HOW IT WAS! KUNSAN AIRBASE 474th FBW (1951-1953) 474th FBG (1953-1954) 49th FBG (1953) Page 4 of 5

Wildgun's Liberty Award Wildgun (NR)

Web Excellence Award Bruce Milne Danny Weasenforth (NR)

Kunsan: The 49th FBG moves to K-8

Taegu: The 474th FBG moves to K-2

F-84 Thunderjet Units Over Korea (p92) explains this confusing switch to the 58th Fighter Bomber Wing (Reinforced) this way. "Its formation came about due to the results of a study conducted between July and October 1952. All high-ranking USAF commander's in-theatre were in general agreement that a single tactical wing should contain two or more tactical groups in order to effectively and economically, utilise available base facilities. Mobility of the combat groups in the forward areas was also considered a mandatory requirement." It continued, "The study had shown that a solitary wing could not operate from both a forward area base and a rear base without augmentation. By adopting the latter arrangement, only a streamlined force of specialists in varous support squadrons would be needed at the forward bases." It went on, "The end result of these findings was that all existing F-84 combat groups would be placed under the control of one wing, which was officially created on 1 April 1953. The new organisation proved to be very efficient, and although it did not help generate more sorties (the F-84 squadrons were already operating to their maximum capacity), missions were both easier to plan and execute."

However, Dave Day of the 429th FBS at Kunsan stated, "...the switch of unit designations for the 474th and 49th Fighter Bomber Groups between Kunsan and Taegu took place on 1 April 1953 without movement of personal or equipment. This was a paper move only, for what reason only the powers to be knew. I do find, however, the movement of the 430th Fighter Bomber Squadron on the 16th of April, 1953 to Taegu." However, this simple name swap may have some hidden facts unknown at this time. Bill Oliphant wrote that "I know for a fact that I was in the 429th Ftr-Bmr Sqdn for most of my tour, so the change of designation must have come late in my tour (Oct. 27, 1952 to August of 1953)." This late changeover date is also verified by Ken Mendell. Why the changeover date of 1 April did not happen on time at Kunsan is unknown at this time.

For the folks of the 430th Bomber Squadron, they were PHYSICALLY MOVED to Taegu between April 13-16, 1953. This move entailed the relocation of all their personnel, equipment and aircraft. They were never replaced at Kunsan with another squadron. Thus 49th FBW at Kunsan became a two-squadron F-84E outfit. The 428th became the 7th FBS; and the 429th became the 8th FBS. The 9th FBS of the 49th FBW went to Misawa, Japan to take up nuclear alert duties as a "strategic fighter."

Wes Jacobson was a pilot in the 430th Ftr Bmr Sqdn at Kunsan from Sep 1952 until Apr 16, 1953. He wrote that "the 430th physically moved en masse over to K-2 Taegu to replace the 9th FBSq which went back to Japan. I finished my 100 missions in June1953 (including nine night missions) and went back to the states from K2."

Larry Wertz of the 430th FBS said, "I started out at Kunsan and then we were transferred to Taegu on the 13 Apr to the 16th of 53. We moved everything, personnel and aircraft and equipment." He quoted his orders from this move, "This is the way my orders read. Folg named Off & Amn, 430th Ftr Bmr Sq. 474th Ftr Bmr Wg (5AF) (FEAF) APO 970 are reld fr atchd status & dy w/Hq 49th Ftr Bmr Wg (JADF (atchd 5AF) APO 970, and further atchd for all purposes toHq 58th Ftr Bmr Wg (5AF) (FEAF) APO 970, eff 13 Apr 53. Wp at such time and in such order and freq as may be nec during the pd 14 Apr 53 to 16 Apr 53."

To translate this military gibberish into English, it reads the "following Officers and airmen of the 430th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 474th Fighter Bomber Wing, 5th Air Force, Far East Air Force at Taegu APO 970 are released from attached status and duty with the Headquarters 49th Fighter Bomber Wing, Joint Advance Force, attached to the 5th Air Force at Taegu APO 970, and further attached to Headquarters 58th Fighter Bomber Wing, 5th Air Force, Far East Air Force effective 13 April 1953 and at such time and in such order and frequency as may be necessary during the period 14 April 1953 to 16 April 1953."

