Helicopter
Utility Squadron 1 - Unit 9
June - December 1951
Written
and compiled by Bill Covington
12 September 2003
This
document was written at the urging of my family who
for a long time have encouraged me to record my memories
before they are lost. Lost? Thus please understand/excuse
the use of the first person approach to the writing.
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- - - -
Early
in 2001, I found the email address of William C. Dixon
from a Navy Helicopter Alumni Internet site and I
contacted him. Lt Dixon was the OIC of the 1951 HU-1
unit that I was on. Through him I contacted Zook and
Froling. Froling contacted Kyllonen in Washington.
I started writing this document and the others have
contributed memories, corrections and further information
and documents. Thus the document includes many helpful
inputs from others. The errors and misspellings are
mine.
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- - - -
In
June 1950 when the Korean War started, the Navy had
two helicopter squadrons, HU-1 (Helicopter Utility
Squadron One) at Miramar, California and HU-2 at Lakehurst,
New Jersey. They were equipped with the HO3S-1 Sikorsky
helicopters. From Froling; "By the end of 1950,
ten HU-1 helicopter units were in Korea. More were
needed so in December 1950, eight HU-2 helicopters
and crews were air lifted to California and taken
to Japan on the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge
for deployment to Korea." This answers an old
question of mine of why we relieved a HU-2 crew on
the Queen LST.
By
late summer of 1951, I think all HU-2 units had been
replaced by HU-1. By the end of 1951, 22 HU-1 units
were deployed in Japan and Korea. HU-1 provided all
the Navy helicopters in Korea until the end of the
war. HU-1 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation
for service during the Korean War.
HU-1
was originally at Miramar NAAS north of San Diego
and while Unit 9 was gone on this cruise the squadron
moved from Miramar to Ream Field. Ream Field is south
of San Diego near the Mexican border.
From
Froling's records, HU-1 was at Ream Field until 1965
when it was transferred to North Island NAS in San
Diego and was renamed HC-1 (Helicopter Composite Squadron
One). HC-1 was the primary Navy helicopter squadron
during the Vietnam War. HC-1 was decommissioned in
1994.
(
ed note : HU-1 was re-designated HC-1 on July 1, 1965
, and remained at
NAAS Ream until it was transfered to NAS North Island
in 1976 )
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- -
I
was transferred to HU-1 about 1 March 1951 and I was
in HU-1 until I was discharged from the Navy on 2
December 1953. I was in HU-1 for 33 months. During
the summer and fall of 1951, I served overseas in
Japan and Korea, with HU-1 Unit 9. I am writing this
because I think that HU-1 Unit 9 had some unique duty
and experiences that should be documented. I am writing
this from my memory and from records and memories
that I have received from Dixon, Kyllonen, Zook and
Froling.
Doug
Froling was in the HU-1 radio shack at Miramar and
Ream Field. He was on a cruise in 1952 on the aircraft
carrier USS Philippine Sea and has done much research
on HU-1.
This
document is written mainly from a personal viewpoint
and from the viewpoint of the collective Unit 9, thus
the use of 'I' and 'We'. This obviously is from my
personal experience and I am certain that some details,
such as travel, were different for the officers. The
exact dates in the following are from documents that
Dixon and Froling have sent. The documents from Dixon
are copies of monthly unit activity reports that he,
as OIC, sent to HU-1 in California.
After
the Unit 9 cruise, I also went on HU-1 cruises to
Japan and Korea in 1952 and 1953. During the 1952
cruise the unit was again on a LST and was on an island
off the West coast of Korea. The entire 1953 cruise
was about ten months on the aircraft carrier USS Princeton
(CVA-37). Of my 33 months in HU-1, I spent about 22
months on board ship or overseas.
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- -
In
early 1951, HU-1 was stationed at Miramar NAAS, north
of San Diego. At that time the base at Miramar was
fairly small and consisted of the personnel area north
of a public highway and the operational flight area
south of the highway. This was an airfield built during
WW2 with mostly one story frame buildings. At that
time and even in the early 1950s the surrounding area
was open and undeveloped. The enlisted men rode in
covered buses from on side of the base to the other
in the morning and then rode back and forth for lunch
and back again after work.
Doug
Froling described the situation at Miramar: "A
WW2 base, all small wooden buildings in need of repair
and our buses were actually semi-trailers with plywood
box covering, benches and no doors, just an opening
on the mid-right side. We aptly referred to them as
cattle cars. They even used those trucks to transport
us to Loma Vista and back so we could catch a city
bus to San Diego. Somehow it seemed more dangerous
to ride with a 17 year old kid driving 50 mph down
highway 395 than to fly in those HO3S choppers."
I understand that Miramar is now the primary Marine
flight facility in the San Diego area.
I
was an Aviation Electronics Technician - Airman (ATAN)
in the radio shack. There was not much to do and I
was bored and unhappy at Miramar. Probably in May
there was an all hands meeting in the radio shack
where the lead chief (Froling remembers the name Kosick)
announced that there was a unit leaving to go to Japan
and Korea and asked whether there was a volunteer
to go on the cruise. He said that if there was not
a volunteer that the least senior ATAN would be assigned.
At this time I had been in HU-1 about three months,
but HU-1 was growing rapidly so I was far from being
the least senior qualified person.
I
had joined the Navy to escape a very small town in
South Texas and to: 'Join the Navy and see the World'.
At that time the old-timers in the Navy frequently
repeated the 'macho' statement: "Never volunteer
for anything." In spite of that and without any
prior thought I volunteered for the cruise. That is
how I went to Japan and Korea with Unit 9, which today
I consider that I was very fortunate to know the people
and to have the experiences.
Several
days later Dixon called a meeting of Unit 9. We had
seen each other around the squadron but this was the
first time that we met as a group. Unit 9 remained
intact from the time we left HU-1 at Miramar until
we returned to HU-1 at Ream Field. During the other
two cruises that I was on there were several changes
of enlisted personnel. On the 1953 cruise on the Princeton,
fewer than half of the enlisted men were on the entire
cruise.
The
personnel of Unit 9 were:
Lt.
William C. Dixon, OIC
Lt.
