Home from Korea, Iraq may be next Home from Korea, Iraq may be next (November 19, 2004)

by Jeb Bing

T his is an especially happy Thanksgiving week for Jim Wolfe, Pleasanton's Parks and Community Services director, although he's not looking forward to December. His son, Army Specialist E-4 Jason Wolfe, 23, has just returned home on leave after a one-year tour of duty in South Korea, where he was a Chinook helicopter crew chief. On Dec. 3, he will report to Fort Campbell, Ky., and a new assignment with the 101st Air Assault Division. From there, he expects to be redeployed within days to either Iraq or Afghanistan, where he says he is likely to finish out much of the 18 months remaining on his seven year enlistment that followed high school graduation in July 1999.

Although Specialist Wolfe has not yet been involved in the shooting wars in those two countries, his duties in South Korea have put him just a few feet from what could quickly become harm's way. On trips to the demilitarized zone, a 148-mile-long no man's land separated by barbed wire just north of the 38th parallel, he felt the stern war-face stares of watchful, well-armed North Korean guards, guns at the ready in a place where escalating tensions keep everyone on high alert. Only after stepping inside the sparse conference center where both sides occasionally meet did he learn that if war erupts again, it would likely begin here.

Looking across the heavily guarded border, Wolfe found the contrasts just as startling as he had seen throughout the rest of South Korea. Nearby, in Daeseong-dong, South Korea's only village within the DMZ, he saw some of the 225 inhabitants busily cultivating and harvesting rice fields as their families have done for centuries. Confined between the fences and with armed guards on patrol, these farmers accept the risks and restrictions to take advantage of the relatively large farms (22 acres) and the tax-free earnings for those who work those fields.

When not on duty, Wolfe also joined his friends in tours and shopping trips to Seoul, a dense high-rise city of 10 million. They always wore civvies since college-age protestors who want the Americans to leave frequently target uniformed soldiers. Wolfe said these demonstrators told him that their country has now achieved independence and prosperity. They believe that a peace treaty with the north is more likely without the American military in their country. As unruly as some of these students can be, Wolfe said a majority of South Koreans like Americans. Merchants, especially appreciate the spending power of the U.S. soldier and often are on the streets clubbing the protestors to go home themselves.

Wolfe found the cost of living exceptionally high in Seoul. He visited a friend's family that lives in a modern high-rise building. The parents and four children occupy a three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot apartment and pay a monthly rent of $3,000, which makes Pleasanton housing quite affordable by comparison. Housing costs are lower in the countryside, but most of those lack the amenities of city dwellings, such as indoor plumbing, running water and central heat. Wolfe said that seeing the many contrasts in Korea has prepared him for military service in Iraq or Afghanistan, where he wants to put his new-found skills to work in helping rebuild those troubled countries. After that, with his discharge scheduled for July 2006, he plans to continue his college education with eventually a career with the Pleasanton police department or possibly as a state trooper.

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