Sikorsky’s HO3S-1 design was the first naval helicopter to see widespread service beginning in December 1945, but at the start of the Korean War there were two Navy HO3S-1 helicopters in the theater.

 https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-ho3s-1-famous-for-its-portrayal-in-the-movie-the-bridges-at-toko-ri-was-the-first-navy-helicopter-to-replace-fixed-wing-aircraft-operating-with-the-fleet/

Veterans of the United States Army’s Dustoff medical evacuation aircrews will receive a Congressional Gold Medal for their extraordinary heroism and life-saving actions during the Vietnam War.

3,000 aircrew members of this elite group flew medevac helicopters into the jungles of Vietnam to rescue and transport wounded United States military personnel from the battlefield to medical facilities.

These brave men had a one-in-three chance of being killed or wounded when flying rescue missions in Vietnam, and over the course of the war Dustoff saved 900,000 lives.

18 and 19 year old men flying unarmed helicopters into battle, at night, in the rain, and multiple times a day, to rescue our wounded and fly them back to medical facilities.

George (Huey gunship side door gunner) wrote this (following) in the comments, but I think it belongs here too... so, thank you again George! 

    "there were two groups I put above our own gunships. 

US Infantrymen and Dustoff crews. 

At the 25th Infantry base camp at Cu Chi and probably other big base camps we had a small building on the airfield that we and other units would rotate night standbys in the event the base came under attacks. 

We kept a pair of gunship there and would sleep there in our clothes. Had a hard line telephone to our operations building that was open 24-7. 

Ships had all necessary switches in the on position. If we got the call to help some unit or Dust Off we were cranking power within a minute. 

One pilot on the controls and one on the maps and making contact with the unit in need. Weather never kept us down. If it was a Dust Off mission we would be talking to them as we flew. Once there they and us would have most all aircraft lights off. The ground troops would talk that ship in then turn on a small pin light pointed straight up. As they started down they would not be able to see what the landing area looked like so they might turn on their big landing light to see if there were any tree trumps, craters etc. 

Usually the bad guys would open up on them and we would open up on them. 

Quite a fireworks show. 

Our biggest customer day or night was the 2/27th Wolfhounds of the 25th

Our ID and our money was no good in their NCO or Officers' club at Cu Chi.

I always like the night missions as it was really peaceful to and from the AO.

  https://www.huntonak.com/news/vietnam-war-veterans-to-receive-congressional-gold-medal

https://www.stripes.com/migration/dustoff-it-s-no-time-for-second-guessing-1.24902

https://www.moaa.org/micro/vietnam-unchronicled/vietnamdustoff/

 thank you George!

Reckless, a horse born in June 1948 in South Korea, bred to be a racehorse, but never had a chance to race because the Korean War broke out in 1950 when she was two-years-old. The Marine Corps not only fell in love with her - but honored her and promoted her every chance they got.

a small (14 hands, 900 lbs)  Mongolian mare named Reckless became a National hero in 1954 when an article ran in the Saturday Evening Post about her heroics during several battles in the Korean War.

She was estimated to be three or four years old when purchased by the United States Marine Corps for $250 in October 1952 from a Korean stableboy at the Seoul racetrack who needed money to buy an artificial leg for his sister who had stepped on a land mine. She was trained to be a pack horse and used to carry ammunition and supplies for the Recoilless Rifle Platoon of the 5th Marine Regiment.

But it wasn’t long before Sergeant Reckless proved herself to be much more than just a pack animal. She quickly learned to navigate the treacherous terrain of the Korean War, carrying supplies and evacuating wounded soldiers to safety without hesitation. She often travelled to deliver supplies on her own, without a handler. In fact, she became so vital to the unit that they renamed themselves the “Reckless Rifle Platoon.”

On one particularly harrowing day, Sergeant Reckless made 51 trips to the front lines, carrying over 9,000 pounds of supplies and ammunition. She was hit by shrapnel twice, but she refused to stop working. She even made the trip up and down the steep and rocky hills with a wounded soldier on her back.

