PATCH LORE Here are some explanations of what you'll see at 226 patches .
Top Left - The Signal Maintenance patch we wore 63-65 (at least) at the 226th. I was a mech (actually maint NCOIC [band-aid Sgt] 64-65)
Top Right - The Ops Patch [a "Zulu" warrior]. Anyone who worked at ops (op,mech.comm, etc) wore this one.
Bottom Right - The "Mountain Man" patch we wore, mostly on scarves, Some also wore them as full size patches. Anyone from the 226th (op, mech motor pool, cook, etc) could wear Snuffy. Bottom Left - the great unknown. Possibly a Mary only patch. personally I never saw one 63-65.
Center - The big patch anyone could wear.
Not shown - The "Vill Ranger" tab; the "Chairborne" tab
These patches were typically worn on "tanker jackets" purchased by the individual from a local tailor/vendor. JT cut my name off the bottom of the center patch you see. That big patch went on the jacket back. All the others were worn on the left and right breasts. For instance, the mech patch was on my left; Zulu was on the right. As an aside, when I got to the 226th in Sep 63, we were allowed to wear civilian clothes off duty on the compound.
Tanker jackets were an important part of the club wear. Usually the pants were a pair of kakhi's with a civilian belt bought in Kangwha City unless you had a real pair of civilian pants that still fit. The shirt was usually one made by a local tailor. In 64, things changed and civilian clothes were not allowed north of a somewhat ill defined line called the "Seoul-Wonson Line" (get out a map, the S-W Line will make no sense!) In any case tanker jackets became "vill wear" in Pu Gun-ni, the local hospitality location and were no longer worn on the compound. Eventually people stopped buying them and the patches died as well.
SCARF LORE Sometime in 1964, after the decree went out from 8th (Imperial) Army, Seoul that no civilian clothes would be worn in the northern areas, the great scarf dictum was enacted. It went like this:
When one was "on duty", a scarf with color representing the wearer's branch was to be worn. When "off duty", however, a white scarf had to be worn. EXCEPT, when one was north of the "Seoul-Wonson Line". In that sad instance, the person was required to wear a camilflouge (aka "barf") scarf independent of duty hours. Of course, since the 8th Imperial HQ folks only worked a "normal" 8 to 5, Monday to Friday duty period, the branch color/white wearing proscriptions were relative to their duty day. And since the 8th Imperial had always required ALL subordinate command to wear their patch on the uniform, there was no way to distinguish between people at a distance. Since MP's are by definition never the sharpest knives in the drawer, and since the MPs had the task of enforcing the "Scarf Laws", it became even more comical.
Enter the poor ASAer from a place like Kanghwa-do (the 226th) or B North on Swings tapped to go to Seoul as shotgun on a courier run. The "Scarf Laws" require he wear the barf scarf at his duty location. But, once past the S-W Line and while still in motion, whoosh - off must come the barf scarf in favor of the Teal Blue (ASA) scarf (even though the poor fellow is actually off duty at the time (he is on Swings, remember, and the MPs only know of 8th Imperial's duty hours, remember) Sadly, tempus fugis... and 1700 occurs, so again whoosh - off must come the Teal Blue scarf to be replaced by the White Scarf, even though the guy is presently on duty (on a Swing and should still be wearing the Teal Blue scarf). But as luck would have it, eventually 1400 Saturday occurs. Now technically the poor guy, in Seoul, and technically on duty at this time, should be wearing the Teal Blue, but must wear the white since 8th Army is off duty. Luckily, he gets back aboard his vehicle for the return trip and eventually passes the S-W Line heading north. Oops, whip out the barf scarf again - he's almost home.
Imagine the inconvenience of always having to carry three scarves all the time and remembering all the rules, just to avoid an inexcusable DR (delinquency report) for a uniform violation. Anybody got a watch?
THE KANGHWA-DO FERRY Unlike today when a fairly modern bridge connects the island of Kang Wha (former home of the 226th ASA Co (C)) to the mainland, back in the 60's the only option was a "ferry" run by the ROK Navy. To be more precise, the ROK Navy operated an LCU (that's the little flat bottom boat with a drop gate at the bow). And to be more accurate, the Navy LCU was the legal choice; a civilian outfit ran their own, even older and more dilapidated LCU-like boat for the use on nonmilitary people and vehicles. We were not supposed to use the civilian one, but ...
In any case, the ferries were the only link to the mainland and operated from dawn to dusk (more or less) only. The "official" reason was that the crew needed to be able to see north Korean floating mines, so no night operations. Personally, for almost two years there I never saw or heard of any mines, but that was the folklore and generally accepted. Of course the ferries always ended their day on the mainland side and tied up there for the night leaving the island isolated.
Watching ferry (either) operations was a fairly common diversion for 226 folks. At the time, military vehicles were pretty much limited to Jeeps (M38A1 and M151 and the ROK Jeep copies), 3/4 Ton Dodge trucks, and 2 1/2 Ton 6x6's. Civilian vehicles consisted of "Kimchi Busses", HapSan busses (kind of like a Volkswagen van knockoff, only lower and seating about 12 people), and civilian 2 Ton trucks (usually loaded with about 3 Tons). Given this somewhat limited collection of vehicle types and the fixed size of the ferries, it was amazing to watch the animated discussions between the ferry crews as the "optimum " loading configurations were decided. Even though the conclusions were almost always the same from loading to loading (after all, how many permutations can you get?), it always seemed to take at least 10 minutes of yelling and exchanges of ideas.
THE PU-GUN-NI POWER COMPANY (PPC)
(or Rural Electrification for fun and profit)Though short lived, owing mostly to the PCS of the person most instrumental in the founding of the PPC, for a period of about a year, the vill outside the gate to the 226th ASA Co actually had electricity - a nearly unheard of luxury in 1964-65.
