South Korea's "trauma week" filling the void on PTSD

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

April 19, 2022

This is according to the VA on PTSD Awareness and "8 million"

Help Raise PTSD Awareness There are currently about 8 million people in the United States with PTSD. Even though PTSD treatments work, most people who have PTSD don't get the help they need. June is PTSD Awareness Month. Help us spread the word that effective PTSD treatments are available. Everyone with PTSD—whether they are Veterans or civilian survivors of sexual assault, serious accidents, natural disasters, or other traumatic events—needs to know that treatments really do work and can lead to a better quality of life.

But on another page from the VA there is this and "12 million"

Facts About How Common PTSD Is
The following statistics are based on the U.S. population:
About 6 out of every 100 people (or 6% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
About 12 million adults in the U.S. have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through a trauma.

Apparently, in December it there were 3 million more, but no idea why they changed the number from "15 million" or can't seem to make up their minds.

If the National Center for PTSD is unaware of their confusing data, that is not a good way to raise awareness of something this important.

The thing is, we are doing a lousy job raising awareness of anything meaningful on helping survivors with PTSD heal. After all, considering the stigma is still keeping people from even admitting they need help, it shows how bad we are at it. 

If you mention PTSD to someone right away, they connect it to veterans. After all, that is all they hear about. Tell them you have PTSD from some other cause, they trivialize it unless they have it too or know someone with it. What do we do? If we manage to get the courage up to say we have it, we choke on answering the next question they have when they want us to explain how we have it. 

Too often what comes next is, they say they know someone who went through the same thing and they are fine. You can tell by the look on their face they are wondering why we are not fine.

If you know what PTSD is and what it does, and learn how much power you have over it, you can stand your ground and explain it to them patiently. If you don't know, then you walk away feeling as if you've just been judged as being weaker than the person they know.

It is time to remember that we're survivors and there is nothing to be ashamed of at all, even if the rest of the country hasn't caught up to the facts we live with.

So how is it that South Korea is doing something all our news stations should be doing?

Arirang News

This week is South Korea's "trauma week"... where mental health experts and survivors of national tragedies gather to raise awareness on how to treat trauma.

Our Shin Ye-eun met some of those traumatized by South Korea's worst disasters, and looks at what is being done to help them recover.

Everyday on the news… we see tragic events wreaking havoc around the world.

But what we don't see are the lasting effects on the people affected.

Many develop trauma.

Trauma is an emotional response to experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event.

While most people recover quite quickly with the help of friends and family... some... develop post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Many people suffering from PTSD develop other mental health problems like depression or anxiety.

"I'm a survivor of the collapse of Sampoong Department Store."

"27 years ago… where I am walking right now, South Korea saw its deadliest building collapse."

DOD was not ready to test deployed troops for COVID-19 and still not testing!

‘No availability’ of coronavirus tests for troops in Afghanistan

Roll Call
By John M. Donnelly
Posted March 13, 2020

The committee has asked Defense Department officials similar coronavirus questions about U.S. troops stationed or deployed in or near other risk countries in addition to Afghanistan. The committee is still waiting for replies, an aide said.

In a March 11 letter to Pentagon and National Guard leaders, Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin asked if testing is available in Afghanistan. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

U.S. troops in Afghanistan are not being tested for the novel coronavirus, U.S. military officials told the House Armed Services Committee.

There is “no availability of testing for COVID-19” for troops there, a U.S. Central Command representative told the committee in a March 12 statement made available by the committee on Friday.

Members of Congress are particularly concerned about the nearly 13,000 troops in Afghanistan because many of them are deployed near Iran.

Iran has more than 11,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, the third most in the world behind China’s 80,000-plus cases and Italy’s more than 15,000, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Many U.S. troops are stationed in Italy.

South Korea, another nation with a substantial U.S. military presence, has nearly 8,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 — the fourth most in the world.
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Two non-combat deaths under investigation

Pentagon IDs soldier who died in noncombat incident in northern Syria

STARS AND STRIPES
By CHAD GARLAND
Published: April 29, 2019

The Defense Department has identified the American servicemember who died Monday while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve in northern Syria.

