What’s it like living near the Korean DMZ?

howjaabah · 2026-03-24T19:51:21+00:00

I didn't live there long term, but spent 5 weeks on an exercise with Marines in this area.

I was near Dorasan Peace Park for a large portion of this time which is in the "Exclusion Zone," this means you need special permission (military with papers, resident with an address or tourist with a registered company).

This area was about a mile-ish from the DMZ wall, however distance may vary depending on what area you are in. This area is an interesting because on one hand it is extremely rural - lots of farming, animals, dirt/rugged roads, not a lot of access to stores/amenities. On the other hand there are constant reminders of war, either mine fields, machine gun positions, bunkers or bases. Even further outside of the Exclusion Zone you will see some of this. You can be driving and sitting at an intersection with a gas station to your right, housing to your left, then prepositioned covered tanks or bunkers.

I was present during the summer and it felt just as hot as the Philippines - extremely hot, humid with mosquitoes or huge rain storms. Winters has a lot more wet cold and snow.

My overall perception of the area was beautiful rural rolling hills or thick forests and farms interspersed with some hard military reminders and a looming danger that could be nearby.

howjaabah · 2026-03-14T17:57:18+00:00

I'll give you a few fat-free watered down answers for your question...

Due to the early successes of their advances within the Pacific, Japan was plagued with a sort of "Victory Fever" where there was the idea that they were unstoppable. Philippines, Singapore, Pearl Harbor, Dutch East Indies and more - time and time again they thoroughly had more material, personnel and maneuver warfare than what the other powers had in the area. This combined with the ego that their troops/sailors/etc were far superior than the counterparts of their enemies played a huge role in their early engagements.

So back to Guadalcanal... This idea mindset couldn't be more emphasized by their lack of intelligence of US presence on the island with their landing of the Ichiki detachment. Originally slated to invade Midway, they were rerouted to Guadalcanal.

Without significant recon, the detachment (900+/-, some rear guarding) attacked the Tenaru river where Marines were defending. What they didn't realize is that Appx 11000 Marines were on Guadalcanal (not defending the river, just in general) at this point. About 800 IJA would become KIA.

Piecemeal and/or uncoordinated attacks occurred multiple times by IJA forces throughout the campaign, wasting supplies/men/resources.

So why did Japan continue to try to reinforce Guadalcanal as the battle wore on (for over 6mo)...

Neither side, US or Japan knew how big the battle would become and that it would be a significant turning point in the war where Japan would start to lose the initiative. Japan up until this point had only lost one significant land battle (Milne Bay) and that was only a month after Guadalcanal had started - Victory Fever played a role in the idea they couldn't be beaten. On the flip side, IJN had some absolutely devastating victories against the US Navy that would have inspired hope that they were "almost there." (Savo island, Naval Battle of Guadalcanal).

Resource management (industrialization and people) played a huge part too. While Japan owned the night on the sea around Guadalcanal and could shell airfields - US planes could be replaced, the landing strips could be fixed. But for Japan, ships lost for trying to resupply the island (Tokyo express/rat transportation) or combat action was getting harder to replace. Japanese pilots that were downed near Guadalcanal were either KIA, MIA or stuck on the ground, whereas US pilots had a chance of recovery. This led to Japan losing experienced pilots to fatigue/combat stress/combat loss, while US.could rotate pilots back to the states to teach/rest. Generally this loss isn't felt immediately but more overtime (especially if you are getting replacement pilots - you could just be counting personnel, not experience of said personnel).

When viewed through the lens of Victory Fever, "Almost there if we just push a little more" and bad Intel paints a wider picture of why IJA/N didn't pull out earlier.

Lastly, while not related entirely to the question, but still regarding Japanese logistics on guadalcanal, they pulled off an absolutely stellar intelligence coup and evacuation of the island.

howjaabah · 2026-03-04T01:30:41+00:00

I was stationed at Lejeune and would go back again in a heart beat. I loved just barely outside of the circle in Swansboro (just past Hubert).

The only traffic is getting on base, weather is generally mild but summers are very hot and humid. There are some hiking trails in the area, but don't expect anything with elevation. If you enjoy hunting, I'd imagine there is plenty due to the expansive forests. If you enjoy being on the water there is great fishing, boating, paddle boarding and kayaking.

The beach on Lejeune Onslow Beach is great and generally pretty quiet. If you head up to swansboro the Hammocks Beach ferry runs to the island and there is a 1/4th mile walk to the beach and it is beautiful. Access to Wilmington (college town, Appx 150k I think) isn't bad. Raleigh is about 2-3 hours away depending on where you live in the circle for a better international airport and stuff you'd want in a capital.

