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Korea Herald
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
[Photo News] Lee Jae-myung visits border village on Day 2 of border tranquility
President Lee Jae-myung on Friday met residents at a hamlet known as Unification Village, or Tongil Chon, near South Korea's border with North Korea as he visited Jangdan-myeon in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The meeting was held at a community service center that is 2 kilometers east of Dorasan Station, the railway station closest to North Korea. The station has been operating since 2002. Friday marked the second day since loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts stopped between the two Koreas. Following Lee's order to suspend the daily broadcasts Wednesday at 2 p.m. — for the first time in about a year — North Korea turned off its loudspeakers on Thursday. Lee told residents he was relieved to learn that North Korea stopped the loudspeaker broadcasts after South Korea did so, as it solved noise-related problems at the border village stemming from the broadcasts. Lee's stop there followed his visit to the South Korean Army base of the 25th Infantry Division to meet about 50 officers, noncommissioned officers and soldiers combined, and a village in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province, which is about 20 kilometers south of the borderline.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Hawai‘i soldiers join nation in celebrating Army's 250th anniversary
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The U.S. Army is marking a monumental milestone — 250 years of service to the nation. 1st Lt. James Pardee is one of 219 Hawaii soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division heading to Washington, D.C. to be a part of the celebration on June 14. 'I'm very excited for one to travel and also to see our nation's capital,' Pardee said. What to expect at the Army's 250th anniversary parade on Trump's birthday He is one of just a handful of soldiers representing the 25th Infantry in a national fitness competition. 'The top five personnel in the whole division were chosen to be part of this team,' Pardee explained. 'It's a great opportunity, not only to represent our battalions, our brigade, but also to present the whole division and to go off to then compete for the Army on its birthday. So for us, it's a huge honor.' Festivities in Washington, D.C. include a parade along Constitution Avenue, a festival on the National Mall and a concert and fireworks many soldiers, like SGM Andrew Porch, this milestone is more than a number. It's a tribute to generations of service, sacrifice and a steadfast commitment to protecting the freedoms Americans hold dear. 'The 250 years is older than the nation itself,' Porch explained. '[It's] no small feet, and we couldn't appreciate our leaders more for giving us a chance to showcase what the Army is into such a national crowd as part of it. It was the Army's birthday on June 14.' The U.S. Army of the Pacific has hosted a series of events here in Honolulu this week in honor of army heritage week, and they have a huge community day planned on June 12 at Fort DeRussy in Waikiki. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news Porch said the military plans to land a Black Hawk and an Apache helicopter in the middle of Kuroda field for the event. 'The intent is to be totally hands-on, so they'll be able to climb around different vehicles and the aircraft, there'll be a working dog demonstrations,' Porch said. 'There will be multiple things down there and we encourage everybody to come out.' The free event kicks off at 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on June 12. It's designed to strengthen the bond between the Army and the community it serves. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
U.S. Army celebrates 250 years of service with Schofield celebration
This week the U.S. Army is commemorating its 250th birthday with a series of celebrations around the country. The Army, tracing its roots to rebels that fought the British, is older than the nation itself. On Oahu on Monday, soldiers from every unit in Hawaii—a few thousand troops—gathered at Schofield Barracks on Weyand Field at dawn for an early morning run at the same time that comrades currently deployed to the Philippines also were running. The Army also dedicated a new gym facility honoring the family of a well-known Oahu veteran. As the sun rose, Gen. Ronald Clark, the commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific, addressed soldiers at Schofield as well as in the Philippines—where it was just after midnight—in a live-feed broadcast to them before they began the run. Clark told his troops 'you stand on the front lines of freedom, on the forward edge—the tactical edge—of our Army. You are the theater Army of the Pacific in the most challenging time in the history of this region in our lifetimes. So thank you for what you do. Thank you for the manner in which you do it and the leadership that you provide every day, and the example you set for the United States of America.' Troops based out of Schofield and Fort Shafter have been conducting several exercises in the Philippines