Potwin veteran shaped by overseas unrest
POTWIN, Kan. (KSNW) — June 13 marks the 23rd anniversary of a U.S. military incident in South Korea that left two teenage girls dead and sparked international outrage. While Army veteran Mitchell Tamer wasn't there when it happened, the event would come to shape his most challenging year in uniform.
Now living a quiet life in Potwin—working at the post office and making music—Tamer reflects on how the tragedy and its aftermath left a lasting impact.
'There had been an accident between a convoy and two little girls who ended up losing their lives,' Tamer recalled. 'And the Korean people weren't happy about us being there after that.'
The 2002 'Yangju Highway Incident,' in which a U.S. military convoy accidentally struck and killed two 14-year-old South Korean girls, occurred before Tamer arrived at Camp Red Cloud. But protests continued long after.
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'Here we are on our very own camp with our weapons in our hands, linking our arms to make a human wall so demonstrators couldn't come through the walls or the doors,' he said.
Though targeted by protesters, Tamer said he came to understand the anger.
'It took a lot of years to process it and come to terms especially when you understand why the people felt the way they did,' he said.
That empathy was born of curiosity—and a deep respect for other cultures.
'When you're a small-town country boy like I was, you're thrown into everybody's culture. People from all over the country, and you get to understand and experience their culture a little bit, and then they bring you overseas and there's a whole new culture there,' Tamer said.
After South Korea, Tamer joined the Army Reserves and narrowly avoided deployment to Iraq.
'I found out, pretty much the same day I was going to become a father for the first time that I was also going to get reactivated,' he said. 'And I was lucky. I was lucky I didn't have to go.'
He retired from the Reserves as a sergeant in 2007. Today, he shares life with his wife and continues to reflect on the value of all experiences.
'What I want people to think about is how the experience in their lives, good or bad, it's all learning and it's all precious. All of it.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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