HOW IT WAS! KUNSAN AIRBASE 474th FBG (1951-1953) Page 2 of 5

11th Armored Cav Regiment C Troop 2nd Platoon Danny Weasenforth (NR)

Fort Huachuca ACS Award of Excellence (NR)

How We Did Business on the Ground at Kunsan:

Though the runway facilities were shared with 3 squadrons of B-26s from the 3rd Bomb Group ("Grim Reapers) and the Marine F7F Tigercats and F4U-5N Corsairs of the VMF(N)-513 ("Flying Nightmares), the problems were minimal as the B-26s and Marines flew mainly at night, while the F-84s flew mainly daylight missions cutting rail lines, hitting frontline targets and interdicting rail traffic.

The Kunsan flightline was divided into separate areas for each unit. Following the normal bare-base designs of those days, the planes were parked in sand-bag revetments. Luckily for the troops when the base was built by the Japanese from a reclaimed island, the land was leveled with 3 feet of clean sand...meaning there was lots of sand for sand bags. However, they really didn't start sandbagging in earnest until an accident of B-26s caused a chain reaction of explosions in December 1952.

429th FBS parking ramp (1953) (Courtesy Harold Locke) (Click on photo to enlarge)	429th FBS parking ramp (1953) (Courtesy Harold Locke) (Click on photo to enlarge)
Aerial view (1953) (Courtesy Roy McPherson) (Click on photo to enlarge)	Aerial view of Flightline (1952) (Courtesy Hans Petermann) (Click on photo to enlarge)
Aerial view (20 Sep 52) (Courtesy Wes Jacobson) (Click on photo to enlarge)	Runway landing (1952) (Courtesy Hans Petermann) (Click on photo to enlarge)

Jim Armstrong of the 428th FBS remembered the big "boom" on the 8th Bomb Squadron flightline on December 16, 1952. The 428th FBS was located directly across from the 8th Bomb Squadron. An 8th armament crew somehow dropped a 500 LB M1A2 frag cluster bomb and one of the frags detonated. This cut the armorer's legs off, although he survived. The aircraft was being loaded with 500 LB GPs, which were on the ground under the wing when the aircraft caught fire. These 500 LB GPs cooked off and parts were flying everywhehttp://kalaniosullivan.com/KunsanAB/3rdBW/re. Jim wrote, "The account about the accident on the B26 flight line with the bombs going off and the ammo cooking brought back memories in a hurry. I was within 150ft or so when everything started." Roland Reed wrote, "One day I was in "A" co. motor pool. They were fueling planes behind us. All at once, fire broke out blowing one plane after another. Parts were flying. We all jumped on a jeep and left promptly. After that they sand bagged between planes."

According to the 3rd Bombardment Wing History, there were four F-84s destroyed in this accident. An eye-witness account of the accident mentioned that quite a few individuals received Soldier's Medals for valor in towing aircraft out of danger while the munitions were cooking off. (Go to 8th BS Flightline Accident for more details.)

The central bomb dump was on the east side of the base, but munitions/bombs were carried to a prepositioned bomb storage areas within the squadron areas. Fortunately, the base had very few visits from the Po2 "Bed Check Charlie" heckler who would drop hand-held bombs in hopes of hitting something like a bomb dump.

Ken Mendell was a crew chief on an F-84E in the 429th FBS. Ken wrote, "We were located close to the Yellow Sea. In fact on a real windy day we got wet . Yellow sea was at one end of the runway . We had strip alert (2-planes ready to fly , pilots in cockpit) right down by the sea . Had Marine guards & dogs on the beach at nite. B-26s were on the taxi way from the runway & the 430th & the 428th were very close to the Yellow sea. We were at a right angle to the B-26s . My plane was the 3rd parking area from the B-26s. 2 planes to an area - entire taxi area & parking area were psp. Only the runway was concrete."

He added, "We had F-84Es when we left Japan in July of 1952. We landed in Kunsan to basically a bare air base. Psp taxi ways which became a tar hole in the hot weather. Runway was concrete." The 808th Engineering Aviation Battalion originally built the first 6300-foot concrete runway at K-8 to enable light bomber operations at Kunsan and was later joined by the 809th EAB to complete the extension to make it a 9000-foot runway. The taxiways were PSP (Pierced Steel Plating), but the turnoffs appeared to have been "marsden matting" (heavier steel version of the PSP). At a later date, the taxiways became tarmac which turned into "tar holes" in summer.

