And Now...On with the Show!

Well here I am back on my third work rotation. I would have posted yesterday but I was actually pretty busy for the most part. A Two-Star Air Force General came thru for a tour and since I am the only Air Force person here, my boss wanted me to be the one who took pictures. I basically went on a mini version of the tour I went on Friday, only this time I had a camera. So that means you are in luck, cause I have some pictures to go with my explanation. And now...On with the Show!

Our first stop on the tour after a 3 hour bus ride and two very boring hour long briefings was lunch at the NNSC. The NNSC is a camp just off of the JSA and home of the Neutral Nations which are the Swiss and the Swedish military. The lunch was very good, and very fancy. We were SERVED shrimp cocktail over salad, grilled dear meat in a creamy butter sauce, and a fruit salad for dessert. It was the best meal I have had here, and probably the best meal I am going to have until I go home. After lunch it was back on the bus and onto Conference Row. Conference Row is the road we call that runs next to the MDL (Military Demarcation Line), and this is where the real tour started. The guide explained the purpose for the guards, and the usage of the three blue building in the middle of the JSA.

All ROK Soldiers stand at a ready stance of Tae Kwon Do, or what we call ROK Ready. The stance as well as the sunglasses are meant to intimidate the North Korean Soldiers.

After leaving conference row we move on to Check Point 3, which is an outlook onto the bridge of no return as well as into North Korea. Here are a few pictures I took from the outlook.

A North Korean Guard standing on a Watch Tower out in the distance.

The mountains in Korea are beautiful. It makes me sad to know that something as beautiful as this place is also considered the most dangerous place in the world.

After leaving the check point we continued on to the location of the 1970's Axe Murders and the Bridge of No Return. If you do not know the story behind the Axe Murders I suggest you read up on it. You can find more information on it here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axe_Murder_Incident.

This statue now stands where the tree once stood that was the cause of the Axe Murders. The circle base represents the size of the tree trunk, to give us an idea of exactly how large the tree was. For more information please see link above.

The round grassy area shown here in front of the bridge of no return is where the actually fight broke out and ultimately where the Axe Murders took place.

The next two photos really don't require captioning. The first is a picture of a sign marking the MDL, and is meant to give you a good idea of exactly how close I was able to get to it. The second is a look down onto the Bridge of No Return which I was actually able to go onto yesterday. If you do not know the history of the Bridge of No Return here is some information...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_No_Return.

For the rest of the tour we were not allowed to take pictures. We visited Freedom Village, The Third Tunnel, Observation Post: Dora (OP Dora), and the Western Transportation Corridor (TC West).

After TC West, that concluded our Tour of the DMZ. There are A LOT of other little facts and tidbits that I know and didn't mention but if I covered the WHOLE history of just this little area it would take forever. Somethings will have to be left for stories when I get back. After all if I tell you everything n0w I won't have any stories when I get back.

Until next time...