July 27th, 2022, marked the 69th anniversary of the signing of the armistice between North and South Korea, ending significant hostilities of the Korean war. The Korean conflict, as it was then known, raged between 1950 and 1953; many were killed, both civilians and warfighters. In these 69 years, since 1953, the war has been much less kinetic, mostly abiding by the articles of the armistice. However, it has been a grueling 69-year grind, with the Korean defense veterans, both ROK and US, holding the line established by their Korean war Veteran predecessors. There have been several periods and specific dates where that daily grind quickly evolved into full-scale combat. The Imjin Scout and other forward-deployed ROK and US combat troops conducted the most successful counterinsurgency in modern warfare history.

Many of the stories of the Imjin Scouts were never told to the public, and some of the combat engaged by the Imjin Scouts and their ROK counterparts were recently declassified. Much never will. For some, this was the "Cold war", not for our combat killed in action and their gold star families, our combat wounded in action. I've read reports that at least 92 US military members were killed in action in and along the DMZ and areas south. Much of the combat occured in the 60s and 70s, over 1200 or more of our ROK comrades in arms killed in action since the armistice, as well as wounded, lost limbs and sickened during combat or line of duty. 

An Imjin Scout DMZ combat veteran, who spoke at the anniversary, confirmed to me personally, that the numbers are significantly higher. On the podium he gave a riveting account from the late sixties of frequent firefights, a battle buddies near fatal wounding from enemy rounds to the adomem. He gave homage to comrades who died. He spoke of how he still carries it. He also spoke on his path to well-being.

Unfortunately till this day, much of our service goes unrecognized by the US government, the military and the veterans administration. Although many were killed in combat, suffered loss of limb from enemy land mines and munitions, cancerous exposure to agent orange, sickened for life by a plethora of other carcinogenic chemicals, heavy metals, nuclear radiation exposure, exposure to burn pits, patrolling through human waste laden rice paddy's, rivers and marshes.

Yet DMZ and Korean Defense Veterans, are denied entry to the WRIISC, and we were also left out of the pact act, we are also told that we do not qualify for agent orange exposure after 1971. The qualifying period is a very arbitrary 1967-1971... I just copied it, I'll paste it right here straight from the VA website; # Veterans who served in a unit in or near the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) anytime between September 1, 1967 and August 31, 1971 are presumed to have been exposed to herbicides. These Veterans do not have to show they were exposed to Agent Orange to be eligible for disability compensation for these diseases.Jun 25, 2020 #.Ok, there it is, So, if you arrived in Korea on Sept 1st 1971, you ARE NOT presumed to have been exposed. And any date after that. For 40+ years the VA denied agent orange claims for Korean defense Veterans. Now, they have this very arbitrary timeline. The Dioxin in Agent Orange has a half life of 200 years. Until recently it was thought to be a hundred years in rivers and river deltas. Even if you go with the outdated conclusion of 100 year half-life... We still have 45 more years from this current year, 2022, before the Dioxin deposited in 1967 becomes inert in the year 2067.

So once again these winners, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines, who achieved their objectives, who held the line that the Korean war Veterans laid before them to hold at all cost! And turned that DMZ over to ROK forces in 1994, yes!, Those Imjin Scouts, those forward deployed troops, those support troops, the KDV... Korean Defense Veterans. Those Champions, can't get a WRIISC referral, are ignored by the PACT ACT, and denied a basic war pension by the VA... Looks like good ole Rodney Dangerfield has got a lot of company. Anyways, that's my rant of the day, if you don't like it, fuck off. 

We attended several events honoring Korean war veterans, with the wall of remembrance re- dedication in Washington DC honoring the over 36,000 US military folk who died in combat during the Korean war. The ceremony was a rededication, as they added the names of 7,000 KATUSA... KOREAN AUGMENTEE TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY, who died during the war, to the existing wall. KATUSA's are women and men who are South Korean yet serve alongside the United States military and are integral members of US Army units.

 Much of black feather scout is modeled after my service in Korea in the 1980s. I served as a 13F, on a liaison team, at camp Red Cloud, Named in honor of corporal ( Sergeant USMC WW2 ) Mitchell Red Cloud. Red Cloud, a Native American man and citizen of the Ho-Chunk and Winnebago Nation, reenlisted in the United States Army during the Korean war as a Corporal after serving with valor as an infantry Sergeant in the United States Marine corps during world war II. Corporal ( Sergeant ) Red Cloud, further distinguished himself with valor in a pitched battle during the Korean war. He was recognized and awarded the medal of Honor. Unfortunately, Corporal ( Sergeant ) Red Cloud died on that battlefield from injuries sustained during the battle.

**** This story was edited from a coming event to a past event. I plan to add more to the story and highlight more of the event, including a few photos. ****

Thanksgiving Eve 2022 Wednesday November 23rd 16:06

Someone recently asked me about my experience attending the Republic of Korea Mountain Ranger school. Bek Ma Ugeok Tae. Translated as White Horse, Mountain, night Assassin's?. There are so many layers to condense into a few paragraphs. The course is specifically for American military and KATUSA personnel to attend, and get a taste of ROK training and tactics. A friend, the other junior member of our 5 man Liaison team, and I asked for admission to attend " ROK RANGER" "school" as it was known in my sector. I was stationed at HHC CFA, Camp Red Cloud. The process began by first asking permission from the Sergeant Major of the post. The sergeant major gave us his blessing to attend with a genuine nod of approval and well-seasoned words of encouragement. After leaving that meeting with the sergeant major, I felt like I was truly embarking on a military journey.

