Okay so here's the second leg of our DMZ tour. Remember the DMZ is the Demilitarized Zone. It extends from the east to the west of the Korean Peninsula, and divides the two countires.
This is a picture of North Korea.
This is propaganda village in North Korea. That flag pole is 160 feet tall and was erected after the South Koreans erected one that was 100 feet tall. That flag weighs 800 pounds dry. There are also high rise building that were built in the 1950's. Of course it's all for propaganda. No one lives in these buildings. They were merely constructed to make North Korea look like it was prospering. Our guide told us that at night they "might" turn on lights. He said they know there are no floors in the buildings because when the lights are on the light will travel to the bottom getting dimmer at it travels down.
Post 4 where the August 1976 axe murder took place. I've got a closer picture a little later in the blog.
This is a monument that stands where the yellow poplar tree stood. The round concrete base shows how big the tree was. The tree was removed by the Army because the two South Korean towers could not see in order to protect one another. South Korea had just had their memorial day and laid flowers at this site as well as graves of other South Korean soldiers.
Let me get back to that poplar tree...
At 10:30am a UNC work party supervised by CPT Arthur Bonifas and 1LT Mark Barrett began to trim the tree. At 10:50am a North Korean officer threatened the UNC work party when the UNC refused to quit pruning the tree. Shortly after the threat, North Korean soldiers murdered the two Army officers and injured 8 other U.S. personnel by beating them with axes and metal pipes.
This is the bridge of no return. POWs were released here and this bridge is a part of the post 4 area where the axe murders took place. Once they crossed the bridge they could never return. President Clinton was quoted as saying, "This was one of the most scariest places on Earth." He actually crossed over the line that divides the two countries in the middle of the bridge (not knowing of course). As he did, he was met by a North Korean soldier holding a rifle (our guide said the soldier wasn't going to do anything but wanted to show President Clinton that he was there and beware). A young South Korean ROK soldier then stood in front of the President shielding him from the enemy soldier. You would think that he would have gotten praise for being so brave. Instead, when he returned to the DMZ he was verbally reprimanded by his superior for interrupting an important (an unexpected) photo opportunity for the President.
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