amid simmering tensions with China. In recent months, Hawaii Army units have been in the country for annual training exercises training with Philippine forces as well as bolstering infrastructure around Philippine military bases. The South China Sea—a busy waterway that nearly one-third of all global trade travels through—has become increasingly militarized over the past decade. Beijing claims nearly the entire sea as its exclusive territory over the objections of neighboring countries, and the Chinese military has harassed and sometimes attacked fishermen and other marine workers from neighboring countries—especially the Philippines. The 25th Infantry Division's Command Sgt. Maj. Shaun Curry, a veteran of the Army's elite Ranger Regiment, said that soldiers in the Pacific today face very different challenges than he did in Iraq and in Afghanistan—lessons he and his comrades learned the hard way. Curry said that 'when I went to combat for the first time, no one in my unit had deployed. I had a platoon leader, fresh out of college, I had a platoon sergeant who had been in the Army, close to a dec ade at that point, and neither one of them had seen combat.' His generation of soldiers fought long, drawn-out wars and often deployed multiple times. But much of that generation is now moving on to civilian life with only more senior troops having memory of what it's like. Curry said currently only about 20 % of the 25th Infantry Division has ever deployed to an active conflict zone. But Curry also said watching the conflict in Ukraine, where drones and other tech are changing the game, means everyone has to learn and adapt to keep up. Curry, who hails from Wisconsin, has been with the division since 2020 and said he's come to feel close to Hawaii. His daughter attended University of Hawaii at Manoa and his son attended UH Hilo and recently joined the Hawaii National Guard. 'This field here, Weyand Field, is named after the commanding general that took the division into Vietnam, ' Curry said. 'But this field is also on the Leilehua Plains. So for kamaaina, this is where the warriors came to trade, and then they went up to the top, and that's where they fought. So this is something that is sacred to the Hawaiian people and something we need to take responsibility for.' After the run, the 25th held a cake-cutting ceremony with the division's oldest and youngest serving soldiers cutting it with an Army saber. As soldiers ended the run to return to their duties, Curry and division commander Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans prepared for another ceremony. Friends of the family of the late Command Sgt. Maj. Henry Lee gathered at a new gym named in his honor. Lee was born in 1930 in Castner Village, just outside of Schofield, attending Leilehua High School before enlisting in 1946 at the age of 15. His career would take him to Europe and Asia, but it ultimately brought him back to Hawaii to serve with the 25th. In 1968 during a deployment to Vietnam with the division, he earned a Purple Heart when a helicopter he was in was shot down. Lee was the first Korean American to become an Army command sergeant major. After leaving the Army he continued his education in Hawaii and became an educator, teaching social studies at Nanakuli and Wai anae public schools and went on to a long career of public service, ultimately retiring in 1989 but continuing to be civically engaged until his death in 2023 at age 92. '(His service ) exemplifies a life well lived, the generational leadership manifests itself today on the plains of Leilehua, on the fields in the jungles in the Philippines, here at Schofield Barracks, across the Pacific and across our ohana, ' Evans said. 'Command Sgt. Maj. Lee's family exemplifies generational leadership that has been passed down from one generation to the next and is represented by you all here today.' Lee's son, Henry Lee Jr., told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser 'Dad has 24 years in the service and all his contributions, and we're just so happy that they were able to honor him this way. … We grew up in the military over the years, so this is a part of our life.' The Army will continue holding events, including a public community day around Fort DeRussy in Waikiki until the service's actual birthday on Saturday.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
Soldier killed pregnant wife with a machete, then dumped her in the trash
A US Army soldier has been sentenced to 23 years behind bars for killing his pregnant wife. Pfc. Dewayne Johnson II then attempted to cover up the killing by dismembering Mischa Johnson's corpse and disposing of her body in the trash. Hawaii-based Johnson pleaded guilty earlier this week to voluntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice and providing false official statements, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said in a statement. He was sentenced on Thursday. Mischa Johnson was 19 years old and six months pregnant when she died on 12 July, 2024. Her body has never been found. Johnson, of the 25th Infantry Division, told the judge in a military courtroom that he hit his wife with a machete in their home at the Schofield Barracks military base on Oahu after an argument, KITV reported. He said he snapped after his wife yelled that his child would not know that he existed. He hit her on the head and she stopped breathing. He said he did not intend to kill her. 