Korean axe murder incident: Difference between revisions
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== Operation Paul Bunyan == |
== Operation Paul Bunyan == |
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As a result, Operation Paul Bunyan was organized and carried out on |
As a result, Operation Paul Bunyan was organized and carried out on August 21st at 7am, just 3 days after the killings. A convoy of 23 American and South Korean vehicles drove into the JSA (Joing Security Area) without any warning to the North Koreans. In the vehicles was a 16 man U.S. engineering team with axes and chain saws who immediately proceeded to start cutting down the tree. This team was accompanied by a 30 man security platoon who was armed with pistols and ax handles. In addition a 64 man ROK (Republic of Korea) team of Tae Kwon Do experts accompanied them. A U.S. infantry company in 20 utility helicopters and 7 Cobra attack helicopters hovered above them. Behind these helicopters B-52 bombers, escorted by U.S. F-4 fighters and R.O.K F-5 fighters were flying across the sky. At Osan Air Base, F-111 fighters were armed and fueled, ready to take off at a moments notice. The Midway aircraft-carrier task force had also been moved to be stationed just off-shore. In addition, near the edges of the DMZ, many more heavily armed U.S. and ROK infantry, artillery, and armor were waiting to back up the special operations team incase anything started. In response, North Korea sent about 150 troops armed with automatic weapons. However, the North Korean troops watched in silence as the tree was felled in 42 minutes and thereby avoiding a violent confrontation.. |
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Although the operation was carried out peacefully, there was concern that it could spark a wider conflict. |
Although the operation was carried out peacefully, there was concern that it could spark a wider conflict. This incident led to increased tensions along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, but it did not develop into full-scale war. |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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Revision as of 06:57, 27 April 2006
Operation Paul Bunyan was a countermeasure taken by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in response to an attack by North Korean soldiers in the village of Panmunjom within the Korean Demilitarized Zone, which killed two US Army officers and wounded several South Koreans. The event known as the Panmunjom Axe Murder Incident of 1976 nearly triggered a second Korean war.
The slayings are also known as the Hatchet Incident and the Poplar Tree Incident.
The Axe-Murder Incident
Near the Bridge of No Return, a row of 100-foot (30m) poplar trees blocked a line of sight between checkpoints in the Joint Security Area. On August 18, 1976, a group of United States and South Korean soldiers were sent out into the demilitarized zone to trim the tree, consisting of two US officers, a Republic of Korea officer and eight United Nations Command guards escorting the workforce, and observed by representatives of the Korean People's Army. Under JSA rules, none of the troops were armed, but the tree-trimming detail had mattocks and axes.
After trimming began, the North Koreans abruptly told them to cease their activity. The commanding officer, Captain Bonifas, told the detail to resume their work. Shortly afterward thirty KPA soldiers attacked the work detail, resulting in the death of two U.S. soldiers, Capt. Arthur Bonifas and 1st Lt. Mark Barrett, who were killed by hatchets seized from the tree trimmers. A South Korean soldier scattered the North Koreans by driving his half-ton truck over the prone body of Bonifas, but he died before receiving medical treatment.
A Corporal saw the attack from a nearby three-story pagoda and recorded the murders with a movie camera.
Operation Paul Bunyan
As a result, Operation Paul Bunyan was organized and carried out on August 21st at 7am, just 3 days after the killings. A convoy of 23 American and South Korean vehicles drove into the JSA (Joing Security Area) without any warning to the North Koreans. In the vehicles was a 16 man U.S. engineering team with axes and chain saws who immediately proceeded to start cutting down the tree. This team was accompanied by a 30 man security platoon who was armed with pistols and ax handles. In addition a 64 man ROK (Republic of Korea) team of Tae Kwon Do experts accompanied them. A U.S. infantry company in 20 utility helicopters and 7 Cobra attack helicopters hovered above them. Behind these helicopters B-52 bombers, escorted by U.S. F-4 fighters and R.O.K F-5 fighters were flying across the sky. At Osan Air Base, F-111 fighters were armed and fueled, ready to take off at a moments notice. The Midway aircraft-carrier task force had also been moved to be stationed just off-shore. In addition, near the edges of the DMZ, many more heavily armed U.S. and ROK infantry, artillery, and armor were waiting to back up the special operations team incase anything started. In response, North Korea sent about 150 troops armed with automatic weapons. However, the North Korean troops watched in silence as the tree was felled in 42 minutes and thereby avoiding a violent confrontation..
Although the operation was carried out peacefully, there was concern that it could spark a wider conflict. This incident led to increased tensions along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, but it did not develop into full-scale war.