Operation Kiddy Car Airlift

Chaplain Blainsdell was able to get the trucks loaded and quickly as possible and over a thousand orphans and Korean civilian carers were finally on there way to the Gimpo Airfield in Seoul to fly to Cheju Island; the only question that remained was whether the transport planes had waited for them considering how late they were to arrive? If the planes had not waited for the orphans what would the Chaplain do with the Chinese army now on the outskirts of Seoul? Would he steal these trucks to move the orphans further south and leave the soldiers back at the port with no transportation to escape the Chinese hordes themselves? These were all options that Chaplain Blaisdell prayed he didn’t have to deal with.

Orphans arrive at the airfield.

As the trucks entered the gates into the Gimpo Airfield the chaplain’s prayers were answered as all sixteen C-54 transport planes had waited for the kids to arrive. Colonel Cecil Childre, the Commander of Combat Cargo in Korea had stayed with the planes and ensured that they did not leave. The children, carers, and supplies were all quickly loaded into the planes and were off to Cheju-do. Chaplain Blaisdell had many worries about what to do once they got to Cheju-do because everything on the Cheju-do end of what had become known as Operation Kiddy Car Airlift had been left to Lieutenant Colonel Dean Hess.

Korean orphans board plane to Cheju-do. More historical pictures of the airlift can be viewed here.

When the planes landed on Cheju Island Chaplain Blaisdell was surprised to see the entourage that awaited them at the airfield. Major General Howard Turner, the Chief of Air Force operations in Korea, led a group of people that included the governor of Cheju and other dignitaries to welcome the children. LTC Hess had transportation read for the children at the airfield as well as procuring a school to house the children in. Things were going much better on Cheju Island then what the chaplain experienced back at the port at Incheon, until he arrived at the school where the children would be staying.

The Cheju Agricultural School for Boys was adequate enough to house all the children in but the biggest problem with the place was that it had no running water. The nearest water source was 3.5 miles away in Cheju City. Also much supplies had to bought to cloth the children, buy blankets, heat the building, and most importantly feed the over one thousand mouths staying at the school. To make matters worse was that the care givers that came with Chaplain Blaisdell were extremely inexperienced at running an orphanage. Help would soon arrive though.

Supplies dropped off at the Cheju-do orphanage by the US military.

Seoul Mayor Lee Kyu-bong visited the orphanage and took note of the problems getting the orphanage established. He contacted a former orphanage director in Seoul he was friends with Ms. Whang On-soon, to come to Cheju and manage the orphanage. She had operated an orphanage in Seoul for 11 years and had just recently returned from England where she had studied child welfare. She agreed to become director of the orphanage and ended up being the perfect person for the job.

Ms. Whang On-soon receives a check from General Claude Ferenbaugh, the 8th Army Deputy Commander.

With Ms. Whang managing the orphanage, increased funding, and an overwhelming American public response from the US media to send clothing and blankets to the children on Cheju-do; the orphanage was slowly but surely beginning to get the resources to properly care for the children. Blaisdell left Cheju not to long after the successful Operation Kiddy Car Airlift but would go one to revisit the orphanage four months later and was amazed by the progress of the orphanage. Ms. Wang had completely fixed the building, had nurses providing care for the children, the orphans all had proper clothes, and had even restarted their schooling. Chaplain Blainsdell counted 872 orphans during his visit which was nearly a hundred fewer then the 965 he left the mainland with. This was because some of the orphans had been reclaimed by their parents who had lost their children during the course of the war and heard about the airlift and subsequently contacted the government to see if their children were part of the airlift. Chaplain Blaisdell was deeply impressed and has always only taken credit for getting the kids to Cheju and gives all credit for the success of the orphanage to Ms. Wang.

Korean aid giver cares for orphans.

Operation Gift Lift

Chaplain Russell Blaisdell would make one make a final trip to the orphanage on Christmas Eve 1952. He flew in fittingly on a C-54 piloted by one of the key officers who made Operation Kiddy Car Airlift a success Colonel Cecil H. Childre. The Japanese Air Defense Force had donated a number of toys and $1,600 in cash to the growing orphanage which at this point was home to approximately 1600 children.

Orphans receive Christmas gifts.

Chaplain Blaisdell was even further amazed by how much the orphanage continued to improve:

For those who witnessed the orphans’ plight during the exodus from Seoul, the change they noted during the recent visit to the Home was astonishing. More amazing still were the diverse talents the now healthy youngsters demonstrated.

In the group led on a tour of the premises by Mrs. Whang were Col. Childre; Chaplain Blaisdell; Miss Harris; Chaplain (1st Lt.) Howard Singer, deputy air chaplain for JADF; M/Sgt. Grady Hawkins, NCOIC of the 1st Comm. Sq. and S/Sgt. Elmer W. Wheeler, motor sergeant for a motor vehicle sq., both of Nagoya.

IN ONE ROOM, TO the music of an organ, a group of tots did several Korean dance routines. Then five year old Sung Soon stepped forward and in a clear, sweet voice sang Silent Night in English.

Mrs. Whang led her guests to another room. Here in a large circle, several other orphans were knitting socks and sweaters. None of them was over nine, yet their workmanship was flawless.

IN STILL ANOTHER room some 21 youngsters, heavily blanketed, were abed with colds.

This was the improvised hospital the Home maintains for the orphans whose illnesses are not serious. Adjoining it is a well stocked dispensary in which a nurse and a pharmacist are always present.

A 21 piece band, comprised solely of orphans, entertained the visitors for over half an hour with march and concert music. The program was heightened by four small drum majorettes who paraded smartly about the room, swinging, tossing and catching their batons in unison with the celerity of veteran drum majors.

IN ANOTHER WING of the building other orphans were painting Christmas cards which they themselves had designed, while still others were fashioning envelopes. Learning of the Orphans’ Home in Hong Kong, the Rev. V.J.R. Mills, general secretary for the Christmas Children’s Fund of Richmond, Va., visited the Home in April, 1951. He went away favorably impressed.

Before long the Home was receiving $400 monthly from the benevolent organization. The Reverend revisited the Home last September. Before leaving he promised Mrs. Whang that the Home’s allotment would be increased in January.

The day ended with a smart drill exercise by the Home’s Boy Scout troop. Afterward, Col. Childre, accompanied by Chaplain Blaisdell and Mrs. Whang, inspected the rigid troopers.

In two years these orphans went from losing their parents, being desolate, and near death to becoming Boy Scouts. Ms. Wang had obviously done an incredible job and Chaplain Blaisdell would return to the United States knowing that the orphanage was in capable hands and that his mission was complete. However, this wouldn’t be the end of the story.

Cheju-do orphanage’s Scout troop parades for guests. More pictures from the orphanage can be viewed here.

Next Posting: The Controversy of Operation Kiddy Car Airlift

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