Pfc. Michael A. Thomason, 28, of Lincoln Park, Mich., died of “wounds sustained from a non-combat incident” in Kobani, Syria, according to a statement issued late Monday by the Pentagon.

Thomason was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Ky., the statement said.
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South Korea-based soldier dies while on leave in Maryland

STARS AND STRIPES
By KIM GAMEL
Published: April 29, 2019

SEOUL, South Korea — An 18-year-old soldier serving with the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea died while on leave in Maryland, the Army said Monday, adding the circumstances surrounding her death are under investigation.

Pvt. Courtney Shields, a signal support systems specialist from Bryans Road, Md., was found unresponsive Friday while on leave in her home state. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to a press release.
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Stationed in Korea, soldiers ask for permission to breathe

US soldiers wish for masks as air pollution smothers South Korea

STARS AND STRIPES
By KIM GAMEL
Published: March 7, 2019

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — With much of South Korea smothered in record levels of fine dust, the streets are full of people wearing masks as protection from the punishing air pollution.

Pedestrians wear masks while walking at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. MATT KEELER/STARS AND STRIPES

Most American soldiers don’t have that option — at least when they’re in uniform. The Air Force permits masks when pollution hits a certain level.

Army regulations bar soldiers from wearing the masks, which cover noses and mouths, unless they have a certified medical condition that merits an exception.

That has caused concern among many soldiers and their loved ones as much of South Korea has endured several days of dense pollution that irritates eyes and makes breathing difficult.

“I feel like my husband should be able to wear a mask. I really don’t like that,” Army wife Alexandra Jackson said as she waited for dinner at the Yongsan Garrison food court.

She and her 10-year-old stepson, King Jackson, both wore masks around their necks. She said her husband also wears one when he’s off-duty.
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Deaths of two soldiers under investigation

Two S. Korea-based soldiers found dead — one in barracks and another while on leave in Nebraska

STARS AND STRIPES
By KIM GAMEL
Published: February 12, 2019

SEOUL, South Korea — The Army was investigating the deaths of two South Korea-based soldiers, including one found unresponsive in his barracks and the other while on leave in Nebraska. Both joined the service less than a year ago.

Claytun Cepeda, 19, was one of two South Korea-based Army privates found dead in separate incidents since last week. COURTESY OF THE U.S. ARMY

Pvt. Claytun N. Cepeda, a 19-year-old Guam native, was pronounced dead Sunday after he was found in his room at Camp Humphreys, the Army said. It added that the circumstances surrounding his death were under investigation.

Cepeda, a water purification specialist, joined the Army in June 2018 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and was assigned to A Company, 602nd Aviation Support Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, according to a press release.

Separately, the Army said a soldier stationed at Camp Henry, South Korea, was found dead Feb. 5 while on leave in Valley, Neb. The cause was under investigation. Pvt. Aaron Mitchell, 21, was a mortuary affairs specialist assigned to the 498th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, U.S. Army Materiel Support Command Korea, 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.
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Also, From Stars and Stripes

Army helicopter repairman dies of injuries sustained at on-base home in Alaska

An Army helicopter repairman died Monday of injuries he sustained a week earlier at his home at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the Army said.

Sgt. Brian Peter Sawyer, 33, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment at Wainwright, died at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., where he had been transferred because of the severity of his injuries, the Army said in a statement Tuesday.

He was injured at his on-base residence on Feb. 3 and initially treated at Bassett Army Community Hospital on Fort Wainwright, the statement said. 
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Soldier found dead at Camp Carroll

US soldier found dead at Army base in South Korea
ABC News
By MARK OSBORNE
Mar 9, 2018

A U.S. soldier was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at a military base in South Korea on Friday morning.

The unnamed soldier was a member of the 35th Air Defense Artillery stationed at Camp Carroll in Daegu City, South Korea. Daegu is located about two hours southeast of Seoul in the southeastern part of the country.
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Air Force Medic Saved Life on Commercial Plane?