All this means is that the 474th FBW was first attached to the 49th FBW (in an administrative sleight-of-hand) to facilitate the move to Taegu; and then the 474th was placed under the 58th FBW (Reinforced). The 7th FBS and 8th FBS of the 49th FBW switched overnight to the 428th and 429th of the 474th FBW. However, the 9th FBS of the 49th FBW was relocated to Misawa, Japan to take over the nuclear-deterent "strategic fighter" duty. According to Randy Presley, it never changed its name from the 9th FBS in Japan.

Randy Presley added about the 474th FBG at K-2, "After April 1953 this was the 428th, 429th and 430th. As I recall the structure at K-2 was the 58th FBW which had under it the 58th FBG and the 474th FBG. The 58th FBG had the 69th, 310th and 311th FBS in their group on the north end of the ramp and us on the south end."

In an article, "Thunder Over Korea," it says, "This new 58th Wing (Reinforced) consisted of the following TO & E units: Wing HQ, two Fighter Bomber Groups, one Maintenance & Supply Group and three Air Base Squadrons, one each attached to the three Groups in the Wing. The whole idea of this was to cut down on personnel and paperwork. It produced a lean, efficient fighting machine consisting of six fighter bomber squadrons under one command."

In March 16, 1953 FEAF put into effect a new concept of a fighter-bomber wing (reinforced) to ease maintenance and support problems. In April 1953, the 49th Fighter Bomber Wing was relocated to K-8 (Kunsan) from Taegu -- and the 474th relocated to Taegu. This was a very, very confusing move.

Randy Presley a pilot with the 428th at Taegu after the changeover wrote, "At the same time at K-8 the two remaining squadrons old 428th became the 7th and the old 429th became the 8th FBS's. All very confusing and demoralizing to the old 49th FBG which was one of the oldest units in Korea at the time and one that had a great history from Australia to Japan in WWII. I think most of the 49th was at Itazuke when the shooting started in June 1950." The reorganization came at a price of unit morale for the people of Taegu. These people still thought of themselves as members of the 49th...nothing will ever change that. Simply changing their unit designator on paper didn't change that fact. To them, the unit never moved from Taegu.

On April 11, 1953, both sides in the Korean War agreed on terms for the exchange of sick and wounded captives. The U.N. would return 5,800; the Communists only 684 (471ROK's, 149 Americans, and 64 from other nations). The Wing at Kunsan (now called the 49th TFW) crossed its fingers in anticipation of having its lost flyers returned safe and sound. Then the lists were released and suddenly there was a realization that 58 percent of the POWs had perished in the camps along the banks of the Yalu. (Go to POW/MIA pagefor continuing Korean POW/MIA issues.)

But even as the Prisoner exchanges were going on, some of the bloodiest hill battles were being fought. Between 16-18 April, the Battle for Pork Chop Hill was fought. The negotiations again started to drag on. On May 3, 1953 the Commanding General, Far East Air Forces, listed 30 major North Korean airfields to be maintained unserviceable in order to limit Communist air action and to prevent augmentation of their air arm preceding the date of a possible armistice. In May 1953, there was savage fighting along the stalemated front line while details of a truce was being ironed out at Panmunjon. Perhaps the two most spectacular Thunderjet operations of the Korean War were the attacks on the Toksan irrigation dam on May 13, 1953, and the raid on the Chusan irrigation dam three days later. The cease fire was signed on July 27, 1953.

After the hostilities ceased, Kunsan began to slowly draw down. The F-84s of the 49th FBW left Kunsan in November 1953 moving to Misawa AB, Japan. Upon their departure, the 77th Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force from Iwakuni, Japan assumed the air interceptor role as a TDY unit. Flying Glostor "Meteor" Mk. 8 jets, they flew their missions from the "C" Pad area.

