By Kim Seung-yeon
PAJU/SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) -- South Korea and the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) reaffirmed the strength of the alliance Tuesday as they honored two American soldiers killed in the infamous 1976 axe attack by North Koreans.
In a memorial service marking the 50th anniversary of the "Panmunjom axe murder" incident, participants, including family members of Maj. Arthur Bonifas and 1st Lt. Mark Barrett, gathered to remember their sacrifices and a legacy that have lived on through the enduring South Korea-U.S. alliance, according to the organizers.
"We know that half a century does not erase the pain of a profound loss," UNC Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Scott Winter said in a tribute message during the ceremony. He read the speech on behalf of UNC Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson, who was unable to attend the memorial due to scheduling matters.
"But please know that this command and this alliance hold your families in the highest reverence," Winter said.
Tuesday's ceremony was attended by some 130 military personnel from South Korea, U.S. forces and the UNC, as well as family members of the two fallen soldiers.
On Aug. 18, 1976, five South Korean civilian service workers entered the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas to trim a poplar tree that had blocked the view of UNC soldiers.
Bonifas and Barrett had accompanied the workers, along with other South Korean military personnel.
A group of North Korean soldiers, led by senior Lt. Pak Chol, appeared and demanded they stop trimming, claiming then their leader Kim Il-sung had planted the tree.
When Bonifas ignored them and let the workers continue the trimming, the North Koreans came back in a larger number, armed with clubs and crowbars. Pak ordered his men to kill the Americans.
Bonifas and Barrett were bludgeoned to death by the North Korean soldiers, who attacked the two officers with axes and knives left behind by the fleeing tree-trimming crew. Four other U.S. and four South Korean soldiers were injured.
The axe murder incident led then North Korean leader Kim to issue a rare statement of regret and is remembered as a clash that pushed the United States to the brink of war with the North, just about two decades after an armistice agreement brought the 1950-53 Korean War to a halt.
The tree was chopped down three days later during Operation Paul Bunyan, a massive show of U.S. and South Korean military force. A memorial marker was later placed at the site to honor the two slain officers. Bonifas was posthumously promoted to major.
Recalling the incident as an "unprovoked, brutal and deliberate act of violence" that shattered the quiet of the JSA, Winter underscored that peace is not a "natural state" but a "fragile condition that must be guarded and fought for," sometimes paid for in blood.
"Their sacrifice galvanized an unshakable resolve between the Republic of Korea and the United States," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"Today, Republic of Korea, United States and United Nations Command soldiers from across the globe continue to stand exactly where they stood," he said.
"We stand shoulder to shoulder -- Koreans, Americans and our international partners -- serving as the front line of diplomacy and the final defense against aggression," Winter added.
The memorial service continued with remarks from Stacey Adams, Barrett's niece, and Bonifas' two daughters, who were each eight and six years old when their father was killed.
"The stories people have shared consistently describe a man of quiet strength, extraordinary patience, unwavering devotion to his family and a deep sense of duty to something greater than himself," said Beth Bonifas, his younger daughter, in her remarks.
After the ceremony, participants moved to the site where the poplar tree once stood -- now marked by a historic stone honoring the two fallen soldiers -- and laid flowers to pay their respects.
JSA service members stood in formation beside the stump of the pruned tree, as guards holding the flags of the UNC, the JSA, South Korea and the U.S. stood behind the memorial stone.
The site is adjacent to the Bridge of No Return, a historic bridge located inside the JSA, seen as a symbol of the Cold War and the divided Korean Peninsula.
