...........that would probably be....Goats and various other farm animals I would venture?

For a "Sacred" war it will be pretty short...

What does anyone expect with all the inbreeding that goes on over there? This lunatic has shown that he is out of control. The rest of the "civilized" world, needs to send him NUKES! It worked in Japan, now they are one of our closest allies...

Not goats Waldo. He wants to sodomize Mickey Mouse.

So much for Kim Jr's views on peaceful reunification by the North! This guy seems as nutty as his old man and his grandpa!

He might be a punk, but I don't think he's stupid (or atleast the generals aren't). As long as the USA shows the support we do now, I don't think he'll attack. They know that to do so will not mean a couple of cruise missiles, but an absolute and well deserved obliteration of the North by ground, sea and air.

CharlieBrown, you are right about the generals. Kim is a fugurehead and it's the generals that have the power and make the decisions. Of course the one American president after another sends them food that is used to help power their military machine. Let the whole country starve then just go in and sweep up.

I remember that. I was stationed in Korea in 81 and then again in 83. It is amazing in this day and age, they couldn't just sit down and say we agree to disagree. End the war and pull troops away from the border. Get some stability in that area of the world. What am I saying, look how unstable we are right now.

Then Muslims would be called Murbloodims.........

That'sFinCrazy

LOL but I think you just dissed Crasians (Cranberry Raisans) that we eat as a snack. I surely would not want any NK Kim-Chi!

Orwell was pretty close.

ONLY TWO not six

I don't know where you live but the United States has been using human fecal matter for fertilizer for quite some time.

@Stamford: The story is true, and any military personnel who have been stationed in the ROK know this. The poplar tree was blocking the view from an observation post to the northernmost U.N. checkpoint on the ROK/U.S. end of the bridge. All of this happened on the US/ROK side of the Line of Demarcation. The North willingly crossed the Line of Demarcation on the Bridge of No Return and attacked the US/ROK soldiers. The axes were being used by the ROK soldiers to trim the tree, which they dropped during the altercation. The whole incident was filmed from different US/ROK observation posts and photos were taken as well.

The only positive the North has in their favor is the size of their Army. Their artillery is ancient, all of their equipment is outdated, and they know this. The government pumps all their money into the military, yet the soldiers are literally starving, and they get fed better than the rest of the civilian population.

I lived the military life in Korea, and I know how it feels to live every day with a sword hanging over your head. Our base was well within the range of the North's artillery, and right next to the Korean MOD (the Korean version of the Pentagon). It was a sobering experience.

Although I wish the US/ROK forces would hand the North their a**es on a platter, many innocent people in both the North and South would die.

They are honored every year on that date. And there is usually more tension on the border that day.

The honoring of these men should have been done a long time ago.

They have been honored repeatedly over the years. This is just the most recent memorial service conducted in their honor.

@Stamford - two officers murdered with axes, 10 of the 11 enlisted personnel wounded.

The attack and murder was not some accident in some questionable location. There is absolutely no doubt about exactly what happened or where. The border between North and South Korea is and has been extremely well marked since the Korean War. The tree was without any question or doubt in South Korea near the bridge that crossed the border between North and south Korea.

The tree obstructed the South Korean view of the South Korean check point guarding the south end of the bridge over the border between South and North Korea. During Summer months, when the tree was in full foliage and the view obstructed, North Korean military personnel regularly crossed the bridge to the South Korean command post guarding the South Korean end of the bridge, attempting to take personnel manning it prisoner and drag them to North Korea never to be seen or heard from again. This was made easy for them to do by the severe limits on personnel, especially armed personnel, in that part of the DMZ. The obstruction made it so that North Koreans were able to attack personnel at the command post and abduct them to North Korea before reinforcements could arrive to defend them and without visual evidence to show what had happened. The continuous attacks on the command post by North Koreans made manning it extremely hazardous and mandated removing the obstruction.

The trimming was scheduled well in advance and advance notice of the trimming according to the rules for maintenance in the DMZ was given to North Korea. North Korea was well aware of the scheduled trimming on the South Korean side of the border. The initial attack was made by 15 or 16 North Koreans who crossed the bridge into South Korea to where the tree trimming was being done. When they started their attack, another 20 North Koreans came across the bridge to join them.