The article also talked about some of the missions of the 58th FB Wing. "In the spring of '53, "Operation Spring Thaw" went into high gear with the 58th participating heavily. This was a 5th AF-wide operation designed for the purpose of disrupting communist efforts to move supplies to the front under a protective cloak of bad weather. Mounting air strikes under low ceilings proved unsuccessful, as flood conditions made it difficult for the Chinese to repair damaged bridges and roads. Quoting from a UP press release on the famous Toksan Reservoir Dam Strike dated 14 April. "Four times Thunderjets of the 58th FB Wing roared deep into communist North Korea yesterday to hurl high explosives against an earthen and stone dam holding back an irrigation reservoir the size of a large lake. Four separate attacks involving 68 aircraft led by Colonel Victor L. Wafford, 58th C.O., pounded the nearly immovable wall. The dam located six miles north of Sun-An near the vital Sinanju-Pyongyang rail route, to all appearances survived the day's onslaught. The dam became an obsession with the pilots of the 59th. At dawn on Thursday, another group of Thunderjets led by lst Lt. Donald K. Reid took off for another strike. Reid relates that when he was in the area, he started looking for the lake and didn't see it. For a moment, he thought he was lost, then realized that the dam had burst during the night. The three mile long-mile wide body had let loose during the night. The valley was now a mass of mud and silt for about 12 miles. The vital rail complex was washed out in several places. One of the pilots flew in low and said there was a gap in the dam about 300 feet wide. This created damage to the enemy that could not be put in dollars! The F-84s dropped down low and began to look for targets as they still carried full ordnance loads."

Randy Presley of Mt. Pleasant, TX wrote, "I arrived at K-2 in March of 1953 from gunnery (RTU) at Luke. I was first assigned to the 7th Fighter Bomber Squadron (FBS), 49th Fighter Bomber Group (FBG). We shared the south end of the field and the 58th FBG with the 69th FBS, 310th FBS and 311th FBS on the north end."

He continued, "As I was arriving at K-2 a composite squadron of pilots from our three squadrons in the 49th (7th, 8th & 9th FBS) was being pulled out - all with about 45 missions. They were sent to Komaki AB, Nagoya, Japan to form a new unit with F-84G's equipped with nukes. There were no nukes in Korea during the Korean War. The F-84G was the first fighter built that could carry a nuke. They were given new airplanes for their new mission and, as best as I can recall, they continued to be known as the 9th FBS." (NOTE: Remember that the 1950s period was the height of the Cold War. The Soviet nuclear threat was considered real -- not a theoretical exercise. The deterent to the Soviet nuclear strike capability was felt to be a show of an equal force. This was the start of the nuclear arms race that ended up with nuclear weapons from each side being able to kill every living being on earth 1000 times over.)

"During all of this reorganization the 430th was physically moved to K-2 and they took the spot on the ramp previously occupied by the 9th FBS. At the same time my 7th FBS was renamed the 428th FBS and the 8th FBS was renamed the 429th and our group became the 474th FBW which along with the 58th FBG made up the 58th FBWing. We kept our same tail markings (chevrons on the tail) but swapped patches (we went from the Screamin' Demon to the Bucaneers)."

But the reorganization to improve logistic support and maintenance came at a price of unit morale. Randy continued, "At the same time at K-8 the two remaining squadrons old 428th became the 7th and the old 429th became the 8th FBS's. All very confusing and demoralizing to the old 49th FBG which was one of the oldest units in Korea at the time and one that had a great history from Australia to Japan in WWII. I think most of the 49th was at Itazuke when the shooting started in June 1950." To this day, the Taegu vets of the 49th (7th FBS/8th FBS) do not recognize the unit's short service at Kunsan...and vice versa from the Kunsan vets of the 474th (428th FBS/429th FBS).

