From My Service in Korea, I learned… Ben Tiseo
Learning Not To Panic
I was stationed in Korea from Nov 1966 to Dec 1967 during a period referred as the “Second Korean War” (defined from 1966 to 1970) because of all the hostile interactions with North Korean (NK) Infiltrators. By example, in May 1967, NK Infiltrators breached the wire around the 23rd Infantry Regiment at Camp Walley, planted explosives, and killed several 2ID Warriors and injured many more.
It was a hot summer day in 1967 when I was ordered to take a patrol of about a dozen men to search an area adjacent to the DMZ for sighted NK Infiltrators.
I was stationed at Camp Pelham, which was about two miles from the Imjin River, which was another two miles south of the DMZ. We arrived in the morning and just before we jumped off the truck and started our patrol we turned our heads towards an explosion in the DMZ. That was an interesting introduction to a very dangerous place.
We were selected because we were a close base to the. The area we were to explore was about a square mile, by my best guess, and abutted the south wire and DMZ.
I remember walking through rice paddies, elephant grass, and wooded areas looking for the NK Infiltrators. After several hours of walking, we came to a clearing. We were the standard 5 yards apart for patrolling as we came to the end of the clearing and into a line of trees. The wooded area was about 100 yards deep and, as I was about 10 yards from the end of the tree line, I noticed the back of a triangular sign attached to a string of barbed wire. Instantly I knew that meant we were in a mine field. At that time, I found out how quickly the mind can process information.
The moment I saw the triangular sign shape I knew, because of my training, that I was looking at the back side of a painted warning that a mine field was beyond the wire and that we were not to enter. At that same instant I also knew what we had to do to get out safely. I ordered my men to halt and stated that we were in a mine field, to pivot 180 degrees on one toe, and to step exactly in their footprints back out. As we retreated to the start of the tree line I looked to my left and noticed a roll of barbed wire. I examined the wire and noticed it was cut and rolled to this location to allow our patrol to enter the mine field. This was the NK Infiltrators at their best, welcoming us to their country.
After we examined the wire, we continued for the rest of the day looking for our welcoming party so we could give them our own welcome. No luck, they got away.
To this day, I can still see every blade of bent grass in my footprints.
The lesson I learned was, Do not panic or you die. After that experience I adopted a new approach to life, “Don’t panic until the bullet penetrates the skin.”
Sergeant Benedetto Tiseo
2ID Korea – HQ, 6/37 Arty 1966 – 1967
2IDA National President 2023 – 2025
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