On the picture above Bill Smar a crew chief wrote, "On Page Two, there is a picture of aircraft 1612 that was involved in an accident. The accident was with aircraft 125. It was bad weather and they were too close on landing. Plane 125 ran up the side of 1612."

Roland Reed in the 808th EAB A Co. motorpool, wrote about an F-84 accident. "Fighter jets would take off at same time one would take off just ahead of the other. One of the pilots pointed to other pilot..."Fire!" He jumped out and ran. It blew up with a big hole in the runway. I've seen that." Jim Armstrong, a crew chief with the 428th FBS remembered it also. He said, "Another explosion I was fairly close to when it happened and was unable to find mentioned was when an F84 fully loaded with fuel and bombs caught fire as it was about to take off. I saw the pilot jump clear of the plane and run away, the crash crew came up to the aircraft and then a bomb exploded. From what I heard, there were several crash crew members killed and injured." The crash crew members were Korean nationals hired by K-8. This aborted flight was at the end of a runway near the labor office.

The pilot involved in this accident was Lowell K. Masley, then a 2Lt with the 429th FBS. Here is the story in his words.

"Here is how I remember that day, 23 Oct. 1952, @ K-8 Korea. Me and three other pilots in our squadron (the 429th Fighter Bomber Squadron) was on ALERT. This meant we had preflighted our assigned F-84E aircraft, had our parachute, helmet and oxygen mask in the cockpit, and was standing by in our Flight Operations tent dressed in our G-suit and May-west waiting for a Scramble call for close support of our troops on the Front Line. We finally got a call and scrambled to our A/C. I climbed the ladder to my cockpit and to my surprise my parachute was gone. I ran back to our personnel equipment tent to make sure my chute wasn't there. IT WAS GONE. I grabbed Lt. Neil G. Buckwald's chute since I knew he was not flying this day and he was about my size. The ground crew had my engine running when I got back to my A/C. When I strapped myself into my cockpit, I was unable to buckle my parachute to my dinghy since my borrowed chute was not properly adjusted to me. No time to correct this, so I taxied out to catch up with the rest of my flight. We were cleared onto the runway. I was in #4 position on the right wing of Lt. William E. Lee in #3 A.C. I made my engine run-up and check at 100% and all looked normal, I then reduced power to 98% and waited for the Brake release signal from Lt. Lee. After BRAKE RELEASE and after rolling only a few feet my engine compressor blew with a loud bang, and a bolt of flame flew out of my inlet duct. I got on the brakes to stop my roll, stop cocked the engine, turned off the fuel and all switches. By this time fire was all over out side of my F-84. Since I was not that familiar with my borrowed chute that had one central harness release button at my chest, I was unable to get out of my chute since the safety pin was not pulled. My oxygen hose also got tangled in my chute harness when I released my seat belt and my shoulder harness retracted. At this point I thought I had had it since my canopy was only half open. My left wing 50 cal machine gun started to cook off rounds and I heard a bang and thud under my A/C. I got a rush of adrenaline and pushed up out of my seat with my chute still on and jumped out the right side, since flames were blowing to the left. When I hit the ground I saw what caused the thud I had heard. Both wing pylons had blown off with their 500 pound bombs still attached and arming wires installed. Fuel was all over under the A/C and on fire. I crawled and ran as fast as I could to get away." "When I was about 200 Ft from my A/C I looked back and saw two firemen on the left, down wind side of the A/C. One was on the left wing and appeared to be looking for me in the cockpit. The other was on the ground but I could only only see his legs and what appeared to be a CO2 bottle he was carrying. As I started to yell and run back toward my A/C to let them know I was safe. I saw the ground fireman point the CO2 nozzle at one of the 500 pound bombs. The instant he fired the CO2 at the bomb one of the bombs exploded. I was knocked to the ground and the whole A/C was blown up. Gears from the engine rolled by me and an ammunition can with 300 rounds of 50 cal ammo landed within 3 Ft of me. I was very lucky, my only injury was a sore ankle I received when I jumped from my cockpit. Needless to say I was pretty much in shock by this time. Prior to the arrival of the fire trucks and ambulance I saw an Airman in pain full of shrapnel laying on the ground by a tug. I went to him to hold him down and comfort him till help arrived. It's my understanding the three U.S. Air Force firemen were killed and two of them had just got on our base." Lowell Masley standing next to wreckage Courtesy Lowell Masley (Click on photo to enlarge) "The F-84E that was assigned to me this day was A/C 50-1211. I'm not sure when and how it was assigned to the 429th squadron since it had red diagonal stripes on its tail. Our squadron A/C had blue tails. Also the best that I could find out about my parachute, was that it was due for repack in a few days and it was removed from my A/C and sent to repack and I was never notified." Courtesy Lowell Masley (Click on photo to enlarge)