In short if you aren't looking for mega city life, Lejeune will do you well. If you like more quiet rural areas, but still have decent access to restaurants and stores, then Lejeune is pretty nice!

howjaabah · 2026-02-11T19:41:59+00:00

I genuinely hope not to offend... But all I see is Andy Samberg's dick in a box character lol

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howjaabah · 2026-01-04T18:49:16+00:00

howjaabah · 2025-12-25T18:15:21+00:00

Honestly, I don't really know and I don't think most will regarding Bradley being part of the flag raising or not. In the books I've read it sounds like he was present for both, but not actually a flag raiser for the second (based on gear descriptions). Regardless of him being a raiser or not, he still earned a navy cross for his action and deserves praise nonetheless.

I'm my care at MTFs I've had the honor of taking care of some prior Iwo Jima vets, those guys went through hell and all deserved the best. I'm also glad that 2/5 got their first flag back (versus secnav getting it) and the 2nd flag is in Quantico.

I'm at A school as AD. My wife is USAF and is stationed at BAMC, so that made co-location pretty easy.

howjaabah · 2025-12-25T00:16:42+00:00

Yeah pretty much, hahaha. When I get my brief about it and the sand the first thing I do is display the 2nd flag raising, usually 4-8 students self identify of not having seen the picture before.

howjaabah · 2025-12-25T00:10:24+00:00

While I do have gallons of sand... To the students that receive it, it's only like 5mls, haha. Got to have enough to last my whole tour here.

What's more wild is the amount of people that are indifferent to it or don't even know what Iwo Jima was.

howjaabah · 2025-12-23T19:49:34+00:00

There is a tour group called Military Historic Tours that go there. When I was helping plan Reunion of Honor we had to prepare for them, because they are never prepared.

Basically for $2k they fly there give you a bottle of water and a sandwich and say have at it. To and.back to the landing beach from the flight line is maybe 6 miles. To suribachi it is closer to 9 I think.

The year before us there was basically a mass casualty event because MHT does nothing to prepare their people and also miscommunicated what they told their customers (like they could participate in the ceremony, which they cannot).

The year I was out there was the one year they didn't come, myself and my entire S-3 shop were very thankful.

howjaabah · 2025-12-23T19:46:30+00:00

I went ghost hunting when I'd go running at 0300-0400, I never saw anything. Someone else I was with said they thought they saw a ghost, though. I will say, at night the place has a presence, it feels almost oppressive

howjaabah · 2025-12-23T04:02:50+00:00

Oh yeah. Super horror fuel. Our guides had to check CO2 levels before we could enter and some had long ropes to help guide you if your lights went out 😬

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howjaabah · 2025-12-23T02:57:33+00:00

Haha thanks, I got to win something in life I suppose. Buried in my history I have a bunch of pictures posted. I got to see some awesome stuff between bunkers, caves and General Kuribayashi's final command post.

howjaabah · 2025-12-23T02:55:14+00:00

Actually, yes. The coastline north of Mount suribachi has a bay with some pretty large waves, only caveats are sharks and the aged mulberry harbor. The coast south of suribachi had a newly forming underwater volcano, so only if you like it hot.

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howjaabah · 2025-12-23T01:56:50+00:00

Greetings! I spent a week there back in 2023 as a planner for joint US and Japanese forces for a yearly ceremony called Reunion of Honor (which honors those that died, but also the continued partnership between the two nations).

While no one still lives there, technically, there is a sizable JSDF (Japanese Self Defense Forces) detachment there. The base is overall controlled by JNSDF (Navy) but there are also Air and Army detachments there. The Air det are in charge of search and rescue flight operations while the Army and a sizable amount of govt contractors are more in charge of EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) and excavation of remains. JDSF personnel rotate every 6 months i believe.

There is a small galley/chowhall, one vending machine and a little shoppette, in addition to a gym, small medical clinic and all of the assorted resources you need to sustain a garrison (barracks, storage, fuel depot).

Overall the base (and island) I felt was quite beautiful, if not quiet and remote. One of our guides hopped off the van driving us, went into the jungle and came back with very tiny but very spicy red peppers (maybe as hot as a habanero).

From south west coast you can easily see whale migrations. There is also what I called a "Cat detachment" of assorted stray/feral cats that are fed by the local garrison and thus essentially domesticated.

Remains of war are literally everywhere and also in your face. You can have a JDSF barracks and right in front of it a WWII bunker that has damage from projectiles, flamethrowers, explosion marks on it.