Harold F. Snowden
AD1
Joe Daly
AD2
Donald R. Schwab
AD3
Edward F. Kyllonen
ADAN
Robert A. McDaniel
ADAN
Alfred J. Lienczewski
AMAN
Raymond D. Zook
ATAN
William S. Covington
Present
information and my memory:
Bill
Dixon
6860
SE 35th Street
Keystone
Heights, Florida 32656
352-473-2860
wcdixon_2000@yahoo.com
"After
promotion to Commander was CO of HS-7. After promotion
to Captain was CO of Ellyson Field and the helicopter
training squadron HT-8. Command of Attack Cargo Ship
(USS Seminole) during the Vietnam War (1964-1966).
Stationed in Washington and responsible for design
of the Presidential Helicopter which is still flying
from the lawn of the White House. Command of the Helicopter
Carrier USS Guam in 1969 and retired at Pensacola,
Florida, 30 June 1973."
Harry
Snowden (Deceased)
Last
known address from Dixon:
2534
Burgener Blvd.
San
Diego, California 92110
Career
Navy flight officer. Retired as a Captain. Apparently
died in San Diego in 2001.
Joe
Daly
I
remember that he was from New York City and that he
had been in the Navy in WW2. He had been a crew member
in a patrol squadron that operated near the coast
of Japan. He had some combat experience from those
days and had been awarded the Air Medal and DFC. He
was in the Navy Reserve after WW2 and was recalled
for the Korean War. He must be at least 78 today.
He was a good person.
Zook
remembers: "Joe Daly's ambition was to become
a mechanic for the New York City Police Department.
He told me that being Irish helped but being Irish
Catholic was almost a necessity. Joe was a Protestant.
I hope he made it. He was a good mechanic and a great
guy."
Don
Schwab (Deceased)
Schwab
and McDaniel were from small towns only a few miles
apart, I remember in southern Indiana, Zook remembers
southern Illinois, but they did not know each other
until they met in the Navy. Schwab was the only enlisted
man that was married and he had a small child.
Schwab
transferred to shore duty after the Unit 9 cruise.
I was told that he was then stationed at Kingsville
NAS in South Texas. I am from South Texas and after
my 1952 cruise, I was on leave and I went to Kingsville
and located Schwab. We had a few beers and talked
about Unit 9. By that time he was an AD1. He said
then that he was thinking about getting out of the
Navy.
After
my discharge in December 1953, I went back to Kingsville
but he was not at the same address and was no longer
listed in the local phone book so I do not know anything
further.
A
former HU-1 sailor, CPO Ralph Sherrill, who served
with Schwab in Kingsville, recently contacted Dixon
and reported that Schwab got out of the Navy about
that time and moved to Oklahoma. He said that he later
heard that Schwab died in a car accident in Oklahoma
around 1980.
Ed
Kyllonen
71 W. Blakely Drive
Elma, Washington 98541
kyllonen@techline.com
As
far as I know Kyllonen and I were the only Unit 9
crew to make a second HU-1 cruise to Japan and Korea.
Kyllonen and I were together on the 1952 cruise. On
that cruise we were stationed for a month or more
in Oppama and were again on an LST for about six weeks
but this time it was a Navy ship. For about two months
we were on an island on the West coast of Korea. After
the Navy, Kyllonen served in and retired from the
Coast Guard.
Kyllonen
wrote, "I ended up putting an additional 16 years
in the Coast Guard. Retired in 1971. The rest of my
career was in fixed wing aircraft (B-17, P4Y, SA-16,
R5D, and C-130), logged some 10,500 hours."
After
the Coast Guard, Ed worked as a tech rep for Xerox
in Honolulu and in Seattle. He and his wife operated
restaurants for several years in Eastern Washington.
Ed and June have five children, 12 grandchildren and
seven great-grandchildren.
Mac
McDaniel
From
above McDaniel was from a small town in southern Illinois
or Indiana. In 1953, when I was on my third cruise,
McDaniel was stationed at HU-1 Det 1 in Oppama but
I do not think he went onboard ship or to Korea. We
had several beers and talked about Unit 9. In the
two years since we had been together with Unit 9,
his appearance had changed for the worse. At that
time Mac was only in his early 20s but he was a heavy
drinker and a heavy smoker so he may no longer be
with us.
Ski Lienczewski (Deceased)
Ski
was from Saginaw, Michigan. Ski's adopted daughter
contacted Dixon and reported that Ski was in the Navy
21 years and died from cancer at the age of 39 shortly
after he got out of the Navy. Ski married a woman
that had five children who he adopted. They had four
more children.
Kyllonen
remembers a poker game with Ski. "On one of the
cruisers, we had a poker game in the HU-1 compartment
just forward of the hanger deck, port side. I did
not know much about the worldly game of poker but
I hung in there against Ski. I had taken three cards
and Ski just one. He bet five dollars and I called.
I don't recall much but he tore up the cards when
I dropped four deuces on the table. He was really
bent."
I
remember some ill feelings between Ski and Mac. Zook
remembers an incident, "I remember Ski and Mac
developed a dislike for each other during the three
months on the LSTs. One night they got in a brief
fight in a Japanese restaurant when we got back. We
stopped the fight after two blows. They shook hands
and were friends after that. It was strange. I thought
it was close to a miracle that we all worked as a
team and basically got on so well being cramped up
together for 92 days. Our personalities and backgrounds
were so varied."
Ray
Zook
1001 W. 121 St.
Kansas City, MO
64145-1090
816-941-2862
rzook@kc.rr.com
Zook
had signed to go on the 1952 cruise with Kyllonen
and I but a day or two before we were to leave he
had to go home on a family emergency. Later in 1952,
Zook went on an ice breaker cruise on the USS Burton
Hill, to Alaska and above the Arctic Circle.
Zook
wrote: "I developed a love for working with metals
while in the Navy, so I received two degrees in metallurgical
engineering in Missouri and Colorado, then went on
to have a very rewarding career in engineering, mostly
in steel and related industries."
Bill
Covington
3916
Carman Drive
Fort
Worth, Texas 76116-1324
817-244-0252
willscovin@aol.com
I
was 19 in June 1951 when Unit 9 went to Japan. After
the Navy, I graduated from the University of Texas
in 1957 with a degree in Physics. I worked for three
years for Convair in Fort Worth on the B-58 bomber.
I got married in 1959. We have been married 45 years
and have two children and three grandchildren. I went
back to UT and got a MA degree in Physics in 1962.
