SUWON AIR BASE, South Korea, June 23, 2011 -- The staccato outburst of anti-aircraft guns ripped through afternoon air, as rows of enemy planes dived for their strafing runs on the allied airfield.
The U.S. Soldiers manning the four lonely M-55 gunner positions steadily aimed and opened fire on the enemy, in a desperate attempt to shoot down the merciless aggressors.
The men, all assigned to the 507th Air Defense Artillery Battalion, were young and most of them have never set foot upon the Korean Peninsula until a few hours before.
And now, they are fighting for their lives side-by-side with a contingent of Republic of Korea, or ROK, Soldiers, whose language they cannot understand but whose genuine support they appreciated during these trying hours.
Most of the U.S. and ROK Soldiers have never seen combat. All were afraid.
But the Soldiers from both nations knew they had an important mission to accomplish that day -- to protect a strategic airstrip surrounded by rice paddies in a small town named Suwon.
It was June 29, 1950, and only three days since the North Korean Army crossed the 38th parallel.
Little did these men know that their actions on that day will be forever remembered in history as the first official exchange of fire between the U.S. and the North Korean military during the Korean War, and even more importantly, the symbolic birth of the U.S.-ROK Alliance.
Nealy 61 years have gone by since then and the rice paddies around the airfield have long being replaced by gray apartments, neon lights and noisy highways. But the friendship and alliance built on that day lives on here at Suwon Air Base.
Physical signs of the continued alliance include the imposing Patriot launchers dotted across the flight line, which have replaced the M-55 quadruple machine guns from the bygone era.
Today, not far from where that first engagement took place, Old Glory still waves proudly alongside the national colors of the Republic of Korea, as well as the flags of all allied nations that participated in the conflict.
And to commemorate the alliance and honor those who have served in the defense of freedom not only during the Suwon engagement but also the entire conflict, every June, the Republic of Korea Air Force 10th Fighter Wing and U.S. Army's 6-52nd Air Defense Artillery Battalion hold a combined Korean War Memorial Ceremony at Suwon Air Base.
During this year’s ceremony, which took place June 21, more than 400 Soldiers and Airmen from the two nations commemorated the 61st anniversary of the Korean War.
The ceremony included an official reading of the history of the Korean War as well as memorial speech from the U.S. and Republic of Korea unit commanders.
Brig. Gen. Jeon Kwon-cheon, 10th Fighter Wing commander, took the time to thank “both the ROK and U.S. servicemembers who have served before in the defense of the peace and prosperity of the peninsula.”
Even more importantly, the ROKAF Academy graduate expressed his firm belief that “the U.S.-ROK Alliance serves as a powerful deterrent against future aggression and must be sustained for years to come.”
Lt. Col. William Darne, commander of 6-52nd Air Defense Artillery Battalion, echoed a similar sentiment.
“Recent events such as the YP-Do attack and the sinking of Cheonan serve as a sobering reminder that the sacred peace our forefathers secured can only be sustained with our great alliance and our willingness to carry on their legacy,” Darne said.
“As I stand in front of this formation of dedicated U.S. and ROK servicemembers, I have no doubt we are up for that task,” he said.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the ROKAF officials provided U.S. participants each with a seaweed-wrapped rice ball, which was the staple food crop during the Korean War and the same subsistence provided to U.S. Soldiers to relive the spirit of “Katchi Kapshida” or “We go together.”
Related Links:
Army.mil: 60th Anniversary of the Korean War
Army.mil: Asia and Pacific News
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