Military

Two Army buddies and a fateful night in Korea: A complex tale of military justice

The text messages arrived on Chrissy Royal’s phone at 3:23 a.m. “I got arrested [help] me,” said one. Then: “Yongsan police station.” It was a cool March night in Itaewon — a neon-lit nightlife district in central Seoul — and Royal’s husband Raymond had been out drinking with his best friend, Cory Anderson. The men […]

The text messages arrived on Chrissy Royal’s phone at 3:23 a.m.

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“I got arrested [help] me,” said one.

Then: “Yongsan police station.”

It was a cool March night in Itaewon — a neon-lit nightlife district in central Seoul — and Royal’s husband Raymond had been out drinking with his best friend, Cory Anderson.

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The men were U.S. army mechanics, and they had arranged to be deployed at the same time in South Korea. Pfc. Royal, 22, was based at the Yongsan Garrison, a major U.S. military base near Itaewon. Pfc. Anderson, 20, was stationed at Humphreys, a rural garrison 55 miles south, and he was visiting for the weekend.

They drank; they played pool; they wrestled like muscle-bound, army-trained puppies, grappling into chokeholds until one or the other cried uncle. They got matching tattoos — “friends forever” swirling down their forearms in blue Korean script.

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Read More- LA Times

Image courtesy of Karen Anderson via LA Times

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