I then worked for NASA in California for several years.
I came back to work for General Dynamics - Fort Worth
(the name had been changed) and retired after 30 years
in 1993. The primary contracts were the F-111 and
F-16 aircraft. A few months before I retired the company
was sold to Lockheed and is now Lockheed-Martin.
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- -
Unit
9 left Miramar on 8 June 1951. We traveled from San
Diego to San Francisco on a converted WW2 destroyer,
USS Diachenko (LPR-123). We were at the Treasure Island
transit barracks for a few days and then were taken
by bus to Travis AFB.
From
Zook: "When we left Treasure Island on a bus
I remember being let off for several hours in San
Francisco near a tavern. I can't remember why, and
I am still amazed that our officers would turn loose
seven white hats at a bar in the middle of the day.
(I think the explanation was Daly was in charge. In
my memory, the officers did not travel with us - BC).
We put a hat on the bar and everyone threw in a few
bucks. Most had a few beers and sang songs like "Bell
Bottom Trousers" and some others of forgotten
names. I think that this was the first time the Unit
9 crew started to become a team. I remember we were
picked up and taken to the Presidio where we had some
chow (it was pretty good)."
At
Travis we were put in Quonset huts and were told that
we would probably be there several days waiting for
a flight as this was in the early days of the Korean
War when the forces in Japan and Korea were being
rapidly increased and many personnel were being flown
to Japan.
HU-1
personnel must had had fairly high travel priority
because late that same night we were awaken and told
that our flight was leaving soon and we had to hurry.
We were taken to the terminal and told to wait. We
did not get on a flight until many hours later, probably
the next afternoon.
The
MATS planes were DC-4s (R4-Ds), four engine propeller
planes, and were configured with three seats on each
side of the aisle. Three very narrow seats. The flight
from Travis to Honolulu was about 10 hours. We landed
late in the afternoon and had a meal on a patio at
the airport. The enlisted men did not order from the
menu, everyone got the same meal.
I
was enchanted by Hawaii although we were only at the
airport. We were on the ground about two hours while
the airplane was serviced. We then flew another 10
hours to Wake Island where we were again on the ground
about two hours. The third flight was again about
10 hours to Haneda Airport near Tokyo. About midpoint
of each the flight, we were given a box lunch consisting
of a cold sandwich, an apple and a cookie.
Zook
remembers: "I discovered that one of the most
important necessities of being in the service was
the ability to survive the hours of waiting and the
boredom. We waited for hours in the Travis Airbase
airport for our flight to Japan. I remember one of
the crew and I drank 12 cups of coffee. (I think it
was Schwab.) Today people would think that would put
you in the hospital. Those were some long flights
to Japan especially if you didn't bring reading material.
I could stand the bucket seats and cold sandwiches,
but you would think they could have female stewards.
I had just seen, 'The High and Mighty' with John Wayne
and I thought a lot about whether we had reached the
point of no return. Looking at water for ten hours
got a little boring."
Dixon
described his trips to and from Japan: "I traveled
out from San Diego with Lt(jg) Bill Cox. We went first
to Moffet Field, Honolulu, Wake, Tokyo then Oppama
and returned by the same route home. Leaving Tokyo,
Lt Farwell and I were on a commercial cargo plane
under lease to the Dept. of Def. and the entire plane
was jammed with Christmas mail. The two of us were
the only passengers and we enjoyed six or seven stewardess
who kept us entertained and full of coffee for the
trip. One stewardess doused Lt Farwell with perfume
and his wife would hardly speak to him on our arrival
in San Diego."
Zook
remembers: "There is no way to describe my feelings
when we arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. I had
never been in a foreign country. I looked around and
everyone was at least a foot shorter than we were.
We had a great ride in the back of a canvas covered
truck through the streets of Tokyo and on to Oppama.
When we arrived at our barracks, we went to the galley
and even though it must have been 8 or 9 PM, the galley
had been opened. The cooks fixed us sausage and eggs
any way we liked. This was heaven. I ate three over
easy with sausage and toast."
As
Zook described we were taken to the HU-1 facility
at Oppama. Oppama was the name of the small Japanese
village near the HU-1 Detachment 1 facility. HU-1
Det 1 was located several miles around the bay from
the large Navy base at Yokosuka. The Oppama facility
had been a Japanese seaplane base in WW2. There were
concrete ramps into the water for the seaplanes. The
BOQ was to the left of the main gate and the enlisted
barracks was further on the left. The Det 1 hanger
was near the enlisted barracks and had been a Japanese
seaplane hanger on the bay front.
To
get anywhere from HU-1 Det 1 we had to walk about
a mile into Oppama and then had to catch a Japanese
train. Yokosuka was about a ten minute ride to the
left (south) and Yokohama and Tokyo were thirty minutes
to an hour ride to the right.
In
1951, a final peace treaty had not been signed, so
Japan was still officially classified as an occupied
country. Anything bought had a stamp: Made in Occupied
Japan. Those items have a premium price today.
The
exchange rate was fixed at 360 yen to the dollar.
When we landed at Haneda airport we were required
to exchange all American money (greenbacks and coins)
for MPCs (Military Payment Certificates). It was strictly
against regulations to have any American money in
Japan. We were told that the communists in North Korea
were financing the war with greenbacks from Japan.
I doubt that.
We
were supposed to exchange the MPCs for yen before
going off the base but few did. The Japanese readily
accepted MPCs. The Japanese would pay a much higher
exchange rate for American greenbacks. Some took advantage
of this but it was very illegal.
The
Japanese beer available was Asahi, Nippon and Kirin
and it sold for 200 yen (about 60 cents) for a liter
bottle (about a quart). Of course, in 1951 the enlisted
pay was about a 100 dollars a month.
In
1952, when Kyllonen and I were on the second cruise,
a larger enlisted barracks had been built at Oppama.
The new barracks was used by the permanent personnel
at Oppama and as a transit facility for the Navy enlisted
personnel in the Yokosuka area. Also HU-1 Det 1 had
been moved to two larger hangers further around the
side of the bay, probably a mile from the barracks.
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- - - -
Unit
9 was in Oppama for a week to ten days. About 20 June,
in Yokosuka Harbor, we went onboard the battleship
USS New Jersey (BB62) for transportation. The ship
took three or four days to arrive at Wonsan, North
Korea.