David C. Smith was a medical technician of the 3rd Medical Group who also remembered this accident. (Go to 3rd Medical Group for more details on the unit.) As part of the crash crew team, he worked 24 hours on and 24 hours off. The crew was always on duty when aircraft took off or landed -- which meant that being on hand for the F-84s during the day and B-26s at night. He remembered the incident well. Dave wasn't on crash crew duty, but he was at the hospital when the fireman was brought in. He was badly burned and his arm was just about severed, but he was sitting erect on the stretcher. He mentioned that the call went out for blood that night. He mentioned that he'd never "felt so sad and proud at the same time" looking at that parking lot packed with blood donor volunteers. The parking lot was filled with people volunteering to give blood -- Air Force, Army, and Marines.

Dave Day as a member of 429th FBS "B" flight, along with former "B" flight chief Emmett Tucker, remembers another unusual F-84 landing. He wrote about "the F-84 that hung the fence surrounding the base on the approach over the Yellow with its nose wheel. The plane flipped over and landed on its back. The crash crew was on the scene were quick and lifted the plane up so that the pilot could be removed. The engine was still running."

But just being on the flightline was dangerous. Jack Barclay of the 8th Bomb Squadron wrote about an incident that was in the 429th. "I remember that ... one day an armament guy was getting one of the F-84s guns ready for a mission when a jet fuel truck was passing along on the taxi way heading east in front of the F-84s when the armament guy accidently shot off a round & it went in one side of the fuel truck & out the other, needless to say the fuel truck driver probably had go back to the barracks & change his underwear. They were very lucky no fire or explosion occurred."

There was another incident where there was a fire when they shot the truck. Gene Bowersox, an armorer with the 429th FBS Armament Section, wrote about an incident involving the explosion of the refueling truck. "As I recall the incident, " Gene says, "I was a couple fighter aircraft down, loading bombs. I heard a machine gun blast, and the refueling truck exploded into a ball of fire. The armament person had been loading ammo to the wing gun of the F-84 at the same time it was being fueled and the gun accidentally discharged. The driver of the refueling truck wasn't in the truck at the time. The truck driver seeing the tanker on fire, jumped in the truck and drove it safely away from the aircraft and then jumped out safely. Doug Iverson, a 429th FBS crewchief, said that he also was a couple of planes away and heard the same explosion and fire. Doug says that after the driver drove the truck across the taxi strip into the neutral area between the runway, the fire department arrived and foamed the burning rear section of the fuel tank. The driver disconnected the tractor portion of the truck from the trailer and drove it safely away. (NOTE: Doug Iverson passed on in October 2001. Godspeed, Doug.) Dave Day, a 429th crewchief, said the front of the plane was burned. Later the aft section was used on another aircraft that had damage from a MiG-15.

Ken Mendell of the 429th wrote, "First plane I had was 539. The first F-84E in Korea to complete 100 consecutive combat missions with out an abort. Written up in Air Force Times & Republic Aviation News. Lost the plane on its 152-153 consecutive mission to flak . Pilot was 2nd Lt. Les Garrow . Did not return in the exchange. Then got #516 & kept it until I rotated home in Apr 1953. Plane was hit by Mig 20mm in the aft section. 2nd Lt Bill Oliphant was the pilot. Set down at K-13. I still have several pieces of the shell. Hit the tail cone & splattered all over the aft section." (NOTE: Ken's aircraft were Republic F-84E-25-RE Thunderjets S/N 51-539 and S/N 51-516)

The article about "Little Joe" (539) in Republic Aviation News dated February 20, 1953 read, "'84' Racks Up 100 Missions Without Abort -- "Little Joe" Will Keep Flying Korean Combat -- "Little Joe," a U.S. Air Force F-84 Thunderjet of the 474th Fighter Bomber Wing, has passed the 100 mark in combat missions over Korea, but unlike the fighter bomber pilots who reach that mark, "Little Joe" is not going back to the United States. Instead it is continuing one of the top aircraft operation records in the Korean campaign -- 100 missions without a malfunction."

