The Operation Paul Bunyan (August 21, 1976)
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"The Axe Murder - The American Version:
On 18 August 1976 a Korean work force was escorted by CPT Bonifas and 1LT Barrett to trim the large poplar tree. The UNC force on 18 August 1976 consisted of the two US officers, an Republic of Korea officer and eight UNC guards escorting the workforce. The Korean People‘s Army from the North told them to cease activity. When the commanding officer, Captain Bonifas, ordered work to resume, thirty North Korean soldiers who silently watched were ordered "mikun-nom chu ki cha" ["kill the US soldiers"].
The North Koreans, armed with the work detail‘s axes and metal picks, outnumbered the soldiers. CPT Bonifas was the first killed, attacked from behind by five. A Corporal saw the attack from a nearby three-story pagoda and recorded the murders with a movie camera. The attack ended as soon as it began, with the two US officers were killed and the nine guards UNC guards injured.
After a mobilization on both sides, and despite Henry Kissinger‘s apparent desire to bomb the North, President Ford ultimately decided the appropriate response would be to chop down the tree. On the morning of 21 August 1976 a joint mission involving ROK and UN-supported American troops felled the tree. The poplar tree was removed entirely and a small monument was placed with the names of those killed and injured. Under OPERATION PAUL BUNYAN this action was backed up by an armed platoon, 27 helicopters, and a number of B-52 bombers fying along the DMZ. The North Koreans held their fire, and within an hour the operation was complete."