24
June 1951 -
In
Wonsan Harbor, Unit 9 transferred from the New Jersey
to the cruiser USS Toledo (CA-133). We were on the
Toledo for two or three weeks while the ship was used
by a new admiral to make an inspection tour along
both coasts of Korea.
Sometime
during this period the Toledo was in Pusan, South
Korea for about a day and some of the crew had liberty
for a few hours. The helicopter crew were not permitted
to go ashore. That evening there was a USO show on
the deck of a hospital ship very near the Toledo.
We could hear it even if we could not see the show.
We were told that Bob Hope was there but I doubt that.
2
July 1951-
Dixon
and Lt. J. J. Roothoff, USMC, who was flying as a
gunfire spotter for the Toledo, rescued Lt. R. T.
Walker, USNR, from approximately 20 miles inland and
west of Wonsan. Ground fire was noted during the rescue.
At
one point the Toledo went far inside Wonsan harbor
and was under fire from the shore. The fire controllers
on the ship could not locate the guns. The helicopter
was launched to help with the search. The North Koreans
would not fire while the helicopter was in the air
but as soon as the helicopter returned to the ship
the fire started again. We could hear the gunfire
passing overhead. It sounded about a foot above my
head but I am sure that it was much higher than it
sounded.
Zook
remembers being on several gun spotting flights, "We
would fly at about 10,000 ft and it was the only time
we took parachutes. As I recall, we did not find any
of the big guns as they stopped firing when they saw
us."
Dixon has a picture, showing himself and a second
officer where Dixon is handing the other officer a
urinal in which a small tree is planted. Dixon wrote:
"Picture of the USS Toledo deck department head
receiving the 'Order of the Pine Tree'. He is the
guy who was an unbeliever about our reports of landing
in North Korea to effect rescues. Harry Snowden and
? crewman (I remember Schwab - BC) came back with
this one day after not finding a pilot reported down.
The CO of the Toledo witnessed this presentation and
admonished the LtCdr to keep it watered. The next
time I talked with this unbeliever he said that it
was 'permanently watered' (ditched overboard)."
Sometime
while we were on the Toledo we made several flights
onshore and landed at an Army headquarters a mile
or so behind the front lines. These flights were probably
so the new Admiral could confer with his Army counterparts.
The Army had a stack of captured North Korean weapons
and ammunition and told us to take anything we wanted.
Zook
remembers that we took a case of eggs or ice cream
to barter for the weapons. The weapons were primarily
bolt action Army rifles and submachine (burp) guns.
I took a rifle. It was highly against regulations
but we flew the guns back to the Toledo and hid them
in some of the helicopter equipment boxes. Zook remembers
giving his burp gun to the chief cook on the Toledo
in exchange for the barter items he supplied and for
preferential treatment for the helicopter crew.
A
month or more after we had returned to HU-1 at Ream
Field the boxes caught up. I then had a North Korean
Army rifle in my locker in the barracks. I wanted
to keep the rifle but I did not have a car so I had
no way to get it off the base. After a few months
I was about to leave on the second cruise. I left
the rifle with a friend who said that he would keep
it for me. He did not tell me that he would be discharged
by the time I got back. Thus I never saw him or the
rifle again.
About
10 July, the Toledo arrived in Sasebo harbor in southern
Japan, where we again made a ship to ship transfer
to a destroyer. As soon as we were onboard, the destroyer
left Sasebo. There were no bunks available so we were
given folding cots to sleep outside on the deck. There
were not enough cots for everyone. The next morning
we were again in Wonsan Harbor where we were transferred
to the Queen LST.
Zook
wrote, "I remember spending the night on the
deck of the destroyer sleeping on sacks of potatoes.
Someone in the crew told us that an unidentified submarine
was on our sonar all night. All ships were under radio
silence orders, so we never knew if it was Russian
or ours."
Dixon
wrote: "We relieved a HU-2 crew after the lead
pilot, Lt(jg) Koelsch, was shot down on a rescue mission.
He had been on the carrier Princeton before volunteering
to go to the LST. He had replaced a previous pilot
(Lt. John Thornton) who was also shot down. Thornton
was one of the 20-21 bonus prisoners released after
all the others following the war. John Koelsch died
in a prison camp in North Korea. A destroyer was named
in his honor about 15 years ago." Koelsch was
awarded the Medal of Honor for the attempted rescue
mission.
There
were three Queen LSTs (Q007, Q009 and Q012). The Queen
LSTs were WW2 American ships that following the war,
rather than being scrapped, had been assigned to a
Japanese government agency something similar to our
Merchant Marine. They were given the designation SCAJAP
LST Q007, etc. SCAJAP was the acronym for Shipping
Control Administration - Japan.
When
the Korean War started in June 1950, the Navy had
carriers in that area so some of the first offense
against the North Koreans was bombing from the carriers.
The pilots were told that if their plane was hit by
ground fire to attempt to make it to the coastline
at Wonsan. In the early days of the war, a destroyer
was stationed in Wonsan Harbor to rescue these pilots.
The
Navy knew that a helicopter with a hoist was much
more suitable for Sea and Air Rescue (SAR) and the
Navy wanted to have a rescue helicopter in Wonsan
Harbor as early as possible. A helicopter required
a small flat surface to operate and the deck of an
LST was a suitable landing platform. The problem was
that the Navy did not have any LSTs in that area or
a crew to operate a LST. Thus the Navy had to get
the same WW2 LSTs back from the Japanese agency complete
with Japanese crews. The LSTs served quite well for
a landing platform for the helicopter after the deck
lifelines and ventilators were removed.
The
LSTs were used as a landing platform for the SAR helicopter
and also for a supply ship for the minesweepers that
were removing the mines from the harbor. The minesweepers
would come alongside to get water, fuel and other
sweeping gear from the LST. The LSTs rotated from
Wonsan back to Japan about every three weeks. As they
were replaced, the helicopter, the Unit 9 personnel
and all the helicopter fuel, tools and spares had
to be transferred from one LST to the other. I think
the LSTs went back to Sasebo since they had to get
supplies for the minesweepers although a LST is very
slow and would require some time to get from Wonsan
to Sasebo, which is in southern Japan.
