PORTLAND, Ore. -- June 25, 2025, marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Korean War on a sleepy Sunday morning in 1950. The unexpected war ultimately affected the United States and the Oregon Air National Guard (ANG) in many significant ways, even as some consider it to be the “Forgotten War.”
Some of the ways in which the war affected the Oregon ANG are described in “They Waived Everything but Goodbye: Oregon Air National Guard in the Korean War,” at:
https://www.142wg.ang.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/438253/they-waived-everything-but-goodbye-oregon-air-national-guard-in-the-korean-war/
But before Oregon’s Air Guard was called up for active duty in response to the war, Oregon-connected pilots were in action in the air over the Korean Peninsula, serving a vital role in slowing and eventually stopping the enemy advance, and then rolling it back in the see-saw fighting of the first year of the war. U.S. Navy veteran and Oregon aviation history expert Jack Cook of Salem recently shared about two such men, Richard C. Penrose and Alexander D. Currie.
Cobra in the Clouds
When the Korean War began, Captain Richard C. “Dick” Penrose was an F-80C Shooting Star jet fighter pilot assigned to the 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (39th FIS), the “Cobra in the Clouds” squadron, of the 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing of 5th Air Force, based at Yokota Air Base, Japan, just west of Tokyo. Originally from Orland, California, he attended Oregon State University before his military service which began in World War II (WWII).
Penrose was a World War II veteran who flew the P-51D Mustang in combat in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) with 8th Air Force’s 339th Fighter Group, 504th Fighter Squadron where he achieved one aerial victory over a German Luftwaffe Me-109 on August 16, 1944. He named his WWII P-51D “Beaver Chant” in a hat tip to his alma mater.
The War Begins
June 25 was a Sunday, interrupted on the Korean Peninsula by North Korean communist artillery and attacks across the 38th Parallel into the Republic of Korea. Capt. Penrose and the 39th FIS had just completed a Far East Air Force operational readiness test and on June 25, 25-percent of the squadron was off-station on pass and all other personnel were on a two-hour standby status. “The news of the Korean (War) was received with great speculation by all members of the unit,” according to the squadron’s official history.
Recalled Cobra squadron Sgt. Daniel B. O’Dell, Sr. in 2013, “When the was started that Sunday AM we were all in Tokyo and the jeeps and weapons carriers were running up and down the street tell(ing) us to get our &^$£^&* back to the base.”
A normal air defense of Japan posture was maintained by the squadron until it was alerted on July 2 for prospective combat operations in support of United Nations forces against the North Korean invaders. Much effort was made to prepare personnel and equipment for deployment. Movement began on July 8 to Ashiya Air Base in northern Kyushu, Japan. It was completed by midday on July 9, with personnel and equipment transported to Ashiya by C-54 and C-47 aircraft, and even the balance that traveled by train. All hands turned to preparing the squadron’s F-80Cs for combat missions starting July 9, when the squadron flew 18 combat sorties, likely including Dick Penrose.
The squadron’s mission was “To isolate the battle field by destroying all enemy, North Korean, communications and the close support of the United Nations Forces as directed by higher headquarters.”
That night, the Cobra squadron was informed of its next base of operations, over at K-3 Airfield in Korea, Pohang, on the east coast of South Korea, east of Taegu and north of Pusan. The squadron continued to fly combat in the Shooting Star even as it prepared to move from Japan to Korea. First Lt. Robert Coffin claimed an enemy aircraft on July 15, a first for the squadron, though the claim was not upheld by higher headquarters. A similar result would become another Oregon-connected pilot of the squadron in the not too distant future.
Transition Back to the F-51
On or about the July 23, the squadron was informed it would revert to the F-51D Mustang, due to concerns about the relatively limited endurance of the F-80C jet aircraft in getting from Japan to the battlefield in Korea with meaningful time to operate before having to return to Japan. This constrained a Shooting Star pilot’s time in the combat area as compared to the older propeller-driven F-51 (Note: The Mustang was redesignated from P-51 to F-51 in 1948). The first Mustangs reached the squadron on July 26, and some pilots began to fly Mustangs even as the predominant Shooting Stars continued in combat through the end of the month.
Fortunately for Dick Penrose, he knew the Mustang well, and had experienced air-to-ground combat in the ETO too, strafing trains, other rail targets, buildings and tethered barrage balloons in the tradition of Frank Luke. By the end of July, he had flown 24 combat sorties, and the squadron 544 combat sorties, without the loss of any planes or pilots.
The transition to the F-51D, a familiar mount for Penrose, took place only three months after the unit’s transition from the F-51 to the F-80. The 39th gave up their F-80s and flew the Mustang in earnest from August 5.
To Korea
On August 6 the squadron was ordered forward to Pohang with its parent 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group command and control element and one of its sister squadrons, the 40th FIS. The group’s remaining squadron, the 41st FIS, remained in Japan to provide air defense. Penrose and his squadron moved on August 7, which flew a combat sortie enroute.
