83rd Ordnance Battalion

7th Ordnance Company (Special Ammo)

260th Military Police Company

Seoksu-dong, Korea

May 1965 through June 1966

Photos and text by Dick Scheedel

DICK SCHEEDEL was a 20 year-old living in the Bronx when he was inducted into the Army on October 12th 1964. He completed his basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and was sent to Fort Gordon, Georgia for advanced training as a radio-teletype operator. After a 22-day boat trip across the Pacific and a short stay at the Relocation Center in Inchon, Dick was assigned to the 7th Ordnance Company (Commo Section) and stationed there from May 1965 to June 1966. The pictures were taken with a Minolta 35mm camera and most of them developed by him using the company’s photo lab. After completing his tour of duty in Korea, Dick was sent to White Sands, New Mexico and assigned to the Army Missile Recovery Team at Holloman Air Force Base for three months before being discharged from the Army on October 11, 1966 as a Sergeant E-5. Dick got married in 1968 and moved to Marlboro, New Jersey in 1972 where he currently resides. He has been working as an IT Professional for over 40 years and is planning to retire soon and move to Florida.

A note from Neil Mishalov, the webmaster of this site. Dick Scheedel contacted me in the latter part of 2007. He told me he was stationed at the same U.S. Army base in Korea that I was stationed at, and that he served his Korean tour of duty almost three years before I arrived in Korea. He also mentioned that he has some photos from that place and time, and wanted to know if I would be interested in posting his pictures on my web site. He sent me a few samples of his work; I was delighted with his pictures and urged him to scan his photos, and send the images to me. You will see his evocative photographs below.

In addition, Bob Auerhahn contacted me in 2005 and told me that he was also stationed at the 83rd Ordnance Battalion; assigned to the 7th Ordnance Company in 1969-1970. He said he had many slides and B&W pictures taken by him while stationed in Korea, but he didn't have a scanner to capture the digital images of his pictures. Bob contacted me again in December 2007, and told me that he purchased a scanner and was scanning his Korean photos. I asked him to sent me a sample of his pictures...he did; they are quite nice. He agreed to send me his digital images of Korea for inclusion on this web site. In February 2008 he sent me a CD containing the images of a few hundred color pictures he took while stationed in Korea from 1969-1970. I will post Bob's pictures as soon as I finish processing them.

The physical structures of the 83rd Ordnance Battalion are no more. The former location of the 83rd Ordnance Battalion is now the site of multiple high-rise residential apartment buildings. I was in Seoksu-dong and took some photos of the former site of the 83rd Ordnance Battalion when I Went Back To Korea in October 2003.

Here is a Google Earth satellite image of the Seoksu-dong area taken in 2007.

Click on an image to see Dick Scheedel's full size pictures



83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Battalion CP	83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Main Building	83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Parade

83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Parade	83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Parade	83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Missile on display

83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Missile on display	83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Missile on display	83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Small arms on display

83rd Ordnance Battalion Headquarters: Me and Mr. Yonsei	7th Ordnance Company: Sign outside of the company's Orderly Room	7th Ordnance Company: Motor Pool

7th Ordnance Company: Motor Pool - Ready for Inspection	7th Ordnance Company: I'm on Sgt. Weber's left side	7th Ordnance Company: The photographer of these pictures...PFC Scheedel

7th Ordnance Company: Our Christmas Tree 1965	7th Ordnance Company: Reading a Letter from Home	7th Ordnance Company: Company Latrine

7th Ordnance Company: Looking down the company's main street	7th Ordnance Company: Signs outside the Mess Hall	Field Training Exercises: Bivouac area north of Camp Casey

Field Training Exercises: Who turned off the heat?	Field Training Exercises: Local kids that showed up at our Bivouac	Field Training Exercises: Bivouac visitors

Chun-chon: Convoy coming through Chun-chon	Chun-chon: Shops in Chun-chon	Chun-chon: Passing through Chun-chon

Panmunjeon: Freedom House at Panmunjeon	Panmunjeon: Buildings at Panmunjeon	Panmunjeon: Buildings at Panmunjeon

Panmunjeon: Buildings at Panmunjeon	Panmunjeon: Inside the Freedom House at Panmunjeon	Panmunjeon: Two North Korean Soldiers

Panmunjeon: North Korean Building	Panmunjeon: North Korean Doves. Birds were trained to only land on Communist Buildings.	Panmunjeon: The Im-jim River Freedom Bridge. The old bridge on the right was destroyed during the war

Panmunjeon: North Korean guard house	Panmunjeon: Freedom House built in August 1965	Panmunjeon: Statue honoring men that have given their lives defending freedom's frontier

General Interest: Farm house	General Interest: Rice patties	General Interest: Flipped trailer

General Interest: Trying to un-flip trailer	General Interest: Tree Transport Service	General Interest: Target Practice at the Firing Range

General Interest: Plowing the rice patties	General Interest: Local Village	General Interest: Passenger Train

General Interest: Dam under construction on the Han River	General Interest: Looking down at a Local Village	General Interest: Honey Wagon

General Interest: Village kids	General Interest: South Korean soldiers	General Interest: Han River

Pheasant Hunting: One of the village members is telling me where I can find pheasants	Seoul: Entrance to the Zoo	Seoul: Chung-doo Palace

Seoul: Back area of the King's Palace	Seoul: Entrance to the King's Palace	Seoul: Chung-doo Palace

Kimpo Airport: Getting ready to go home	My wife Abbie and I with our two grandkids, Joshua age 6, and Lauran age 2: Taken on the ferry going to the Statue of Liberty- December 2007