The
Queen LSTs had about 50 Japanese officers and crewmen
and the nine Americans from the helicopter crew. When
we went on the first Queen LST there was a boatswain
mate on the ship. The bowswain mate was in charge
of the supplies for the minesweepers. I do not remember
him being on the LSTs after the first few weeks. I
think he was transferred back to the mine squadron.
Zook remembers the boatswain mate or an alternate
being on the LSTs the entire time.
On
the LSTs, the aviation gasoline for the helicopter
was in 50 gallon barrels. The gas had to be pumped,
using a hand cranked pump, from the drums to the helicopter
and was strained through a chamois skin. It was surprising
the large amount of contaminants in the gas that was
removed by the straining. This was mostly water but
also other solid articles. This was probably because
of using rusty 50 gallon barrels, which were on the
open upper deck, for fuel storage. Snowden put together
a powered pump for pumping the gas into the helicopter.
I have a couple of snapshots that show him and others
working on the pump.
There
was no shelter on the deck of the LSTs, so the helicopter
had to sit outside during all weather and there was
often heavy rain in the summer in that area. All maintenance
checks and repairs had to be performed outside. On
one occasion we were told that the sweeps needed the
helicopter early the following morning since there
was to be a major mine sweeping operation. The helicopter
had been flying that day and was scheduled for a major
periodic maintenance check. For the helicopter to
be ready the next morning the check had to be performed
after dark thus we had to use lights on the open deck.
As a result, the LST got underway and moved far outside
the harbor in order to be out of range of the shore
batteries. As I remember it was raining that night
but the helicopter was ready the next morning.
The
LSTs were anchored usually just outside Wonsan harbor.
The mainland around the harbor was obviously occupied
by the North Koreans but there were several islands
in the harbor that were held by the South Koreans.
The largest of these islands was Yodo.
Dixon
described the situation on Yodo, "There was a
Marine Colonel, an Air Force Lieutenant and a Marine
Sergeant based there, there were no other Americans
on the island. They were there for intelligence gathering.
The British had a few Marines on another island in
Wonsan harbor who made week long raids on the mainland
and occasionally captured key personnel who were brought
to Yodo for interrogation by the Americans. About
100 ROK Marines were there primarily to defend the
island and the few civilian families who lived there.
Our church at home sent a lot of warm, used clothing
that we distributed to the few women and children
one very cold, windy day. That was the only day we
saw civilians."
Dixon
has a picture of Q007 taken from the air with a helicopter
on the deck, with the LST near an island and with
the mainland in the background. I do not know who
took the picture since the helicopter is shown on
the deck. The picture must have been taken in Japan
since the Queen LSTs did not get that near Yodo Island
and Yodo is further from the mainland than shown in
the picture. Also, I do not know why a helicopter
would have been on the LST in Japan.
In
1968 when the USS Pueblo was captured by the North
Koreans far outside Wonsan Harbor, there was a map
in the local paper showing the area. The map included
Yodo Island and it was identified by that name. I
told people that I had been on that island but I am
not sure that they believed me.
The
primary duty of the helicopter on the LSTs was to
be available for SAR. The secondary duty was to work
with the minesweepers that were in the process of
removing the undersea mines from Wonsan harbor. From
the helicopter, a mine could been easily seen in the
water. The mines appeared as shown in the old movies,
a ball with horns, a few feet below the surface.
The
helicopter flew most days for several hours and most
of the flights were mine spotting flights. I think
the pilots alternated flight days. The enlisted men
rotated flying as crewmen. The only preparation for
flight was to put on an inflatable life vest, there
was no other survival gear.
An
early operational problem was that the helicopter
and the sweeps could not communicate directly because
they did not have radios that operated on the same
frequency. On the mine spotting flights the helicopter
would fly in a pattern to look for mines in that area.
Whenever we spotted a mine we would drop a smoke flare
to show the location of the mine to the sweeps. The
mine sweepers must have changed something because
I remember later the helicopter talking directly to
the sweeps to report the mines. After the mines were
located, the sweepers would sweep the area and cut
the mines. The mines would float to the surface. The
sweeps would then sink the mines by shooting them
with a machine gun. Usually the mine would sink when
it got full of water but occasionally one would explode.
Zook
wrote, "I did a lot of mine sweeping flights
which sometimes got boring but generally were interesting.
We saw large sharks sometimes and, on at least one
occasion, we saw UDT guys swimming around the mines
attaching charges. Many of the mines were left over
from WW2 I think, but we were told that North Koreans
would come out at night and lay more mines. In three
months we never cleared the harbor."
Dixon
wrote: "On the Japanese manned LSTs, 'Queen Boats'
as we called them, we were quite isolated from the
Navy chain of command but were officially attached
to Mine Squadron Three, which had headquarters aboard
the Guniston Hall (LSD-5) (Landing Ship, Dock) which
we saw for about two of every ten days."
The
LSTs had two WW2 LCVP landing craft on hoists on the
ship. These were as shown in WW2 movies where the
soldiers were taken to the shore and the front ramp
is lowered. These were the only transportation on
the LST other than the helicopter. They were slow
but they were the transportation between the LST and
other ships and between the LST and Yodo Island. After
the boatswain mates left they were operated by a Japanese
sailor.
I have a number of snapshots taken on the Queen LSTs.
Kyllonen had the camera and took most of the pictures.
Two of the pictures are of the enlisted men taken
beside the helicopter. These pictures must have been
taken near the end of our time on the LSTs since on
the side of the helicopter is a decal representing
six rescues and a decal of an undersea mine with one
stripe.
The
explanation of the mine decal is that on one occasion,
the helicopter reported to the sweeps that they had
missed sinking a mine. By that time the sweeps were
a considerable distance away. To them sinking a mine
was not a big deal so they asked the helicopter to
sink the mine.
The
helicopter carried a M1 rifle and a fire ax for emergencies.
I remember Daly was the crewman. It was hard to shoot
accurately from a helicopter with a rifle and the
pilot did not want to get close in case the mine exploded.
Thus it took many shots to sink the mine. When the
mine was finally sunk they flew over the sweeps holding
the fire ax outside the door, trying to convince the
sweeps that they had resorted to using the fire ax
to sink the mine.
