Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A Vietnam War story about the ROK and a communist

During 1966-67, my dad was the Operations Officer for the 2/94th Field Artillery in northern South Vietnam. He and his unit were US Army, but were attached to the 3rd Marine Division at Camp JJ Carroll. The USMC, you see, didn't have heavy artillery, and the big guns, 175mm guns and 155mm howitzers, were used in support of Marine infantry operations. They also fired in support of Republic of Korea (ROK) soldiers and Marines that were also fighting in northern South Vietnam. Some people don't know, but after the US, South Korea had the largest contigency of foreign troops fighting in the Vietnam War. The ROK had a reputation among the North Vietnamese army as visicious fighters and the NVA was, at some point, ordered to avoid contact with the ROK. The ROK, it seems, saw what was happening in Vietnam as similar to what happened in their own land. The ROK troops hated communists.

Dad told me one morning he had to go an ROK camp to speak with its command about some upcoming operations. When he arrived, the ROK Marines were up, practicing their martial arts. They also had a NVA prisoner that was being interogated. Dad said the interogation was brutal. It lasted for as long as he was there and nearer the end of the day he said the ROK took the NVA prisoner down into a ravine where he was shot in the head and killed.

Dad said he was shocked by the brutality and asked the highest ranking officer among them why they killed the NVA soldier instead of treating him as a POW. Dad said the ROK officer replied with a chuckle, "You Americans haven't learned, have you, that you cannot reform a communist."

After seeing whats going on in America today, I believe that ROK officer was right.

The ROK were indeed brutal. It became a simple matter to make any NVA force withdraw in a hurry (dee dee mau!) by simply spreading the rumor that the ROK were going into an area.

He was right.

But on the other hand which baffles me is the Ragheads got to see the Brutality of the Russian yet they are wheeling and dealing now.

God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy !

ROK sent 350,000 troops to Vietnam. Dad told me in a rare instance where the NVA tried to overrun a ROK position, the ROK loaded their 105mm howitzers with gravel and nails and fired point blank at the NVA attackers. Their base was not overrun.

l The Capital ROK division provided us with support. When they had female entertainment at their base we went the shows & played volley ball with them. On 1 trip, I saw a sargent beat 1 of his troops nearly to death with his helmet.


Our PFs & RFs hated the ROKs

My good friend was an ROK soldier in Vietnam.
What is described above is what I have been told by him and my American friends who were there.

My ROK friend was a Tae kwon do instructor there, he was in the Tiger division and was an incredible man, an exellent Martial artist. The enemy was indeed terrified of the ROK soldiers.

The signal unit that I was in at QuiNhon, main job was keeping the ROKs cumunication going. Everyone was afraid of them. When they walked down the street, the people hit the back streets as soon as they saw them. miles

Dad had a lot of stories about the ROK.

A Vietnamese boy snuck into one of their camps. Suspected of collecting information, and caught stealing too, the ROK cut off his hands and applied tourniquets. They hung a sign around his neck that read "This is what happens when you steal from the ROK" and sent him home.