I had been in the country for 9 months and enjoyed hiking in the mountains above a Buddhist monastery outside Camp Red Cloud and Uejongbu. Those same hills and valleys would become our training yamas in the weeks before the course began. Several other stories within this story are diamonds, a story of a Buddhist "Shangri-La"...a tale of an indigenous mountain people, beyond time. However, right now, we'll stick with the preparation for the course.

After several weeks of self-motivated mountain training and PT, we found ourselves at the Republic of Korea 9th Infantry Division, White Horse Ranger facility training grounds. The outdoor area was a vast, stark, flat, sand and pebble plaza. Adorned by an expansive, dynastically ornate military building. When we first arrived, we were received warmly by the Red Hat, White Horse Ranger instructors. However, none of us were foolish enough to not recognize the grin of a Tiger. The Red Hats showed us to our bivouac area and told us to prepare for our first formation. Subsequently, we set up our tents and made acquaintance with one another. If my memory serves me correctly, there were well over 30 of us, with the most significant contingent coming from an infantry unit stationed north of the Imjin, directly on the DMZ. These men were, and remain, creme de la creme of the infantry, genuinely second to none. Although they were humble, they were also hardened by the life of a grunt on the DMZ. During the course, some of the Scouts shared with me details of engagemnts, direct combat, and long firefights with the North Koreans that had occured just a few months before. These firefights were still officially classified and not to be acknowledged by the US military and government for several decades... Just recently officially declassified.

Meanwhile, back at the bivouac area, an uneasy calm was in the air, like an impending storm. A storm that hasn't arrived, but heard about, and you know hell's about to break loose. Then the Red Hats reappeared; now their expressions were much more matter-of-fact. We were told to rush to the plaza and face the building for formation. Once we arrived, there was a platform with a few Red Hats on board and a few Red Hats on the plaza grounds. Behind the platform was the ornate headquarters building. I could see what appeared to be senior and other high-ranking personnel. Shortly after, the fun began. The instructors said we would start by learning some of their drill and ceremony. They then summoned our highest ranking soldier to come forward to lead our drill and ceremony, to repeat the verbal commands instructed to him.

In the United States Army, drill and ceremonies are generally conducted by an NCO or the highest-ranking junior enlisted person. In our case, it was a staff sergeant... But when the staff sergeant stepped forward, he was quickly rejected by the Red Hats... as they had seen the sheen of a first lieutenants silver bar. The first lieutenant was then ordered to the front of the formation and told to face the Red Hat sergeant. The Sergeant gave him several verbal commands to remember and repeat verbatim without mistakes. It went something like this; I lieutenant...and 37 others have come here... then there was a plethora of commands, some English, some Korean... The lieutenant kept his composure and did well, although he stumbled a few times. Once we got through all the formalities, the drill and ceremony began, starting with their way of standing at attention and the Hangul words for position and begin... Jung bee, and schiizhaak, respectively... Words I would often hear in the coming week.

South Koreans stand at attention with their toes together; we stand with our toes apart 45°... After several swift kicks slamming my feet together from the Red Hats, I quickly learned. Their expressions had changed from matter of fact to stern as f***, and the words we learned, joong bee, and shiiizhaak... were now combined with push-ups... Push-up Joong bee... Shiiizhaak... These push-up sessions were Non-Stop; a Red Hat would yell out, how many push-ups? And then he would answer his own question with 300 push-ups! And you better just keep banging out push-ups while the Red Hats would walk around and torment, kick rocks and sand in your face, with the coldest attitude I had ever witnessed in Korea... They were some scary mean dudes! Push-ups quickly turned into exercises I had never heard of or nightmared... Like the one where you have to make an A shape, hands behind your back, head on the gravel, with no head cover. I still have lumps in my head to this day lol. It felt like real torture at the time; they loved repetition and made us do the same gruel for endless repetitions, squatting duck walks and hops, and a bunch of other stuff that I care not to remember right now. They smoked us for a couple of hours, and when the dust settled, there were noticeably fewer of us gi's; the attrition had begun. I had enough lactic acid to cripple King Kong.

After more drill & ceremonies, we were released back to the bivouac area. We were all exhausted, needless to say, and I noticed a few Imjin scouts drinking from a pipe with running water. It was now July 2nd, 1983. I had been in country since September, so I decided to do likewise after seeing the other Americans drinking from it. Within an hour, I was in severe gastric distress. I will spare you the unpleasant details but just think of your worst case of the shits x 1000. I was in serious trouble, here we were just a few hours into the course, and I was really sick. We had a young medic with us, a Spec 4 or PFC... Whatever his rank was, he was squared away. He assessed my situation and gave me muscle relaxers to ease the cramping... I remember him saying, "I brought a few of these along just in case someone might need them" he also gave me salt tablets or something to help keep me hydrated because of all the fluids I was losing. By the grace of the Almighty and determination, I continued the next day, although I was still suffering from the effects. The medic ascertained that I had some form of dysentery...I later learned that it was DMZ sickness and many troops had been quarantined. My forward-deployed comrades had already been exposed and had immunity.

