Another sign that Yongsan Garrison is getting closer to being shutdown:
Lt. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal, the commanding general of the 8th U.S. Army, speaks next to a statue of Gen. Walton H. Walker, a Korean War hero, at Yongsan Garrison in central Seoul, Tuesday. The U.S. Army began the relocation of its base from Yongsan to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, with the transfer of the statue. / Yonhap
The U.S. Army at Yongsan Garrison, central Seoul, began base relocation in earnest to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province Tuesday, to what will be its largest overseas base.
The large-scale relocation project began with a historic ceremony to mark the relocation of the Gen. Walton H. Walker monument, hosted by the Eighth U.S. Army in front of its headquarters.
Gen. Walker was the commander of the Eighth Army when it was deployed to the Korean Peninsula with the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War on June 25, 1950.
“The Gen. Walker statue will be moved from Yongsan to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek,” the Eighth Army said in a release, noting that this event will mark the beginning of the Eighth Army’s relocation. [Korea Times]
Gen Bull Dog Walker, Gen Mcarthurs second hand. He was a good one.
Smokes at Work
6 years ago
Ahh USFK, where idolizing old fat white guys is still chic. It’s good to see that tradition will continue at the Hump along with an inordinate amount of those stupid prints of MacAtry walking in the water on Palo Beach I’m sure. 🙄
“By early December, using his superior mobility Walker successfully broke contact with the Chinese, withdrawing south to a position around Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Without instructions from MacArthur’s headquarters, Walker decided that Eighth Army was too battered to defend Pyongyang and ordered the retreat resumed to below the 38th parallel, saving most of the Eighth Army.”
Smokes, after you save most of USFK in a war, we’ll build a statue or latrine in your honor, your choice…
Walker may not have been a strategic genius, but he did remarkably well considering he was working under a pompous, glory hounding asshat like Macarthur. Many of the problems he had to deal with were of Macarthur’s making.
I recommend “The Coldest Winter” by David Halberstam.
“With MacArthur’s amphibious flanking move, the North Koreans seemed trapped, but Walker’s rapid advance northwest towards Inchon and Seoul emphasized speed over maneuver and made no attempt to encircle and destroy the North Koreans after punching through their lines. Although thousands of prisoners were taken, many North Korean units successfully disengaged from the fighting, melting away into the interior of South Korea, where they would conduct a guerrilla war for two years. Others escaped all the way back to North Korea.”
So the argument could be made that he was at fault for “most of USFK” being in danger and needing saving to begin with. Not to mention missing an opportunity to win the war outright.
This isn’t my point anyway. Honoring leaders is the backwards way of the past. You honor the warfighter and the sacrifice, the rest of the Army figured that out over a decade ago but 8th Army continues to stay under the radar and do things the old way.
If I recall correctly, all attempts at hasty advancement fall squarely on Macarthur. Throwing caution to the wind, executing without sufficient planning, and prioritizing often bad intel from hand-selected sycophants in his own staff over reports from commanders on the ground were Macarthur’s trademarks.
And besides, the common troop who conducts their self heroically in combat usually gets a DFAC or some such building named in their honor. A 3 star who dies in action can have a statue and a TDY barracks, can’t he?
A friend’s dad was S2 for 7th Infantry. MacArthur told them before they got to the Yalu to stop sending reports of captured Chinese as “the Chinese weren’t going to defend the norks”. Douglas goofed.
Walker is famous for saving 8th Army. People become heroes for standing up when the proverbial stinky stuff hits the impeller because someone screwed up. That doesn’t mean Walker was Jesus. It means he made a tough choice that turned out good.
Ignoring history just get the mistakes repeated more often. We build statues and other monuments to remember the good and bad choices people make. If you don’t like the way they roll ’em in the city, roll your own?
It doesn’t, really have no opinion on the guy at all. Now had it been the McArty statue well I’d of bought that dog the meal of its lifetime because I haaattteee that guy.
Anyway as expected you are all not understanding the point or intentionally ignoring it. I assume the latter. It doesn’t matter because except for 8th Army (or USFK as a whole, whatever) the rest of the military has evolved beyond lauding generals and you fossils will fade away with your ridiculous fabrications of semi-modern day heroes.
I knew it was in a car accident. Somehow, my mind inserted the detail that he and his party had run into an ambush earlier and had attempted to evade.
I may have gotten that mixed up with some other account. When I was bored, I often read from the Commander’s reading list at the library, so there’s a lot of random Korean War accounts floating up in the old noggin’.
Smokes, I see your point about celebrating generals vs. junior level joes. I just disagree. The good thing about the opinions of anyone on this page, is that they will have no bearing on policies or protocols for 8th Army. We’re just shooting the bull.
