Vets only

[KellyinAvon]

Osan?
geez, you guys had air conditioning, nice mess hall.

I lived in a quansett hut at Essayons

Is your point, "I shoulda talked to the recruiter in the blue uniform??"

I was at K2 down at Taegu. We were a Detachment with 27 blue-suiters on a ROKAF base. There were about 125 Army SNCOs and WOs (worked at Camp Henry or Camp Walker) who lived on K2. The cool ones hung out with us.

 

[patience0830]

Hardest guys I ever met were a couple of ROK army guys who emigrated and enlisted here. They'd do handstand pushups faster than I could do regular ones.

 

[funeralweb]

Stealing this. Absolutely spot on. I stayed overnight at Fort Myer, just over the wall from Arlington National Cemetery, two weeks ago tonight. Hated to leave the next morning. Spent two weekends at Fort Benning last year and felt the same way.

 

[Informed Decision]

Only in for my four a long time ago but seems like yesterday for a lot of memories. I regret not staying in but my life would've very different now if I had. Wouldn't have the wife & kids I do now, I guess it all turned out ok.

 

[atvdave]

Great post/link.

 

[geronimojoe85]

I tend to identify with this one a bit more...

When the Music Stops ? #OAF

Oh, yeah, link is NSFW. Too many F-words.

 

[oldpink]

So hard to believe that it's been nearly 25 years since I allowed my enlistment to expire.
I may have had my reasons for not re-upping, but it would be good to go back and live it over one more time, just as it was before, a la the "Twilight Zone" episode with Gig Young titled "Walking Distance."
Hell, even boot camp at "Great Mistakes" itself had moments that make me nostalgic.
It's impossible to word it very eloquently, but the closest I can come to saying it one sentence is that it was a great time to be alive.

 

[halfmileharry]

It shaped a large part of my life. I felt lucky to have survived but I also know I probably wouldn't have survived without it.

 

[Birds Away]

I admit I enjoy being called "Master Chief" again.

 

[cook4army]

I could fill an evening with talk of South Korea, as I spent three tours there (96-97, 2000-2001, & 02/2004-08/2004). I remember the OB, the soju, slaw dogs, Popeyes food stand (not the chicken joint), going "down range", and spending most of my time at the Silver Star bar. There were some great times, and some crappy times, and believe it or not, my time spent at Camp Greaves beat both my other tours at Casey/Hovey.

 

[spec4]

I was 18 and didn't have the sense of a rock. A lot was compressed in three years, saw a lot and did a lot of growing up. Like most of my peers I couldn't wait to get out. In my day they owned you and if you screwed up you paid big time. In retrospect, many of the guys we called "lifers" were fine people, but there was also a sprinkling of some real turkeys too. Always figured had I not joined I would have ended up drafted and in Viet Nam. My brother got drafted at the height of Nam and was sent to Germany to drive a truck. Ya never know.

 

[D-Ric902]

When you can eat Ramen noodles with chopsticks, you have been in country too long

 

[phylodog]

When you can eat Ramen noodles with chopsticks, you have been in country too long

I was just talking to my wife about the Ramen we ate over there. I haven't found anything that comes close since coming back to the states. The Ramen over there was awesome and the crap you can get here is pathetic in comparison. I tried going to a Korean grocery store but I can't read the packaging and they eat some really strange stuff over there so I wasn't willing to risk it and end up with octopus butthole flavored Ramen. I do miss it so...

 

[Lectric102002]

I'll never forget those yellow footprints, and wouldn't trade that time for the world. At some point in every day, my time in the Corps affects something I do. Whether it's checking my military alignment ("gig line" for those of you from other military persuasions) in the morning to the sense of pride and longing I feel whenever I go onto a military base. There is no doubt my life was irreversibly shaped.

 

[D-Ric902]

I was just talking to my wife about the Ramen we ate over there. I haven't found anything that comes close since coming back to the states. The Ramen over there was awesome and the crap you can get here is pathetic in comparison. I tried going to a Korean grocery store but I can't read the packaging and they eat some really strange stuff over there so I wasn't willing to risk it and end up with octopus butthole flavored Ramen. I do miss it so...

my kids grew up loving cheese Ramen
(leave some water and melt a slice of cheese in it)

 

[phylodog]

my kids grew up loving cheese Ramen
(leave some water and melt a slice of cheese in it)

That's how we ate it over there but the seasoning packet was like nothing I've had here. I liked the spicy stuff.

Just did some quick Googling and found some on Amazon that is supposed to be good. I ordered a case of it ($21) and it's supposed to be delivered by Sunday. I'll report back for anyone else who might be interested.

 

[F250]

Phylodog, don't forget the egg. Camp Stanley 83-84.

 

[D-Ric902]

That's how we ate it over there but the seasoning packet was like nothing I've had here. I liked the spicy stuff.

Just did some quick Googling and found some on Amazon that is supposed to be good. I ordered a case of it ($21) and it's supposed to be delivered by Sunday. I'll report back for anyone else who might be interested.

I did the same thing

 

[phylodog]

Phylodog, don't forget the egg. Camp Stanley 83-84.

I don't remember there being an egg in it but when I was Googling I saw mention of it. I wonder how common it was back then? It's entirely possible there was egg in it and I just didn't notice (nothing to do with the Soju Kettles).

 

[Mister K]

Mar '92 - Mar '93, Camp Hovey, lived in an H Frame Relocatable. Nothing like living on a vinyl tile covered concrete slab with radiator heat through the S Korean winter.

Unfortunately I can't talk too much about my year there. I was told when I arrived in country that there were basically two options available, getting drunk or getting saved. I chose the former and don't remember much of that year thanks to OB and Soju lol.

I bet I ran the soles off of 10 pair of fake Nike running shoes that year.

THIS^

I was there April '92-'93, Camp Casey 1/15th Field Artillery. I've been to Hovey. "Ajumma" would follow us around when we were in the field (which was all the time) in her little truck and set up a tent where you could trade your MRE for a hot bowl of ramen and kimchi or yakimando (basically potstickers) and a coke. You could buy various candy and other Korean food items. Back at the barracks they had that delivery service where you could order the chicken or pork ramen with the cheese slice nicely melting on top, good stuff. As much as I hated being there at the time, I do have many fond memories.