The Marines were very fond of her, feeding her treats like beer, Coca-Cola, and scrambled eggs. They even built her a special tent to sleep in, and she was allowed to roam freely through the camp.

Her most significant accomplishment came during the Battle Outpost Vegas/Vegas Hill in March '53, when she made 51 solo trips in a single day, carrying a total of 386 recoilless rounds (over 9,000 pounds, carrying four to eight 24-pound shells on each trip) covering over 35 miles that day. 

When not on the front lines, Reckless packed other items for the platoon, and was particularly useful for stringing telephone wire. Carrying reels of wire on her pack that were played out as she walked, she could string as much wire as twelve men on foot.

She became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing when the 5th moved from Camp Casey to Inchon, planning to participate in amphibious landings hundreds of miles south of Inchon.3] The commanding officer of the transport halted loading operations when he saw the platoon on the dock with Reckless. He refused to take her on board his clean ship, which had won an award for being the cleanest ship in the previous two years.

She was allowed on board after the Marines produced the loading plan, approved by him, which specifically listed Reckless and her equipment.

It wasn’t just the Marines that served with her in the trenches that honored her, her last promotion to Staff Sergeant was by the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

She also became the first horse in the Marine Corps known to have participated in an amphibious landing, and following the war was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, inclusion in her unit's Presidential Unit Citations from two countries,

After the Korean War, Sergeant Reckless retired to Camp Pendleton, California, where she lived out the rest of her days. She passed away in 1968, but her legacy lived on. She was the first animal to be officially promoted to the rank of Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, and she was recognized by LIFE Magazine as one of America’s 100 all-time heroes.

https://sgtreckless.com/about-reckless

https://www.horsejournals.com/popular/history-heritage/sergeant-reckless-military-mare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_Reckless

thank you George!

only one B-29 became the only bomber to become a jet ace

Although 57 Superfortresses were lost to enemy action, B-29 gunners are credited with 27 enemy kills. The most notable of these was the B-29 named Command Decision, with a record five MiG-15 kills; the world's only bomber "jet ace."

In addition to their five jet kills, the crew flew a total of 121 combat missions and dropped 2,500,000 millions pounds of bombs.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/this-b-29-is-the-only-bomber-to-become-a-jet-ace

a Korean War vet... how about that!

oh wow, it's been a long time since I was in a bar on base listening to the drunks sing songs made up when they were far from home and bored, but if you miss those lousy melodies sung by soldiers and flyboys, you're gionna love this

The 523rd Tactical Fighter Squadron's Song Book (typed up in 1958)

Made by: 

 THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE No. 79(F) SQUADRON, UBON, THAILAND, 196.2 - 63 THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE No. 77(F) SQUADRON, JAPAN AND KOREA, 1950 - 51 THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE SONG BOOK COMPILED AND EDITED BY "BILL STAR" 27th TACTICAL FIGHTER WING, CANNON AFB, NEW MEXICO 

 "SONGS WE NEVER QUITE REMEMBER" COMPILED BY THE 506th TACTICAL FIGHTER WING UNITED STATES AIR FORCE 

 ALL THE INDIVIDUAL MEN OF THE AIR FORCE THAT HAVE CONTRIBUTED SONGS, IN ANY MANNER, TO THIS EPISTLE. 

 SONGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME, VOLUMES I and II

This collection of bawdy ballads, limericks and US Air Force songs was compiled in the 1950's by Lt. Col. William John Starr, USAF. 

He probably started compiling the material during his first tour flying the F-86 Sabre jet out of Kimpo Air Base, "K-14" Korea in1953-54. At the time of the book's unofficial completion, around 1957-58, he was flying the North American F-100 Super Sabre at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico.

https://www.horntip.com/html/books_&_MSS/1960s/1963_fighter_pilots_songbook_(mimeo)/index.htm

or see the PDF, https://www.horntip.com/html/books_&_MSS/1960s/1963_fighter_pilots_songbook_(mimeo)/1963_fighter_pilots_song_book_(lydia_fish_collection).pdf

GIVE ME OPERATIONS 

Don't give me a P-38, the props they counter-rotate
They've scattered and amitten from Burma to Britain
Don't give me a P-38.