Gen Bull Dog Walker, Gen Mcarthurs second hand. He was a good one.
Ahh USFK, where idolizing old fat white guys is still chic. It’s good to see that tradition will continue at the Hump along with an inordinate amount of those stupid prints of MacAtry walking in the water on Palo Beach I’m sure. 🙄
“By early December, using his superior mobility Walker successfully broke contact with the Chinese, withdrawing south to a position around Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Without instructions from MacArthur’s headquarters, Walker decided that Eighth Army was too battered to defend Pyongyang and ordered the retreat resumed to below the 38th parallel, saving most of the Eighth Army.”
Smokes, after you save most of USFK in a war, we’ll build a statue or latrine in your honor, your choice…
Walker may not have been a strategic genius, but he did remarkably well considering he was working under a pompous, glory hounding asshat like Macarthur. Many of the problems he had to deal with were of Macarthur’s making.
I recommend “The Coldest Winter” by David Halberstam.
Oh you want to play copy’N’paste from Wikipedia?
“With MacArthur’s amphibious flanking move, the North Koreans seemed trapped, but Walker’s rapid advance northwest towards Inchon and Seoul emphasized speed over maneuver and made no attempt to encircle and destroy the North Koreans after punching through their lines. Although thousands of prisoners were taken, many North Korean units successfully disengaged from the fighting, melting away into the interior of South Korea, where they would conduct a guerrilla war for two years. Others escaped all the way back to North Korea.”
So the argument could be made that he was at fault for “most of USFK” being in danger and needing saving to begin with. Not to mention missing an opportunity to win the war outright.
This isn’t my point anyway. Honoring leaders is the backwards way of the past. You honor the warfighter and the sacrifice, the rest of the Army figured that out over a decade ago but 8th Army continues to stay under the radar and do things the old way.
If I recall correctly, all attempts at hasty advancement fall squarely on Macarthur. Throwing caution to the wind, executing without sufficient planning, and prioritizing often bad intel from hand-selected sycophants in his own staff over reports from commanders on the ground were Macarthur’s trademarks.
And besides, the common troop who conducts their self heroically in combat usually gets a DFAC or some such building named in their honor. A 3 star who dies in action can have a statue and a TDY barracks, can’t he?
A friend’s dad was S2 for 7th Infantry. MacArthur told them before they got to the Yalu to stop sending reports of captured Chinese as “the Chinese weren’t going to defend the norks”. Douglas goofed.
Walker is famous for saving 8th Army. People become heroes for standing up when the proverbial stinky stuff hits the impeller because someone screwed up. That doesn’t mean Walker was Jesus. It means he made a tough choice that turned out good.
Ignoring history just get the mistakes repeated more often. We build statues and other monuments to remember the good and bad choices people make. If you don’t like the way they roll ’em in the city, roll your own?
If it makes you feel any better … I once saw a dog piss on the base of GEN Walker’s statue.
Died in action? He died in a car accident. Have you even read up on the guy at all?
It doesn’t, really have no opinion on the guy at all. Now had it been the McArty statue well I’d of bought that dog the meal of its lifetime because I haaattteee that guy.
Anyway as expected you are all not understanding the point or intentionally ignoring it. I assume the latter. It doesn’t matter because except for 8th Army (or USFK as a whole, whatever) the rest of the military has evolved beyond lauding generals and you fossils will fade away with your ridiculous fabrications of semi-modern day heroes.
I knew it was in a car accident. Somehow, my mind inserted the detail that he and his party had run into an ambush earlier and had attempted to evade.
I may have gotten that mixed up with some other account. When I was bored, I often read from the Commander’s reading list at the library, so there’s a lot of random Korean War accounts floating up in the old noggin’.
Smokes, I see your point about celebrating generals vs. junior level joes. I just disagree. The good thing about the opinions of anyone on this page, is that they will have no bearing on policies or protocols for 8th Army. We’re just shooting the bull.
I know, I’m not expecting anyone to convert. I think of RokDrop as a virtual VFW minus the lingering smoke, beer stained floors, and crappy music.
Just something to do while I babysit progress bars. 😉
@Smokes at Work, I like your analogy of a virtual VFW. 😆
@johnnyboy, remember General Walker has received the greatest honor of any US general that I can think of, he has a casino named after him!
Looks like it won’t be much longer …
http://imgur.com/a/cH8sK
Smokes . . . you haven’t got a clue. General Walker was killed when his jeep ran head on into a ROK truck that pulled out of formation. He was killed instantly while in a combat situation. He was a great man and a good general. You should read my book available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/General-Walton-H-Walker-Forgotten/dp/1440472882/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1562860505&sr=1-2