I was stationed near the DMZ between 1964 and 1965. It was at Camp Kaiser, which was turned over to the Korean army in the 1970's. The little village nearby is Unchon Ni.

In those days, this was a primitive part of Korea. The number of places in the village that we were allowed entrance to were marked with signs saying that they were "On limits" to UN forces. Normally, the off limits places are marked, but this would have required many more signs.

My Korean friend, Sung Kil Ho, and I are in one of the off limits places. It's a teahouse. So why was it off limits? Because the water came from the local river and hadn't been purified in any way. The few restaurants were off limits as well, for the same reason. The bars and the pool halls were on limits because they served alcohol, which was considered safe.

Mr. Sung was actually in the South Korean army, but in a special unit attached to the US forces, as part of his training. The insignia on his hat is from the Korean army.

So here we are, on a pleasant afternoon, enjoying a cup of ginseng tea. I wonder what became of Mr. Sung, and what he is doing now, forty years later.

He was a good friend.