Larry Wertz of the 430th FBS continued, "I arrived at K-2 in March of 53 as a aircraft armorer assigned to the 430th. Each section (armorers, Radio, Crew chiefs were assigned their own quarters. There wasn't any room in the armorers tent so I was put in with the radio people. I didn't know anybody in the squadron . I hadn't been issued a carbine or helmet yet so I was laying on my cot and about 9:30 or 10:00 pm the air raid siren went off and everybody grabbed their carbine and helmet and headed to the sand bag revetments outside the tents. The base was a closed base and was protected by army anti-aircraft guns and quad 50's. I had just cleared the front door when everything on the base opened up. I thought, it's my first night and already I'm buying the farm. This barrage lasted about 5 minutes and the all clear sounded. My tentmates told me that it was just Bed Check Charlie and this happened quite often. I don't know if they ever shot one down but it gave me quite a thrill." (NOTE: "Bed Check Charlie" was a slow prop-driven Po2 biplane that attacked the airstrips at night -- dropping hand-held bombs on the airstrip in hopes of hitting something worthwhile. Modern aircraft had a hard time shooting at these aircraft because they would overshoot their target. Bringing one down was quite a feat.)

Larry talked about his duty at K-2. "I was on the night loading crew and we worked 7 days a week. I may not have remembered that day of the week it was but I always knew the date because we had to sign off on the aircraft forms. It was customary to paint a pilots bombs for his 100th mission."

He went on, "The tents were close to the airstrip and all I remember is the mud. The PX was in a tent. The so-called EM club only allowed each person 2 beers a night. I didn't drink at the time so I didn't bother. We were told that everything had to come in on C-119s or 124's. There was supposed to be 100,000 North Koreans somewhere out there and that was the reason the base was closed and all supplies came by air."

As to the Communist threat with a 100,000 communists related by Larry, well...at first we thought this was another good example of war-time rumors running amok. But then we remembered that Larry moved to K-2 in March 1953 and Syngman Rhee secretly ordered the release of "anti-Communist POWs" in June 1953. This may have been what Larry was talking about. However, it is not the full story -- and the "100,000 communists" number is a little high. These "communists" were anti-Communist POWs that did NOT want to be repatriated to North Korea. In This Kind of War, The Classic Korean War History by T.R. Fehrenbach (p446), "Then on 18 June, Rhee almost destroyed the armistice. He removed South Korean troops from Clark's command, and ordered the release of 27,000 anti-Communist Korean POW's held in camps in the Pusan area. Most of these POW's melted immediately into the Korean population, and many, inducted into the ROK Army, came back as guards for the few who had not escaped." It continued, "In Korea, American guards whose heads had been kept down by South Korean fire while the POW's broke out, as at Camp Number 5, Wonju, regarded the release as a big joke. Shortly after the mass uproar at Wonju, when thousands of POW's had run out, South Koreans and American sergeants threw a big party, using up the stock of the N.C.O. club." However, to the allies this was not funny...not one bit. In In Mortal Combat by John Toland it states (p570) that "In all, more than 27,000 not only broke free but managed to find refuge in friendly homes. Less than a thousand were recaptured. Sixty-one lost their lives." (The breakouts were from camps nationwide. 4,000 left Camp 9 & 2, Pusan; 10,610 left Camps 1, 2 & 3, Kwangju; in the three Kwanzwana camps only 165 of the 10,160 prisoners were left; more than 8,000 of the 11,038 left Camp 6, Nonsan; and prisoners also escaped from other smaller camps in Masan, Yongchon, Pupyong and Taegu.)

Larry also remembered the 430th's squadron insignia, the tiger on the ball. He wrote, "You may remember this one. Col. Joe Davis flew out of our squadron. Shortly after we moved the squadron patch changed to the Tiger on the ball and I believe that Col. Davis was responsible because his plane was the only one that had that insignia with the word OLIE as part of the insignia. The other side was named the 4 queens and showed the four cards. At the time I thought the tiger looked pretty silly, but recently I tried to find one and the only response was from a dealer in Texas and he said they were very rare and he wasn't interested in selling his."

Randy Presley wrote, "K-2 had completed a 9,000' concrete runway parallel to the previous PSP runway which became a taxiway not long before I got there. For the ground loving F-84 9000' was not too much. I had to land on the taxiway one day when the runway was closed with a crashed airplane and I don't know how they ever ran a war off the metal planking. All of our ramps and parking fingers were PSP. Dirt everywhere."

