It was my opinion that the mortars were intended for the airbase and just fell short. My two best friends whose tours were over had already left Vietnam. These activities prompted many U.S. politicians and citizens to decry the actions as nothing more than the hiring of mercenaries to fight Johnson’s war, as well as shelling out poorly veiled bribes for foreign support. ROKA continued developing a self-reliant national defense and set up 'Offensive Defense Tactics.' Also ROKA Engineers and a medical support group were sent to Somalia?Angola and to Western Sahara respectively after 1993. Locating Military Buddies. For more effectiveness within the command system, ROKA established 1st Field Army, 2nd Field Army & Training HQs to divide itself into 3 functions: Operations, Logistics, and Training. Prior to the outbreak of Korean War, North Korea sent guerrillas to South Korea through the East sea and Tae-baek Mountains so that they could join the communists in Ji-ri, Oh-dae, Tae-baek Mountains and create confusion in rear areas. The Phu Cat perimeter was frequently probed by VC and the NVA. With Nixon’s Vietnamization program in full swing, my previous duty station required a skeleton crew only, leaving me a ship without a navy, so to speak. Sort of like the coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan today. They would usually patrol the mountains to the west of our base, known as the Phu Cats. Not only because these detachments to Vietnam were ROK's first foreign operation but also holding responsibility in the allied defense line was inspiring, these experiences meant much to ROKA although 4,000 ROKA soldiers were sacrificed during this period. Johnson desperately needed support for the war. A former ROK soldier, now U.S. citizen at one of my book signings. Protocol was important to the ROKs and it was necessary for me to spend whatever time the Lieutenant required, discussing whatever subject he liked. The following is a set of rare and candid photos taken in 1964 by Klaus Moser, a former draftee who served in Korea with the US Army. Watching them as they trained and sparred we became quite impressed with their physical prowess. As a recent convert to Christianity, the Lieutenant liked to discuss religion. Of those 335,000 troops some 5,500 were killed in action, while over 11,000 were wounded. North Korea has a select special group of soldiers, known only through rumors, called the Storm Corps, proving that North Korea, as well as being crazy, has a totally bitching naming system for its army. By this time, the 25th division of the US Army and the 1st US Cavalry division, joined by ROKA and ROK?US combined forces, formed a strong defensive line along the Nak-dong river. 'Republic of Korea National Military'), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea.The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength of 3,699,000 in 2018 (599,000 active and 3,100,000 reserve). They would spend their off duty hours with the Koreans, training and sparring. While they were our allies they were in reality mercenaries. It roughly follows latitude 38° N (the 38th parallel), the original demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea at the end of World War II. In September of the same year, Planning Meeting for South?North Red Cross Conference was held and Red Cross Conference and South?North Korea Controlling Committee Conference debating on July 4th treaty was held in 1972. To this day, I fondly remember all of my days and nights with my Korean friends, I still have a fondness for Kimchee have converted some family members and friends and bring some home now and then.