Letter to the Editor: Let Trump negotiate with North Korea

Dear Editor:

Why are the Democrats furious over President Trump crossing the Korean DMZ and shaking hands with Kim?

The US should be doing everything we could to stop North Korea from possessing nuclear weapons. Forget about Iran. Our main focus should be Korea. Remember that the North and South only have a truce that can easily be broken.

During my military career, I was stationed in Okinawa. I was deployed to Korea twice. I visited the DMZ and have been in the North Korean tunnels. While sitting in the barracks on August 18, 1976, an incident happened that is now completely forgotten. It was so bad that the US was in DEFCON 3.

The incident is called the Korean Axe Murder. Near the Bridge of No Return, a large tree was blocking the observation between check point 3 and 5. Two US Army officers led a US and Korean detail to trim the tree. The detail was not armed. They were attacked by 35 North Korean soldiers. The two officers were killed and the detail seriously injured. A small force was sent to save the detail and recover the officers.

On August 21, Operation Paul Bunyan began. All forces and naval commands in the area carried out this operation. US Army Engineers attacked the tree backed by infantry companies, attack helicopters, fighter jets, B-52 bombers. This was truly a show of force. All that was left was a 20 foot stump and an apology from North Korea.

This is how volatile the DMZ is. If a war breaks out, millions will die in the Koreas, Japan, China, and Russia from nuclear fallout and biological weapons

So let President Trump try to negotiate with his unorthodox way to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons.

Bob Rodriguez
Downey