Air Force Medical Technician Saves Airborne Heart Attack Victim
Department of Defense
By Air Force Staff Sgt. Franklin R. Ramos, 51st Fighter Wing
Dec. 29, 2017

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea
After visiting family in Santa Ana, California, Air Force Staff Sgt. Cassidy McCurdy, an independent duty medical technician with the 51st Medical Group here, was heading back to his base on a connecting flight from San Francisco to Seattle, when things took an unexpected turn.

Independent Medical Duty Technician Air Force Staff Sgt. Cassidy McCurdy, an independent medical duty technician with the 51st Medical Group, poses for a photo at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Dec. 21, 2017. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Franklin R. Ramos

“I was taking a nap and there was some commotion going on in the back [of the aircraft],” McCurdy recalled. “Then the [flight attendants] asked if there was a doctor or emergency medical technician onboard.”

McCurdy sprung to action to assess the situation.

“I got up and there was a woman in cardiac arrest,” McCurdy said. “There were no other medics around [at the moment] and she didn’t have a pulse, so I started to do chest compressions. I just completely reacted and did everything I’ve been trained to do through the emergency medicine protocols that we do. It was the first time I had to 100-percent rely on myself to know what to do [in a cardiac arrest situation].”

It took around two minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation for the victim to gain consciousness.
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Air Force Wife Not Jealous Hubby Has Another Love in His Life

Ohio Air Force Sgt. reunites with military dog after 3 years apart
FOX News
Cristina Corbin
Published April 28, 2017

The two last saw each other in 2014. The reunion last week was made possible by American Humane, a Washington-based nonprofit group, which funded the costs of bringing Emra home to retire on U.S. soil.

Wylie and Emra, pictured above, were reunited April 20 in Cincinnati.

(American Humane and Crown Media Family Networks/Brian Douglas)

For U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Adam Wylie, "Emra" -- the 9-year-old Belgian Malinois he was forced to leave behind in South Korea -- was more than a service dog.

The canine filled the void of family when Wylie, a 12-year veteran of the armed forces, was deployed from 2012 to 2014 in South Korea where he was stationed around Osan Air Base.

"She meant the world to me," Wylie, 33, told Fox News.

The two -- separated for three years -- were reunited April 20 in Cincinnati in a heartwarming reunion that at first seemed improbable. Emra had retired as a service dog due to old age and the beginnings of arthritis -- and was living thousands of miles away from her former handler.
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Vietnam Veteran Dave Roever Inspiring "Devil Brigade" Soldiers

Vietnam veteran inspires ‘Devil’ brigade Soldiers
Camp Casey South Korea
Cpl. Dasol Choi
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team
1/27/2017

“Roever inspired me because he told his story of how he wanted to give up because of what happened to him,” said Spc. Mitchell Strange from the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st ABCT. “While a lot of people would have given up, he never gave up. From now on, I want to start to look at things more positively.”

Photo By Cpl. Dasol Choi | CAMP CASEY, South Korea – Soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, listen to a speech given by Dave Roever, a former riverboat gunner in the Brown Water forces in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and a recipient of the Purple Heart Medal, during resiliency training at the Camp Casey Multipurpose Complex, Camp Casey, South Korea, Jan 24. (U.S. Army Photo by Cpl. Dasol Choi, 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs)

CAMP CASEY, South Korea ¬– Soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, had an opportunity to hear from a Vietnam War veteran and a recipient of the Purple Heart Medal, during a resiliency training session held at the Camp Casey Multipurpose Complex, Camp Casey, South Korea, Jan. 24.

Invited by Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea and his chaplains, Dave Roever, a veteran of the U.S. Navy who served in the Vietnam War, shared his experience of overcoming hardship that he faced while serving in the Vietnam War as a riverboat gunner in the Brown Water forces in the Navy.

“My heart followed troops; I love the troops; I was one and I never got it out of my system,” Roever said. “I came here to say to the troops not to cave under pressure but to stand strong and always defend against the enemies.”

Although injured during the war and believed to be dead, Roever never gave up. Instead, he considered a moment, which others might call a defeat, as an opportunity.

