The Surprise Chinese Offensive
As Thanksgiving of 1950 approached it appeared the war was wrapping up with the United Nations forces quickly moving in and occupying most of North Korea. However, a new menace was lurking in the surrounding hillsides waiting to attack. The Chinese had secretly moved hundreds of thousands of soldiers into the North Korean hillsides in preparation for a surprise attack against the allied forces. The Chinese military launched a massive offensive on Thanksgiving and caught the allied forces totally by surprise. Casualties were heavy as US forces retreated south down the peninsula from the Chinese invaders. The Chinese forces were barrelling down on Seoul and the city was on the verge of being captured by the enemy.
At this time the Seoul Orphanage Center and the Yeouido Airfield had approximately over a thousand orphans housed between the two locations. Something had to be done to get the orphans out of Seoul in order to save them from being caught up in yet another battle to retake Seoul. Chaplain Russell Blaisdell would be the man that would figure out how to get the orphans out of the city. Blaisdell was able to get a small number of orphans out on what little space was remaining on convoys leaving the city and heading south. To get the rest of the orphans evacuated from the city Blaisdell made arrangements with Lieutenant Colonel Dean Hess who was an Air Force advisor training the new Korean Air Force, to house the children at a US Air Force airfield on the Korean Island of Cheju-do.
Children eating a meal at the Seoul Orphanage Center.
The first plan was to ship the children by boat to Cheju-do on a Korean boat leaving the port at Incheon to transport cement to Cheju Island. Once the children reached Cheju-do LTC Hess would pick them up and take them to the airfield to be housed. On December 15, 1950, Chaplain Blaisdell led a convoy of trucks carrying 950 orphans and 110 Korean staff members to care for the orphans, to Incheon. Chaplain Blaisdell and the children waited for four days in a small school building for the boat to arrive which for various reasons did not arrive. Blaisdell and his chaplain’s assistant who was also his driver, Staff Sergeant Merle Y. Strang with the assistance of the Korean helpers tried their best to care for the children during this time, but eight of the most sick orphans died anyway during this timeframe waiting for the boat.
Impoverished Korean orphan helped by Chaplain Blaisdell.
On December 19, 1950 the boat finally arrived and after loading up its cargo the Colonel in charge of the port told Blaisdell that the children could not load up on the boat because there was not enough room for them. Apparently cement was more important then saving the lives of these children. With the Chinese military bearing down on Seoul, Chaplain Blaisdell knew he had to do something and quick to get the children evacuated before the Chinese arrived.
Chaos at the Port
Blaisdell drove back to Yeoido Airport to see if he could get help to get the children evacuated. Chaplain Blaisdell was hoping to get in contact with any general that could order the colonel back in Incheon to allow the children to board the boat. The generals had already left and the person Blaisdell ended up talking to was Colonel T.C. Rogers who was the Chief of Operations for the 5th Air Force. Blaisdell explained the situation to Colonel Rogers who immediately devised an alternate plan to transport the children to Cheju-do. Colonel Rogers coordinated for sixteen C-54 transport planes to fly the children the next morning to Cheju-do from the Gimpo Airfield; all Chaplain Blaisdell had to do now was get the children from Incheon to the airfield.
Orphans packed into unknown building.
It was 5PM by the time the coordination with Colonel Rogers was completed so Blaisdell had to hurry back to Incheon and try to coordinate for some trucks. That night back at the port in Incheon, Blaisdell was able to reserve trucks from the port logistics command to transport the children the next morning. 24 trucks were to arrive at 05:30 to pick up the children and take them to the Gimpo Airfield to board their scheduled plains by 08:00. However, as usual the logistics personnel at the port let down the chaplain. At 05:30 no trucks appeared. By 0700 still no trucks had arrived and Chaplain Blaisdell became extremely worried that the kids would miss their flight.
Blaisdell noticed trucks dropping off ammo to be loaded on a boat at the port. Blaisdell walked up to each truck that finished unloading and ordered the driver to take his truck to the school where the orphans were housed to begin loading the children. If the driver protested the order he showed them his Lieutenant Colonel rank and repeated that it was an order. The drivers complied but this ended up causing an uproar at the port as trucks began disappearing to the school. Another Lieutenant Colonel came out to confront Blaisdell about taking his trucks, but once the chaplain explained the situation then this Lieutenant Colonel became eager to help him. With the assistance from this Lieutenant Colonel, the chaplain was able to get the trucks he needed. However, the time was now 08:30 and not one truck had been loaded yet. Chaplain Blainsdell couldn’t help, but wonder if the transport planes wait for him and the kids?
Next Posting: Operation Kiddy Car Airlift
Prior Posting: Background of Chaplain Blaisdell
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