I
assumed that Unit 9 was unique in sinking an undersea
mine but that was not correct. Lt. Bergsma was a HU-1
pilot on a unit that served with the sweepers in the
spring of 1951. He recorded that his unit sank at
least two mines.
The
sweeps had a sign on their mast that read: 'Where
the Fleet goes We've Been.' The helicopter crew put
up a sign that read: 'Where the Sweeps go We've Been
- HU-1 Unit 9.' I have a picture of our sign.
The
supplies for the LST, including food for the Americans,
was delivered by the LSD but I think that the Queen
LSTs were near the bottom of the priority list. Thus
we did not get the best supplies. Because of the small
crew, the Queen LSTs could produce more fresh water
that we used. Frequently another ship, other than
the sweeps, would tie up to the LST to get water.
Kyllonen remembers that this was usually a DD or DE
that would dock to the LST to get water. The people
on the other ship were always surprised to see a Navy
helicopter and Navy personnel on a Japanese ship.
Whenever this happened someone, usually Snowden, wearing
an old uniform, would go to the supply officer on
the other ship and complain about how we were living
on 'fish heads and rice'. He would often return with
boxes of steaks and other goodies. The truth was we
no doubt ate better than them.
All
Americans, officers and enlisted, ate in the wardroom,
on China dishes and with a Japanese waiter to serve
the meals. The Japanese officers ate after we had
eaten. The Japanese waiters spoke fairly good English
and we could communicate. We had little contact with
other Japanese crewmen; most of the Japanese appeared
to try to avoid contact with the Americans. At that
time a Japanese with some proficiency in English could
get a good job in Japan working with the Americans
as a translator. Thus a few of the Japanese, with
some training in English, would approach us and start
a conversation to practice their English. I have often
wondered how Dixon communicated with the Japanese
officers in the necessary details about operational
situations.
There
was no medical facilities in the LSTs, American or
Japanese. I assume for the few days each month when
the LSD was in the area, there was a corpsman and
maybe a doctor available on the LSD but other than
that no medical help was available for the LST or
for the mine sweepers.
Something
else unique about duty on the Japanese LSTs was the
availability of alcohol. Each arriving LST would bring
several cases of American beer from Japan and would
sell the beer at near cost. The beer did not last
long. Also the Japanese crew always had a supply of
Suntory whiskey from Japan that they would sell for
a reasonable price. I do not remember anyone abusing
the situation. Whenever another ship was alongside,
we had to keep the beer out of sight to maintain our
image of service on the Queen LSTs as being hardship
duty.
We
received mail very irregularly. The mail had to be
brought by the LSD and was usually a month or more
old by the time it got to us.
Movies
were about the only entertainment. The movies were
fairly recent and the LST, minesweepers and other
ships traded movies so there was a some variety. On
the first LST the movie projector was in the wardroom.
In the evening when we started a movie there were
many Japanese crowded at each porthole and in the
passageway outside the wardroom trying to watch the
movie.
At
the direction of Dixon we moved the projector to the
tank deck of the LST so that everyone could watch
the movies. The acoustics were not very good. I think
all the Japanese would show up whenever a movie was
started although obviously the movies were in English
and few of the Japanese could understand English.
This was in 1951, only six years after WW2 had ended
and there were still a number of war movies being
produced and circulated. On several occasions there
were movies that portrayed the Japanese soldiers as
cruel villains but this did not appear to bother the
Japanese on the LST. They still wanted to see the
movies. I am certain they had less entertainment that
us.
The
movies were serious business. Kyllonen remembers that
one time the projector bulb burned out in the middle
of a movie and: "We went over to one of the mine
sweepers to get a new projector bulb so we could finish
the movie. That was all right but it was during a
storm. Nobody said that we were smart."
We
swam off the side of the LST but this required a dive
into the water from a considerable height. There must
have been some sort of a ladder back to the deck.
Zook remembers someone standing watch for sharks armed
with an M-1 rifle although I doubt that this was much
protection. We did frequently see sharks during mine
spotting flights.
Bergsma
said that earlier someone had the idea of exploding
the undersea mines by dropping a concussion grenade
near the mine. This sounded good in theory but what
happened when the mine exploded under the helicopter.
This idea was soon dropped.
One
day there was a school of large fish near the LST.
Someone had the idea of using the concussion grenades
to kill the fish, so we lowered the LCVP and chased
the fish. We threw several grenades into the school
and afterwards there were a number of fish floating
on the surface. We decided to get more fish and to
come back later to collect these. The school soon
disappeared and when we came back to get the floating
fish, they had also disappeared. Apparently they had
only been stunned and had recovered by the time we
got back. No fish.
Zook
also wrote, "I remember a number of nights watching
a rocket ship go into the harbor and fire rockets
for about a half hour. It looked like a 4th of July
celebration."
Duty
on the Queen LSTs was considered hardship duty but
it was the best duty that I had during my four years
in the Navy. This statement is because on the LSTs
the only Americans on the ship were the helicopter
crew so we did not answer to anyone other than the
officers and they were in the same situation. The
accommodations were good and the cooks were professional
Japanese chefs so the food was excellent. The above
statement was made in view that there was considerable
operational danger during the time we were on the
LSTs. Unit 9 made several rescues inland, several
near enough the coast that there was ground fire and
several beyond the standard operational range of the
HO3S helicopters. One of the members of Unit 9 (Ski)
was wounded during the tour but that was on the Los
Angeles after we had left the LSTs.
-
- -
Operational
records from Dixon
13
July -
Dixon's
logbook records the first three flights from Q012.
On the third flight that day the helicopter made an
emergency landing on Yodo Island. Dixon's records
show that he was the pilot and Snowden was the crewman
and the failure was a mechanical bearing failure of
the tail rotor gear box. Kyllonen remembers that he
was the crewman and the tail rotor failure was due
to ground fire.
Dixon
wrote: "The bearing failure caused a loss of
pitch change control without affecting the tail rotor
RPM. I was unable to slow down without turning left,
and if I used too much power the helicopter would
torque around to the right, therefore we could not
slow down enough to hover. At about 45 knots we went
straight ahead, so I kept the airspeed at 45 and torqued
left or right by changing the power slightly to get
lined up for a run-on landing on Yodo Island."
