The Graybeards – KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

INCHON ELATION
Home by Christmas
Korea – October, 1950
On 15 September, 1950, our Army,
Navy and Marines conducted an
audacious but highly successful
seaborne invasion through the 18 foot tides
at the Port of Inchon ... far, far behind the
enemy’s then-current front lines.
We were cheered to hear that Kimpo
airfield was recaptured on the first day of
the offensive and the troops were moving
to retake the city of Seoul. On the following
morning, I was elated as I took off
from our newly-reactivated Pusan air base
(designated: ‘K-9’) with a flight of four,
into the morning scud which remained
from the recent passage of Typhoon
‘Kezia’, searching for likely targets along
the perimeter area west and north of our
beleaguered Taegu base.
But with the continuing pressure by the
Red troops in the south, taking more and
more South Korean territory as they continued
to outflank us around the southwest
coast, we couldn’t help but wonder if the
results of the Inchon landings might be
anticlimactic ... just a few days too late...
and that we would be forced to evacuate
our newly-opened base at Pusan before the
results of the Inchon pressure could be
realized.
Our flight ranged northwesterly, following
the Naktong River to Sonsan, just
west of Taegu, where, as we topped the
crest of the near bank, I absolutely could
not believe what I found ... a panic-stricken
Red Army was running headlong, trying
Unsung Heroes of the Korean Air War
by
Duane E. ‘Bud’ Biteman,
Lt Col, USAF, Ret
to wade across the summer-shallow river...
out in the open, in broad daylight. And, for
the time being at least, few slowed to shoot
at us.
I maneuvered our four Mustangs northward
a short distance, to a flat, level area
where we could swing around while
remaining at low level, to position ourselves
to release the eight napalm bombs
onto the river upstream of the massed
North Korean troops, allowing the flaming,
floating jellied-gasoline to spread and
engulf the full width of the shallow river
We separated into pairs for subsequent
attacks, which we flew repeatedly back
and forth along the river banks, strafing as
we went, taking turns to keep from interfering
with each others’ gunnery patterns.
The Naktong River was soon ‘flowing
red’; literally, with the blood of a thousand
routed enemy troops.
Working my way still further north, into
a narrow canyon between two steep hills, I
found a group of Red soldiers trying to pull
a truck across the river on a small raft
attached to a long cable stretched to the
west shore. I was able to take a bead on the
truck by simply turning a few degrees,
then launched all six of my big 5” rockets
at one time.
With but a short “Whooooosh” the
rockets hit the water several yards short of
the raft, the exploding water tipping the
truck onto its side into the river, rather than
destroying it, while sending up a massive
wall of water to about 100 feet in the air.
The narrow canyon walls, rising
sharply from the river, prevented my making
any kind of evasive turn that would
enable me to miss the sudden watery barrier
which was directly in my path of flight.
I had never before flown into a watery
barricade, of any size, and had absolutely
no idea what the impact force of my 325
mph speed would have on the structure of
my airplane... even had I been allowed
more than a short instant of time to think
about it before running head-on into my
self-induced hazard.
My instantaneous reaction to the problem
was an immediate exclamation of
“Oooooooh Sheeee-it ...I’ve done it
now!!” while I pulled back on the control
stick as I ran head-on into the massive
muddy-green wall of water.
With a great “Splat,” the windscreen
was covered, and for a brief micro-second
I was reminded of taking a car through an
automatic car wash, then, just as quickly, I
was through it and into the clear air on the
other side ... none the worse for the experience,
except for a few more grey hairs than
I’d had just a few moments before.
The slaughter of the retreating North
Koreans continued all along the former
battle lines; small pockets of temporary
resistance in the vicinity of Chinju and
Kumchon, were quickly eliminated by the
focus of our air attacks, after which they,
too, broke out into the open, trying to
escape to the north, making themselves all
the more vulnerable to our strafing runs.
The Red Army was suddenly being decimated
... leaving all of their artillery,
trucks, tanks and supplies in their wake as
they tried to save themselves by running
into the hills.
Our troops tried to chase them, capturing
many thousands in the process, but
many were able to simply remove their
uniforms and blend into the masses of
South Korean refugees struggling toward
the south.
The complexion of the war had completely
reversed itself in just a few short
days. There was not much question about
which side would “win,” it was becoming
just a matter of “how long will it take to
wipe up the stragglers?”
We began to have flights coming back
with their bombs and rockets because they
could not find any worthwhile targets.
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