Chorus:

 Just give me operations 

Way out on some lonely atoll

 For I am too young to die

 I just want to grow old*

 Don't give me a P-39
The engine is mounted behind
They'll tumble and spin and auger you in
Don't give me a P-39

Don't give me a peter four oh, a hell of an airplane I know
A gound loopin bastardy you're sure to get plastered
Don't give me a peter four oh,

Don't give me a P-51

 it was alright for fighting the hun
But with coolant tank dry, you'll run out of sky
Don't give me a P-51.

Don't give me a P-61, for night flying is no fun
They say it's a lark, but I'm scared of the dark
Don't give me a P-6l

Don't give me an F-84, 

she's just a gound loving whore
She'll whine moan and wheeze and she'll clobber the trees
Don't give me an F-84

Don't give me an old thunderbolt, 

it gave many a pilot a jolt
It looks like a jug and it flies like a tug
Don't give me an old thunderbolt

Don't give me a jet shooting star, 

it'll go, but not very far
It'll rumble and spout, but soon will flame out
Don't give me a jet shooting star,

Don't give me an F86, 

with wings like broken match sticks
They'll zoom and they'll hover, but as for top cover
Don't give me an F-86

Don't give me an F-89, 

Tho TIME says they'll really climb
They're all in the states, all boxed up in crates
Don't give me an F-89

Don't give me an F-94

 it's never established a score
It may fly in weather, but won't hold together
Don't give me an F-94

Don't give me an 86-D, 

with rockets, radar and A/B
She's fast I don't care, she blows up in mid-air
Don't give me an 86-D

Don't give me a C-45, 

so slow it stalls out in a dive
A ground loop built in it, and bird colonels in it
Don't give me a C-45.

Don't give me a C54,

 six inches of rugs on the floor
And we'll go fat-cat'n, from here to Manhattan
Don't give me a C-54

Don't give me a B-45, 

the pilots don't get back alive
The Mig 15 fs chase em, they soon will erase em
Don't give me a B-45.

Don't give a one-double-O, 

The bastard is ready to blow
The A/B is there, but you're saying a prayer
Don't give me a one-double-O.

Don't give me an F-102,

 it never goes up when its blue
An all weather coffin, that flames out so often
Don't give me an F-102

..................................................................................................................................................................

THE AIR FORCE LAMENT

(Tune - The Battle Hymn of the Republic)

Mine eyes have seen the days of men who ruled the fighting sky
With hearts that laughed at death, who lived for nothing but to fly
But now those hearts are grounded, and those days are long gone by
The Air Force's gone to hell

My bones have felt their pounding throb, a hundred thousand strong
A mighty airborne legion set to right the deadly wrong
But now it' s only memory, it only lives in song
The Air Force's gone to hell

I have seen them in their T-bolts, when their eyes were dancing flame
I've seen their screaming power dives, that blasted Goering's name
But now they fly like sissies and they hang their heads in shame
Their spirits shot to hell

Once they flew B-26's through a living hell of flak
And bloody dying pilots, gave their lives to bring them back
But now they all plan ping pong in the operations shack
Their technique's gone to hell

The lordly flying fortress and the liberator too
Once wrote the doom of Germany, with contrails in the blue
But now the skies are empty, and our planes are wet with dew
And we can't fly for hell

You have heard your pounding 50s blaze from wings of polished steel
The purring of your Merlin was a song your heart could feel
But now the L5 charms you with its moanin, groanin squeal
And it won't climb for hell

Have you ever climbed a lightening up to where the air is thin?
Have you stuck her long nose downward, just to hear the screaming din?
Have you tried to do it lately, better not you'll auger in
And then you'll sure catch hell

Hap Arnold built a fighting team that sang a fighting song
About the wild blue yonder in the days when men were strong
But now we're closely supervised for fear we may do wrong
The Air Force's gone to hell

We were cocky bold and happy when we played the angel's game
We split the blue with buzzing, and we flew our way to fame
But now that's all forgotten and we're all so goddamn tame
Our spirits' shot to hell