Capt Bonifas was killed instantly by Sr Lt Pak Chul of North Korea at the start ot the attack. Later, after the main part of the attack, Lt Barrett who had taken refuge in a 15 ft deep ravine, was brutally hacked to death by members of the North Korean military who serially took turns chopping him to death with axes that had been brought to trim the tree. All of the US and South Korean personnel were unarmed because the rules for the DMZ area limited armed personnel to 5 officers and 30 enlisted personnel, none of whom were part of the tree trimming detail. The whole incident was photographed from an observation post and filmed from the South Korean checkpoint at the bridge. DMZ personnel limits, rules of engagement and distance prevented adequately defending the tree trimming party from the North Korean attack.

Agreed. I've been optimistic about lil Kim up until now, but will continue to be because the amount of changes he has made in such a little amount of time have already been significant; if he plans on restructuring the country then rhetoric is going to be the last thing he shows changes on. Gotta look tough among all of your braindead soldiers. The only thing this guy can do worse than his dad did or tried doing would be solidifying the north's relations with China and become a true military puppet. Until that happens, hopefully he continues to strive to save lives inside his own country, and be less concerned about others outside... unless your visiting a border guard station full of zombaez, you gotta say what you can to get them grunting.

QE137,

I don't think we'd use nuclear weapons against them. Why? Because of China. China (and more importantly nuclear Russia) was the issue in the first go-around and may be in the second go-around (only talking about China here).

I agree with you completely that we will heavily defend the South at even extreme costs. However, nukes are less likely an option. Look at how we didn't use them the first time. We talked about it, but were afraid of the larger war with the USSR, but China has nukes now to balance the absence of Russia this time.

However, as long as we hold our nukes in reserve, we maintain leverage in the fight. Without Russian involvement, it's just the North and possibly nuclear China. Our leverage is that if China gets involved, this time we won't hesitate as much to obliterate Chinese cities by conventional means. The Chinese will either stand down or have to up the ante to nukes (which they know will mean absolute loss after the American nuclear response). Therefore, China won't push it to nukes and will either maintain a bloody conventional campaign or push back from the table.

China's attempted leverage against us will most likely be to attack American allies in the region if we start bombing their cities. That is the cost we will have to weigh. However, with the way China is going now, if that unpopularity in the region continues, their bombing of our allies will not be as much leverage as it would be now. I think China will continue to make enemies in the region, and thereby weaken leverage against us. Instead it will galvanize the nearby neutral nations to aid the American response.

Just my opinion though.

China is headed towards oblivion completely on their own. Polluted water and air, and the ground pollution that affects their food will make large parts of China a wasteland. With the 1 child per couple birth control laws the population will be 3 elderly to 1 young person in 20 years and they won't be able to afford the health care costs not to mention the basic living expensed of those elderly people not able to work. They haven't figuered out that whole counties can get Darwin Awards.

Yeah, killing innocent people who have zero control over their crazy government would cause them to love the people who are bombing them and overthrow their government.... NOT.

Yeah, killing off the enemy government who is killing its own people through starvation and oppression is a bad idea... NOT.

ProFreedon - Wrong it IS a good idea, but NOT for a couple of goods, but until they are dust. It certainly worked with Germany and Japan in WW2 who have nor fared badly since. Read your history. When the people cannot throw off the yoke of dicators, support them, and in the process threaten the rest of the world, it sometimes demands total war to end the carnage and chaos.

The entire party of soldiers sent to cut the tree, two officers and 11 enlisted personel, were unarmed because the cease fire and agreement over the DMZ area limits armed personnel to 5 officers and 30 enlisted. Nearby armed reinforcements were too far away to stop the attack when it occurred. The North Koreans came across the bridge with a first party of about 15 or 16 personnel and then another set of reinforcements of about 20 or so. The tree trimming was scheduled well in advance with advance notice to the North Koreans, in accordance with the cease fire and agreements over the DMZ. It was obviously a pre-planned attack by the North Koreans by the number of personnel they had immediately on hand in violation of the cease fire agreements.

Thanks, jim-4120631, for filling in some of the obvious gaps that were blatantly lacking in this article, and to 77Observer for bringing up these issues in the first place. Although I commend and appreciate this MSN article honoring the memory of these two men, I otherwise found the article to be pretty lackluster and non-informative given the lack of information about what happened in 1976, and namely, why there were no consequences that N. Korea had to pay.

