Re: Book review: Red Wings Over the Yalu: China, the Soviet Union and the Air War in Korea

[Ed Evanhoe <evanhoe@arbuckleonline.com>]

Dan,

>>At 01:15 PM 6/10/2003 -0400, you wrote:
> That is nuts..
Did not know about the Bomber cabal as you call them..<<

What is "nuts?"  Don't know to what you are referring?  The fact ROK only 
had L-4s when the war began?  Or the AF senior staff at the time (Bomber 
Cabal)  consisted of generals who believed strategic bombing and the A-bomb 
would win the next war so there was little need for close air support 
aircraft/units?

> >>From Cookies list of KW shootdown we lost a lost of B26's.<<
True, but like the F-51, most were hurriedly brought back on line from 
various Air Force bone yards when it was belatedly recognized when the war 
began the Air Force didn't have sufficient active close air support 
aircraft/units.

> >>Also despite the cry that the Mustang was not a good close air support AC
> it seems we lost a whole lot of AD's, F4U, F7F as well.<<
True so what's your point?

> >>From your emails I get the feeling our close air support was good but not
> great. Though NK did not have anything close to what we had.<<
Close air support left much to be desired in the first few months of the 
war but improved greatly as time went on.  As for the DPRKAF, it was not a 
major factor after the first few days of the war but DPRKA armor and 
self-propelled artillery were.

> >>Between the wars there must have been a TON political fighting, asset
> stripping, consolidating, arbitrage.  New age thinking such as a the 
> Department of Defense, new US Air Force, keeping the Marines, reassigning 
> of the Coast Guard, a CIA.
All true.

Ed
Ed Evanhoe, PO Box 916, Antlers, OK, 74523-0916
Life Member: Special Forces & Special Operations Associations
Author:  DARKMOON:  Eighth Army Special Operations in the Korean War