One day I buzzed an airfield with another reckless chap
We flew a hot formation with his wingtip in my lap
But there's a new directive and we'll have no more of that
Or you will burn in hell

Mine eyes get dim with tears when I recall the days of old
When pilots took their choice of being old, or young and bold
Alas I have no choice and will live to be quite old
The Air Force's gone to hell

But smile awhile my pilots though your eyes may still be wet
Someday we'll be in heaven where the rules have not been set
And God will show us how to buzz and roll and really let 
The Air Force fly like hell

The actor that played the gang leader in American Graffiti, was Bo Hopkins, Korean War vet in the 101st Airborne

Bo led a troubled life as a youngster, with numerous instances of truancy, minor crimes, and a stay in a reform school. He dropped out of school just before his 17th birthday and joined the United States Army, where he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. He was based at Fort Jackson, Fort Gordon, and Fort Pope, before being shipped off to Korea, where he served for nine months. After his military service, Hopkins became interested in pursuing an acting career, although his wife disapproved of it and she soon left him, taking their daughter with her. 

After appearing in some area plays, he received a scholarship to study acting and stage production at the Pioneer Playhouse in Kentucky, where he soon moved. From Kentucky, he made his way to New York City to act in more stage plays. After New York, he moved to Hollywood where he earned a living parking cars while studying at the Actors Studio

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Hopkins

I'm constantly surprised and delighted to learn people's life stories, as I love history, AND stories (you know this) and here's a shocker, Gepetto went to flight school with Neil Armstrong.

Enlisting in the U.S. Navy near the end of World War II, Alex went to flight school with future NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong.

 He served in Korea and Vietnam before retiring as a lieutenant commander in 1967. 

After several post-service careers, he was in retirement but decided he enjoyed Walt Disney World Resort so much that he wanted a full time role with the resort. 

He repeatedly brightened the days of his fellow cast members. The cast saw him as a confidant and friend. Whenever someone was facing struggles or a conflict, he would answer, “Ask yourself this question: will it matter 50 years from now?’ (most Navy vets have said this!) 

Earlier this summer, after Alex had informed Magic Kingdom Park that he was ill and would soon be going into hospice care, the team responded by visiting his home and sharing some news: he had been previously nominated and selected for The Walt Disney Legacy Award. He was given his blue Legacy nametag: the first cast member to receive it in 2022.

Ever the optimist, Alex offered words of encouragement during this emotional visit with his friends and fellow cast members saying, “It’s up to you, now. Greet the guests and make their day magical.” 

Then, recalling the words of a song from the Disney-Pixar feature, “Coco,” he added one request of them: “Remember me.” 

Alex passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Aug. 6, 2022.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2022/08/remembering-friend-to-all-disney-cast-member-alex-stromski/

When North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, the U.S. military announced it would not provide beer rations for the men fighting the war in Korea.

When WW II broke out, and the U.S. government saw beer as what we would today call a "force multiplier." It declared beer production an essential wartime industry, with 15% of its output reserved for the military.

A U.S. representative, Democrat Andrew J. Biemiller, who represented Milwaukee, demanded on the House floor that the Army explain its rationale for cutting off its soldiers' taps. He argued that beer could be used in place of water when necessary and had "as much alcohol as a good pudding."

While the war raged in Korea, the war at home between beer lovers and anti-alcohol groups like the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was fought to keep beer out of the hands of the GIs. Then, a couple of brewing heavyweights escalated the conflict.

Milwaukee's own Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company and Blatz Brewing Company offered to buy the troops a round and see what might happen.

 The companies donated 600,000 cans or bottles (apiece) of beer to be sent to the Korean Peninsula and handed out to the Americans fighting there.

It's hard to argue with American companies offering to get 1.2 million beers to a fight without using taxpayer money. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union would have a hard time competing with that offer. Army Secretary Frank Pace agreed to the donation, so long as the beer was less than 3.2% alcohol by volume.