But enemy forces were still advancing down the Korean peninsula. On August 10, enemy forces were detected in the hills surrounding the airfield. Due to the tenuous local security situation, the squadron’s aircraft and select crew chiefs and ground crews, flew to Taegu on August 11 to stay overnight.
Those personnel remaining established a secondary defense line for the airfield 500 yards behind front lines, digging foxholes and preparing for the worst. The Taegu campers returned the next day, when it rained heavily on August 12. All aircraft and personnel stayed overnight at Pohang.
Back to Japan
As the enemy applied more pressure to the Pusan Perimeter, on August 13 the squadron was evacuated to Japan by C-47 and Navy Landing Ship Tank (LST). Penrose and the Cobras went to Tsuiki Air Base. By the end of the month he flew another 29 combat sorties in August.
While at Tsuiki, the squadron continued to fly combat, and also prepared to move again. On the night of September 13, the 39th endured high winds and rain, with winds up to 70 mph which blew down a dozen tents. Penrose flew another 24 combat missions that month. He and his squadron struck a wide variety of enemy targets as indicated in its September, 1950 official history, including railroad locomotives, rolling stock, tracks, tunnels and marshalling yards, command posts, artillery and gun positions, supply dumps buildings, power and radio stations, various vehicles and watercraft, bridges and airfields.
It was announced in September that Penrose was awarded a sixth Oak Leaf Cluster to the Air Medal “…for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flights…“ in the combat missions he flew in the squadron’s initial commitment to combat between July 9 – 16, 1950.
And back to Korea
With the success of the Inchon landings on the west coast of Korea on September 15, the North Koreans ceased their offensive and withdrew forces they could from southern Korea before escape was cut off. With the pressure thus relieved, the 39th moved back to Pohang on October 3. In October, Capt. Penrose flew 12 more combat missions.
On November 11, the Cobra squadron was alerted for a move north to Yonpo Airfield, in the Hamhung/Hungnam area on North Korea’s east coast, to move on November 17 and be operational at Yonpo the next day. Movement of an advanced echelon began November 14 and the rest of the squadron was delayed by adverse weather – the move was completed on November 21. It was first complete movement of the squadron solely by air transport, primarily the C-119 Flying Boxcar.
Despite the freezing temperatures, squadron members had newly-issued heavy winter clothing, and accomplished normal operations without much hindrance. But on the evening of November 30, all hands gathered in a maintenance hangar to be informed of the military reserve UN forces were experiencing due to a huge hindrance, the Red Chinese intervention, and that Yonpo was threatened. Retrograde back to South Korea began the next day, marking the sixth time the squadron moved since the war began.
Capt. Penrose was off the squadron roster by December 1 after he had attained the “Magic 100” combat missions needed for a pilot to complete a combat tour of duty – he flew an actual total of 104 missions in Korea. Penrose was transferred to the 41st FIS back in Japan, now based at APO 994, Johnson (Irumagawa) Air Base north-northeast of Yokota on the Kanto Plain.
Scant days later, on December 4 and with Chinese communist forces in the war now, the battles at the Chosin Reservoir and elsewhere raging and forcing United Nations forces back, the squadron began its relocation in earnest by airlift and LST from Yonpo to Pusan (K-9), and was established in South Korea again by December 7. With the dire situation due to the Chinese Communist intervention and advances, the Cobras flew combat missions daily during the relocation to help stem the red tide.
Oregonian Swapout
As one Oregonian left the 39th, a future one arrived. Capt. Alexander D. “Lucky” Currie, originally from Seattle with family in Carnation, Washington, was an F-80C Shooting Star pilot in the 35th FIW’s 41st FIS, the Flying Buzz Saws. Currie managed to fly 17 combat missions in the F-80C before he was rotated into the combat zone for a tour of duty in the 39th FIS with the F-51D. He recalled having but 10 to 15 minutes over the target area in Korea when flying the F-80 from Japan. Currie arrived on December 28 to join the Cobra squadron after 34 months of post-war occupation duty in Japan.
Currie had served in the Pacific during World War II, ironically, assigned to the 35th Fighter Group and 41st Fighter Squadron. He survived a harrowing bailout and survival situation in December, 1942 from an ailing P-39K Airacobra in poor weather over a remote area of New Guinea. He was helped by natives who carried him back to friendly control near Christmas after he struggled with a broken foot for six days in the jungle.
Currie ultimately flew 250 missions and accrued over 500 combat hours in the Southwest Pacific Area during the war. He was awarded the Air Medal with two OLCs and the Distinguished Flying Cross with OLC in his WWII service.
Air Combat
On a Cobra squadron combat mission on January 22, 1951 Currie led a flight of four Mustangs as top cover as another F-51 four-ship attacked a bridge north of the enemy’s capital city of Pyongyang. The fighter-bombers were jumped by four enemy propeller planes, identified as Yak-3s and called out for help “Come down and get them! They’re shooting at us!” And thus started a 10-minute dogfight.
