9:30am, March 15, two backhoes begin gutting the rice paddies on the far side of the fields. Nearly one thousand riot police stand attentive at the edge of the field, armed with batons and shields. Thousands more are posted around the periphery of the village. An untold number wait at adjacent Camp Humphreys Army base, while hundreds monitor street intersections and key access points to the area, preventing any tractors or farming equipment to arrive for the March 17 spring cultivation. As the supporters realize that the destruction has already begun, they race down the long narrow concrete path that divides the vast fields. It snowed the past few days, and the paddies ar thick with mud. Protertors immediately surround the machines, who halt their excavating so as not to crush anyone. Someone climbs on top of the giant arm and secures himself to it. Elderly women lie down in front of the massive treads while people attempt to get inside the cab of the backhoe. The crowd of people split in two to confront each machine. The riot police stand at the edge of the fields, still, awaiting orders. There is a scuffle between an agitatro and a protstor, and they tumble into the eight foot pit carved from formerly fertile soil. Video and still cameras point in all directions, daring the police or plain-clothed thugs to commit an atrocity under the gaze of the "media." Unable to continue the digging, the machines stand idle as people surrounding them are shouting and crying. The residents of Daechuri have feared this moment for years, the day their land would be transformed into dead earth, a mere platform for the U.S. military to expand its operational base and recreational facilities. Suddenly, the backhoes begin moving again, but instead of continuing their excavation the backhoes begin refilling the pits with the dirt that they had just removed. Elation passes through the crowd to see these workers disobey their orders and follow their hearts. Then the military riot police move into action, marching around the section of the field, cutting off all sides. They occupy two bridges, to prevent any more protestors from the village from joining. For a while there is a stand off. An eighty-year-old woman feignts, and is taken to the hospital. The police begin to arrest people. Many protestors resist and are beaten down. Some on the edges of the fields cut through parts of the fence and set small fires on the army base. Overall, 40 people are arrested. Many are injured, with broken wrists and ankles. At least two are still hospitalized in serious condition. The struggle continued for hours, police surronding the backhoes now covered with activists, with neither side gaining or losing much ground. Before nightfall, the police backed off, the day had been won, the fields still exist. Injured, exhausted, and running low on supplies and reinforcements, the residents of Daechuri and supporters of the Peace Village fear what will come tomorrow. There is word that the police will attack the elementary school again, the headquarters for the Peace Village. They desperately need more people to help defend.
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