The first cans of Schlitz, which was America's top beer at the time, rolled away from Milwaukee on Sept. 28, 1950. Blatz wasn't far behind, shipping theirs out on Oct. 4, 1950. The beer made it to the troops in time for Christmas.

https://www.military.com/history/when-army-stopped-serving-beer-american-beer-barons-bought-round-freedom.html

I didn't know that Ted Williams, one of the all time famous baseball players, was a Corsair pilot instructor in WW2, AND flew 39 bombing missions in an F9 as a Marine pilot, in Korea.

I didn't know I'd get lucky and that I'd find a photo of Ted and a yellow Willys, that's neat

Williams was already a ball player in 1941 when the USA was pulled into WW2, and was drafted. He wasn't forward deployed to the Pacific until mid-1945, because his commanding officers wanted him to remain state-side to play baseball for their various teams.  Also, keep in mind, he was the only income for his mom, when you consider the military facet of his life. I understood it that the only children of a family weren't supposed to go to combat. I may be completely uneducated on that rule. 

Williams joined the Navy Reserve on May 22, 1942, went on active duty in 1943, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps as a Naval Aviator on May 2, 1944. 

Williams also played on the baseball team in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, along with his Red Sox teammate in pre-flight training, after eight weeks in Amherst, Massachusetts, and the Civilian Pilot Training Course.

 While on the baseball team, Williams was sent back to Fenway Park on July 12, 1943, to play on an All-Star team managed by Babe Ruth. The newspapers reported that Babe Ruth said when finally meeting Williams, "Hiya, kid. You remind me a lot of myself. I love to hit. You're one of the most natural ballplayers I've ever seen. And if my record is broken, I hope you're the one to do it". Williams later said he was "flabbergasted" by the incident, as "after all, it was Babe Ruth". In the game, Williams hit a 425-foot home run to help give the American League All-Stars a 9–8 win

 Williams served as a flight instructor at NAS Pensacola teaching young pilots to fly the complicated F4U Corsair fighter plane. 

When the war ended, in 1945, Williams was in Pearl Harbor playing baseball in the Navy League with Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial. The Service World Series with the Army versus the Navy attracted crowds of 40,000 for each game. The players said it was even better than the actual World Series

Come Korea, Williams and many others were being recalled  because the military was surprisingly short on pilots with real combat experience when the Korean War began in 1950, and Williams had remained in the Marine Corps reserve, possibly for the officer pay. He wasn't keen on returning to combat, BUT the Red Sox agreed to pay him his full 1952 salary of $85,000, and he didn't have a leg to stand on why as a healthy American pilot, he could justify any argument to stay out of the war. He'd been promoted to Capt 14 months prior. His trophy wives were certainly a reason to remain stateside. They had been ringers for Dorothy Lamour, Jackie Kennedy, and Grace Kelly. One of his girlfriends (he was a world famous ball player, 6'4", and handsome, of course he had girlfriends) was an airline steward/ flight attendant, whatever the PC term is nowadays. One of his wives was a Vogue model, and former Ms Vermont

On May 1, 1952, 14 months after his promotion to captain in the Marine Corps Reserve, Williams was recalled to active duty for service in the Korean War. He had not flown any aircraft for eight years, and  the Navy's policy of calling up Inactive Reservists rather than members of the Active Reserve made a lot of guys resentful

His wingman in Korea? Just John Glenn. 

In 1999, he was ranked at number eight on The Sporting News list of ‘100 Greatest Baseball Players’.

He finished his playing career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a .482 on-base percentage, the highest of all time.

He was named after Pres Teddy Roosevelt

He had 20/10 eyesight

At the age of eight, he was taught how to throw a baseball by his uncle, who had a former semi-professional baseball player who had pitched against Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

The legend has it, that while playing for the then Pacific Coast League Padres at Lane Field, a downtown San Diego ballpark, he hit a ball out of the park and into a train car, that was headed for LA. It's possible. Present day Petco Park is butted up against the train tracks on the south west side. 

