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Initially established as Camp Jackson and still referred by that name sometimes, Camp Red Cloud is located in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul and relatively close to the DMZ. The military base was renamed in the memory of Mitchell Red Cloud Jr., an American hero awarded with the Medal of Honor. The base spreads over 164 acres. Once it was renamed, the old name – Camp Jackson – was transferred to a different camp located nearby. However, it is less significant and way smaller. The military base doesn’t have a very rich history. Although it is as important as any other base located outside of the United States of America, it didn’t involve in too many operations. With all these, it supports a wide variety of units and types of military actions.
The most important event in the short history of the base is negative though. It occurred as the result of the harsh weather conditions and the location. In the summer season of 1998, that specific area of Korea went through a few major rainy days that caused severe flooding. No Americans were lost in the events, although many Korean natives and local citizens were taken away by the waters. Many of them were never found. The floods came due to the high hill right behind the military base. Since the soil was impregnated with water, a huge mudslide occurred and destroyed almost half of Camp Red Cloud. For many weeks, the base operated without having a PX – post exchange. The PX is among the most popular facilities around the bases operated by the United States of America outside the country. It is basically an amalgam of more popular American shops willing to provide the troops with the products they are used to, whether you count on DVDs, computers, shoes or furniture. A few barracks were also erased from the base map, as well as the golf field. The local museum was severely damaged, but it could be restored.
Just like in pretty much any part of the world, the United States of America have been constantly protested against. This area didn’t make a very big difference either. Camp Red Cloud has often had to face multiple demonstrations against the useless presence of the United States of America in Korea, with the pretext to maintain the peace. The most important protest reached an apocalyptic view. The protesters tried to take down the fence around the base, cut holes in it and threw Molotov cocktails inside. This incident occurred after a US superior run over two schoolgirls with his armored vehicle. The huge and heavy vehicle gave the two 14 years old girls no chance to survive at all. Unfortunately, such happenings took place all over the world, but no measures were taken. In some countries, the US citizens killed local celebrities, yet nothing happened. Since that moment, the US government decided to replace the Camp Red Cloud fragile fences with a powerful and tall concrete wall, in order to prevent the upcoming aggressive protests.
