Soldiers of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division clean up debris in the wake of recent fatal flooding and landslides in Yecheon county, South Korea, July 27, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
YECHEON COUNTY, South Korea — Engineers of the U.S. and South Korean armies turned out recently to move mud and rubble left behind by crippling monsoon rains in this rural county.
Soldiers on Thursday cleaned up a portion of the damage left by nine days of rain, fatal floods and landslides in central and southern South Korea. They came from the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, the South Korean-U.S. Combined Division and South Korea’s 50th Engineer Division.
At least 50 people died, the Yonhap News Agency reported July 17. Another 30 were injured and approximately 10,000 were evacuated from their homes July 9-17 due to heavy rains, according to The Associated Press.
The worst damage occurred in places like Yecheon county, 100 miles south of Seoul in North Gyeongsang province.
“Our hearts and our thoughts are with the community that was absolutely suffering a loss,” Lt. Col. Brent Kinney, the 11th Engineer commander, said in a 2nd ID statement July 27.
Soldiers of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division use a skid steer to clear debris from recent fatal flooding and landslides in Yecheon county, South Korea, July 27, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
About 20 engineers focused their efforts in a small, hillside community devastated by the monsoons. They labored in mud-covered roads, concrete rubble studded with metal pipes and a demolished apple orchard.
The engineers brought heavy-duty equipment — an excavator, a skid steer and a bulldozer — to cleanup, move debris and manipulate the terrain.
“We use our equipment to remove dirt and trash,” Sgt. Brian Lamp, of the 643rd Engineer Construction Company, told Stars and Stripes at the scene. “We can haul around equipment and stuff like that. So, this is a big event that we could even use for [ourselves] as real-world experience.”
Soldiers of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division clear debris from recent fatal flooding and landslides in Yecheon county, South Korea, July 27, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
Kinney said his soldiers were working with community leaders to begin to restore the lives that Yecheon residents led prior to this year's monsoon season.
“I have the fortunate opportunity to be out here with members of the 643rd Engineer Company, along with a combined effort, the Republic of Korea Army Engineer Battalion to do the utmost possible so that we can bring back a semblance to life, back to this community,” he said.