"One hundred times, "Little Joe" has flown north of the front carrying bombs, napalm and loaded machine guns to strike varied Communist targets -- supply areas, troop concentrations, rail lines, highways and supply traffic as well as battleline positions. Each time, "Joe" roared out at the mission and back to home without a single mechanical malfunction of any sort."

"During the 100 perfect missions "Little Joe" has been under the control of 34 different pilots who fired 36,789 round of .50 cal ammunitions and dropped 137,000 pounds of high explosives and 545 gallons of napalm."

The caption under the picture reads, "Crew chief Kenneth J. Mendell has service "Little Joe" before each of its 100 missions, carrying out the meticulous duties in jet maintenance. He has dubbed the T-Jet a "Flying Gibraltar."

Ken described his maintenance routine as a crewchief on the F-84s as follows: "The crewchiefs were not really interested in what type of mission they were flying, just about when they were due to return. Usual flying time was 2 to 2 1/2 hrs. Gave us time to eat , figure out various scheduled maintenance, when did we have time to perform & what was needed. All 100-hour majors (inspections) were performed at Itazuki & when the plane went the crewchief went too. A little break in the daily routine. About 3-4 days . All other maintenance was done there on the base .That included engine changes & any other needed maintenance. There was a rule 'The crew chief worked until his plane was back in service.' We helped each other when needed."

The picture above is typical of a crew chief in any war. Work is a flurry of activity to get the aircraft ready for its mission...going without food or sleep if necessary to get the job done. But once the aircraft is airborne, there's nothing to do but wait hopefully for the pilot's safe return. Dave Day is on the left and Ken Mendell is on the right. Dave Day wrote, "The picture at Kunsan was taken sometime around July or August,1952. We were apparently looking out over the Yellow Sea, possibly at returning planes. Note the B-26s in the background. This is not the way we were dressed when the planes returned. Everything buttoned up and in order to meet the planes and pilots." (NOTE: On November 3, 1999 in Longview, Texas the two met again...the first time since May, 1953.)

Aircraft 517

Dave Day was at Kunsan from July 10, 1952-May 17, 1953. He wrote, "Aircraft 517 (an "E" model) was one of the planes that came to Kunsan from Misawa. I was assistant crewchief on this plane before becoming crewchief. You will notice in the background the roof of a quonset type building. What this eventually becme, I believe, was a aircraft maintenance facility. You will also notice the sand bags on the side of the plane. These parking places held two planes with sandbags on each side. The dust cover was kept on the plane at all times while the plane was parked."

He went on, "Behind my right leg is the cover screen that was applied while the planes taxied in order to keep out the foreign materials. Each screen had the plane number on it. There were men who were assigned ot remove these cover screens (screen detail) once the plane had reached the runway in prepartaion for take off. The screens were then returned to each parking place."

"The PSP (Pierced Steel Planking) showing under the plane extended along the taxi way to the main runway as well as all cross taxiways. As you will note, the PSP was not clean as dirt from rain or snow, along with the planes engine exhaust while taxiing kept it that way. I remained crewchief on 517 until around 18 April 1953 at which time I and a whole bunch of others were assigned to a night maintenance crew. This was a part of the reorganization called for by the 49th Fighter Bomber Wing upon the switch on 1 April 1953."

Aircraft 218

218 Taxiing

"Aircraft 218 was one of the first "G" models assigned to the squadron. It is taxiing to the east end of the runway. The background will be to the north. The long shed-like building in the background was where we would do major maintenance in the winter time. It was open and afforded only the keeping of rain or snow from falling on you. We would try to keep warm with the use of ground heaters. It was hard to work on a plane in any weather with a heavy coat or gloves on. We would use wing and tail covers to make a tent and run the heater hose under it. In addition to being crewchief on 517, I was also the assistant crewchief on 218. Doug Iverson was the crewchief on 218. He and I would work together on these two planes healping each other with regular maintenance and major maintenance."

