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  • Special Operations: In the Enemy's Backyard

    "We started dropping people way up north. We would fly eight-hour missions in a C-47, dropping people all over."- Capt. (later Brig. Gen.) Harry "Heinie" AderholtDuring the Korean War, Air Force personnel conducted highly-classified special operations in enemy territory, including partisan

  • Exposure Suits for Sea Rescue

    Exposure suits protected downed pilots and other aircrew and passengers from freezing in the icy waters of the Yellow Sea between Korea and Japan. Fighter pilots commonly wore exposure suits while flying, since they would not have time to put one on if they had to eject from a damaged aircraft.

  • Air Force Sailors in Korea

    The U.S. Air Force's crash rescue boats were little-known but important parts of the rescue effort in Korea. After World War II, the Army Air Forces' dismantled its extensive network of rescue boats, but the war in Korea made them once again necessary. The Air Force regained a limited number of

  • Lifeboat from the Sky

    The Edo company developed this model A-3 lifeboat in 1947. Modified B-29 bombers, known as SB-29s, carried these boats. SB-29s accompanied bomber formations to the coast of North Korea and circled there while the bombers hit targets inland. If a returning bomber had to ditch in the ocean, a lifeboat

  • Air Rescue

    "After a successful rescue mission, morale would be sky high from the rescue crew right down to the administrative clerk -- we all had a part in it."- Richard McVay, 3rd Air Rescue Squadron Operations OfficerWith courage and daring, the U.S. Air Force Air Rescue Service saved the lives of hundreds

  • Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard in Korea

    During the Korean War, more than 146,000 Air Force Reservists and 46,000 Air National Guardsmen were mobilized to meet the communist threat in the Far East and enable the USAF to expand worldwide.When North Korea invaded in June 1950, the USAF was, in the words of Chief of Staff Gen. Hoyt

  • Capt. Lillian Kinkela Keil: Pioneering Flight Nurse

     Capt. Lillian Kinkela Keil was one of the most accomplished women in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, and one of the most decorated women in American military history. Her work in aviation began in 1938 when Kinkela (later Keil), a registered nurse, was hired as one of United Airlines'

  • An Important Moment for Military Women

    The Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 established a permanent place for women in the military. Air Force women contributed to the war effort both in Korea and in support roles elsewhere in the Far East.Before the Korean War, women serving in the U.S. armed forces did vital wartime work,

  • Aeromedical Evacuation: Speed Saves Lives

    "When they take care of you like that, you don't mind fighting." - Wounded 8th Army soldier on his evacuation by air The method of evacuating sick and wounded troops improved during the Korean War. Air transport of wounded was used in World War II, but in Korea a larger proportion of patients were

  • Maj. Charles J. Loring Jr.

    Maj. Charles Joseph Loring Jr. went to Europe in 1944 as a fighter pilot with the 36th Fighter Group's 22nd Squadron. He completed 55 combat missions before he was shot down and made a prisoner of war. He went to Korea in May 1952 with the 36th and 80th Squadrons, 8th Fighter Bomber Group.During a