“I think Marilyn is bound to make an almost overwhelming impression on the people who meet her for the first time. It is not that she is pretty, although she is of course almost incredibly pretty, but she radiates, at the same time, unbounded vitality and a kind of unbelievable innocence.”
That’s what writer Isak Dinesen, wrote once, in 1961, in a letter to author Fleur Cowles Meyer, about Marilyn Monroe. It appears the Hollywood legend made the same remarkable impression on the American troups based in Korea in 1954.
While in honeymoon with Joe DiMaggio in Japan, Marilyn took a solo detour to the Korean peninsula, which had been recently divided by the armistice which ended the Korean War the previous year.
During the following days, Marilyn took a tour of American military bases, putting on 10 shows for a very excited crowd of soldiers.
The trip was the best thing that ever happened to me. I never felt like a star before in my heart. It was so wonderful to look down and see a fellow smiling at me.
Marilyn Monroe
Here some of the rarest photos which captured that iconic moment.