Engine Change

"The engine hanging from the "A" frame hoist is the J-35 used in the F-84 at the time we were in Korea. We pretty well had the engine change down with not much lost time. You will note I am standing on a hard stand. These were used primarily as a compass rose, but were useful for engine change. It was hard to pull the aft section and engine on the PSP, although it was done when the compass rose was not available."

David Day

"The picture of myself is facing to the south. In the background on the left (my right) is the ground maintenance tent where power units for starting the aircraft, tugs, oxygen bottles, wing and fuselage jacks and so were maintained. Behind me are the operations, engineering, quartermaster, radio and electronics, gun sight, sheet metal tents. To the left (my right) out of sight was the tool tent. This contained special tools needed for certain maintenance work such as torque wrenches for securing the trunion mounts and aft section to the aircraft, and the jacks mentioned above. (NOTE: B-26s in the background)."

In Cockpit

"The picture in the cockpit shows the hot guns sign. We were apparently preparing the plane for the next mission while I am trying to act like I know what I am doing."

Dom Grimaldi served with the 430th Fighter Bomber Squadron as a F-84E crew chief. He said "I was stationed at K8 from July 52 to Feb 53. My aircraft's number was 681. From what I remember we didn't get much sleep. The planes had to be ready to fly at all times, even if it meant working all night. We used to fly 2 missions a day, just about everyday. I have one outstanding memory and that is of my plane with my pilot Lt. James A. Qualls was the first damage claim against a MiG 15." Another former crew chief who's checked in on this page is Phil Crear. He said, "I served at K8 during the Korean war with Ken and was a crew chief on several F-84's during the 474th FBW's tour of duty there between 1952-1953."

Maintenance/Ops Huts next to the 474th ramp (428th/430th)
(Courtesy Ken Mendell)

430th Ops tent for Pilots Briefing (Click on photo to enlarge)
(Courtesy Wes Jacobson)

Three pilots from the 429th FBS vacate their briefing hut and stroll out to the flightline at Kunsan. The weather for the day's mission is clear, but bitterly cold. (From F-84 Thunderjet Units over Korea (Bill Oliphant)) (Click on photo to enlarge)

The picture above is of the 430th Operations tent. Wes Jacobson said, "The tent that we used for our Operations section located north of the taxiway that parallels the NE-SW runway about halfway down the runway." Ken Mendell described how they made do with makeshift buildings. "We built small shacks out of bomb crates for each group . Had , I believe 4 groups per SQ. A, B, C, & D." These types of flightline facilities were typical of the time. These makeshift huts built from the bomb crates were elevated off the ground a few feet with steps in the front. The tops were covered with tent tarps. Normally there were "duck walks" -- a slat-boardwalk laid down over the ground to keep you from walking in the mud. On the sides of the roads were "slit trenches" used for air raid exercises -- but near some buildings there were sandbag bunkers. During the 1952 time period, there was a great fear that the Chinese would attack the base from the air so the base constantly had air raid exercises. Ken mentioned that the 429th shacks were located in the area between the runway and the taxiway directly across from the 429th area.

430th FBS F-84s wore some of the brightest markings in-theater, as this recently-arrived replacement jet clearly reveals. (From F-84 Thunderjet Units over Korea (Robert Gilliland)) (Click on photo to enlarge)

Ken went on, "Planes parked in sand bag area's - 2 planes per area. Plane had 6 machine guns (4 in the nose ,1 in each wing). Could carry 2-1000 # bombs. We carried a lot of napalm user for close troop support. Flew a lot of nite flights to area's specified by the powers to be . Planes all had 230 gal. tip tanks. Tips were not to jettisoned unless in real emergencies." Ken added, "Our planes normally took off over the Yellow Sea. In fact we had one plane lose power and crash in the sea. Pilot got out ok . During the summer our planes needed JATO assist to get off the ground when fully loaded."