“I was burned and was given up twice as other Soldiers believed I was dead. I never died, never claimed it, and never said that,” Roever said. “But I can tell you, I wouldn’t have been standing here giving you this speech if I had given up.”
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Army Captain Back from South Korea Meets 4 New Babies

FATHER MEETS NEWBORN QUADRUPLETS FOR FIRST TIME WHILE HOME FROM DEPLOYMENT 
ABC 7 News Chicago
Will Jones
January 29, 2016

HINSDALE, Ill. (WLS) -- Four newborn quadruplets are meeting their father - home from his deployment in South Korea - for the first time.

Anthony Burch and his wife Mary Pat are now the parents to Henry, Molly, Nathaniel and Samuel.

"I can't wait to hold them," Anthony said.

This is the moment this Army captain has been waiting for.

The quadruplets are getting stronger every day in the neonatal intensive care unit at AMITA Adventist Medical Center at Hinsdale.

Although Anthony couldn't be in the delivery room last Sunday morning to welcome them into the world, he wasn't too far away thanks to FaceTime.

"Perfect timing. Everything clicked together I was able to see the babies as they were getting cleaned off in the room," Anthony said.

"He got to see them before I did even though I was right there and he was 12,000 miles away," Mary Pat said.
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Army Released Names of Aviators Killed in South Korea

Army releases names of aviators killed in South Korea crash
Army Times
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer
December 6, 2015

The Army on Sunday night released the names of the two aviators killed when their AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed in South Korea.

The incident happened about 6:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 23 during a routine training mission. The helicopter crashed about 50 miles east of Camp Humphreys.

It would be the first of three deadly Army helicopter crashes in 10 days, prompting U.S. Army Forces Command to ground all of its aircraft for a safety stand down. The stand down began Thursday and will end Monday evening.

• Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jason McCormack, 43 from Maryland, Fort Campbell 101st

CW4 Jason McCormack (Photo: Army)

• Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brandon Smith, 38 from Colorado. Fort Carson

CW3 Brandon Smith (Photo: Army)

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Solider's Dog Zeus Took Cross Country Trip Courtesy of Banfield Employee

Lost, now found: Zeus the dog reunited with soldier and family
The Olympian
BY SEAN ROBINSON Staff writer
August 14, 2015

Perhaps it was coincidence that Zeus the dog came home on a morning marked by peals of thunder. Or perhaps the dog gods were laughing.

Either way, Melody Harworth was crying.

“Hi, puppy,” she kept saying and sobbing Friday, as Zeus emerged from a car and greeted his long-lost family. “Hi, puppy, hi, puppy.”

Her husband Ben Harworth’s eyes were red-rimmed; until last month he believed his dog was long dead. Friday, he accepted slobbery kisses and woofed at the old friend he hadn’t seen in three years.

Zeus, unable to fly because of a medical condition, had been ferried crosscountry from Fort Bragg in North Carolina, his old home. The ride came courtesy of Rachel Overby, who works with Banfield Pet Hospital, a partner with PetSmart stores.

Harworth, a chief warrant officer, had been stationed at Fort Bragg until 2011, when he transferred to South Korea.

CW2 Benjamin Harworth, stationed at JBLM, gets loving kisses from his long lost dog, Zeus, with his wife, Melody looking happy at Petsmart in Lacey on Friday. Harworth was deployed to Afghanistan, let his friend watch his dog Zeus. Harworth receives a call in Afghanistan from his friend saying that his dog has died. Harworth receives a call recently from Banfield Clinic near Fort Bragg saying that they have his dog. He tells them this is impossible because his dog died four years ago. Last month, Banfield explains that they scanned the dog's microchip and it is Zues. Banfield arranged to have Zeus transported across the country to be reunited with Harworth at the Lacey Petsmart. Lui Kit Wong read more here

Fastest Soldier in Battalion Even With a Cold

1st Cav Soldier finishes first despite illness
Fort Hood Sentinel By Staff Sgt. John Healy, 2nd ABCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public Affairs
AUGUST 13, 2015 | SPORTS

“There was a bug going around and I just so happened to catch it that day,” said Weaver. “I was hurting for that.”

Spc. Solomon Weaver is a M1 Abrams gunner from Patterson, Calif., currently serving with the Co. D “Desperados,” 1st Bn., 8th Cav. Regt, 2nd ABCT, 1st Cav. Div. Weaver earned recognition throughout the brigade after completing the Air Assault Course’s final ruck march with the fastest time of two hours and two minutes.
(Photo by Staff Sgt. John Healy, 2nd ABCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.)

