The Earl E. Myers Story, Chapter 20 — The Korean War And The Move To Yokota

Departing from Yokota Air Base Japan in November 1950, we were climbing to our cruise altitude of 27,000 ft on a northwesterly heading with climb power and a full load of 500 lb bombs, plus 50 cal. ammo. Our Honeybucket Honchos RB-29 started to descend even with the nose in a climb attitude and climb power. We were crossing the mountains to the Northwest of Tokyo on our way to Korea to look for targets of opportunity above the 38th Parallel. The aircraft continued descending until we were about 3000 ft above the snow covered mountains. The next move was full power and if that did not stop the decent we were alerted to bail out.To have bailed out would have been almost certain disaster for the entire crew in all that mountain snow and temperatures with virtually no way of safely returning. We finally stabilized and started to climb without adding more power. Our mission continued as we each wondered how the heavy hand of Mother Nature could strive to press us down into the mountain peaks and then choose to release us from her grip. We later learned that we had been impacted by what was becoming known as the “Mountain Wave”.

The thrills and spills of flying repeated reconnaissance missions over North Korea, with an occasional classified side trip to gain new perspectives of enemy capabilities, were complemented by the growing sense of family within our crew. By now we knew each other’s capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. Each crewmember’s contributions to mission accomplishment was like an added insurance policy for us all. There were, on occasion, heartwarming times when we took advantage of opportunities to go the extra mile in contributing to the morale and welfare of our troops on the ground. There had been occasions when we converted our RB-29 into a low-level killing machine, finding and strafing the enemy wherever we could find them. There were heart-rending times when we flew low over our troops as they retreated across the Chosen Reservoir, dragging the wounded and dead, and we found ourselves helpless to give a helping hand, other than passing on to our commanders what was really happening down there. Our most heartwarming experiences involved collecting, packaging and delivering gifts and supplies to our beleaguered front line troops along the Yalu River at Christmas time, 1950 and Valentines Day, 1951.

Entering the combat zone, by air, taking the risks, doing the assigned mission, and then returning to warm and comforting surroundings at our home base made us feel very fortunate and, at the same time, somewhat guilty, knowing what was going on down on that ground called Korea, both North and South.

As Thanksgiving time, 1951, approached, our tour was winding down and our thoughts turned increasingly towards our return to the USA. Our crew had completed 43 combat missions over North Korea, and a number of additional missions that involved classified intrusions into or close to hostile territory. Our crew felt a sense of pride and pleasure in knowing that through good solid teamwork, a sense of continuing adaptability, and a can-do attitude, we had measured up and would likely survive this RB-29 combat crew, trial-by-fire experience.