RATO (rocket-assisted takeoff) gear made it easier for Thunderjets laden with heavy ordnance to blast their way into the air, especially on hot days when a long takeoff run was inevitable. This F-84E Thunderjet belonged to the 182nd FBS/136th FBG at Taegu in 1951. Wayne Jenkins (Click on photo to enlarge) (From The Korean Air War by Robert Dorr and Warren Thompson)

Ken added later that "We used time delay, booby trapped & standard impact fuses. Depended on the type of mission." He went on, "We flew more day missions than nite missions. Usually had 1000# on for nite. As I said before we used standard contact fuses, time delay & booby trapped fuses. (1/2 turn trying to take out & bomb went off.) (Go to Warning Leaflets for examples of leaflets to warn North Korean civilians of these booby-trapped bombs.) The time-delay and booby-trapped bombs (using tail fuses) were used primarily for road interdiction or railway cuts. Though Ken related that the missions of the 474th were primarily day missions, his comments that the F-84s were used on "nite flights" is interesting. CAS during the night is extremely dangerous -- especially in mountainous areas. He added that there was only one night flight per day that took off early in the evening and returned between 10 and 12 o'clock.

How We Did Business in the Air at Kunsan:

According to Officers in Flight Suits, The Story of American Air Force Fighter Pilots in the Korean War, by John Darrell Sherwood, 1996, (pp 98-99), "The life of a fighter-bomber pilot was hazardous and often short. Typically, fighter-bomber pilots flew lower-performance planes and exposed themselves daily to more hostile ground fire than the typical fighter-interceptor. Overall, only 147 Air Force planes were lost in air-to-air combat; by comparison, over 816 planes were shot down by ground fire. As Raymond Sturgeon, a pilot with the 35th squadron of the 8th Group, put it, "I had friends in 86s who never saw a MiG their entire tour, but we got fired on every mission with high-powered guns that shot golf balls at you." Sturgeon's squadron lost "a pilot or two" every week, and losses like these were not unusual. Perrin Gower, another pilot in Sturgeon's squadron, claimed that five of the ten pilots he shared his hut with were killed, and Howard Heiner, a pilot in the 12th Squadron of the 18th Wing, remembers one week when seven pilots in his squadron were shot down."

The book continues, "Far and away the greatest danger to the fighter-bomber were anti-aircraft (AA) weapons. The Communist AA effort was concentrated to cover the areas sound of the Chongchon River that the MiGs did not patrol. Bridges were especially well defended, but even along standard stretches of track, the Communist forces deployed anti-aircraft emplacements every four miles. ... However the weapons that pilots feared most were not these big guns, but small caliber 37-millimeter automatic weapons operated by regular Chinese and North Korean troops." The book explains (p100), "Small caliber anti-aircraft weapons presented such a dangerous threat for the fighter bomber because they were indiscriminate and easily hidden in so-called flak traps. Regional militia and repair troops would guard important interdiction routes by creating large barriers of small arms fire. These troops also strung wire cables between hills to thwart low-level attack, and created elaborate ambushes using tanks as bait to lure U.N. aircraft into carefully configured "kill zones of automatic weapons."

It continued (p101), "Superior flying could not warn you of hidden flak, nor could it necessarily save you in a typical bomb run. All a pilot could do was minimize his exposure to fire by employing a steep angle of attack in a bomb run; however, exposure was still unavoidable. Such daily, involuntary risk taking made fighter-bombers much more fatalistic than their fighter-interceptor brethren...lived a life of uncertainty, praying every day that their luck would hold out."

This "ditty" was posted inside the 474th FBG's Operations building at Kunsan (from F-84 Thunderjet Units over Korea (Cale Henry))

However, the job of the fighter-bomber was often messy and brutal. Everything became "up-close and personal." Views of "mass killings" were routine. Napalming enemy columns advancing on friendly ground forces or strafing enemy troops in the trenches were justifiable, but how about civilians working on railroads or in villages. Each pilot handled this dilemma differently. Most simply said that anyone above the 38th Parallel was "the enemy." A village filled with civilians became "a troop concentration." This was the nature of the beast...this was their mission. Many also felt their missions were fruitless...to blow up a bridge that the Reds would repair in two hours...and they would be back again tomorrow to do the same job over.

Wes Jacobson, a pilot with the 430th, mentioned an incident illustrating the hazards with Variable Time fuses. "Another of our 430th pilots had bombs loaded with VT fuses and shortly after take-off, his airplane blew up and landed in a cemetery just east of K-8, We think that the safety wire for the propeller driven Variable Time fuse came off while taxiing and the bomb went off when he flew into a flock of ducks flying at night. The fuses were, I think, set for about 75 feet."

