May 1, 1971: A Visit to Namsan Mountain
	April 24, 1971: A Saturday Trip to Seoul
	Return to the Index for 1971

There have been previous album pages devoted to "money runs" into Yongsan already, but in case you have not seen one of them, I should explain. Out in the boonies, the Army (and our Korean contractors) operate on cash- either MPC (Military Payment Certificates) for the soldiers or Korean Won for the contractors. Of course, soldiers can get Won if they wish so they can spend it in the local economy; in that case, the Finance Office operates just like a currency exchange. So, we have substantial cash needs, the we get it by going into the main Finance Office for 8th Army in Yongsan and, essentially, cashing checks.

One of Our Escort Vehicles as We Prepare to Leave Camp Howze

As a Class B Agent Officer, I have checkwriting authority delegated to me by MAJ Henderson, the new Second Division Finance Officer who is at Camp Casey. (For a time, between LTC Fuentes' departure and MAJ Henderson's arrival, when I, myself, was the division Finance Officer, the authority was delegated to me by Main Finance at Fort Harrison, Indiana.)

So, when I need to either obtain cash or deposit it, I coordinate with the MPs who provide two jeeps. I ride in one of them with the footlocker of cash, and another runs interference through the crowded streets of Seoul. We try to get in and out of the city without stopping- much like an ambulance- on the theory that stopped we are a much easier target for someone to try to grab what we are carrying.

Now, this is not nearly as dangerous as it sounds. Jeeps are ubiquitous in this area of Korea, and civilians think nothing of them- whether they are driven by US soldiers, Korean military, or KATUSAs. And the jeeps are from the general Motor Pool, and so have no markings on them that would indicate that either of them are carrying anything particularly valuable. But the MPs do have their orders to try to avoid stopping, and they like to take those orders seriously, as it gives them license to use their sirens and horns, and to brandish their vehicle-mounted artillery and generally play the role of soldiers on a mission.

Today, as I have done before, I have brought my camera to record our trip. You would get a lot more understanding of what the trip is actually like if I had a movie camera, but I don't. So the still pictures (and sometimes I took a lot of them) will have to suffice.

Also, I should say that our route varies- both as a security measure and also when the MPs try to avoid routes that they think will be congested (although there are so many of these that avoiding them is difficult to do). Since I can't be sure of the route, let's just begin with some of the pictures I took on the way into the city.

From Bongilcheon to the outskirts of Seoul, the road is "two-lane" although the lanes aren't well-marked. There are a number of checkpoints along the way- like this one where the road goes under a rail line.

In the extreme northeast reaches of the city, the road has widened to four lanes, and these ARE marked. The lanes, however, seem to be more advisories than anything else.

You can see what I mean about the lane boundaries being just advisories if you look ahead of the lead jeep at the oncoming traffic. When you need more space, just cross the double yellow line to get it.

Sometimes we can't avoid stopping, as we have done for this traffic light and the pedestrians who' already begun to cross. More often than not, we speed up or slow down to avoid coming to a complete stop.

Seoul is in a mountainous area, and there is not much flat land for construction. Ahead of us is some new construction that has crept up the hillsides. This made me wonder how (or whether) those new buildings get their utilities- especially water.

This road eventually goes along the Han River for a while. Again, you can see how barren the land is around Seoul. Trees are scarce in the city, and those that we see have usually been planted.

In the picture at left, we are coming into the center of Seoul, and are just a couple of miles from Yongsan itself. We, too, will cross the double yellow line if it enables us to keep moving and stay away from civilian traffic. In the picture below, taken a few minutes earlier, you can see that there are sometimes no lane markers at all- and no sidewalks, either.

At left is a new monument that has been erected over the new road that was built recently; I have no idea just what the monument is.

Just in the time I have been here, I have noticed much change in Seoul and environs. The old single lane road of the previous summer that led from Howze to Seoul has since replaced with a modern four-lane highway leading South into the city. This time, we took a different route, going around the Eastern side of the city. Even though we had our siren on, we were continually being stopped by crowds of pedestrians who seemed totally oblivious to what we were doing. When we entered the center city, we were determined not to get stalled in traffic, and the MPs have orders to do whatever is necessary to get us through without hindrance.

The route we are taking has brought us alongside the Han River, and we are passing this religious building that is built on a promontory on the bank of the river.

This is one of the many new roads that have been built in Seoul in the past year, and offers us a faster, less-congested way to get down to Yongsan. We are heading southeast at the moment.

One of Seoul's Multitude of Kimchi Cabs

Along the Han River

The Han in these months is not very deep, and there is a good deal of exposed gravel and sand at the bottom. At this time of year, trucks aid dredging machines to extract this sand and gravel for construction. In the Spring, the Han will be filled with the rains.

Traveling along the new expressway along the river, these are some of the giant apartment blocks along the side of the highway.

I am not sure what these buildings are, but this is where the new road along the river ends as we enter central Seoul again.

Heading directly into the city from the West, in the distance you can see the hill that has appeared in so many of my slides, the central hill of Seoul- Nam-san mountain.

Here is the last picture I took on today's "money run"; Yongsan is about a mile up ahead. Notice we have crossed the double yellow line so we can keep moving.

That was a typical money run into Seoul, and the city scenery was pretty typical of what we saw on each of these three-hour excursions- trips we made about once a month.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	May 1, 1971: A Visit to Namsan Mountain
	April 24, 1971: A Saturday Trip to Seoul
	Return to the Index for 1971