By Suzanne Rice, wife of COL Bill Rice, 1-15 Field Artillery, Camp Stanley, Korea
Along with only two other American wives, I was living in Ui Jong Bu, Korea, while my husband was on an unaccompanied assignment in the Second Infantry Division. I had been in country since June 1973.
The soldiers of the Second Infantry Division were located at many camps near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and spent their time training, whether in their permanent camp (for Bill’s Battery and most of the rest of the Second Division Artillery – Camp Stanley) or at an outpost in or nearer the DMZ – Camp Stanley was only 15 miles from the DMZ. There was a schedule, so they knew when they would go and how long they would stay at their outpost. As the Coordinator of the St. Louis High School Program at Camp Stanley, I was kept aware of when certain units would be out in the field, so that those soldiers would be given an excused absence from their classes.
On October 6, 1973, without warning, all soldiers stationed at Camp Stanley disappeared. This was most unusual. When the teachers for St. Louis High School classes arrived to work that day, we were all surprised that there was no one there – well, only the Korean nationals who worked in the snack bar or other jobs around post. None of us could figure out what had happened to everyone.
We did not start to worry for the first 24 hours, but when their disappearance lasted longer, concern set in. Since we were not authorized to be there, it was not clear to us what we should do. Had another Korea War started? Where should we go? Since we would definitely stand out among the Korea population, as foreigners, at least, but probably also as Americans, we were puzzled about how to hide in plain sight. Our naïve answer was to get to the nearest river, hug the river bank and walk as far south as we could as quickly as possible, avoiding population centers. The river would surely take us away from danger. What we would do when we reached the ocean was not clear or how many days would it take. At least the weather was still warm, so we could survive outside, at least for some weeks. Surely whatever was going on would be over by then. We just knew that we should not stay so close to the DMZ. Having been a part of a Girl Scout troop that often lived primitively, I believed that we could survive using our hastily conceived plan.
As we were preparing our escape, the soldiers of Camp Stanley reappeared, slowly returning. What had happened to send them away, without warning, in the middle of the night? The entire U.S. Army worldwide had been placed on alert because of a surprise attack on Israel by Egyptian and Syrian forces. On Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism and which that year occurred during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Arab coalition of Egyptian and Syrian forces jointly attacked into the Israeli-occupied territories, entering the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights which had been captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. Both the U.S. and Russia, in the midst of the Cold War, began a gigantic resupply effort to their own allies; this almost led to a confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers.
All of this was unclear to the three American wives living within 15 miles of North Korea. Only after Camp Stanley was back to normal did the story come into focus as to where the soldiers had been and what they were doing. It was a scary few days for us. Luckily, we did not have to put our plan to use!
Good story, Suzanne. Thanks for sharing.
Not all rivers flow south however, nevertheless at least you had an escape plan.
Hi! Jim. We knew it wasn’t a good plan, but it was long before the internet and GPS, so we had nothing to guide us in our effort to get out of “the line of fire”. There were no Americans to ask and only the Korean workers on post so we were stuck with only our own minds to figure out what to do. It was a helpless feeling.
Dear Suzanne and Jim:
Intriguing, as normally the advice to follow the water flow is a good one, especially when your plane crashes in nowheresville in the Amazon. 4WIW, I did a little sleuthing on GoogleEarth and could not immediately find any pronounced rivulet going through your former fair city of Uijeongbu, South Korea, although the rain run-off certainly has to go somewhere. I see/learn that the center of Uijeongbu is directly west of the Camp Stanley location, about 22 miles south of the DMZ and about 11 miles north of Seoul. If there is a “river” as such, it is the Han River, which generally flows north-westward (through Seoul) toward the border with North Korea. Perhaps you were looking to not go downstream but upstream…and, yes, south? 🙂 All in all, though, the exercise, in the luxury of safety at my computer in Chicagoland, has proved very enlightening. My lesson learned? A reminder to always have a researched escape plan (plan B?) before the emergency. Now to check out my own current escape alternatives and give thanks for your fascinating story!
Best regards & BOTL,
Bill
Suzanne, what a great story. Thanks. Being in Korea without orders like you were must have provided many stories I’m sure. I hope that you are sharing this one and many others with your grandkids. I’m assuming of course that they would like to hear them.
Very interesting and exciting, Suzanne. As we look back at our younger days we are amazed at what we did and what we lived through. But then, we are the products of the greatest generation!!
Hi Suzanne
I loved your story. I would not have thought to follow the water. I would have only looked for the sun and the moon. Glad I was not in your shoes. We had cold weather survival training in Alaska. I don’t remember it being as much about direction as much as it was about staying warm and making goggles out of tree bark.. I might have been lost for sure. You are amazing.
Suzanne, brings back memories of our times in Korea. My wife and I were there a couple years earlier. I believe the 2nd ID was also called the Bear Cats. We used to train our mortar crews on the DMZ with the 2nd ID providing security for us. Anyway you are quite the trooper as we all know. I want you in my foxhole!! Thanks for another great read. Rick Cappiello
Suzanne,
Communication to the three of you was sorely lacking. I suspect the lack of thought given to “dependents” has complicated the lives of many. Even today, I am unaware of any formal lines of communication between our class and class widows, sadly a growing number. Similarly, I am unaware of any attempts by the AOG to maintain communication with widows. Is my perception accurate?
Cheers,
Pete
A most interesting story, Suzanne. Your method of changing an unaccompanied tour into an accompanied one was certainly most interesting, if not somewhat unusual. It took a lot of love & courage to do that at any time, let alone back in those days. Such circumstances demanded major communication among the wives as well as the husbands. A classic example of the ability of West Point wives to rise to the occasion.
Great story, Suzanne! In September, 1973, I was a assigned to HHB, 1/7 Field Artillery of the 1st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, KS. Our battalion was deployed with the rest of the division to Germany for Operation Reforger. In early October we had completed our field exercises and had moved into Grafenwoehr for live fire and were preparing to convoy our vehicles back to the storage sites and then fly back to Ft. Riley. We suddenly got orders to stand by for possible support for our Israeli allies. We were delayed at Graf for another week before we went home. An ongoing argument to in the barracks was whether gas prices would go above 50 cents per gallon.
The First Infantry Division from FT Riley was on Reforger in Germany when that happened. CBS reported that the US had an extra division in Europe which could be deployed to Israel. I do not know if that was ever considered, but the report put the families at Ft Riley in an uproar.
I just saw this- it had gone to junk. A reminder for us to look there occasionally. Your experience and thoughts previously shared with me remain insightful and inspiring. Pam joined me unaccompanied at 1/42 FA in Chun Chon at Camp Page the summer of 72.
Pete, Suzanne has been a super help to me as we have tried to help our class widows and families to feel part of our class family. AOG now is making more of an effort to connect with families.
Hi Suzanne, I enjoyed reading this story again (from 2014…how can it be that long ago?!). I am deeply into my writing of 2nd Inf Div Korea circa 1970s; I’m amazed at how clearly some details come back to me, and I think this will be a very successful sell; the trick is: it’s an untold story. I will be in touch. Michael Witmer, Med Corpsman, 1/15FA, 2nd Inf Div, 1972-73