Fledgling Air Force Medical Service proved its importance during Korea Conflict

Published Dec. 4, 2013
By Judith Taylor, Senior Historian AFMS

FALLS CHURCH, Va., -- The "Year of the Korean War Veteran," established by the U.S. Senate to recognize the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War, comes to a close this month culminating a year of reflection and commemorations in both the United States and South Korea.

The Air Force Medical Service was less than 1 year old, and the Air Force was in its infancy when the Korean Conflict broke out on June 25, 1950, after forces of North Korea poured over the 38th Parallel.

After three years of fighting that cost the lives of nearly a million people, including 33,686 Americans killed in action, the United Nations Command, supported by the United States, North Korea, and China, signed an armistice on July 27, 1953 to cease hostilities, but not to end the war. The agreement stipulated that all parties continue to engage in peace talks...a situation that continues to today.

As a new organization, the AFMS was not yet fully established and still grossly understaffed when fighting began in 1950. There were about 12,500 medical personnel in the Air Force in June 1950, far below the estimated 19,500 needed to take care of the force in peacetime. Medical facilities had decreased in the single year since the AFMS stood up, dropping from 78 hospitals to 73. In response, leadership immediately undertook a rapid build-up of both personnel and facilities to prevent the newborn service from becoming overwhelmed. By the end of the war, the number of medical personnel had grown to 38,500 and medical treatment facilities climbed to 180.

When the fighting began, there were no Air Force hospitals in Korea or Japan. The closest medical care was at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. By the conflict's end, the Air Force had additional fixed hospitals or infirmaries at Haneda, Misawa, Johnson, Johnson Island, Itazuke, Nagoya, Tachikawa, Ashiya, and Iwakuni ABs, Miho AB in Japan, and one at Anderson AB in Guam. Unfixed facilities operated at Kunsan, Suwon, Osan, and Kimpo ABs and additional dispensaries operated at Taegu, Kangnung, Seoul, and Chunchon in Korea.

The fledgling medical service contributed to the war effort in a number of respects. The Air Force was instrumental in the collection, processing, and transportation of blood products that enabled increased survival rates. Medics also provided medical, dental, veterinary, epidemiological, and preventative medicine services, as well as a wide range of programs to keep flyers and support personnel physically and mentally prepared for action at its medical facilities in the Pacific and back home. However, the greatest contribution by the AFMS during the war was in the area of aeromedical evacuation.

In 1949, the Secretary of Defense designated air transportation as the primary means of evacuating sick and wounded, and gave that responsibility to the Air Force. The 801st Medical Air Evacuation Squadron, 315th Air Division (Combat Cargo) flew more than 280,000 patients out of Korea during the war. The 1453rd MAES, Military Air Transport Service provided care for over 41,000 evacuees on their way to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and Air Force helicopters picked up and evacuated another 5,000 wounded to MASH units in Korea.
During the battle for Seoul in September 1950, the 801st MAES evacuated nearly 1,500 casualties. A few months later, members of the 801st evacuated more than 4,600 wounded during the 10-day fight around the Chosin Reservoir. For actions during these two operations, the military awarded the 801st the Air Force's first Distinguished Unit Citation for gallantry and heroism. On Dec. 5, 1950, unit members helped evacuate 3,925 patients in a single day when the Eighth Army decided to evacuate all the hospitals out of fear the Chinese would overrun the entire peninsula.

The 1453rd MAES received the Air Force's first Meritorious Unit Commendation for actions June through December 1950 including those in the combat zone in September after the withdrawal of allied forces to Pusan. During this six-month period, the 1453rd evacuated 16,604 casualties over a distance of more than 90 million miles between the Far East Theater and the United States.

The Korean War was a challenge for the fledgling medical service, but history shows that the medics responded with determined effort, bravery, and skill which demonstrated they could stand toe-to-toe with their sister services to deliver the best medical care to those who put everything on the line for their country.

USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)