Last Days of the War: The 474th mission continues at Taegu

But even as the Prisoner exchanges were going on, some of the bloodiest hill battles were being fought. Between 16-18 April, the Battle for Pork Chop Hill was fought. The negotiations again started to drag on. On May 3, 1953 the Commanding General, Far East Air Forces, listed 30 major North Korean airfields to be maintained unserviceable in order to limit Communist air action and to prevent augmentation of their air arm preceding the date of a possible armistice. In May 1953, there was savage fighting along the stalemated front line while details of a truce was being ironed out at Panmunjon.

Perhaps the two most spectacular Thunderjet operations of the Korean War were the attacks on the Toksan irrigation dam on May 13, 1953, and the raid on the Chusan irrigation dam three days later. These raids were the handiwork of the 58th FBW (Reinforced). Randy Presley describes the 429th FBS part on the raid on the Chusan irrigation dam on May 16, 1953. He says it's "from a book I started writing about 15 years ago and hope to finish one of these days." (This passage is also included in F-84 Thunderjet Units Over Korea (p93) by Warren Thompson.)

The U.S. Air Force in Korea (p666) states, "As the truce negotiations faltered, General Clark informed the Joint Chiefs that FEAF would attack the hydroelectric generating facilities at Sui-ho and a target complex at Yangsi -- both being legitimate military targets in the "sensitive" area along the Yalu. Because of its flak defenses, the powerhouse at Sui-ho was a difficult target, but on 10 May Colonel Victor E. Warford, commander of the 58th Wing, led a formation of eight 474th Group Thunderjets in low at Sui-ho and put at least three delayed-action bombs through the roof of the target. Pilots said that the flak was the "most intense in all of North Korea," but the Thunderjets escaped damage. Tail race activity at Sui-ho dam nevertheless indicated that two generators still continued to work."

In June 1953, the Korean President Syngman Rhee started to create problems in the peace negotiations. He removed South Korean troops from General Clark's command and ordered the release of 27,000 anti-Communist POWs from camps in Kwangju, Nonsan, Masan, Yongchon, Pupyong and Taegu...rather than allow them to be forcibly repatriated to the North. With the collusion of the Korean guards, the POWs simply walked out of the camps. Less than a thousand were recaptured. This caused great embarrassment to the U.S. They finally got Rhee to promise not to obstruct the implementation of the armistice. In return, he was given assurance of a mutual security pact and long-term economic aid.

But the fighting was far from over. On July 13, the Chinese exploded along the front lines to demonstrate to the Americans that the Chinese Volunteers were still strong enough to continue the war indefinitely. The Chinese smashed into four ROK divisions. During June and July the UN suffered 50,000 casualties...mostly ROKs. Mao Tse-Tung had made his point. This was also a move by the Chinese to grab bits of worthless real estate before the ceasefire. In an article, "Thunder over Korea", it states, "The war was winding down fast and the Chinese were well aware of it. Their objective was to grab as much real estate as they could before the armistice was signed. On 15 June, the F-84s got a break in the weather, taking off in large numbers in an effort to blunt the big offensive launched by the Chinese, all along the front. The 58th Wing flew 419 sorties to break all existing records. Some pilots flew 4 and 5 missions that day. From 16th March to 30th June, a total of 12,415 effective combat sorties were flown against the enemy along the front lines. This related down to 9,469 tons of bombs dropped. For the final 27 days of the war in July, the 58th was only able to fly 23 days due to rainy conditions on the line." (Note: During the periods when the F-84s were grounded by weather, the 3rd Bomb Wing of Kunsan along with other B-26 and Marine nightfighter units were tasked to pick up the slack and flew "max effort" round-the-clock bombing missions.)

