HISTORY

F-51D Mustang flown by

Major Murrit H. Davis,

dubbed ‘Sexy Sally II’, drops

napalm during an attack

on industrial targets on

January 1, 1951.

photo: US Defense Imagery

rementioned F-51s, and two of the Il-10s went

down in short order, courtesy of 2nd Lt. Orrin E.

Fox while 1st Lt. Harry T. Sandlin shot down one.

Both of these pilots hailed from the 80th FBS, and

a fourth Il-10 was downed by 1st Lt. Richard Burns

of the 35th FBS. Some sources identify Fox’s and

Sandlin’s victims as either Jak-9s or La-7s instead of Il-10s. One probable kill was attributed to

1st lt. Eugene R. Hanson (36th FBS), and this was

likely a Yak-9. Sadly, three of these volunteers

didn’t live to see the end of 1950. Burns, Sandlin and Hanson all were killed after returning to

their units and to flying the F-80s. In fact, during

the first year of the war, seven of the original ten

American Bout One pilots perished…

Major Dean Hess being

given the treatment

by ground crew after

completing his 100th

mission in Korea.

photo: U.S. Air Force

Historical Excursion

The Korean Peninsula was under the control of the Japanese as of 1905, something supported by an agreement with Great Britain whereby Britain agreed to recognize Japanese

interests in the area in exchange for Japanese recognition of British interests in China.

Under this umbrella of agreements reminiscent in some ways of other shameful British

acts of diplomacy (such as the Munich Agreement that betrayed Czechoslovakia in 1938),

was followed by the Treaty of Portsmouth which secured similar such recognition from

the Russian Empire, and the Taft-Kacur Memorandum that ensured more or less the

same from the Americans. This developed into there being nothing stopping the Japanese from establishing a protectorate over Korea in 1910, who’s first Japanese Governor-General was Terauchi Masatake. The Japanese removed Korean Emperor Sunjong and

gradually took over all the major posts in the country. Japanese rule brought with it hunger, torture and slavery. Korean Christians were crucified and burned. Peaceful protests

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for freedom in 1919 were brutally put down and around 550 people were murdered. The

Japanese did what they could to basically eradicate the Korean identity. Schools were

taught exclusively in Japanese, publishing in Korean was outlawed, it was forbidden to

study Korean history and there were Korean book burnings. Hundreds of thousands of

Koreans were sent to Japan or her occupied territories for forced labor and many Korean women were forced into sexual slavery for the benefit Japanese soldiers. Korean

men were forced to fight in the ranks of the Japanese, and at times, the Chinese, army.

The end of the Second World War signaled the end of thirty-five years of the tyranny.

Already in November, 1943, the Cairo Conference declared the independence of Korea as

one of its objectives in the war against Japan, and Koreans could thus hope for peace and

prosperity immediately after the end of hostilities. However, the situation would travel

down a different road…

July 2022