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During the Vietnam War, South Korean units were as tough and professional as any in the United States Army or Marines, and came to be justly feared by the communists. More than 300,000 Korean troops passed through Vietnam at some point, and more than 5,000 were killed.

Korean soldiers were highly motivated. Because of their own struggle with Stalinist North Korea, they hated communists. They were also tough. Each man was trained in the art of tae kwon do, with 30 minutes’ practice forming an integral part of morning physical training. They were also subjected to harsh discipline. Two soldiers who raped a Vietnamese woman were executed before their company.

I was with the 69th Armor of the 4th Inf Division in an operation with the 3rd Bn of the S.Korean Tiger regiment near the Cambodian border. They killed close to 200 VC when the VC launched an all out assault on their night defensive position. I think that they suffered no more than a handful of killed and wounded.

I never saw any finer bunch of highly motivated fighting men during my entire time in Vietnam.

A lot of those “rooftop Koreans” were Korean War and Vietnam vets.

[I was with the 69th Armor of the 4th Inf Division in an operation with the 3rd Bn of the S.Korean Tiger regiment near the Cambodian border.]

Thank you for your service. The ROKs have come a long way since the Korean War. If the US had adopted ROK rules of engagement, the war would have been over by the time of the Tet Offensive. There would have been no VC formations of any size left to stage the nationwide communist offensive. It would have been the NVA at Khe Sanh and NVA incursions from Cambodia and Laos.

Thanks.

And the ones that weren’t Korean War and Vietnam vets, had probably at least been through conscription and basic military training. I think SK still has universal conscription because of the NK threat.