Combined Forces Command commander, Gen. B.B. Bell, deputy commander Gen. Kim, Byung-kwan and members of the United Nations Command Honor Guard unveil a marker dedicated to slain South Korean soldier, Staff Sgt. Yoon, Jang-ho, while his parents Lee, Chang-hee and Yoon, Hee-chul look on. (Jimmy Norris / S&S)
Combined Forces Command commander, Gen. B.B. Bell, deputy commander Gen. Kim, Byung-kwan and members of the United Nations Command Honor Guard unveil a marker dedicated to slain South Korean soldier, Staff Sgt. Yoon, Jang-ho, while his parents Lee, Chang-hee and Yoon, Hee-chul look on. (Jimmy Norris / S&S)
Members of the United Nations Command Honor Guard stand near a tree and a marker placed in honor of Yoon, Jang-ho. (Jimmy Norris / S&S)
YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — The first South Korean soldier killed in action abroad since the Vietnam War was honored Thursday during a brief ceremony on Yongsan Garrison’s South Post.
Yoon Jang-ho was killed in a Feb. 27 suicide bombing outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. He was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.
U.S. Army Gen. B.B. Bell, head of the Combined Forces Command in South Korea, planted a tree with Yoon’s parents, Yoon Hee-chul and Lee Chang-hee, in a field across the street from Commiskey’s Restaurant.
Bell then unveiled a stone marker dedicated to the soldier. Yoon was also honored by a 21-gun salute from the United Nations Honor Guard, and a rendition of “Taps” by the 8th U.S. Army band.
During remarks, Bell praised Yoon’s sacrifice, offered words of consolation to the soldier’s parents, and asked attendees to remember the South Korean soldiers still stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Staff Sgt. Yoon lost his life trying to make the world a better place,” said Bell, who also commands the United Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea. “He was a hero.”