Lt Wes Jacobson is seen flying the wing commander's Thunderjet during a Rescap mission deep into North Korea. Aside from its distinctive tricolor markings, the aircraft also wears the 430th FBS badge below its cockpit. The large centerline tank is filled with survival gear to ge dropped to the downed pilot. Its contents would help him survive until a helicopter could be flown into the aira to winch him to safety. Retrieving pilots that had been shot down over enemy territory was never easy. (From F-84 Thunderjet Units over Korea (Wes Jacobson)) (Click on photo to enlarge)

In The Korean Air War by Robert Dorr and Warren Thompson (p128), Richard E. (Whitey) Ortman recalled, "...interdiction, consisting mainly of cutting the railroads in North Korea. After we dropped our bombs we were free to do armed recce until the fuel state required a departure for home. The problem with these rail-cut missions was that the people fragging the sorties for some reason used the same targets and the same times, day after day. 'Hit the rails between such and such coordinates with takeoff time at 0800,'or whatever."

"That got us to the target at the same time every day. the enemy gunners, in the same locations every day, could set their watches by when we rolled in on the bomb run." He continued, "We usually did skip-bombing on the rails, dropping our bombs from an altitude of 100-200ft. We had time-delay fuses so we could drop that low without getting blown out of the sky by our own bombs. As we cut the rail lines, they repaired them at night. Then we appeared again the next morning and cut them again. If we had a stretch of track entering a tunnel, the objective was to try to throw the bombs into the mouth of the tunnel. This, we were sure, would require more time to repair. They didn't have much equipment moving by day but occasionally someone would find a locomotive, or truck convoy. More frequently it would be a limited amount of rolling stock on a siding or length of track and we would bomb and strafe those cares which may or may not contain anything of importance. Some of our interdiction missions were against airfields around Pyongyang or elsewhere, but they were rather sterile (no parked aircraft) and never represented a good target."

"One of my most significant impressions about our operations over North Korea was that there was a paucity of valid targets. All the factories seemed to have already been bombed out, the airfields were without operational aircraft, the trains were hidden in tunnels by day, the rail cars to be found had already been strafed or were empty and wouldn't blow up."

F-84 touching down at K-8.
Click on photo to enlarge
(Courtesy Harold Locke)

However, there was some friction between the F-84 jocks and the F-86 jocks. Basically, the F-84 pilots felt that they were doing the dangerous interdiction work but receiving no credit, while the F-86 pilots would bask in the spotlight after shooting down a MiG. According to Officers in Flight Suits, The Story of American Air Force Fighter Pilots in the Korean War (p 102), "A village bombed was not the same as a MiG destroyed --no visible status symbols were awarded and rarely was the press interested in hearing bomber stories. Aces such as James Jabara and Joseph McConnell had their pictures plastered in such national magazines as Life, Look, an Time... Fighter-bombers, on the other hand, only received attention in service-oriented journals, such as the Air Force Times and Air Force Magazine: napalming a village or suspected troop concentration was hardly as romantic as shooting down a sleek MiG. No titles,parties, or awards were given for bombing five villages. In fact, a fighter-bomber only received a party after his death or his hundredth mission -- whichever came first."

In The Korean Air War (p133), Joseph Levinger comments on this friction. Levinger wrote, "In August 1952, 1st Lt. C. Joseph (Chuck) Levinger arrived at Kunsan Air Base in south west South Korea to begin flying tough air-to-ground missions in the F-84E. "The F-84 was used for interdiction, close-support, and all air-to-ground work,"remembers Levinger, "so each and every one of our missions was a story in itself. Unlike the F-86s, whioch sometimes flew a lot of missions without firing a shot, we always returned to base with our gun ports blackened."