If anyone has any information as to what happened in the subsequent days and weeks after this attack, and why no further penalty or retaliation was pursued by the US, I'd be interested in knowing.

buzzlight - what happend is that the entire military forces in Korea were put on alert, troops deployed from not only Korea, but the pacific area of operations includig the 25th Infantry, and several battalions of American infantry and troops at the JSA (Joint Security Area) provided combat security along while B-52 flights flew over the South Korea on alert while the friggin tree was cut down. The North Koreans hid in their fake city across the DMZ crapping in their pants along with Kim Il Sung in Pyong Yang. I know, I WAS THERE!

we

Why do we still have troops over there?

Your ignorance of why we are still there. Explains the ignorance of the rest of your comment.

Corporations are the future!

Totally agree. Jimmy was a balless man with no guts. His lame rescue attempt proved it. Reagan said his first task was to get the hostages back, and the fleet was off the Iranians coast just waiting for him to take the oath of office. Only a few hours before they let them all free. NUKE IRAN AS WELL AS NORTH KOREA.

Gerald Ford was President in 1976 at that time.

We will hire conscripts from all over the globe. We already have a program in place, serve and become a citizen.

You more than adequately demonstrate your total and utter ignorance of how these two officers got murdered by the North Koreans. Your comment is an unbelieveably arrogant insult to the 10 other unarmed US and South Korean personnel who were seriously wounded by the North Koreans. Add to that your general plain blistering stupidity. The entire incident took place in South Korea and the North Korean contingent that executed the attack, about 35 personnel, came across the border bridge and invaded South Korea to commit their murderous act.

First, the tree trimming was NOT a provocative act by two renegade officers. How dare you even contemplate such a thing. Boniface and Barrett were not acting alone or on their own initiative. The tree trimming was scheduled well in advance with the North Koreans through the agreed means for scheduling such maintenance in the DMZ. They were ordered to go and trim the tree with a UNC detail comprising another 11 Korean and US enlisted personnel and that's exactly what they did on the scheduled day at the scheduled time.

Second, this was not some plot hatched to provoke the North Koreans or the Chinese. The tree trimming was an absolute necessity mandated by continuous severe provocations by North Korean military personnel at the bridge. The rules for the number of personnel and how many could be armed in that part of the DMZ made manning the command post that guarded the South Korean end of the border bridge extremely hazardous. The rules limited armed personnel to 5 officers and 30 enlisted personnel for that entire area. During the Spring and Summer months, the tree obstructed the view of the command post guarding South Korea's end of the bridge from the only observation post that could see it. North Korean military personnel were continually taking advantage of the obstruction and limited armed UNC personnel in the area to come across the bridge, attack the UNC command post guarding the bridge's southern end and take UNC guards captive. The North Koreans would literally drag the South Korean UNC guards back across the bridge to North Korea never to be seen or heard from again, all out of view from the nearest observation post and before reinforcements could arrive. Imagine your family member being dragged to North Korea against their will never to be seen or heard from again.

Third, The Capt Boniface, Lt Barrett and the 11 enlisted personnel with them unarmed because of the limits on armed personnel in the area. They had only the axes and other implements for trimming the tree. Sr. Lt Pak Chul, a North Korean officer with a very nasty record of violence at the DMZ, came south of the border to the tree with another 15 or 16 North Korean personnel to challenge the trimming of the tree. After about 15 minutes or so of being generally ignored by the detail trimming the tree, Sr. Lt. Chul started the attack. Chul instantly killed Captain Boniface from behind and immediately another 20 or so North Korean reinforcements crossed the bridge from North Korea into South Korean to join the already attacking 15 or 16 North Koreans. Every member of the UNC detail except one was wounded or killed by the North Koreans who quickly took posession of the tree trimming tools. Five of the UNC guards were dragged across the border by their heels to North Korea. Lieutenant Barrett managed to escape the initial assault by jumping over a small wall into a 15 foot deep ravine. When he was noticed missing, it was observed that North Koreans were serially descending into the ravine. Lt Barrett was discovered there, hacked to death serially by North Koreans. All this took place on the South Korean side of the border.

I personally saw Gen. Livsey's swagger stick made from the tree in Gen. Livsey's or Gen. Menetry's office some time in about 1987 or so, just before or just after the change in command from Livsey to Menetry. In my series of visits there, I witnessed a continuous stream of provocations from military invasions by small numbers of North Korean forces into South Korea including two North Korean fighters sent into South Korea to shoot down an aircraft in South Korean air space. How dare you insult the memory of these two officers who were murdered while carrying out their lawful and necessary orders.