They keep the whole thing running.

I used to think that our Dads had the easiest jobs. They were just flying airplanes
getting shot at in Viet Nam. The NCOs were keeping the whole damn Air Force
running. We knew the top brass just sat in the Officer's club knocking back
Jim Beam. Ha.

Yes the same in the 60's. Conditions in small remote bases looked like WWII movie
conditions in terms of infrastructure. Your conditions looked even worse than MASH TV show. I loved the quonset hut pictures, that is what our schools looked like.

How much danger were you in? Did the NK threaten you?
What was the switchboard for? Who were you communicating to?
Was this the front line of possible invasion by the NK so you had to be
able to let everyone know the conditions at all time?

If so you were in danger, but you probably know that.

[HAB911]

15. Danger

We were never shot at, but North Koreans were always sneaking across the border either for sabotage or defection. As well as the being responsible for the the switchboard, I frequently had to make courier runs to Panmunjom and was armed with a .45 and M16. Probably in more danger from driving on dirt roads where both sides past the shoulder were live mine fields. Sadly, 50 years later the worst danger turned out to be the Agent Orange the DMZ was sprayed with for two years, so many of us won the prostate cancer lottery.

The switchboard connected various units and there were many, armored units, artillery units, and lots of outposts along the fence. It was a tense lifestyle for 12 months, no civilian clothes allowed while inside the DMZ. Everyone knew we were just speedbumps if the North Koreans decided on a full scale invasion. We were sandwiched between them and the Imjin river, and the big bridge in the slide deck would be the first thing we would blow up in case of invasion. The only time we ever relaxed, was from late November to late January because it was so cold, diesel engines would not start, and neither would the North Korean vehicles.

[Irish_Dem]

16. Jebus. You were definitely in danger on a regular basis.

Yes between sabotage and defection.
Some smart ass NK grunt thinks he can score points by going after US GI.
Yes in case of full scale invasion you were just the small warm up act.

I would have built a secret bunker.

Gee both a 45 and M16? I would not like the courier rides at all.

Nope. Stay in camp.

Can you actually kill anything with a 45?
The USAF gave flight crews 45s during the Viet Nam war.

The kids thought it was ridiculous as we knew our fathers could not hit the broad side
of a barn with a bazooka much less a 45.

And I did not think that little gun looked like it could kill anyone.
Especially a group of the enemy coming at you.

Why no civvies in the DMZ?

Sorry to hear about the prostate cancer.
It has killed so many.
One of my cousins died from his time in VN and the AO.

[HAB911]

17. With a .45

maybe you could beat someone to death? No civilian clothes because by the Geneva Conventions you could be considered a spy, not a soldier and shot in lieu of being taken prisoner. "Rules of war", oxymoron.

[Irish_Dem]

18. I was shocked at the 45 because I had never seen anyone in the USAF carry a gun.

Except the MPs in the guard station at the gate onto the base.
They had rifles but the kids thought they were fake.

That is what I thought. When my Dad started wearing the 45 around his waist on a holster
I could not believe it. It looked worthless, if your plane goes down and an enemy gang
comes after you it is not a good weapon. I also knew my father could not shoot the thing.

Wow I did not know that about the civilian clothing and being thought a spy.
Jebus. Yes never wear civilian clothes.

Thanks for all the fascinating info about the DMZ. I had no idea.
Thank God you came home.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Wonderfully spooky photo, my dear HAB911! Very atmospheric.

[HAB911]

6. thanks peggy

expect one a day till Halloween!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Ooooh! Sounds like fun. Thanks for doing this!

[Ray Bruns]

7. Is that rabbit ears in the background?

Tim: “Too late. There he is.”
Arthur: “Where ?”
Tim: “There !” (pointing at the rabbit)
Arthur: “What, behind the rabbit ?”
Tim: “It is the rabbit.”

[HAB911]

9. wow, that's cool

I never saw that but now........

[Old Crank]

10. Very nice

Well captured

[Butterflylady]

11. What spooky about that?

Sorry I don't see it.......

[HAB911]

12. you are correct

spookiness is in the eye of the beholder, only spooky because I said so. What do you see?

I took this on a foggy morning during a period where I kept an orange or yellow filter on my camera. A short lived period because I kinda ruined some fantastic shots by locking in a single color, which at the time could not be changed. This is an orange filter.

[murielm99]

13. It is spooky enough for me.

Well captured.

[George McGovern]

19. HAB911 this is a fabulous photograph. Looks to be at ground level. Neat bokeh.

Thanks for the smugmug link to your collection of DMZ images. Fascinating. When I read the 2011 VA's "FINAL REGULATION REGARDING THE PRESUMPTION OF HERBICIDE EXPOSURE" I just sat and stared at the computer screen, at the official words and the photo's backdrop and shook my head at the harsh reality of such a cold statement. Might as well have read "IF YOU WERE HERE AT THAT TIME YOU'RE PROBABLY GOING TO DIE".

I'll finish your photo series another day. I am, nonetheless, grateful you're still on this earth.

[HAB911]

20. Yeah, kinda cold

Back in January of ’24 I bastardized Country Joe McDonald’s Viet Nam Agent Orange song to fit Korea over on the vets board.
https://democraticunderground.com/117911460

But as you might guess, the presumption of exposure for many soldiers was a Democratic effort to enact the PACT ACT although it did get bipartisan support:
The PACT Act was introduced by Representative Mark Takano (D-CA) and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 10, 2022. It aimed to improve healthcare and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances, from VN and Korea for Agent Orange, Iran, Iraq for toxic burn pits.

Long before any knowledge of AO exposure, I was sharing the photos of my switchboard on a Facebook page for telephone people and one guy asked me how I was doing. I said fine, why would you ask? He had served in Korea, way down south of the country and said when we pulled out most of the front line troops, the Koreans began finding lots of buried and disposed of Agent Orange drums etc and lots of guys were getting sick and had I ever heard of the PACT ACT.

I learned quickly, within two years I had my diagnosis. Anyone that served on or near the DMZ and had developed several diseases were presumed to have been caused by AO. If you notice in that slide deck, I don’t think you will see any green vegetation, I guess it never crossed our minds why. Not only surficial contact but it could have been in our water, no idea where our water came from. When the Corp of Engineers began paving the dirt Main Supply Route in the summer of 1970, trucks like the ones in the Southern Boundary photo ran up and down the dirt road 12 hours a day for the entire summer. Funny thing was there was no wind in the summer, but a constant 30 mph wind in the winter, The dirt was like Georgia red clay and it hung in the air and we breathed it all summer, our clothes, even in our lockers, were tinted red. I just think it was everywhere.