On the second day, the Red hats wasted no time and began to teach us mountaineering skills, starting with their style of repelling. The first thing I noticed was the rope was much thicker than the ropes we used the last time I had been repelling, about a year earlier, during 13F OSUT. The second thing was, in OSUT, we learned to repel on towers with a smooth wood face. Now, however, we were descending down the rocky face of a cliff five times higher than the tower. And the third thing, there was no one on belay...no one on the ground to tighten the rope to save you if you lose control. We continued learning mountaineering skills, endless PT, more of the dreaded headstands, and duck walks!. The amount of push-ups you can knock out during this course is almost unbelievable... If they got eyes on you, you better to be doing push-ups.

In the subsequent days, they continued to refine the mountaineering and, of course, more punishing PT. We went on to learn the one, two, and three-rope bridges used to cross from one mountaintop or cliff to another. The three-rope and the two-rope bridges were quite gnarly in their own respects. A couple of times, when a soldier would get nearly halfway out, the Red Hats would hang from the bottom rope, bouncing up and down, scaring the hell out of the poor soul. Then came the one-rope bridge! We crossed on our stomachs; one fellow did get stuck out near the middle and was eliminated from the course. A Red hat from the starting area came out to help coax him along, and one of us trainees, who had already crossed, came back out also, and the three of them made it across.

On the last day, we rehearsed the final task, the zipline- slide for life. First, they took us to the dock on the lake at the end of the mountain zipline. They showed us how the commands worked; while you're speeding down the zip line towards the lake, you are to look at the man with the flags, and when he raises the flags, you are to raise your legs into the L position. When he lowers the flag, you are to release your hands from the zipline, and if everything is timed right, you will skip on your rear and come to a successful and graceful stop. We were also warned that some folk in the past had not followed instructions and suffered various fates, like tumbling across the water, a lake water enema, and a fatal wooden dock sandwich for the few poor souls who didn't let go. Needless to say, it was surreal when they handed me this pulley with a handle. A single grooved wheel that I was to just rest on top of the cable and zip down the mountain 450 feet above a rocky tree-lined ravine with no safety gear. Well, moments later, with laser focus, I was hanging on for my life as I whizzed down the mountain; I looked down at the trees below me and reflected on the moment. The dock quickly came into view; I saw the flagman raise the flags; I got into form, he lowered the flags, I let go and tumbled like a lousy snow skiing wipeout video. I then found myself upside down a few feet underwater; I quickly got oriented, looked up, broke the surface with a couple of kicks, and swam to the dock...I was officially on my way to graduating. 

Later that day, we had the graduation ceremony, and I must admit, I did not expect that level of pomp and pageantry. They had a brass band, and General Lee Pill Sub, was present, commander of the 9th division White Horse!. There were many pleasantries, and our lieutenant presented a bottle of wild turkey, in the limited edition glass turkey decanter to the commanders, and several bottles of other popular whiskeys and bourbons to the cadre. Later we were awarded our certificates, with the seal and crest of the White horse 9th infantry and the signature of general Lee Pill Sub.

After our graduation, my teammate went on to the Chejudo phase, where they went deeper into mountaineering and tactics. I went on to the DMZ phase, conducting ambush patrols and counterinsurgency. The commanding ROK Colonel of the staff my liasion team was assigned, wrote me a letter of appreciation and congratulations for completing the course. I still have that letter from Colonel Cho Tae Mu... One of only a few items of military memorabilia that I still have from my days in the army.

I plan to edit this story, adding more about the Buddhist "Shangri-La" and the Indigenous Korean mountain people. The story of how the Imjin scouts won a Jokgu match (Korean volley- soccer) against our Red Hat instructors. How my team mate and I snuck out of the course in the middle of the night during the beginning of the monsoon. Driving our jeep across a washed-out bridge, down a million frog road, back to the "vill" ( our sector) for some good chow and drinks. With the cover of darkness and relentless monsoonal rain, we returned undetected, (at least to our knowledge) well before morning formation.

Like the Imjin Scout badge; the "ROK RANGER" patch was only authorized to be worn on the uniform while stationed in Korea. There are several renditions of the patch, depending on the era of service, branch of service, ie..US Marine Corps variations, and or variations based on the ROK unit hosting the course.

A word of caution to all over zealous "stolen valor" Karen types; you run up on a salty old ROK RANGER adorning their award, hold your piss and vinegar. Don't screw up and get your feelings hurt, or worse. Make good conversation, or, ip tok cho... Zip your lip. 

Black Feather Scout supported Anacostia River Keepers, The Mission Continues-DC, and many others, for a great day of clean up at Kenilworth Park, along the Majestic Anacostia River. 

DAV PATRIOT BOOT CAMP