Currie led his flight to bounce the bouncers, and soon spotted a Yak-3 trying to maneuver in below him to take a shot at his belly. He was able to turn the tables on the enemy pilot and shoot him down. Currie recalled that he “Saw the pilot bail out” though he “never saw his ‘chute open.” Although touted as the squadron’s first victory in the Korean War with the F-51D, and apparently endorsed by 5th Air Force, his claim was not upheld, ultimately, and does not appear in the official USAF aerial victory credit listing for the Korean War.
In February combat operations continued as Capt. Currie was appointed as the squadron’s communications officer. Armed reconnaissance over North Korea was added, now that UN forces had been forced to cede control of that territory to the communist North Korean and Red Chinese forces. The squadron’s policy was to expend all weapons before returning to base, which led to some comments about weapons “…being expended on targets of questionable military value.” This policy was perhaps the result of a February mishap involving a Marine F4U Corsair which crashed at the base and damaged six of the squadron’s F-51s when the weapons it was carrying burned and then exploded.
Several RB-29 escort missions were also flown up north seeking to find enemy forces. In the conduct of both of these reconnaissance-related missions, squadron pilots felt “…no good was being accomplished and that they were only ‘sitting ducks’ if met by enemy air opposition.” This was a serious problem and a valid concern with the introduction of the Soviet-built MiG-15 jet fighter into the air war since November, 1950. This did occur on a mission up north near the Yalu River in June when a MiG-15 broke through F-86 top cover and attacked squadron F-51s, shooting the wing off of one and killing Capt. John J. Coleman.
Mud Work
In March of 1951, the squadron’s F-51 pilots, including Capt. Currie, expended the following ordnance:
.50-caliber machine gun rounds 449,250
5-inch High Velocity Aerial Rockets (HVAR) 2,583
500-lb General Purpose (GP) bombs 24
6.5-inch Anti-Tank Aircraft Rockets (ATAR) 47
By April of 1951, most of the squadron’s combat missions were being flown from the Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Suwon (K-13), south of Seoul. Regular aircraft maintenance and serious repair work were accomplished back at Pusan. As UN forces pushed the enemy back, the squadron shifted the FOB to Seoul Municipal Airport (K-16) on April 6, from which the squadron operated 12 to 16 aircraft and flew as many as 96 to 100 sorties in a day. Although the enemy started their “Spring Offensive” on April 25 and neared K-16, defensive forces held stoutly and the squadron continued operations there.
Capt. Currie completed 101 missions by the end of April, flying 33 missions in the month to reach the magic 100 threshold. He was then reassigned to the 314th Air Division at Nagoya (Komaki) Air Base in Japan.
The two Oregon-connected pilots helped the squadron at a critical time in the Korean War, when the conflict was very fluid with large-scale movement of opposing forces down, up, down and up the peninsula again. The Cobra squadron was awarded the Korean Presidential Unit Citation for the period September 7, 1950 to February 5, 1951. Squadron members were also eligible for the Korean Service Medal, with three battle stars.
As Capt. Currie completed his combat tour, back in the States the Oregon Air National Guard began calling up personnel for active duty tours. Although most of Oregon’s Air Guardsmen did not serve in Korea during the war, nine pilots did, with several serving in the 39th FIS like Captains Penrose and Currie. Oregon Air Guardsmen started arriving for combat flying in July, 1951. Read about their exploits in “Remembering Redhawk Fighter Pilots who sacrificed during the Forgotten Korean War,” at: https://www.142wg.ang.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/438188/remembering-redhawk-fighter-pilots-who-sacrificed-during-the-forgotten-korean-w/
After Korea
Dick Penrose eventually settled in Bend, Oregon. He flew west in 1999.
Lt. Col. Alex Currie became a three-war veteran, with WWII, Korean War and Vietnam service in which he flew a total of 487 combat missions. In Vietnam he served as a staff officer but was able to fly some missions in AC-47s and C-47s.
After his retirement from USAF service completing more than three decades of service (1942-1974), “lucky” Currie became a farmer in Sublimity, Oregon. He flew west on November 3, 1995 at age 75, in Silverton, Oregon, and was buried at Willamette National Cemetery
As for their combat squadron, the 39th FIS, today it’s a Flying Training Squadron of the Air Force Reserve Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. It operates several training aircraft, including the T-6 Texan II, T-38 Talon and the T-1 Jayhawk to train tanker/transport pilots.
Next year marks the 75th anniversary of the Oregon ANG’s Korean War callup. We hope to share more about that experience then. But on this 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, we remember and honor the service and sacrifice of all who served our country to help preserve the freedom of the Republic of Korea and its citizens, now residing in a vibrant democracy and global economic powerhouse. Lest we forget.