Bonifas Arthur George “Art”

Name:

Arthur George “Art” Bonifas

Rank:

Major

Serial Number:

Unit:

United Nations Command Security Battalion

Date of Death:

1976-08-18

State:

New York

Cemetery:

United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, New York

Plot:

Section 34

Row:

C

Grave:

137

Decoration:

Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Commendation Medal, Purple Heart, Vietna

Comments:

Born in Omaha, Nebraska, on 22 April 1943 as the son of Raymond and Thelma Bonifas, Arthur entered the United States Military Academy in July 1962, following graduation from Creighton Prep and one year at Creighton University. While at West Point, he was active in the water polo and scuba clubs and served as a Cadet Lieutenant.

After Airborne and Ranger schools, there followed a series of successful assignments — Battery Commander in the 2nd Battalion, 10th Artillery (Fort Benning), Battery Commander and Assistant S3 with the 5th Battalion, 16th Artillery (Republic of Vietnam), the Artillery Advanced Course (Fort Sill), graduate schooling at Syracuse University, faculty of the Mathematics Department (United States Military Academy), and his ill-fated—and final—assignment with the United Nations Command in Korea as a Joint Security Force Company Commander.

Major Bonifas was a veteran of the Vietnam War. In Korea, he was a member of the 2nd Infantry Division. On August 18, 1976, Capt. Arthur Bonifas, and 1st Lt. Mark Barrett, a platoon leader, were slain while trimming a tree at the Joint Security Area of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

The U.S. soldiers were dispatched to trim a poplar tree that obstructed a watch tower’s view of a checkpoint near a bridge. Dubbed the Bridge of No Return, it was frequented by troops of U.N. Command and soldiers of North Korea’s Korean People’s Army, who, at the time, taunted and provoked each other, according to the command’s security battalion.

Bonifas and Barrett, part of a 10-man U.N. Command security team, were sent with workers to trim the tree after the North Korean side was informed of their intent. Nonetheless, a North Korean officer on site told the U.N. troops to cease their operation. The officer summoned roughly 30 additional troops, who attacked Bonifas’ team without warning.

The killings shocked President Gerald Ford, who ordered the tree felled three days later in Operation Paul Bunyan. Combat troops and engineers cut down the tree in roughly 45 minutes without incident as American forces throughout the peninsula stood by on alert.

Cpt Bonifas is now buried in the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery, West Point, Orange County, New York, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.stripes.com