Congratulations to the Survivors of the Korean War & 50 Additional Years.

[John C Cheek <johncheek1@juno.com>]

Today, on this 50th anniversary of the end of fighting in the Korean War,
 I though you might like to hear my combat flying story. Too bad, I'm
telling it anyway! :-)

For a time during the Korean War, I ran the message center and mailroom
for a communications reconnaissance battalion. Our head honcho, a West
Point Major, decided that I should fly the mail and classified material
to our Detachments in each Division on the front line.

We landed at one airstrip in the 1st Marine Division that had boulders in
the runway the size of cantaloupes (OK, apples). The runway ended at the
edge of a cliff along the Imjin River. The pilot was a redheaded cocky
devil-may-care fellow who delighted in scaring the hell out of me. He
would aim at the cliff then pop the L-19 up at the last few seconds and
drop onto the runway. Then he'd taxi the L-19 swiftly down the runway,
turn around and pause briefly while I exchanged packages with a man from
our Detachment. He wouldn't stop long for fear of getting some Chinese
artillery zeroed in on us. Then he'd charge down the runway and drop over
the edge of the cliff as we went airborne.

He also liked to skim along the ground to give me a good view of the
terrain then pull up suddenly and hang the L-19 on its prop for awhile.
Then he'd dive at the ground and skim again for awhile. After a few
flights I decided to "share" the scenic flying duty with the rest of the
men in headquarters and sold the idea to Major "Honcho".

Later, I just transferred up to the front and manned a listening bunker
for the last three months of the war. I don't think it was any more
dangerous than flying in that L-19 and it paid much better - $50 a month
extra for combat pay.