Kyllonen
wrote: "We were south of Hungnam about 10 miles
and at about 9000 feet when we drew antiaircraft fire
from Hodo Pondo Peninsula resulting in the failure
of our tail rotor. Rapid descent at about 120 knots
(red line was 85). Lt Dixon did one hell of a job
keeping us in the air and making a successful rolling
landing on Yodo Island at the mouth of Wonsan Harbor."
The
helicopter touched down on Yodo Island in a flat area
near the beach and at a considerable forward speed
but was not damaged. A replacement gear box, probably
from an aircraft carrier, was delivered to the Queen
LST by a destroyer. The gear box was replaced on Yodo
and then the helicopter was flown back to the LST.
I remember that the tail gear box continued to be
a problem and was replaced at least a second time
on the LST.
Zook
wrote, "I remember going over to Yodo Island
with the mechanics when they fixed the tail rotor.
I remember being told that sand had gotten in the
gear box and had messed up the gears. We were near
a village and I could smell garlic and saw some women
cooking outside. A few ROK soldiers were around. They
looked like young kids and the M-1 rifles they were
carrying were almost as long as they were tall. We
also ran into a company or squad of British Commandos.
They had seen quite a bit of action. We had some interesting
conversations but most of them were from Scotland
and were hard to communicate with."
27
July 1951-
Dixon
and Schwab rescued Lt. W. L. Killingsworth USNR from
the water in Wonsan Harbor.
9
August -
Dixon
and Kyllonen received antiaircraft fire while conducting
mine sweeping operations near Hodo Pondo, North Korea.
5
September 1951 -
Snowden
and Covington rescued Lt. W. H. Van Der Bos of the
South African Air Force, 75 miles inland and west
of Wonsan, North Korea.
We
were on a mine spotting flight when there was a call
that a pilot was down far inland and asked whether
the helicopter would attempt a rescue at that distance.
Snowden said that we would make the attempt but first
must go back to the LST and top off on fuel. We refueled
and were escorted by Navy jets as we crossed the coast
and started inland. The jets had a hard time staying
near the helicopter as they were required to fly at
a slow speed, in a tight circle and at a low altitude.
After
we were probably 50 miles inland there was a call
that there was a second pilot down in the same area
and the controller asked whether we could rescue two
pilots. Snowden asked me whether I was willing to
ride in the cargo compartment of the helicopter because
that would be necessary to keep the weight balanced.
I said that I would and Snowden told the controller
that we would attempt the second rescue if the pilot
was located but we did not have enough fuel to do
a search.
After
about an hour of flight we found the South African
pilot. He was standing in a field with his personal
gear. His F-51 was burning a short distance away.
He did not seem to be in a hurry and said that he
have been on the ground about two hours. He said that
he had not seen anyone or heard anything while on
the ground. This is probably explained because there
were Navy and South African planes circling in the
area. We were on the ground several minutes. After
we took off, Snowden called but the controllers said
that the second pilot had not been located. The flight
back to the LST was uneventful and was escorted by
South African F-51s. We landed back aboard the LST
with minimal fuel.
When
we were near the end of the flight, the controller
said that they were still trying to locate the second
pilot and asked whether we were willing to attempt
a second rescue that far inland. Snowden said that
we would but that since it was then the middle of
the afternoon that we had to start soon to be able
to get in and back out before dark. We went back to
the LST, refueled and stood by but we did not hear
anything further.
8
September 1951 -
Dixon
and Daly rescued Lt(jg) P. L. Working USN from the
water in Wonsan harbor. The pilot was taken directly
from the water to a nearby destroyer for treatment
since there were no medical facilities on the LST.
18
September -
Unit
9 transferred from one Queen LST to another. The LST
was near enough the shore that they wanted to be gone
before daylight. Thus the transfer had to be completed
during the night. All the helicopter equipment and
fuel were transferred during the night and during
a heavy rain.
20
September -
Snowden
and McDaniel rescued LtCdr F. W. Rossen USN ten miles
north of Songjin North Korea. From the September activity
report: "The distance to the downed pilot was
114 nautical miles, beyond the range of the helicopter
unless a landing point could be found further north.
The USS Guniston Hall (LSD5) was notified of the situation
and was requested to steam north to meet the helicopter
on its return trip. The LSD got underway and steamed
north at top speed for three hours while the rescue
was being effected. Small arms fire was encountered
during the pickup in spite of strafing support by
the escorting fighters. The helicopter encountered
head winds on the return flight but a landing was
made on the LSD with very little fuel remaining."
22
September -
Dixon
and Zook rescued Capt. J. E. Givens USMC from near
the beach in a fortified area of Wonsan harbor. The
pilot was disoriented and attempted to bring all his
equipment including his parachute and life raft into
the helicopter.
Dixon
described the rescue: "We picked up the F4U pilot
Joe Givens just off the beach north of Wonsan. Capt.
Givens came up the hoist with everything he owned,
including his inflated life raft and parachute. With
all this bulk he couldn't get through the door and
we were subject to enemy fire from the beach. I told
Zook to ditch the stuff overboard, but Givens resisted
and I again directed Zook to ditch everything. With
my encouragement Zook easily overcame Givens but we
had one unhappy rescuee. We took him to the nearest
ship (a destroyer) and without anyone's 'by your leave'
sent Givens down the hoist to the tin can. About two
years later I met Givens who had gone from fighters
into helicopters and was instructing at Ellyson Field
at Pensacola. Later when he was RIFed from active
service I flew him up to the Army Helicopter Training
Field at Ft. Rucker, Alabama where he had a job as
a civilian instructor."
23
September -
Unit
9 was relieved by Unit 12 and we transferred to a
destroyer that took us to the fleet. Unit 9 was transferred
by highline, from the destroyer to the aircraft carrier
USS Boxer, while the ships were underway.
Later
that afternoon we were catapulted off the Boxer on
two COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) planes to Itazuki
AFB, in southern Japan. The COD planes were WW2 TBF
torpedo bombers and were used to deliver critical
spare parts, official mail and high priority personnel
to the carriers. The COD planes spent only a few hours
on the ship and usually flew back to Japan empty but
occasionally, such as Unit 9, they flew personnel
to Japan. Snowden stayed behind on the Boxer to relieve
a pilot that had hurt his back and was unable to fly.
