Motorcycle memories at Yongsan
Contributor: Rocco Serrato
I often rode my motorbike on Yongsan base. I rode it to the pool, library, and at night took my girlfriend out on dates.
Soldier keeps temptation at a distance (in Korea)
Contributor: Yongsan Legacy Team
Abigail Van Buren has published this article in her “Dear Abby’s Keepers” many years ago. The team of yongsanlegacy.org wanted to share the article with…
My fond memories of the Gate #1
Contributor: Nam Sang-so
In the morning rush hour, the city’s trams were always full of standing passengers. A brave man was suspended outside the tram door holding handrail with one hand, dangling his briefcase with the other. It resembled a scene in San Francisco. Those passengers who had get off at Samkajji station were mostly headed to the Gate #1 (now Gate #16) located along the Hangang Boulevard
Inside and Outside of the Gates of Yongsan Garrison Part 2
Contributor: Marsha Altvater
Part 2 When I returned to Yongsan, Koreans were celebrating Chuseok. I found it ironic. My return to Korea coinciding with the celebration of Koreans…
Waves of Deja Vu transporting us to the 70’s, Thanksgiving in Korea
Contributor: Betty Krause
It was back in the 70’s in Korea…..it was snowing a LOT……Korean family from the little village area on the beach-this was the early 70’s, told us to come inside their home! We spent the night or two with them……Will we ever know who these people were? Do they remember that special time?…..We regret that we didn’t have room for the camera on this trip…….Thanking my lucky stars each and every day
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Rush On!
Contributor: Bill Krause
Korea….what an adventure! I met life-long friends there, I met my wife Betty there and I got to be a Rock Star in the band Rush.
When magnolia and lilac blossom in New York City
Contributor: Kay Lee
It was in 1973 when I was a second grader at Sangmyeong school when you were with an American design firm named Trans-Asia Engineers (TAE) in Main Post of Yongsan Garrison. You had to pick me up at my school in Samkakji as my class ended about 2 p.m. While you had to stay with a large slanted drafting board until five in the afternoon, I walked around the offices peeking into here and there.
Topic: architecture, cultural exchange, Education, Engineering, History, Language, People, Yongsan Legacy
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Discovering Broadway on Yongsan Garrison
Contributor: Samia Mounts
They never replaced it, and Yongsan Garrison’s community theater program died a slow death……But I’ll never forget what that old theater gave me. It’s the deepest certainty I’ve ever had in my life: theaters are magical, and I was made for the stage.
Home away from Home, United Service Organizations
Contributor: Yongsan Legacy
“For two hours, the men could forget they were soldiers at war. After the show, they returned to the fighting in the hills. Some in that audience never made it back.”
USO, to provide morale and recreation services to U.S. uniformed military personnel
Beyond confidential: mapping Yongsan Garrison through personal narratives
Contributor: Kyung Lee
If dedicating USAG Yongsan’s 70-year existence without taking into account the childhood memories, search for loved ones, or a cultural tour of Seoul, our future generations will grasp little or nothing if the military base was simply replaced by a grassy field with only bronze plaques reading passages from textbooks verbatim.
My magical days in Yongsan Garrison 1970-1977
Contributor: Diane Dahnert
I have beautiful memories of Yongsan. I really do! My time there was magical; something I’ll always treasure and never forget. It may have been a military base, but I can assure you that my friends and I knew that something unique was going on there. It was a time when everyone got along, loved Korea and looked on people as friends. I wish the rest of the world could have had the same experience.
My Halloween in Seoul Area Command (Yongsan Garrison) in 1957
Contributor: Bill Morgenstein
“For some reason Halloween was a big holiday for us. Halloween was party time. You drank until you fell. The ambassador was long gone and…
Yongsan Garrison opens to Korean public for first time in 114 years
Contributor: Yongsan Legacy Team
The Yongsan Garrison, which served as the US military headquarters in South Korea until the headquarters’ relocation to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, in June, opened to the public for the first time in 114 years on Friday.
Inside and Outside of the Gates of Yongsan Garrison
Contributor: Marsha Altvater
The Korea I remember and dream about no longer existed, but I knew it would probably be like that.
Yesterday’s enemy, tomorrow’s friend
Contributor: Nam SangSo
“If we knew each other. If we understood each other as a friend. This foolish war would never have happened. I sincerely hope that a day would come where everyone could overcome their differences through talking and not fighting. Finally, we are friends now,” the former Imperial Japanese Navy pilot who had dropped the first and only bomb onto the American soil, wrote in his diary.