Tag: 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.

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)

Great job by these soldiers serving up at Panmunjom for rescuing this ROK farmer last week:

U.S. and South Korean soldiers stationed in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the country from the North responded to a different kind of emergency last week.

A farmer in Taesong-dong, the only South Korean village located in the heavily fortified area, got his right leg caught in a tractor Wednesday. His mother, who was with him, called the village chief, who contacted the civilian affairs company with the security battalion at the nearby Joint Security Area.

Soldiers acted quickly, rendering first aid while the farmer was bleeding profusely. U.S. Forces Korea, meanwhile, sent a helicopter to medevac him to a hospital, Jung Dongho, a public affairs officer with the security battalion, said Friday.

The farmer, who was only identified by his surname Choi, was flown to the Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, where he underwent surgery for four hours. He remains hospitalized so doctors can monitor his condition, Jung said, adding it took just over an hour from the time of the 5:15 p.m. accident to get Choi to the hospital.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Great job by this soldier in Daegu who climbed a water pipe to assist a family during an apartment fire in Daegu:

A routine trip to the commissary turned into a lifesaving mission, Feb. 5, outside of Camp Humphreys. Staff Sgt. Victor Gomoimunn and his wife, Nicole Lysiak, were on their way to do their grocery shopping when she noticed smoke coming from a building just down the street from their home.

Gomoimunn, a petroleum supply specialist from Waterford, New York assigned to 339th Quartermaster Company, immediately ran towards the smoke filled building asking the gathering crowd if there was anyone left inside. Upon receiving reports that there was a woman and her young child still in their apartment on the third floor he ran into the building through the front door searching for a way to get upstairs to them.

“I saw the children standing outside and I was worried about them,” said Lysiak. “We know many of the residents in the neighborhood and when I looked up he was gone.”

“The building was filled with black smoke,” said Gomoimunn. “I couldn’t see anything and I couldn’t breathe.”

Knowing that someone may still be trapped inside he began searching for another way in, explained Lysiak. He ran around the side of the building searching for another entrance before spotting water pipes going up the side of the building. They happened to run near a third floor window.  [Army.mil]

You can read the rest at the link, but Gomoimunn climbed the water pipe and helped a family get on to a balcony and was prepared to help them down the water pipe when the fire department arrived to fight the fire.