Les fleurs du malLes fleurs du mal
“The scene was in a wild ravine. First I saw piles of brightly colored silk gowns and black conical hats. Many of the corpses also appeared to wear Western-style clothing. In these mounds of ruffled clothing, I could also see parts of bodies, a head here, an arm there. While the company was somewhere between Seoul and Munsan-ni, word had been passed that we should divert several miles east of the main highway and check out reports of a massacre. The company had entered a hilly wilderness area. Even before we arrived at the designated location, we knew something terrible had taken place from the horrible stench of decaying human bodies that polluted the breeze. I learned later that an estimated 200 civilians were executed at this site. Someone found out many of the murdered were professional and business people, educators, artists, politicians, civil servants. The dead appeared to include entire families, from children to the very aged.” – Private First Class Victor Fox, I Company, 5th Cavalry Regiment (quoted by Donald Knox in The Korean War: Pusan to Chosin – An Oral History)