New York chapter history of Military Medicine Award: U.S. Army Medical helicopters in the Korean War

Military Medicine, Apr 2001 by Driscoll, Robert S

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"On August 18, 1951, a platoon from the 23rd US Infantry Regiment came under a mortar attack while on patrol in the `Punch Bowl.' The enemy fired 10-15 mortar rounds, which seriously wounded and killed several men. The patrol immediately withdrew with its wounded and dead, and notified the battalion surgeon. The surgeon requested two helicopters to aid in evacuating the wounded.

`"The mission was given to Captain Arne H. Eliasson, of the 8192nd Army Helicopter Unit. He was airborne and over the area in twenty minutes. As Captain Eliasson approached, the patrol was still withdrawing in a single file, and he saw the wounded being carried on litters and by piggyback. He landed safely, and as two wounded men were being strapped to the stretcher platforms, two mortar rounds landed 50 yards away. The infantry immediately scattered or fell to the ground, and Captain Eliasson climbed into the cockpit, and flew the wounded away."16

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Another evacuation involved not only enemy fire but also flying at night behind enemy lines. "On August 2, 1952, Captain Hubert D. Gaddis of the 8193rd Army Unit was informed that a Republic of Korea Army unit occupying an isolated outpost urgently required medical aid for a seriously wounded soldier. Upon learning that the man needed immediate surgery, Captain Gaddis volunteered to pilot the helicopter to the battle area. Accompanied by an interpreter, Captain Gaddis flew to the outpost, which extended approximately three thousand yards into enemy territory, and made a successful landing. On the ground he was constantly exposed to enemy observation and fire while he supervised the loading of the wounded soldier and then flew his helicopter to a medical unit."17

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In addition to the enemy threat, other hazardous factors involved the environment. Captain Harry G. Jennings displayed yet another example of courage on the afternoon of November 16, 1952. On this day, "Captain Jennings volunteered to evacuate a wounded man to a hospital by helicopter, even though increasingly unfavorable weather conditions threatened to make the flight exceedingly hazardous. Flying in extremely turbulent air through heavy fog, rain, and snow, Captain Jennings reached the location where the injured man was lying and made a total of fourteen attempts to land his helicopter. Because of strong gusts of air, which threatened to throw the aircraft out of control, the attempts were unsuccessful. Less than half an hour later, he flew back to the scene over jagged mountain peaks, succeeded in landing the helicopter, and transported the injured soldier to a hospital."18

These and all other medical evacuations were carried out by nonmedical aviators. These men were branch immaterial (infantry, armor, signal corps, and transportation) officers who did not have formal medical training before the conflict. In an attempt to fill this gap, the medical staff at the MASHs provided as much medical training as possible to the pilots in the treatment of patients. The pilots highly respected the medical staff for the long work hours they spent caring for the patients brought to them. The medical staff sometimes worked 72 hours without reprieve. This prompted many pilots to help in any way they could when they were not flying. It was not uncommon to find pilots assisting in the operating room as well as in the preoperative and postoperative areas. As a last note, Medical Service Corps pilots did not arrive in Korea until 1953, after the fighting had ceased.