Former principal’s cultural journey at Seoul American Elementary School
Contributor: Kyung Lee
John Blom stands next to a dolphin statue in front of Seoul American Elementary School, where he used to be principal. / Courtesy of Yongsan…
Memories of Quonset huts
Contributor: Nam Sang-so
Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanize steel having a semicircular cross-section. The name comes from the site of their first manufacture at Quonset Point in Rhode Island.
Walking runways as Korea’s 1st foreign fashion model
Contributor: Coco Cugat
Model Melanie Glock poses in an ad for Daehan Synthetic Fiber Co. in the early 1970s. / Courtesy of Yongsan Legacy If you were…
Topic: Fashion, Yongsan Legacy
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Final handprints at SAES
Contributor: Quinten Russo
We are down to the last five days with children in our beautiful, perfect, legacy school. While bare shelves and walls are the norm any…
Letter from a Little M.P.
Contributor: Robert V Doepke
In October 1958 My best friend Joe Sciortino and I enlisted into the US Army, in July the following year we were on our way to Korea. I was assigned to C Company, 728th MP Battalion in Yongsan.
Outside Gate 1 in 1961
Contributor: Darrell Brown
Samgakji area of Seoul in 1961, just outside of gate number 1 later on gate 16, was made up of poorer Korean style homes. There…
Yongsan Garrison schools to close in June after six decades of teaching military kids
Contributor: By KIM GAMEL for STARS AND STRIPES
The schools are part of a system established by the military shortly after World War II to ensure an American education for the children of troops deployed overseas. Then-named Seoul American High School opened in 1959 when classes were held in Quonset huts.
Topic: Education, Yongsan Legacy
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What Do You Feed a Korean?
Contributor: By Lt.Col. Kenneth O. Schellberg, Quartermaster, 7th Infantry Division
Three weeks before the 7th Infantry Division shipped to Inchon, we received an augmentation of 8,600 Koreans. Before they arrived our division commander (Maj.Gen. David…
Topic: Food
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My adventures around Yongsan Garrison
Contributor: Scott Forrey
Once at Samgakji we would be underneath the elevated traffic circle. There were seemingly hundreds of street vendors selling everything from soups and grilled meats, to plastic shoes and clothing, to bicycle parts…..It was dark and chaotic under the traffic circle, and quite exciting for a teenager…
Flavors that turned the tide in Navy Club dining
Contributor: Kyung Lee
As chef at the now-defunct Navy Club in the U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Yongsan, Oh Seong-geun held dear his flavor memories from each overseas locale…
Topic: Food
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Yongsan, My Home, March 1968 through March 1969
Contributor: Carl F. Rost
In late 67 & early 68 I expected orders for Vietnam any day but to my surprise, I received orders to report to South Korea!
My home & office would be Yongsan Compound
Another Side of U.S. 8th Army HQ at Yongsan Garrison
Contributor: SP 5 Victor Leo
What’s important to remember, after all is said and done, are the many thousands of people who touched the face of South Korea including: the citizens of the communities who donated clothing; the students and faculty at the universities who collected, sorted, boxed and provided financial help; the transportation companies who donated their trucks and railroad cars; and especially the soldiers, both American and Korean, who distributed the clothing throughout the country for a decade. Kamsahamnida
Searching for lost love in Hannam
Contributor: Kyung Lee
Following the path from Niblo Barracks that once led to the village, Breen vividly recalls singing “Oh My Darling, Clementine” in the Koreanized verses Marie had taught him, arousing immediate laughter from Korean passersby.
‘5,000-year-old culture collides with gaggle of knucklehead GIs’
Contributor: Martin Limon
For me, it all started on Yongsan Compound.
YONGSAN GARRISON TO BECOME HISTORIC PARK, EVENTUALLY
Contributor: Nate Rafferty for 10 magazine
So for the time being Yongsan Garrison remains a mystery. ….For now, the public can only to continue to wonder: Yongsan Legacy hopes that the park it will be a “mirror,” in which Koreans will see whatever meaning they need to see. It’s an ambiguous explanation for an ambiguous space, that continues to occupy an ambiguous place in the minds of Koreans and expats alike.