Paul, thank you for answering my E-mail. I don't have any pictures of my visit in 51--52. Conditions then were not very conductive to record keeping and anyway nobody I knew had a camera. Got pictures of the signal site on Hill 3, smack dab in the middle of Seoul and Hill 1157 now known as Beason Site, during my tour of 65 - 66. I still kick myself for not visiting Beason during my tour of 73 - 76. From what I can find out it still exists. It is the site of the 1st Signal Brigade. They have a web site but don't show anything that is interesting to someone wanting to look at the Sites.

The spring of good water that you talked about on you site was still producing plenty of water for the site in 66. Electric power line had been run down to it from the site generator Building. A small building had been put up at the spring for some small pumps and a 2" or 3" pipe run up to the Site. There is a "water plant", a building with canvas/rubber tanks and chlorination equipment. More pumps to put the water into two wooden storage tanks higher up. There gravity fed the main barracks building which was only about a year old and had living, storage space and the mess hall. Then at a much lower level water was supplied to a latrine/shower building and a building used as a laundry. Attached is one of my favorite pictures of the site in the long cold winter of 65. Your web site has given me incentive to complete editing my small memory trove of pictures and I will send them to you on a CD.

I was honored to be CSM of the 36th Sig Bn in 75 - 76. The Bn had all the Sig sites from Osan AFB down to Jinhae Navel Base SW of Pusan. As Bn CSM I was constantly traveling to the Sites. The only time I got to go by Chopper was when I traveled with the Bn CO. The base camp for Salem was at the bottom of the path going up. There was a small village there, most of the village men were employed to carry all supplies except diesel oil required for the generators. The GI's worked in shifts. Five days on top the mountain and two days at the base camp. The walk up the mountain averaged two hours. The base camp notified topside when someone started up and if they didn't arrive in 2 1/2 hours, someone came looking for you. The site latrine was an old style outhouse on the edge of the cliff. Our Bn Commander fought the supply people for months to get a Sears Roebuck Porta-Potty on special order for the site to use indoors in the winter time. Site name for Taejon while I was there was Richmond. Don't know where the individual site names came from.

LeRoy Smith (Smitty)           Contact: LeRoy Smith (Smitty) at: lrs@dakotacom.net