When
the COD planes were approaching Japan, late in the
afternoon, I remember they declared an emergency because
visibility was very poor. Zook wrote, "When we
got to Japan, it was fogged in and apparently the
planes did not have instruments for night flying.
We could see the coastline and that was about all.
I remember that after about 30 minutes I saw a break
in the clouds and an airstrip. The pilot dove through
the hole and landed in one pass. We flew out that
same night in a DC-3."
All
members of Unit 9 did not touch land, except for Yodo
Island, between 20 June when we went onboard the New
Jersey at Yokosuka and 23 September when we landed
at Itazuki AFB. Snowden had even a longer time on
ship. Because of the time that Unit 9 had been continually
on ship, we were authorized ten days of R and R in
Japan.
Dixon
wrote: "We went onboard the Boxer and it was
Rear Admiral Jaco
Clarks flagship. He and I had served together on the
East coast a couple of years earlier. When he asked
me how many days R and R our 'admiral' had given us,
I told him ten. Admiral Clark replied: "Why that
____ black shoe! I'll double that"-- and he did.
Incidentally, a blackshoe was a non-aviation (surface
warfare) officer." That explains how Unit 9 got
20 days of R and R. As described below when we went
to the R and R office in Tokyo, they said that they
had never heard of anyone being authorized 20 days
of R and R. I do not remember any other HU-1 personnel
being authorized any R and R.
26
September -
Arrived
back at HU-1 Det 1 Oppama Japan.
Since
we were going on R and R for so long, the personnel
office in Oppama required that we sign leave papers
for the 20 days. We did not want to use our leave
time in Japan but they told us that this arrangement
was to encourage us to return on time. They assured
us the papers would not be processed and would be
destroyed if we returned from R and R on the scheduled
date. We did return on time and we were not charged
with any leave.
When
we went to the R and R office in Tokyo to schedule
the location of the R and R, the personnel at the
office did not believe that we had been authorized
20 days of R and R. I recall they phoned the HU-1
office to verify that the papers we presented were
accurate. After the orders were verified, the R and
R personnel suggested and we agreed that we did not
want to spend the entire time in one place, so they
split our R and R between two locations.
The
first week to ten days of R and R, we stayed in a
very nice resort hotel in the mountains near Mt Fuji.
Very beautiful scenery. The second period we were
at Nara in Central Japan. Nara is a very old capital
of Japan (1300s). There were many very old temples,
shrines and other buildings. R and R was a very enjoyable
period.
28
October -
Reported
to USS Los Angeles (CA-135)
18
November -
Dixon
and Kyllonen rescued Lt(jg) J. H. Keane USN from inside
Wonsan harbor. Dixon described the rescue. "The
pilot's exposure suit had leaked and must have had
150-200 pounds of cold salt water. Instead of the
hoist picking him up, he was winching the helicopter
down. When the left wheel touched the surface of the
water and we were not getting him up with 100% of
power available while hovering, I began to move forward
to get 'transitional lift'. This maneuver gets the
helicopter out of its own slipstream, so to speak,
as forward flight uses less power than while hovering
(45 knots is optimum in this model helo at sea level).
The real problem in our case was weight and balance
-- as the helicopter's nose was dropped to get forward
speed and the pilot's head and shoulders were inside
the hatch -- the water being emptied from his exposure
suit ran forward to the point where we were almost
out of control. Using full back cyclic control --
against the stops -- we continued to accelerate. After
the airspeed was over the red line enough water had
drained from the helicopter that control was regained.
That was the longest two minutes that I ever spent
in the air knowing what the problem was and being
incapable of correcting it."
Dixon
continued. "Lt(jg) J. H. Keane, USN of VF 783
embarked in USS Bon Homme Richard (CA31) was so cold
he was navy blue -- and here we were flying over the
same waters without exposure suits and no other helos
within a days journey away. Here is one guy you not
only rescued but you saved. Thank you, Ed."
21
November -
Snowden
and Lienczewski attempted to rescue a pilot from a
point about 35 miles inland and northwest of Wonsan.
Heavy ground fire prevented the rescue from being
accomplished. The helicopter was hit and the bullet
hit Ski. The bullet passed through the calf of his
leg but did not hit anything serious. Since Yodo Island
was much closer than the ship, Snowden landed on the
island to get aid for Ski and to check whether there
was a fuel leak or other serious damage to the helicopter.
Snowden left Ski on Yodo to be treated and returned
to the Los Angeles. Dixon later brought Ski back to
the ship. The doctors kept Ski in sickbay for a few
days to check for infection. He limped for a while
but within several weeks he had fully recovered.
Zook
remembers that it was his turn for this flight and
he had the life vest on and was ready to fly. Ski
was the only crewman that had not been on a rescue
and he asked Zook to let him make the flight. Thus
Ski was wounded rather than Zook.
23
- 27 November -
Dixon,
Snowden, Daly, Schwab and the helicopter were stationed
on Yodo Island for Sea and Air Rescue since no other
helicopters were in the area. November activity report:
"Island life had its good and bad points. Temperatures
down to -10, rain, hail, sleet, snow and 50 knot winds;
the good points are few. Eating frozen C-rations from
cans, sleeping in holes in the ground, overrun with
rats, and under continuous bombardment from shore
batteries proved a novel way to celebrate Thanksgiving
Day. During this period the helicopter was ready to
go at all times."
29 November -
The
Los Angeles departed Task Force 77 to return to Yokosuka,
Japan.
We
stayed about a week at Oppama and then left Japan
to return to HU-1. We traveled via Tokyo (Hanada),
Wake Island, Hawaii, Travis AFB, San Francisco, trains
to Los Angeles and San Diego. This took several days.
We arrived at Ream Field about the middle of December.
12 December -
Unit 9 officially reported
from ComFairJap, TAD complete.
During this cruise both pilots
were awarded DFCs and all crewmembers were awarded
Air Medals. A relaxed Unit 9 crew 1951
A
relaxed Unit 9 crew 1951
Joe Daly, Robert McDaniel, Ed Kyllonen
Ray Zook, A.W. Lienczewski, Bill Covington
Don
Schwab
During
the 1951 cruise of HU-1 Unit 9, both pilots were awarded
DFCs, all seven crew members were awarded Air Medals
and there was one Purple Heart. Also the unit was
credited with sinking an undersea mine. This may be
a unique record for a HU-1 unit.
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