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National Geographic : 1947 Jun
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With the U. S. Army in Korea maladjusted or sympa thy-craving youth. The Koreans have no pleas ure resorts to offer as leave centers. They have no movies, no corner drugstores where the soldier can buy a malted milk, and no "entertainment" as he knows it. Our occupation du ties require consider able dispersion, and there are many small isolated posts. Impro visation, initiative, and Yankee ingenuity are the order of the day. In spite of rugged conditions, our soldiers are doing a top job, and almost all of them are facing the facts as they exist. American soldiers are forbidden to eat in Korean restaurants, for two reasons. One is that Korean foods are cooked in many highly seasoned Oriental styles, some of which cause gastric troubles for those not accus tomed to them. The other and primary rea son is that they get all the food they need for health and growth at their mess halls, and the Koreans need all the food their restau rants have to offer. Our ration is sub- S o SisuTo ukuoka ? too +8 ^;- ^^as ko STATUTEMILES 3 128 Fubk I Drawn by Theodora Price An Arbitrary Boundary, the 38th Parallel, Splits Korea The United States XXIV Army Corps, under Lt. Gen. John R. Hodge, moved into the area south of that line in September, 1945; a Soviet army occupied the northern zone. Both armies still remain in their respective zones. Koreans await the day when both armies of occupation will depart and their Nation will become reunited and independent. Heijo is the seat of Russian administration. stantially more than that of troops in the United States; but, even so, the 18-20-year-old misses Mother's icebox or the corner restau rant for extra rations. From December 1 to March 1 the climate is very cold, except around the south coast. It is a dry, healthy cold with considerable sun and little snow. In the cities some of our troops are billeted in former office build ings, but even these are not too warm, and it is difficult to get youthful Americans to wear enough warm clothing. They don't like to be bothered. In most areas, however, they are billeted in remodeled Jap barracks or in camps consisting of Quonset huts or prefabri- cated buildings shipped from the United States. Virtually all the worth-while building in Korea during the 40 years of Jap rule was for the Japs themselves. The Japs (and the Ko reans) were satisfied with a heating system in any building which would warm it to about 50° F. It is impossible to step this heat up to a comfortable 70° without blowing out the boilers or burning down the building. The only water system worthy of the name in Korea is the one the Japs built in Seoul for themselves. It is reasonably satisfactory for such areas as it serves, but its scope is limited. The native Koreans in cities were served 833
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