CAMP CASEY, South Korea - Spc. Solomon Weaver is a modest looking 21-year-old tanker from Patterson, California, currently serving with the Company D “Desperados” of 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.

He’s not very tall, and not very big either. His father, who also served in the Army, is a gunsmith in his hometown. He’s polite, and his uniform is clean. When Weaver talks to you, he looks you straight in the eye.

Weaver is also the fastest Soldier in his battalion; possibly even the whole brigade, and can run two miles in 10 minutes and 47 seconds.

“For the two mile, I’m definitely the fastest,” said Weaver. “I always get set aside for ability group runs and that kind of thing.”

The other members of Weaver’s company like to joke about how fast he is.

“He used to get beat up a lot, so he had to run fast,” said one Soldier, to which Weaver doesn’t respond, he only smiles.

For two years, Weaver’s demonic speed was the best-kept secret of Co. D. That is, until he decided to attend Air Assault School, a grueling course where Soldiers learn how to transport equipment with a helicopter via sling load.
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Dogs on Deployment Care For Dogs When Soldiers Deploy

Dogs on Deployment cares for dogs when owners are overseas
Program has cared for 550 pets
WESH.com
Amanda Ober
Nov 20, 2014

ORLANDO, Fla. —Imagine having no option but to leave your pets at the pound because you have been assigned to serve overseas.

Susan Sackett loves Great Danes. Hers is named Baldwin. When she learned there was a military family in need of a temporary home for its Great Dane, named Chaos, it was a no-brainer.

"Because of all the work the service members do, and the life they put on the line for us, it's the least I can do for them," said Sackett, a Dogs on Deployment volunteer.

Chaos belongs to Nikki and Rich Rain, of Cedar Key.

The military couple was headed for a two-year tour in South Korea, and when they got to the airport, they found out it would cost $7,000 to bring Chaos because of her size. That's something they couldn't afford.

The national nonprofit called Dogs on Deployment came in. It provides an online network for service members to search for volunteers willing to board their pets.

Sackett kept in touch with the Rains online and provided Chaos a loving home while they sent money for the dog's care. When their return to the U.S. approached, the Rains sent items of clothing with their scent to prepare Chaos.

On Nov. 11, the dog and owners were reunited.
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Soldier dies after reported fight with another soldier in Seoul

UPDATE
Video shows attempt to save soldier's life, Korean police say
Stars and Stripes
By Ashley Rowland and Yoo Kyong Chang
Published: May 12, 2014

SEOUL — Video footage shows that someone tried to save the life of a U.S. soldier shortly before he died of a brain hemorrhage, hours after he was involved in a street fight last week, South Korean police said Monday.

Footage recorded by a street camera showed a foreigner — whom South Korean police think is an American, though they do not know his identity — administering CPR to Spc. Carl A. Lissone outside a hotel in Pyeongtaek shortly around 1 p.m. on May 4.

At 1:16 p.m., Lissone was taken to a Pyeongtaek hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

His death is being investigated by U.S. and South Korean authorities.

Many details of what happened on May 4 to Lissone, a 20-year-old information technology specialist stationed at Humphreys, have not been made public.
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Soldier dies after reported street fight in Seoul
Stars and Stripes
By Ashley Rowland and Yoo Kyong Chang
Published: May 9, 2014

SEOUL — A U.S. soldier died after getting in a street fight outside a nightclub in a popular Seoul entertainment district that has twice been placed off-limits to American troops.

Spc. Carl A. Lissone, 20, was knocked unconscious after getting into an argument with another U.S. servicemember during the early-morning hours of May 4 outside Hongdae’s Club Naked, where he had had been drinking and dancing, according to the Pyeongtaek Police Office.

Lissone was bleeding from his nose and ears, but instead of taking him to a hospital, the three men accompanying him took him to a hotel in Pyeongtaek, near U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, police officials said.

The men reported Lissone’s death to U.S. military officials at 1 p.m.