The cease fire was signed on July 27, 1953 at 1001 -- between the U.S. (as the UN commander), China and North Korea...with South Korea refusing to sign the document. The armistice would become effective twelve hours after it was signed or at 2201 on 27 July. As soon as the truce was signed, the 58th Wing's commander led 23 Thunderjets of the 474th Group (Taegu) to posthole Chunggagjin Airfield on the banks of the Yalu. At the same time 24 Thunderjets of the 58th Group attacked the runway at Kanggye. Later that afternoon 24 Thunderjets of the 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing (Kunsan), augmented by 12 Thunderjets of the 58th and 474th Groups (Taegu), bombed Sunan Airfield.

The last fighter-bomber sorties of the war were completed by the 58th FBW at 1730 on 27 July. The last four jets over the target were flown by the following pilots -- Lt. Carl S. Miller (430th FBS); Lt. I.J. "Peate" Pierce (428th FBS); Lt. Chester C. Lamb (430th FBS); and Lt. Otto R. Kopf (429th FBS). These men dropped the last bombs expended by the F-84 in Korea.

On 2201 on 27 July 1953, the truce took effect and all FEAF aircraft were south of the bombline or more than three miles from North Korea's coast. The armistice marked the end of the shooting war in Korea. The Korean hostilities ended on a vaguely disquieting note of neither victory nor defeat. The Korean armistice agreement signed on 27 July 1953 marked the attainment of United Nations and United States military objectives in Korea.

FIGMO: Going home!

After the armistice in July 1953, things drew down very rapidly. Soon the F-84s of the 49th FBW left Kunsan in November 1953 for Misawa AB, Japan. Here the 7th and 8th FBS rejoined their old sister squadron the 9th FBS which was sent there in April 1953 to stand nuclear alert. Randy Presley wrote, "I had 55 missions when the war ended and thought I would come home quickly but didn't leave until November 1953. Somewhere around that time I think the two remaining squadrons of F-84's moved to Misawa AB, Japan and they too picked up a nuke role. They had their airplanes modified with probes in the nose of each tip tank for refueling behind KB-29's and KB-50's."

He added, "While the F-84G had a receptacle for inflight refueling from a boom type tanker, Gen. Lemay never let us have any in Korea. He kept that all at home for his B-47's and the two F-84G SAC wings (Turner AFB and Bergstrom AFB). So I flew all my combat missions landing most of the time with not much more fuel than fumes in the tank and was flying an airplane that could be aerial refueled. TAC didn't have the clout that SAC had in those days even though we were fighting the war and they were doing very little with B-29's at night from Yokota and Kadena." (Go to 49th Wing History for more details.)

Upon the departure of the 49th FBW from Kunsan, the 77th Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force from Iwakuni, Japan assumed the air interceptor role as a TDY unit. Flying Glostor "Meteor" Mk. 8 jets, they flew their missions from the "C" Pad area.

However, the folks with the 474th at Taegu had to wait. It would be about a year before the 474th was allowed to depart Korea. The 474th departed Taegu on December 1954 and returned to Cannon AFB, New Mexico and converted to the F-86 and later to the F-100. In the F-86 Homepage it says that the 428th, 429th and 430th FBS "converted from F-84s to F-86Fs at Clovis AFB NM in 1955. They then received F-86Hs before converting again to F-100Ds in 1957. The squadron was assigned to 474th FBG during this period." (Go to 474th Wing History for more details.)

• Go to 474th Fighter Bomber Wing: Page 1
  
• Go to 474th Fighter Bomber Wing: Page 2
  
• Go to 474th Fighter Bomber Wing: Page 3
  
• Go to 474th Fighter Bomber Wing: Page 4
  
• Go to 474th Fighter Bomber Wing: Page 5
  

NOTICE/DISCLAIMER: The content of this page is unofficial and the views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of anyone associated with this page or any of those linked from this site. All opinions are those of the writer and are intended for entertainment purposes only. Links to other web pages are provided for convenience and do not, in any way, constitute an endorsement of the linked pages or any commercial or private issues or products presented there. None of this site has been endorsed by the DOD, the Air Force, the 8th Fighter Wing or Mickey Mouse. All Air Force links are publicly accessible through the world-wide web. When eye-witness accounts conflict with OFFICIAL DOD materials, this website opts to lend credence to the people who were there.

Return to Top