'I couldn't picture my life without my child," he said. 'I regret, I shouldn't have done it.' Johnson used a chain saw to cut up his wife's body and placed her body parts in garbage bags that he put in a dumpster in his unit. He said he heard the garbage was taken from there straight to an incinerator. Johnson reported his wife missing more than two weeks after her death on 31 July, then joined search parties looking for her around Oahu. He was charged with her murder on 27 August after Army investigators found blood, DNA and other evidence in his home. Prosecutors said Johnson, from Frederick, Maryland, received the maximum sentence allowed under law. They dropped child sexual abuse image charges under the terms of his plea agreement. Johnson's rank will be reduced to private and he will forfeit pay and allowances and be dishonorably discharged. He will serve his sentence in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Mischa Johnson's sister Marianna Tapiz told KITV it was shocking and painful to hear what happened. 'As a family together, we're just trying not to focus on the horrific details of her last moment with him," Tapiz said. 'And instead, right now, we're trying to just remember the happy memories that we have and remember her in that life.' Army prosecutor Lt. Col. Nicholas Hurd said he hoped the justice proceedings will help the family heal. 'While no amount of confinement will ever be able to truly ease the pain of the loss of Ms. Johnson and her unborn child for her family and friends, it is my hope that Pfc. Johnson's admissions of guilt and the information he provided as part of the plea agreement can provide some element of closure and finality for the family and all stakeholders,' Hurd said in a statement.
New York Post
05-06-2025
- New York Post
US soldier gets 23 years for killing his pregnant wife with a machete and dumping her in the trash
A Hawaii-based U.S. Army soldier was sentenced Thursday to 23 years in prison for killing his wife and unborn child last summer and attempting to cover up the crime by dismembering and disposing of her body in the trash. Pfc. Dewayne Johnson II pleaded guilty earlier in the week to voluntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice and providing false official statements, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said in a statement. His wife, Mischa Johnson, was 19 years old and six months pregnant at the time of her death July 12, 2024. Her body has not been found. 3 U.S. Army Pfc. Dewayne Johnson, a cavalry scout assigned to 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, sits with his teammates during an exercise at Helemano Military Reservation, Hawaii, Nov. 2, 2023. Joshua Linfoot/U.S. Army Johnson, of the 25th Infantry Division, told the judge during testimony in a military courtroom that he hit his wife with a machete in their home at the Schofield Barracks military base on Oahu after an argument, KITV reported. He said he snapped after his wife yelled that his child won't know that he existed. He hit her on the head, and she stopped breathing and didn't have a pulse. He said he didn't intend to kill her. 'I couldn't picture my life without my child,' he said. 'I regret, I shouldn't have done it.' He used a chain saw to cut up his wife's body to hide the killing and placed her body parts in garbage bags that he put in a dumpster in his unit. He said had heard the garbage was taken from there straight to an incinerator. 3 Mischa Johnson was 19 years old and six months pregnant. Marianna Tapiz Johnson reported his wife missing July 31, more than two weeks after her death. He joined search parties looking for her around Oahu. He was charged with her murder Aug. 27 after Army investigators found blood, DNA and other evidence in his home. Prosecutors said Johnson, from Frederick, Maryland, received the maximum sentence allowed under law. They dropped child sexual abuse image charges under the terms of his plea agreement. Johnson's rank will be reduced to private and he will forfeit pay and allowances and be dishonorably discharged. He will serve his sentence in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. 3 Prosecutors said that Johnson received the maximum sentence allowed under law. Handout Marianna Tapiz told KITV it was shocking and painful to hear what happened to her sister. 'As a family together, we're just trying not to focus on the horrific details of her last moment with him,' Tapiz said. 'And instead, right now, we're trying to just remember the happy memories that we have and remember her in that life.' Army prosecutor Lt. Col. Nicholas Hurd, said he hoped the justice proceedings will help the family heal. 'While no amount of confinement will ever be able to truly ease the pain of the loss of Ms. Johnson and her unborn child for her family and friends, it is my hope that Pfc. Johnson's admissions of guilt and the information he provided as part of the plea agreement can provide some element of closure and finality for the family and all stakeholders,' Hurd said in a statement.
