The Insanity of Operation Paul Bunyan

The introduction

On August 18, 1976 2 US army officers along with some other US and South Korean military personnel(11 in total) went into the Korean demilitarized Zone separating north and South Korea were tasked with cutting down a tree that was blocking sight between South Korea and the north. They were Captain Arthur Bonifas and First Lieutenant Mark Barrett.

Initial Contact

When they went out with axes to cut the tree neither officers had sidearms as only a certain number were allowed to carry a weapon in. Shortly after the cutting of the tree began 15 North Korean soldiers entered the zone and came up to the joint south korean and american soldiers pruning the tree and wrached for 15 minutes. After around 15 minutes the North Korean soldiers randomly ordered them to stop cutting the tree down. Captain Arthur Bonifas said he had permission to do so and ordered his men to continue turning his back to the North Koreans to inspect the tree.

The North Korean commander gets angry and orders one of his men to run back across the bridge and get reinforcements. Shortly after a truck with another 20 North Korean soldiers comes over the bridge and stops at the tree. The North Koreans again order the Americans to stop but are ignored.

The Attack

The North Korean commander so furious with being rejected shouted, "Kill the bastards". The North Korean soldiers using the axes dropped by the workers attack the soldiers and workers injuring all but one guard. Bonfitas is tackled by the commander and beat to death by 5 Korean soldiers while Barret jumps over a short wall into a depression. The guards and workers form a defense and engage in fighting with fists and axes. The fight only lasts 30 seconds before the UN(American and South Korean) forces disperse all the North Korean soldiers. Bontifas body is taken into an American truck and pull back a little bit not realizing Barrett is missing. The two guards on watch notice one north korean soldier take an axe and walk into a depression then leave and pass the axis to another who does the same. Again and agian for 90 minutes until the soldiers learn Barett is missing. A search and rescue squad quickly head to the ditch to find the soldier had been attacking Barett with an axe. Still alive he is put on a truck and sent to a hospital in Seoul but would die on the way. Almost the whole battle was recorded on a black and white camera until in ran out of film.

Reaction

The North Korena government and media claimed the US troops entered unannounced and when questioned attacked the NORTH korean guards while the Amerocan government suspected the North Korean government had ordered the attack.

Operation Paul Bunyan

With the South Korean president demanding no military action the US president Gerald Ford was preparing for a show of force. Along with generals they decided what to do. They named the operation after the mythical lumberjack Paul Bunyan.

On August 21st(3 days later) A convoy of 23 American and South Korean vehicles ("Task Force Vierra," ) entered the zone again this time without warning the North Koreans. And these men weren't going to mess around. 2 vechicles had 8 military engineers each and many had Chainsaws to cut down the tree. They were accompanied by 60 security forces armed with pistols and ax handles. A combat engineer vechicle pulled in sight of the bridge and kept its 50cal machine gun aimed at the bridge. Another 64 South Korean soldiers also came to guard the engineers who were armed with clubs and trained in Taekwondo and supposed to have no firearms. However as soon as the trucks stopped they threw sandbags out to reveal M-16s and M79 grenade launchers which were handed out to all the men. Other had attacked M18 claymore mines to there chest while holding the detonator often screaming at the North Koreans daring them to cross the bridge.

An entire company of US infantry men sat in choppers circling just out of the DMZ with 7 attack choppers with them. Behind the helicopters flew B-52 Stratofortresses and F4 Phantoms all the way from Guam. Dozens more of South Korean fighter planes flew above them while the local military airfields were completely filled with C-130s ready to take off in seconds. The USS midway(an aircraft carrier) had sailed to the Korean peninsula and sat in wait. Along the DMZ more heavily armed US and South Korean battalions including artillary and anti air battalions waited for an order to attack. 12,000 more US troops including 1,800 marines from Okinawa arrived in South Korea and nuclear capable bombers flew just along the zone. Over 800 US soldiers had also secretly crossed into the DMZ the night before and lay in wait to ambush any North Korean attack.

North Korean response

They were only able to bring 150-200 soldiers to the bridge area(arriving on buses) and set up machine gun positions. As soon as the Amerocan commander saw the North Koreans he called in the airforce and all at once every waiting plane and helicopter flew over the hill or just on the NORTH koreans horizon and into the North Koreans sight. The workers cut the tree down in 42 minutes and left the stump as a reminder. 2 road barriers the North Koreans set up were also removed and South Korean soldiers even vandalized 2 North Korean guard posts.

Result

The show of force was a resounding success and according to an intelligence analyst monitoring the North Korea tactical radio net, the accumulation of force "blew their fucking minds." All of this becuase a tree needed to be cut down.

This photo shows the American guard who would enter the zone to protect the workers at they used chainsaw to cut the tree. The could only have bats as the treaty said only a certain number of firearms could be brought into the zone.

The American soldiers stand across the road with there bats.

An American soldiers points his bat while making a radio call.