Flying into Panmunjom with CNN — June 14, 2001
Of all the cool things that I got to do when I was a feature writer for The Korea Times, one of the coolest things was flying into Panmunjom in a Blackhawk helicopter with CNN on June 14, 2001.
In 2001, the U.S. Army switched from their green/camo fatigue hats to black berets and the 8th Army would be one of the first commands to don the new head gear. Given the attention to the Korean peninsula following the North-South summit in the summer of 2000, not to mention the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War, the USFK and the 8th Army decided to make it a big media event. All the major US TV networks were invited to Korea to cover the “beret changing” event as well as CNN. Because I had written many stories about Korean War commemorative events as well as various articles about USFK, I was invited to join CNN for the beret changing ceremony at Camp Casey (home of the US Second Infantry Division) and later fly to Panmunjom.
That was one sweet ride, flying over the Imjin River and landing inside Camp Bonifas where we were met by Col. William Miller the JSA Commander. I got to meet Sohn Ji-ae, who was the CNN Seoul Bureau Chief at the time (now she’s the CEO of Arirang TV).
Although I was just along for the ride (I didn’t file a story) I did take some cool photos including this one of Ms. Sohn conducting an interview in front of The Bridge of No Return.