It all started with the "acquisition" of a 5 KW generator at Property Disposal (the Army's Junkyards) at ASCOM City (Bup Yong-si, between Seoul and Inchon). With a bit of effort and some "cast off" parts, the thing was made to run after some hours work. Not having any power lines, some "cast off" WD-1/TT (aka "field comm wire) was strung to each 'hooch" that wanted power (about 90%). Each "drop", one per sleeping room in the "hooch", was terminated with a light socket and a 40W bulb from Seoul (East Gate Market).
Of course there were no fuses or switches. Who needed all that "extra" stuff? For the sum of $3.00 per month, power was available from dusk to midnight (curfew time).
No one ever asked about the gas for the generator or other operating necessities. I suppose they came out of the monthly receipts (yeah, sure...).
The PPC was a boon to all, especially those tired of getting cheated at cards (Crazy Eights) because GI's could not see by candle light near as well as the girls. Must have been the kimchi.
For no particularly good reason, the 226th Unit Song started rattling around my head. Perhaps not fit for general web sensibilities, it is the song we sang, usually in the Club after a particularly good night of drinking. Here are the words:
We're Captain _________ troubadours,
we're raiders of the night.
We're dirty sons of bitches,
who'd rather fuck than fight.Hi-Dee, Hi-Dee, Christ almighty,
who the hell are we?
Zim-bang, god damn,
the 226th are we!The song always celebrated the Commanding Officer. During my stay, they were:
CPT Francis X. Toomey (later Col. Toomey)
CPT ??? Miller (dec.)
CPT ??? Short (unknown, the guy was hated).
THE RADIO STORY One night in the 60's, a certain horny 226 Acting Jack decided that night was the night to "back door" another 226 Acting Jack working Mids. Before getting upset, you must understand the Vill (Pu Gun-ni) held about 15 girls. There were about 100 guys at the 226th and Ops worked a four trick system. So, the guy-to-girl ratio in the Vill tended to be about 4:1 after dismissing those on break (off island), those "indisposed" from previous Vill adventures, and those not inclined to visit the Vill (evil place).
"Back dooring" (visiting another guy's "steady") when he was not around was not considered an antisocial act. In fact, it took on the attributes of a sport, albeit with few rules. It tended to be a "counting coup" game more than anything else.
In any case, off went the horny A/SGT armed with little more than desire, but with a specific target in mind - Yung Mi (normally referred to as "Yummy"). Arriving at the intended's "hooch" room about 11PM, negotiations began. Of course our horny hero had no money (if he did he would have probably still been at the Club or perhaps in Seoul). The usual offerings were made: "I'll pay you on payday, you can hold my ration card, etc.", all to no avail. Then in a flash of brilliance, our fellow offered a portable radio to hold pending cash. A bargain was struck.
Back to the compound went our A/SGT, back to his hooch, the Jr. NCO Hooch (T-6), straight to the radio. By 11:45 our guy is back at "Yummy's" place, the exchange is made, and a pleasant night ensued.
Rising early (very important as it would not be appropriate to be in the other fellow's bed when he gets off mids and gets to the Vill), our A/SGT makes his way back to the compound, passing his opposite number ("Yummy's" steady) enroute "home."
A/SGT Steady spends his day with his "beloved du jour" and, on preparing to leave to shower and have dinner at the mess hall, notices he has left his portable radio in "Yummy's" room. Easy to correct that error, he picks it up and carries it back to his hooch room. "Yummy" is of course beside herself, but what can she say?
Before judging, please be assured the debt was paid (actually renegotiated to a more favorable rate once passion was not intruding into the bargaining) and all lived happily ever after.
THE CG, 8TH ARMY VISITS THE 226TH This story features Len Pretty, the 226's own (tame) MP (an actual ASA MP would you believe). Pretty eventually became the "duty courier" for the daily run to Group. No one ever understood why he would want to take such a gut rattling job, but he did.
Spit, polish, and everything orderly was the word for the day Gen Howze was visiting. In fact, for probably the first time in sober memory, the gate to ops at the top of the hill was actually closed. (Normally it was left open to allow the drivers to avoid stopping on the 45 degree slope leading into the ops compound).
For this auspicious occasion, Len Pretty was ordered to man the ops gate. At about the appointed hour, two choppers landed at the upper heli-pad (the schedule had them landing at the lower pad, which was where the CO, XO, 1SGT, etc were waiting). Suddenly to Pretty's dismay, a four star and a cast of strap hangers were standing in front of "his" gate. Problem: Len had no clearance paperwork for anyone. The "script" made that the CO's problem - after all the CO could bring them in on his own authority. It was hot, and the General was eager to get into some shade. But, Len being a "professional" guard refused the party entry. Some straphanger COL, name long since forgotten, decided he was going to solve the problem and grabbed Len's gate to open it. Oops, Len's training took over. Out came his .45 to be leveled at the COL, but covering the General as well. This standoff lasted for minutes; the tableau broken only by the arrival of the CO in a cloud of dust. The moment passed. The party was admitted. And that's how the pictures of the CG 8th Army, and every notable down, came to be permanently posted in the ops guard shack. The General declared such a situation must never occur again.
As a sidelight, the straphangers did not have the appropriate clearances to enter the ops building. As a result they had to stay outside in the heat for the duration of the visit - about an hour. Just for fun, the Trick Chief on duty (the infamous Hunter Humphreys as I remember) peeked under the flap next to the cooling tower and had the ops steer their antennas to track some of those stuck outside. That scared the hell out of them, especially the one trying to use "the tube." I suspect he had urinary difficulties for months.