Richmond Relay - 1969-70

Richmond Site above Taejon City from Train Station

Richmond Site is located on a dominant mountain top above the city of Taejon. It can be seen along the sky line to the south from the train station. I recall the name as "Siki-yung-san" or something like that but it supposedly meant "Mountain of food storage." During ancient times the town's people stored food and water there and were able to with stand a siege from foreign conquers and thus the name. I believe the elevation is 3471 meters.

Stonestown Compound was the HQ for Company 'C' STRATCOM LL/Bn-South and the base camp support for Richmond Site. I stayed there a few days getting to know my way around and meet some of the soldiers until I was able to catch a ride from there with a water truck that made trips to the site to supply water when the weather permitted. I tossed my bags into the space between the cab and the water tank and climbed on board. The Korean driver smiled at me and gave me thumbs up as we pulled out of the compound and headed to my new home away from home about 18 mi. away.

The water truck had snow chains on all the tires and made a loud clanging sound as we made our way through narrow streets full of people, oxen with carts, taxies, buses and trucks of all sizes. The air was full of exhaust fumes, smoke and dust. I wondered if he would ever slow down or even use the brakes as we roared through town with the horn blaring all the time. He told me to not worry, everybody moves for me, and laughed. I was afraid I would never live to even see the radio site. I also wondered how I would ever remember my way back though the maze of streets to base camp at Stonestown. However, I would soon be making my way between all the obstacles in a duce and a half truck on my way to Stonestown and other town resources.