(Remains arrive at Osan. the flag is that of the United Nations, under which US forces served. Image from Pacific Stars & Stripes)

If you don’t know (or have forgotten) your Korean geography, Osan is the big USAF base about an hour south of Seoul.

When I was assigned to US Forces Korea in 1980, there was still countryside in between them. Not now. Seoul now sprawls right to the perimeter fence of the base.

I don’t spend much time thinking about the trips down there to the Hardened Tactical Air Control Center, but I had to this morning. With all the chaos here in The Swamp, this particular anniversary of the Armistice that ended the Korean War is special.

Normally, the date passes without much comment. This one is special. 55 of our guys are coming home, more than sixty years after they were lost.

The time I got to travel to Pyongyang, we had to go via air from Beijing. I was a horse-holder for a Delegation led by my favorite Congressman. The ostensible purpose of the mid-90s visit was return of the remains of our MIssing in Action, though we mostly talked about nukes, and helped with terms of what became known as “The Agreed Framework.” We did discover that the North know perfectly well where many of our dead were buried. They also wanted more than a million dollars per set of remains for their trouble.

L’il Rocket Man’s Dad never had any intent of complying with the agreement, once he got concessions over joint economic areas, food relief and a couple Westinghouse light water reactors. The ever-uneasy truce continued, with periodic incidents like the sinking of a South Korean frigate.

So, this truce anniversary would have passed like the long line of those before. Instead, my mind was boggled.

A USAF cargo jet flew into Wonsan, site of heavy fighting in the war, and the place the Regime displayed the captured USS Pueblo for many years. After landing, fifty-five small footlockers we’re loaded up, and the jet departed. The very idea of flying into Wonsan…boggling. I knew it as a MiG base, and remember, the North has a history of shooting down American aircraft in international airspace. Then launching to fly direct to Osan over the most heavily defended border in the world. Amazing.

There was an impressive honor guard awaiting the jet to render honors. The Defense Mortuary Service had wrapped the boxes neatly in the flags of the U.N. and the Services. Our guys will not come home directly. Next is Honolulu and the Central Identification Lab for DNA testing and confirmation of who they were in vital youth.

Then home, and closure for some of the families who have waited so long for closure.

It has been 38 years since I dropped my seabag in the Land of the Morning cam. In a small way, I feel like I got some closure on this anniversary, too.

Copyright 2018 Vic Socotra
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