Barrett-Bonifas Memorial Ceremony

Area North, Seoul, Osan, Korea, OT

Legionnaires Bill Beatty and Chris Vaia, vice commander of Lewis L. Millett Post 38 of South Korea, attended and participated during the Barrett-Bonifas Memorial Ceremony held by the United Nations Command Security Battalion-Joint Security Area in Camp Bonifas on 20 August 2018. The ceremony was to remember the loss of two soldiers, Major Arthur Bonifas, of Newburgh, N.Y., the Joint Security Force company commander, and 1st Lt. Mark Barrett, of Columbia, S.C., the 1st platoon leader, who were brutally axed to death during a routine tree-trimming operation near the Bridge of No Return. During the memorial ceremony, Beatty and Vaia each placed a single stem of flower in front of the memorial photo of Barrett and Bonifas. The main guest speaker, General Vincent K. Brooks, Commander, United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/United States Forces Korea spoke of the sacrifice made by Barrett and Bonifas. General Brooks mentioned he was a cadet at West Point when Arthur Bonifas was interred at West Point Cemetery. It was 42 years ago when Barrett and Bonifas were killed by North Korean soldiers.

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