He appeared in Major League games in four decades

Williams's involvement in the Jimmy Fund helped raise millions in dollars for cancer care and research, Ted signed on for life, helping make it the best-loved charity in New England. His brother had died of Luekemia

During and after his long playing career, Williams routinely met one-on-one with young cancer patients being treated at Dana-Farber’s Jimmy Fund Clinic and its pediatric care partner, Boston Children’s Hospital – both a short walk from the Red Sox’ Fenway Park home. 

His only caveat about such visits was that they be done with no media fanfare; if cameras or reporters showed up, he said, the visits would stop. They never did, and neither did he.

Williams’ efforts over the years contributed to remarkable progress in the treatment of childhood cancers. When he started working with Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund in the late 1940s, almost every child with cancer died. Today, three out of four children with cancer survive.

https://www.jimmyfund.org/about-us/about-dana-farber-cancer-institute

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/theodore-samuel-williams-2958.php

http://archive.boston.com/sports/blogs/obnoxiousbostonfan/2014/11/ted_williams_39-0_remains_greatest_record_in_boston_sports_history.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Williams

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/tributes/mlb_obit_ted_williams.jsp?content=obituary

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/random-cool-photo-thread.26448/post-329489

I have the pleasure to introduce you, to the oldest dozer operator that Caterpillar is aware of, how first drove a dozer at age 7, and 84 years later, is still operating a couple D6s

 

His dad passed away in 1934, when Kenny was four years old, leaving the him, his mother, and older siblings to eke out a living from the land during the Great Depression.

One day, seven-year-old Kenny was on an errand, walking a county dirt road in rural Missouri, when a man driving a Caterpillar Ten crawler came down the way.

“I was just a kid walking along the road. The driver stopped to give me a ride,” Kenny says. “And he let me drive it about a half a mile.”

Eventually, duty called, and the U.S. Army sent him to Korea. During his service in Korea, Kenny ran a Caterpillar dozer.

“ It wasn’t in my MOS code, but we had the equipment over there to dig trenches. The operators were tired and didn’t want to run them, so I said, ‘I’ll do it!’” Kenny says with a twinkle in his eye. “I got to run them a lot over there.”

Upon the young soldier’s homecoming in 1953 he picked up where he’d left off – working as a dozer operator. Over the next few years, Kenny built a strong reputation as a skillful operator known for his integrity and passion for high-quality work.

Kenny says, “You can’t find machines that are any better. You can afford to pay more for a Cat machine because it’s cheaper in the long run. They last longer and they handle better. They prove themselves.”

Does Kenny think about retiring anytime soon? He pauses for a moment and then says, “Why quit something you like doing?”

https://www.cat.com/en_US/campaigns/awareness/95-years1/long-time-dozer-operator.html

Ralph McQuarrie, one remarkable artist, and Korean War combat vet, that you might not recognize the name of, but are very likely to recognize his art. After all, only one artist created the look of a galaxy far far away and was essential in it coming to movie screens in 1977

His career included work on the original Star Wars trilogy, the original Battlestar Galactica television series, the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and the film Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award.

Without Ralph McQuarrie, there would be no Star Wars. 

He served in the United States Army during the Korean War, surviving a shot to the head. After returning from the war, McQuarrie moved to California in the 1960s, studying at the Art Center School, then in downtown Los Angeles.(it is now known as Art Center College of Pasadena )

He got his 1st job in art as an illustrator for Boeing, in the parts catalog. (Hence my legit reason to post about him here). 

He then went to work for defense contractor Litton Industries, drawing guidance and control equipment

Then he went into storyboarding for Boeing, who were making films for presentations, as well as diagrams for a manual on constructing the 747 Jumbo Jet

That led to working for CBS and NASA designing film posters and animating CBS News' coverage of the Apollo space program.

He was working on a film for Encyclopedia Britannica, when they had a screening of THX 1138.

 The young filmmaker George Lucas was impressed by McQuarrie's work and met with him to discuss his plans for Star Wars. Lucas sought visual reference material to support his pitch to film studios.

Lucas knew it would take more than his words and descriptions to convince a studio to support such an ambitious project, and reached out to McQuarrie to help visualize the planets, vehicles, and characters he only saw in his head. 

