Operation Paul Bunyan: The Tree That Almost Started a War and the Most Dangerous Logging Mission in Military History

In August 1976, two American officers entered the heavily guarded Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea to prune a massive poplar tree that was blocking the view between two allied checkpoints. Minutes later, they were brutally hacked to death with axes by North Korean guards. The unprovoked murders brought the entire Korean peninsula to the absolute brink of nuclear war.

The United States had to retaliate to project strength, but a military strike would likely trigger World...