September 12, 1970: A Trip to Seoul
	August 19, 1970: A Trip to Yongsan in Seoul
	Return to the Index for 1970

Today I am attending a Service Club anniversary at Camp Blue Lancer Valley. My slide narratives give no more information than that, but I can deduce that the trip was on a weekend, as I am dressed in civilian clothes; I would have been in my fatigues or my Class A Summer Uniform were this a weekday. It would also seem that the gathering was an unofficial one as, again, I would have been in uniform were it not.

Although my slide narratives are silent on the reason for my weekend trip up here, I think now that when I was here a few weeks ago, I'd been invited back specifically for this function. The invitation was probably forwarded to LTC Fuentes who would have authorized my use of the Finance Office jeep and our driver, PFC Kim. I am accompanied today by LT Tworek, who happens to know a couple of officers at BLV.

NOTE from the present:
I first thought to just put a map similar to the one on the page for my first visit to Blue Lancer Valley on this page, but then I thought that it might be a good idea for me to illustrate why the trip up here was an hour or so. I currently live in Dallas, Texas, so I have gotten a map of a portion of the city that is centered on my house and which extends just as far north and south as does my map showing the route from Howze to Blue Lancer Valley.

For those of you familiar with Dallas, the trip from Howze to Blue Lancer Valley is almost exactly the same distance as the trip from the point where US Highway 67 and Interstate 35E join as they come up from the south and the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and Interstate 635 at the Galleria Mall in near north Dallas.

At any time except rush hour, this is a 20-mile trip that takes about 20 minutes, point to point. But that's all expressway, and there were no expressways in my area north of Seoul. We were on two-lane roads, going through small towns and hamlets, and so the trip took an hour, but it is pretty amazing that the distance was the same. What this means is that you could fit all of the 2nd Division area in Korea (north of Seoul and south of the DMZ) into an area about the size of the city of Dallas! I find this comparison pretty amazing, as the area we covered in my year tour in Korea seemed much, much larger.

The first couple of pictures I took were along the roads from Howze to Blue Lancer Valley:

This is some scenery across from Camp Howze. Some of the early rice is just beginning to ripen; when it does, the green color gradually fades to a wheat color.

I found this procession of farm animals near Bongilcheon interesting; they were the first animals I have seen here in a group. There seems to be very little livestock around here, and I imagine the goats are kept for their milk.

I always enjoy riding in a jeep; being open air, it is exactly like a convertible. My only regret is that officers aren't allowed to drive them (or any Army vehicle) off-post.

When we arrived in Blue Lancer Valley, our first stop was the Headquarters, Second Battalion, 23rd Infantry- shown here. It is standard operating procedure at the camps up near the DMZ to have visitors sign in and out. I don't know that this really makes the installation more secure, but it can't hurt. There is always the concern that Koreans or others sympathetic to the North might be spying, although at this point this seems unlikely.

But I don't question the procedures; I follow them.

Blue Lancer Valley has the reputation of being one of the most beautiful settings of any of the many installations in the Second Division area. The camp is in a horseshoe-shaped valley, rimmed by low green hills, and it is indeed a beautiful area.

Camp Blue Lancer Valley was named for the famous British Gloustershire Regiment (Blue Lancers), who fought gallantly in the battle of the Imjin River in 1951. In 1953, Blue Lancer valley was a tent camp near Mummo-ri, but by 1957 the tents were replaced by quonset huts.

The units stationed at Blue Lancer Valley have changed through the years. The 2nd Brigade, 12th Cavalry C/S Company, Recon Platoon was here from 1961-1962. HQ & HQ Company, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division occupied BLV from 1963-1964. HQ, A,B, & C Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division used the camp from 1963-1964. Since 1964, the major organization has been HQ, A, B, & C Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division.

This is the S4 shop for the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry. S4 is the same thing as G4, Supply, but at a lower organizational level. The real purpose behind the shot was to include the flowers (a la Ladybird) but I was a little far away.

This is some of the equipment used by the 23rd. It appears to be an old M-48 tank, but I am not certain. I couldn't think of a real reason for the picture.

Blue Lancer Valley is typical of the compounds in Korea; lots of quonset huts, all of which look similar. Howze is the same way, although being a larger headquarters, there are some more permanent buildings.

Here's part of the horseshoe of mountains surrounding Camp Blue Lancer Valley.

This is most of Camp Blue Lancer Valley, and the view looks north towards the DMZ.

Note from the present:

When you read my description of the first picture below, keep in mind that my slide narratives from Korea were written as if I were talking to my parents.

Dan Tworek took this picture of me and PFC Kim, our driver, and I am preoccupied squinting at the sun. I hope to get you some better pictures of myself, and for this one Dan Tworek should have been closer. Oh well, at least you know I am alive.

Here are some of the really neat hills that surround Blue Lancer Valley.

After the gathering, I happened to mention that the Stone Buddhas at Yongmi-ri were quite nearby, and Dan had never seen them, so a group of us drove the four or five miles over to see them. On the way, it was all green countryside:

The rice is just beginning to turn brown.

You don't get much more pastoral than this.

You've already learned about the Stone Buddhas at Yongmi-ri on a previous page, so I won't repeat all that here. I did take some additional pictures that are worth including here, though:

This is the incredibly beautiful valley below the stone Buddhas.

This view looks towards Seoul, and you can always recognize the three-pointed "Crown Mountain".

A very nice picture looking out across the stone Buddhas from above and behind them.

This is the valley below the stone Buddhas.

Here you can see the Buddha's hats clearly; one is round, the other square.

This young schoolgirl was part of a group here today, and I prevailed on her to get a picture.

I think Dan really enjoyed seeing the Buddhas; I was surprised that he hadn't yet been here, as he arrived quite some months before I did. We returned to Camp Blue Lancer Valley and in mid-afternoon headed back to Camp Howze. Along the way, I took two good pictures:

This little kid in Munsan-ni seemed not to be pleased at being left alone. An interesting thing here is that Koreans learn at an early age how to "sit" without "sitting down". I've tried to get in this position and stay there, but it's very hard. I've seen lots of adults and children crouching down like this, so I assume that if you exercise the muscles needed, it is at least comfortable. It's also useful, as you might guess.

Walking along the road I spotted these two women. Their dress is typical of older Korean women, particularly in rural areas. The dress/blouse combination looks comfortable and cool. In Seoul, you also see women in variations of this style, but theirs are usually more colorful, and in the winter, the dresses and blouses are heavier.

We got back to Howze in the late afternoon, in time to take advantage of Happy Hour at the OOM.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	September 12, 1970: A Trip to Seoul
	August 19, 1970: A Trip to Yongsan in Seoul
	Return to Index for 1970