McQuarrie's concept paintings were instrumental in helping Lucas to win approval from 20th Century Fox; armed with vivid illustrations of his planned movie, Lucas was able to convince Fox executives to take a gamble and fund his Star Wars project.

McQuarrie’s style crafted the visual design of the entire galaxy to come. As Lucas said “Ralph’s contribution to the Star Wars world is incalculable. His genial contribution, in the form of unequalled production paintings, propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original Star Wars trilogy. When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph's fabulous illustrations and say, 'do it like this'."

McQuarrie designed many of the film's characters, including Darth Vader, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/stuff-you-missed-in-history-cl-21124503/episode/ralph-mcquarrie-part-1-82377231/

https://www.ralphmcquarrie.com/

https://www.starwars.com/news/ralph-mcquarries-most-memorable-masterpieces

a North Korean tank that was stuck on a bridge after the American aircraft blew it the hell up. Crazy cool situation to get a photo of

https://www.reddit.com/r/TankPorn/comments/2pyn2r/a_north_korean_t3485_caught_on_a_bridge_south_of/

Marilyn in Korea, 1954

read about it, if you're interested in why she was there on her Honeymoon, without new groom Joe Dimaggio, who couldn't stand that her stardom was making his nil, and her's was as a sex symbol, when he wanted a housewife. Why the hell they married I don't know. https://www.historynet.com/when-marilyn-monroe-interrupted-her-honeymoon-to-go-to-korea.htm 

It's a great read, and explains clearly why she was so beloved by fans, she earned it! 

After rehearsing, Monroe took time to sign a cast for Corporal Donald L. Wakehouse of Iowa City, Iowa, a returning prisoner of war, and stretched out on the floor of the hospital to smile up at Private Albert Evans of Canton, Ohio, who was suspended upside down over his bed after breaking his back in a jeep accident.

On an ice-cold day, Monroe performed at the Bulldozer Bowl—the USO’s stage in the Cheorwon Valley—for the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. Soldiers claimed dibs on choice front-row seats seven hours before her performance. 

Wounded men from sick bay huddled in blue blankets while Monroe braved the chilly temperatures in her revealing summer dress, melting the hearts of the battle-hardened soldiers, many of whom had hiked several miles over frozen mountainous terrain to see her. It was worth the effort. “Marilyn came out dressed in a heavy parka,” recalled Don Loraine, who was in the audience. “She started to sing, suddenly stopped, and said, ‘That’s not what you came to see,’ and took off the parka. She was dressed in a low-cut purple cocktail dress. She was so beautiful, we all went wild, and, I might add, it was colder than hell that day. She brought a lot of joy to a group of combat-­weary marines, and I for one will never forget her.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/86xqd0/a_photo_my_grandpa_took_of_marilyn_monroe_in/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2381761/Never-seen-photos-Marilyn-Monroe-wooing-100-000-troops-Korea.html

how about that, I've got a couple things in common with Marilyn Monroe, we've both been to Korea, and we both had a DOD id card

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vintage-shots-from-days-gone-by-part-2.1154030/page-26#post-13137382

1973 on the DMZ

https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5156036-Vintage-photos-Awesome!/page390

Ray Godman was paralyzed by a snipers bullet in the Korean War, but he was motivated to continue car racing, and became the owner and tuner of the Tennessee Bo Weevil

Godman was actually a circle-track driver in the Memphis area in the late 1940s before being called to duty in Korea in 1951. It will be 69 years ago this Sept. 17 that his life changed forever, when a young 23-year-old Marine from Fox Company, Fifth Regiment, 1st Marine Division “got shot up” by a sniper’s bullet, paralyzing him from the waist down

“We were fighting the Chinese, each just trying to kill the other," he recalls. "It was horrible fighting. In a 24-hour period, we lost 91 dead, 771 wounded. When I got shot, I knew it was bad. They put me and another fella on a helicopter to an aid station. When we landed, the other guy was dead. They couldn’t do much for me at the aid station; they told me they didn’t think I’d make it through the night and they had other wounded coming in to take care of. I was still alive the next morning.”

