In Memory

Mark Thomas Barrett VIEW PROFILE

http://www.stripes.com/01/aug01/ed081801c.html   (Article from "Stars and Stripes" Soeul Bureau)
This article gives a complete account of how Mark was killed in Korea. He died August 18, 1976 along with another Army officer. The incident almost started a war between the U.S. and N. Korea and all began over the chopping down of a tree. A tragic end for Mark. So very sad.



 
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07/25/09 08:20 PM #1    

Curtis McNeal

1st Lt. Mark Barrett, was killed by North Korean soldiers on Ausust 18, 1976, while he was serving in the U.S. Army, and stationed at the DMZ in Korea.

Mark was in some of my classes throughout the three years we were at Forrest. While we were not close friends, we knew each other fairly well. I remember him as being quite, reserved, and intelligent. I recall that he was well liked by everyone - including me. It seemed that almost everyone at school knew him. I remember that whenever we were in the hall together, going to our next class, a lot of other students said hello to him.

I which I had some other memories to write. Hopefully, someone who knew him better, can add to this.

07/25/09 09:04 PM #2    

Merrilee Baltes (Hysler)

Mark was my neighbor and he was due to come home the day after, he was killed, to attend a family reunion and his mother a friend of my mother's was on her way to the reunion when she got the news of her sons death. He Died for our country and his life was taken too soon. Mark rest in peace. Merrilee

10/26/09 07:18 PM #3    

Joe Clements

You know, I didn't know Mark but I wish that I did.
I would like to tell him thank you and a job well done.
Maybe one day, I will have that chance.
I will say a prayer for Mark tonight.

Joe

03/21/11 11:54 PM #4    

James Brown

Since that Korean incident happened I think of Mark every once in a while..He and I shared several classes.. My last recollection of him comes to mind...we were running track in a one mile run as I recall, I passed him and he said.."Hey where are you going  speedy?"...ha...I recall his younger sister, Sally...a really pretty red haired girl...I ran into Sally a few years later in Gainesville Florida at the University of Florida and she remembered me as a friend of Marks...It's amazing how brief encounters last a lifetime...I miss both of them...The disgusting thing is that the axe used to kill Mark sits in a glass case in a North Korean museum and the North Koreans honor it as a trophy of war and a reminder that North Koreans can kill Americans... now 35 years later and the North Koreans are still talking war....I have often wished the American soldiers on those Korean guard towers would have opened fire on the attacking North Koreans, but that would have probably started the Korean War sequel...then as now the military's rules of engagement are asinine....RIP Mark...you are gone but not forgotten..


10/23/13 12:32 PM #5    

James Moses

I knew Mark Barrett from one of my classes.  He, like me, was a pretty quiet guy.  I remembered him and when I was doing a Presidential Advance in Korea at the DMZ, I was told the story of what happened and when I heard his name, I  almost passed out. After the brief, we went outside, and I stood on the Bridge of No Return, looked down at the area where he was killed, said a prayer, saluted and walked back.  Over the course of my career, I returned several times to that place and still to this day, that story of what happened is number one being told to the visitors, delegates and dignitaries.  The DMZ is a war zone, our soldiers to this day stand to the ready.  I am proud to have known him, if for that brief moment in time.


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