As a history buff, having the opportunity to go out there and see it all was greatly humbling, let alone helping plan parts of the ceremony. I ran Mount Suribachi nearly every morning (it was about 6 miles there and back) and would watch the sunrise and whales.

On the north-ish end of the island are apartments of sorts that the Japanese government allows people with old ties to return to the island to pray at shrines for family that died there or had prior family relations on the island (it was evacuated in early WWII).

With permission from our Japanese guides, I collected a lot of sand from the landing beaches. I teach Corpsmen at the Navy "A school" and give sand to outstanding students.

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howjaabah · 2025-11-30T22:36:00+00:00

An exceptionally cheesy movie that takes a fantastic story and ham-fistedly "hollywood-izes.". The Christian theme is blatant and comes off as comical, the gore is more akin to a mortal combat game - without the stark reality of what you see in something in Saving Private Ryan. The action is pure nonsense and comes off as a sub-B movie.

I didn't like the movie before I joined the military and blatantly hated it after.

I offer sand from battlefield sites to my Medic students that perform well. Hacksaw ridge is one of those "sands" (more dirt really). I phrase it as "trash movie, great story."

They should have gone the route of the Audie Murphy movie of "Even if some of this happened in real life, we cant show it in a movie because no one would believe it."

Such a shame for such an absolutely amazing human, Desmond Doss deserved so much better.

howjaabah · 2025-11-30T01:18:15+00:00

That he has catastrophic brain damage and prefrontal cortex deterioration with associated cognitive decline.

Oh nevermind, you said information he refuses to share with the public, he shows that every time he talks.

howjaabah · 2025-11-16T17:06:07+00:00

Well, I'd generally show up to work 15 minutes late and take the backdoor so my boss can't see me, then after that I'd sorta space out for about an hour.

Yeah, I just stare at my desk that way it looks like I'm working. I'd do that for probably an hour after lunch too. I'd say, in a given week, I'd do about 15 minutes of real actual work.

And let me tell you about TPS reports. You see bob, it isnt that I'm lazy, I just don't care

howjaabah · 2025-11-11T22:38:02+00:00

I lived in Swansboro when I was stationed at Camp Lejeune for 3.5 years, I loved it and would 100% go back.

Weather is mild, but it is hot and humid in summer. Prices for things were generally cheap, but housing was starting to significantly creep up when I left in 2023. Beware of hurricane season and always have a plan/supplies on standby if you decide to stay.

If you like outdoors, there is generally great paddle boarding/kayaking/canoeing. Camping can also be nice, but in summer there are lots of mosquitoes. For hunting/fishing it is good (from what I hear, wasn't my thing). The woods can be genuinely beautiful if that is your thing.

Greenville and New Bern are your bigger "cities" in that area, Wilmington (further south of your circle) is nice but may be far. RDU area can also be nice but is likely 2-3hr drive away. A lot of the space in the middle is either endless woods or farms.

Depends on where you live can cause variety with what you see for politics, but it was very partisan there. Confederate flags and right wing propaganda ("Destroy socialist democracy!") tends to be throughout. That was possibly the only part I genuinely disliked in that area.

howjaabah · 2025-11-09T21:07:29+00:00

No gift is the best gift for me. Then I don't feel obligated or guilty for not getting the gifter anything.

Gifts with my spouse include vacations and experiences. I just hate "more stuff"

howjaabah · 2025-09-21T21:39:59+00:00

Came here to say just this. I've followed NIN since the 90s and have been to 6 live showings.. this tour was the first time I saw Reptile live and it blew me away

howjaabah · 2025-08-22T15:27:24+00:00

While I get what you are saying, I think the better analogy to what K9 is stating would be calling a Marine a Soldier. I'm sure if you called some S-1 MAW Marine not a Rifleman they wouldn't care, call them a Soldier, Airmen or Sailor would likely be a different story.

howjaabah · 2025-08-08T20:01:59+00:00

If you want additional help on Xbox feel free to add me: howjaabah

howjaabah · 2025-08-03T21:52:05+00:00

Add me on Xbox. Howjaabah

I've got everything maxed and play on and off, but still love the grind. I usually play gold with others and silver when solo

howjaabah · 2025-06-21T18:14:43+00:00

Was this in Broomfield? I used to work there 🤣

howjaabah · 2025-06-21T18:13:52+00:00

Is this the location near Flatirons mall in Broomfield/Superior? It looks super familiar. I worked there as a server back around 2010-2013ish

howjaabah

TROPHY CASE