He was treated in South Korea and Japan before being sent back to the United States in a hospital ship. He tried to resume his driving career in a midget car with hand controls but couldn’t control the car to his satisfaction. The cockpit’s loss was drag racing’s gain.

Godman continued to race and promote drag racing in Memphis, which led to him opening Lakeland Dragstrip on July 4, 1960

The rising costs of competition forced Godman also to retire at the end of the 70s.  After he quit racing, Godman opened his own business, Godman Hi-Performance in 1977, selling high-performance race car and hot-rod plumbing.

“I don’t have any regrets,” said Godman, who was inducted into Don Garlits’ International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1991 and was also a Lifetime Achievement Honoree in 2003

https://www.nhra.com/news/2018/remembering-raymond-godman
https://www.nhra.com/news/2014/tennessee-bo-weevil

the other M16 A2... was a 1943 White half track in the US Army who used it in WW2, then used in Korea, then given to the French Army for use in Nam, but instead, the French sent it to the FFL in Djibouti Africa, (between Ethiopia and Yemen) and abandonded it in WW2 defensive positions the Italians had created in '39, guarding some useless airfield

As found above, even with its M45 Maxson Quad Mount Gun Turret in 2005 - to the post restoration in Wisconsin below

a 33 year vet of the Army was out running around the airfield, as Army types seem to find some thing useful about running in circles for exercise (instead of something useful like tactics, strategy, combat wound and surgery training (you can win a war simply by injuring soldiers so the other soldiers are left to help the wounded, it's been proven throughout human history)) and spotted this M16A2 beached like a whale, stripped of anything that would unbolt, but with it's powertrain still intact due to stripped headbolts, having laid in the desert for 45 years.

Who ever thought that a cool old WW2 beast like this would keep the power train because scrappers wouldn't have a drill and a bolt extractor? Huh! I read somewhere the engine was good for 150ish hp, and 40 mph

So, the Army Lt Col gets permission from the local French Army hmfic to take it, and then gets some fellow soldiers to help him drag it back to base, then puts in into an out of the way motor pool for safe keeping until he can figure out how to get it back to the states.

Immediately the rumor mill is in full swing, and word gets out of the WW2 half track that belongs to no one in particular (the vague Property of the French Army is de facto out the window now that it's on an Army base, and because Army desk pirates are often out to snatch and grab anything they can pull rank over (see the B 25 story I posted https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/07/everyone-has-story-some-are-found-in.html or the Lyon Museum possibly (USAF General "collected" aircraft)) quite fast some JAGoff  was trying to claim it.

A fast 100 dollars for a receipt of purchase from the French hmfic and the half track was now private property (no pun intended, there just is no other way to say it) and bound for the states in a shipping container for restoration after retirement to Korean War era configuration, including original working radios, the turret generator, the gun site, new tracks, spare .50-caliber barrels, original tombstone ammo cans, tools, field gear, and more.

Put a snowplow on that as needed in the Wisconsin winters, and you truly would be happy.

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2020/01/17/lieutenant-colonel-kolocs-1943-white-m16a2#

John Glenn's F 86, the "MiG Mad Marine" jet he flew in the Korean War, U.S. Air Force 25th Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Group, at K13, Suwon, Korea.

While on temporary duty with the Air Force squadron, Glenn flew the North American Aviation F-86F Sabre air superiority fighter. He shot down all three MiG fighters with F-86F-30-NA serial number 52-4584. His previous victories were on 12 July and 19 July, 1953, also against MiG-15 fighters.

Major Glenn had painted the names of his wife and two children, “Lyn Annie Dave,” on the nose of his airplane, but after being heard complaining that there “weren’t enough MiGs,” he came out one morning to find MIG MAD MARINE painted on the Sabre’s side.

http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?354
https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/50777

https://www.flickr.com/photos/142347513@N03/26498264257
https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/mig-mad-marine/

cool photo, F2 Banshee, Korean War

http://www.axis-and-allies-paintworks.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?354.10

Capt Sam and Ten Scent's

http://b29s.koreanwar-educator.org/noseart/captsamtenscents.jpg