this may be true (Eng/Kor)

Posted: 2002/11/24  By: bong pal (Views:3161)

this was found on the net and was also published in the 'stars and stripes' military newspaper.

To everyone (Korean and American alike):

I was the driver of the vehicle immediately before the one that struck those

two poor girls.  I can tell you that the people involved in the accidedent

were very sorry.  We cried together, and it didn't matter if we were Korean

or of different backgrounds (there was a Korean soldier, two white

soldiers, a black soldier, and a hispanic soldier in the immediate area...  

along with the mother and her daughter that the two girls were going to

see).  We are all saddened by this.  

The Koreans are not terrible.  Its the same as in America...  the lack of

knowledge about circumstances causes problems between people.  

Please read this account and know that the person at fault was not a

driver...  it was our Captain that put us there on that illegal road.  

Here is the letter thay I have been trying to distribute to stop the hate and

the protest...  and promote truth!  Please see that it is distributed so that

everyone can know what really happened:

I am an American, but most of all, a human being.  I do not look at one

country as better than another as far as the people from there are

concerned.  If judgement is to be passed, it must be passed fairly on an

individual basis.

I have enjoyed recreational activities with my Korean friends, ate with them,

shared with them about our different cultures, and on June 13, 2002, I sat

on the side of the side of the rode in Yangju and cried with civilians and

military alike.  Let the truth be told and let it be known that we are not

enemies.  I love the Korean people as much as my own country.  We are

all people.

My name is SPC Joshua C. Ray.   I don't know if I am wrong in the

military's eyes for speaking out on a tragic event like this one.  However,

there are some things that the driver of the vehicle immediately before the

one striking those two poor young girls needs to point out.  

I don't know for certain whether SGT Walker and SGT Nino should be held

totally without blame for the accident.  I told both of them the day that I

departed Korea for the US that I would pray for them, because there

situation was given to them.  It wasn't even 10% there fault.

To understand this accident, you need to understand where we were at.  

Twin Bridges training area is near Yangju, South Korea.  From where our

company is located (in Paju), we are forced to take what is called

the "Munsan Bypass", because the roads on the Yangju side of the

training area which have entirely too narrow roads.  The Munsan Bypass is

the American equivalent of a two lane highway.  The accident happened on

the Yangju side, which shows that the WRONG roads were being used for

travel.    On those small roads where farmers, children, and other

pedestrians frequently walk, they had our unit as well as others moving

quickly, not thinking about pedestrians as much as we were thinking

about "enemy fire" in the theater of training operations.  If say, we here at

Fort Lewis went to the small town off post in Roy did this, there would be

more problems for our COMMANDING officers than anything officers have

seen in recent history.  If we would have used the bypass, the whole thing

would have never been a problem.  Take the bypass to the training area,

STAY in the training area, and civilians would have been eliminated as a

part of the risk assessment.  Top that with the fact that we didn't only use

this narrow public road as a convoy route to a training area, but we were up

and down this road frequently on a daily basis, and you can see where my

problem with just blaming these two poor NCOs is justified.  Where have

the officers been brought into this investigation?  If you think I'm talking

about our CO, well, your right!

Also, take into consideration that almost every driver in that convoy had got

little sleep for the past 3 days.  I will not complain, because we were in the

field, but when in this particular instance there are civilians involved, one

would think that a little thought would be put into the rest plan. For

example, as the driver of the second vehicle in the convoy and the vehicle

immediately in front of the offending vehicle, I got a total of 5 hours of sleep

in the previous two nights before the incident.  5 HOURS TOTAL!  I know

that I wasn't the only one, because the people pulling guard duty were

driving behind me that day.

Lastly, I would like to point out that the immediate reason for the accident

was due to our convoy of large track vehicles (AVLBs, ACEs, and 113s)

met another convoy of Bradleys.  Those Bradleys were the ones that we

were supposed to link up with WHERE WE ALREADY WERE!  All we had

to do was stay put and they would have come to us, we could have fell in

behind them (still outside of the training environment) and entered the

battle, rather than going the opposite way and meeting them.  These

issues were brought up in front of our CO that morning, every one of them.  

However, the "I am the almighty leader of this company" attitude came

shining through.  

The consequences of these things led to a tragedy that I and many

soldiers Korean and American alike will be forced to live with for the rest of

our lives.  I would like to point out (because I feel like I am betraying my

conscience if I do not) that none of these things those NCOs had any

control over.  To SGT Nino and SGT Walker, I am still praying for you

both.  To Mi Sun and Hyo Soon, their family, and the family who they were

going to visit that day (who I cried on the side of the road with), I would like

to say that I am terribly sorry.  I was never afforded the opportunity to

express my condolences because of political reasons.  I just wish that

people knew the entire story and would cast a judging eye on the people

who need it most.

SPC Joshua C. Ray