The chief of Pyeongtaek police’s criminal affairs department said Lissone was alive when he was taken to the hotel but died from a brain hemorrhage. No one has been charged or taken into custody. The men may have been violating U.S. Forces Korea's nighttime off-post curfew, instituted in 2011 after two rapes of South Korean teenagers by U.S. soldiers.
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Pentagon sending 800 Fort Hood soldiers to South Korea

Pentagon Says Fort Hood Troops Going To Korea
KWTX

FORT HOOD (January 7, 2014) The U.S. is sending an additional Army combat force of 800 soldiers to South Korea with tanks and armored troop carriers, main among them some 1st Cavalry Division soldiers from Fort Hood.

A brief Pentagon announcement said the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment from the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, will deploy to two locations in South Korea on Feb. 1.
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Boeing 777 crashes while landing at San Francisco airport

Boeing 777 crashes while landing at San Francisco airport
NBC News
By Daniel Arkin
Staff Writer
July 6, 2013

A Boeing 777 jetliner crashed at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday after a flight across the Pacific Ocean from South Korea. There was no immediate information about casualties.

The plane, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 from Seoul, came to rest beside the runway — missing its tail, spewing black smoke and with most of the top of the fuselage ripped off.

Video footage showed passengers sliding down the emergency chutes. The airport suspended all flights.

Stefanie Turner, a witness, told MSNBC that she saw the plane come in with the tail in an unusually low position, then saw it cartwheel down the runway.
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Soldier's platoon in on surprise visit from his father

Most of soldier's platoon in on surprise visit from his father
Stars and Stripes
By Jon Rabiroff
Published: June 13, 2013

CAMP CASEY, South Korea — Pvt. Benjamin Rankin III thought he was being interviewed Thursday for a public affairs video about his tank unit when he noticed a surprise visitor standing nearby — his father had flown in from Kentucky to help celebrate his 25th birthday.

“I had no clue,” Rankin said. “When I finally took a look to see who was moving next to me (I said to myself), ‘Oh wait, that’s my dad. Wait. What?’”

Before sharing a warm embrace, the soldier’s initial matter-of-fact reaction came as no surprise to his father.

“It was typical of him just to see it, gauge it and then go ahead and react to it,” Benjamin Rankin Jr. said.

But the son said that despite what he called his “calm, calculated composure” throughout the surprise reunion, he was touched.

“Of course I’m excited, it’s my dad,” he said. “It’s a dream come true.”

The reunion makes for a dual celebration: Friday is the son’s birthday, and Father’s Day follows on Sunday.
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Army's ineffective to prevent sexual assaults in Korea

Report underscores Army's ineffectiveness to prevent sexual assaults in Korea
By Ashley Rowland
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 21, 2013

SEOUL – Failed leadership, easy access to alcohol and mixed messages about questionable off-post establishments have rendered the Army’s sexual assault prevention programs in South Korea largely ineffective, according to a military study.

Stars and Stripes obtained a copy of a 28-page draft report produced by a sexual assault task force formed in spring 2011 to study the problem. For nearly two years, Eighth Army officials have refused repeated requests from Stars and Stripes for the report, instead providing a one-page summary this month.

The draft report documented the Army’s inability to respond to what it described as “special circumstances” in South Korea that might contribute to sexual assaults, including widespread underage drinking.
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21 injured when US helo makes hard landing in South Korea

21 injured when US helo makes hard landing in South Korea
By Jon Rabiroff , Ashley Rowland , Yoo Kyong Chang
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 16, 2013

SEOUL — Twenty-one U.S. servicemembers were injured when a U.S. military helicopter made a “hard landing” Tuesday near the Demilitarized Zone during exercises with South Korea.

Fifteen were treated at the Yongsan Garrison hospital in Seoul and released. The other six were still there late Tuesday afternoon in stable condition, officials said.

The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter was conducting routine flight operations in support of exercise Ssang Yong — a Korean Marine Exchange Program linked to the ongoing Foal Eagle exercise — with a crew of five from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Okinawa, Japan, when it went down hard near the Jipo-ri Range near the border-area town of Cheolwon around 1 p.m., a U.S. Forces Korea statement said.
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