At Kunsan Air Base, also called K-8, in late 1952, lst Lt. J. Charles Levinger of the 429th FBS/474thFBW looks carefully at a 1000lb(454kg) bomb hanging from his F-84E Thunderjet before a mission. Levinger's hand is on one of the four sway braces that held the bomb steady in flight. His attire includes a Mae West life jacket over his .45cal pistol. The backpack fastened to his parachute cotntained extra ammunition, an emergency feed package, an American flag, a ground-to-air radio for rescue work, "plus anything else you could stuff into the backpack." J. Charles Levinger (From The Korean Air War by Robert Dorr and Warren Thompson)

"I lost a wingman right in front of my eyes. He was Bill Oliphant, a good pilot. I received heavy ground fire and damage while flying on the wing commander's wing. I sealed off a rail tunnel with napalm bombs after chasing a train into the tunnel. The napalm takes the oxygen out of the air, so all would die from suffocation in not from the bomb blast. I was awarded the DFC for a hairy and somewhat unusual close support mission (soon afterward). I took part in a napalm run on the parade field at graduation time for the North Korean 'West Point' class. This proved that our (intelligence reporting was) not always just rumors." Because they took the F-84 down into the maw of the enemy's guns, Thunderjet pilots like Levinger felt that their role in the conflict was very special, if often little recognized." (NOTE: Bill Oliphant is alive and well -- as shown by his writeups below. The U.S. Air Force in Korea (p517) talks about the 4 July raid on North Korea's Military Academy near the Yalu and some 50 miles northeast of Antung. "The fighter-bombers successfully evaded MIG interceptors who got through the Sabre screen, but they turned in relatively poor bombing results.")

Another reason for the friction was that often the F-86s were supposed to provide a MiG cap to protect the Fighter Bombers from attack during their bombing runs. The F-86s were sitting at 30,000 feet watching for contrails from the north. Unfortunately, the seasoned Russian pilots simply came in low without any tell-tale contrail and attacked the heavily laden F-84s.

In providing Close Air Support (CAS) to ground units, the fighter-bombers relied heavily on the TACPs (Tactical Air Control Parties) on the ground or the T-6 "Mosquitoes" aircraft acting as airborne tactical air coordinators. These Mosquitoes, along with assigning TACPs to every regiment and setting up a tactical air control net for Eighth Army, improved Air Force CAS. However, due to the "Mosquitoes" vulnerability they were restricted to within two miles of friendly lines and the very limited radios of the Mosquitoes quickly led to saturation under heavy usage. FEAF shifted its emphasis to air interdiction but continued to provide CAS; however, even with the static ground environment, CAS was not very responsive. Clearly the ability to rapidly respond to emergency needs for CAS was never established in Korea.

One pilot commented on CAS missions in The Korean Air War (p128), "Close-air-support missions were rather mundane. Being near the front lines, there wasn't much 'heavy stuff' to shoot at us and you just located the T-6 FAC and dropped bombs and/or napalm and strafed where he marked the target. There was some light AA there because when we went over those areas early in the morning, just before daylight, you could see all the red balls coming up at you that you couldn't see during daylight. Then you knew they were shooting at you like that all day, but in daylight it was not nearly as impressive."

Early in the war, the FEAF attempted to use F-84s for B-29 escorts but the MiG-15s simply cut them to pieces. They were outclassed by the MiG fighter. The MiG-15 could only be matched with the F-86s. Edward Unser of the 154th FS, 136th FBG in the "Korean War Project said, "What bothered us the most was anti-aircraft (AA) fire which caused most of our losses. After all, the MIGs were after the B29s, not the F84s. Of course the story was different when we were on interdiction missions. But the F84 was not very good at escorting B29s because the MIGs were slightly faster and, with swept-back wings, could dive much faster. They also could climb faster than the F84s. The F84 escort pilots felt bad because we couldn't keep the MIGs away from the B-29s."

Republic F84E Thunderjet

Thus the "straight-wing" F-84Es became the workhorses conducting daylight interdiction. According to the J.Baugher site, "These first-generation F-84s were equipped with straight wings, which limited their maximum speed but improved their ability to carry heavy external loads. With this capability, they were assigned the primary role of ground-attack aircraft and were used successfully in Korea. The Thunderjet saw extensive use during the Korean War, primarily for ground attack and interdiction missions. Almost daily, the F-84s attacked enemy railroads, bridges, supply depots and troop concentrations with bombs, rockets and napalm." For ordinance it could carry an offensive load of two 1000-pound bombs, or two 1200-lb 11.75-inch "Tiny Tim" rockets carried on the inboard underwing pylons. For short ranges, an array of 32 five-inch rockets could be carried underneath the wings.

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