Category: Good Neighbors

Great job by all the Soldiers involved in donating these Christmas presents:

 U.S. soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division marched on Thursday with rucksacks filled with toys and other gifts to donate to South Korean orphanages for Christmas.

The temperature at 6:30 a.m. stood at 23 degrees Fahrenheit when about 60 soldiers and their family members began their 3-mile trek at Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.

The marchers filled their rucksacks with the gifts they planned to donate, then shouldered their loads and hiked to 2nd ID headquarters. They left their gifts under a Christmas tree in the lobby.

Some participants wore the Army’s duty uniform during the march, while others wore festive hats and Christmas-themed outfits that included flashing lights. One person wore a sweatshirt that said, “Merry Christmas You Filthy Leg,” an apparent reference to a quote from the holiday movie “Home Alone 2” and the endearing moniker for troops who are not Airborne qualified.

Amanda Nguyen, an adviser for the 2nd ID Soldier and Family Readiness Group, reached out to local orphanages and organized the event. Nguyen, who grew up in a military family, said she was gifted toys through a similar event as a child because her family could not afford them.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Good job by the USFK civilian employee responding to an attempted suicide on the Mapo Bridge in Seoul:

 Andres Torres was out for an early morning bike ride when he spotted two South Korean men perched dangerously on the tall barriers lining the Mapo Bridge in Seoul.

Torres, who works for the Defense Intelligence Agency on Yongsan Garrison, couldn’t remember the local emergency number (119) and doesn’t speak much Korean but felt he had to do something to keep them from jumping.

“I was just telling them, ‘This is not a good idea. You don’t want to do this. It’s a beautiful day outside,’” he said, describing the May 21 incident. “I just rambled, but at least I got their attention for a little bit.”

The city installed 8.5-foot-high, curved barriers along the bridge in 2016 to keep people from trying to jump as it had become a popular spot for suicide attempts. But the men had managed to climb on top.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Great job by these U.S. Marines who immediately helped this Japanese man impaled with a spear gun:

Two Iwakuni-based Marines were lauded Tuesday for aiding a Japanese man who was injured while spear fishing near the air station on July 27.

Cpls. Jose Castrobaez and Raekwon Johnson — C-130J engine mechanics from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 — were flying drones on the bank of the Nishiki River near the Kintaikyo Bridge when a friend of the injured man asked the Marines for help, the pair told Stars and Stripes on July 31.

“We met these guys who were having their own barbecue,” Castrobaez said. “They invited me to go swimming with them. I believe they were practicing how to spear fish, and the next thing you know I was doing my own thing and they told me, ‘Hey our buddy needs help.’”

Castrobaez walked over to investigate and saw a spear sticking out of the man’s torso.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Great to see USFK helping to combat the massive forest fire in Gangwon-do:

The U.S. military sent four helicopters, including three UH-60 Black Hawks and a CH-47 Chinook, and 21 servicemembers, including pilots and crew chiefs from the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, to help, according to the 2nd Infantry Division.
The helicopters were equipped with specially designed aircraft buckets, known as Bambi buckets, to scoop water and drop it on designated areas, U.S. Forces Korea said, adding that additional assets are on standby if needed.
They worked with South Korea’s military, which provided 35 aircraft, 46 fire engines and some 7,000 troops to fight the blaze, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

US soldiers stationed at Camp Casey, South Korea conducted their annual clean up of the Shincheon River that flows through Dongducheon:

Soldiers stationed near the North Korean border helped fill more than 80 trash bags with debris Thursday as they worked with local organizations to clean up the Shincheon River in their host city of Dongducheon.
Dongducheon Mayor Choi Yong-deok and Lt. Col. Shane Doolan, the 210th Field Artillery Brigade deputy commanding officer, offered opening words of appreciation to the local residents and approximately 100 Camp Casey soldiers who were participating.
“We cannot meet spring with garbage from last winter,” Choi said before the annual event.
The volunteers began by throwing into the river biodegradable balls containing microorganisms aimed at preventing the growth of pathogenic bacteria.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Another USFK soldier being a Good Neighbor:

A soldier with the 2nd Infantry Division will be recognized Thursday by the city of Pyeongtaek for diverting an aggressive dog away from a Korean girl and taking the brunt of the canine’s attack.
After the Feb. 12 attack, Spc. Jonathan Roman Rios received preventative rabies treatment after the attack at Master Sgt. Henry L. Jenkins Patient Centered Medical Home on Camp Humphreys.
The dog — described by Roman as a white, medium-sized husky — fixated on a Korean woman and a young girl on the street outside the camp pedestrian gate, he said.
Roman, a native of Puerto Rico assigned to the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, had just gotten off duty for the day and was headed to a barbecue with friends when he noticed the dog barking at the woman and girl.
“I just saw a dog, but I saw that he was acting crazy,” he told Stars and Stripes on Monday. “I thought maybe he was just playing, but as I got closer I could see he was mad and agitated.”
Roman, the father of two children, believed the girl was in danger and said he felt he had to act.

He described what happened next:
Using his backpack as a decoy, Roman managed to attract the dog’s attention. It bit into the pack and hung on while the woman and girl ran off.
Roman fought with the dog for several minutes, trying to retrieve his backpack in one piece and make a run for it. He also shouted to nearby pedestrians to get back. Then the dog struck.
“The dog was either too fast or I was too slow, but he bit into the backside of my leg just below the calf muscle,” he said.
Another woman nearby saw the attack and began screaming; Roman said he quickly tried to calm her.
He used his backpack once more to push the dog away and escaped. Putting a brick fence between himself and the dog, he warned other pedestrians to stay away.
Roman said someone who may have been the dog’s owner came and secured the animal to a chain.

Stars and Stripes

You can read more at the link, but good job SPC Roman!

Here is an article by a ROK Drop favorite and historian Robert Neff about how a US military unit in 1954 brought Christmas cheer to a group of Korean kids in post-war Korea:

For a soldier, Christmas is one of the hardest seasons to be away from family and friends but the military does its best, not only for its service members but also for the local community, to provide holiday cheer.

Through the lens of Corporal Marburger’s camera, we get a glimpse of what Christmas was like for an engineer unit and a group of Korean children in Seoul in 1954. 

Santa Claus’ arrival naturally drew a large crowd of children. For many of them, this was their first encounter with the jolly old man. Some were thrilled but others seemed terrified. 

Korea Times

You can read the whole thing and view many more historical pictures at the link.

However, I would imagine seeing a big fat foreigner dressed in red trying to grab you would be a pretty traumatic experience for a young Korean kid back then.

Another example of USFK soldiers helping a Korean civilian injured in a traffic related accident:

Three American medical soldiers were in the “right place at the right time” on Friday the 13th.

Two Army nurses and a command driver were headed from the main U.S. military hospital at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul to a meeting at Camp Humphreys when they saw a woman injured in an accident on the highway near Osan, about 30 miles south of Seoul.

The trio, assigned to the Brian Allgood Army Community Hospital, stopped to help.

Col. Editha Ruiz, deputy commander for nursing, and 1st Lt. Alexander Seawright, a nurse, performed first aid while Spc. Won Seok Kim, the command driver, translated and helped keep others on the scene calm until an ambulance arrived.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but for those not familiar with Korea it is not uncommon to see other Koreans not assist other injured people due to concerns of liability lawsuits.

This South Korean farmer was lucky some US and ROK soldiers were nearby to assist him:

A team of South Korean and U.S. commandos participating in the Foal Eagle field training on Thursday provided assistance to an injured South Korean farmer south of Seoul, the allies’ command said.

The farmer in his 50s was injured and unconscious after an accident with his tractor, which turned over and caught fire, in the vicinity of Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province.

“The special operations professionals provided first aid and stabilized the man, as well as extinguished the fire and ensured the area was safe,” the Combined Forces Command said.

The U.S. service members were in Korea from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, participating in the joint Foal Eagle drill that started on April 1 for a four-week run.  [Yonhap]

A group of U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea joins an event in Seoul on Nov. 21, 2017, to donate coal briquettes to the impoverished. (Yonhap)