Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 58

MiG-15 Enters the war

On November 30, 1950 a U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress, attacking an air base in North Korea, was lightly damaged by a  lightning-fast, unidentified fighter. The B-29’s gunner was unable to fix the fast enemy fighter in the gunsights of his tracking system. The straight-wing Lockheed F-80 jets that were escorting the bomber made a token pursuit, but the enemy fighter rapidly disappeared.

Source: The Jet that Shocked the West | Military Aviation | Air & Space Magazine

 

Mig-15 Needpix.com

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate swept wings to achieve high transonic speeds (flying at or near the speed of sound – 767 mph at sea level) under average conditions).

In combat over Korea the Mig-15 outclassed straight-winged jet day fighters, which were largely relegated to ground-attack roles

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Originally intended to intercept American bombers like the B-29s, the MiG-15 carried autocannons: two 23 mm with 80 rounds per gun and a single 37 mm with 40 rounds. Although these weapons provided tremendous punch in the interceptor role, their limited rate of fire and relatively low velocity made it more difficult to score hits against small and maneuverable enemy jet fighters in air-to-air combat.

LOCKHEED F-80 – Wikipedia

The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first turbojet-powered fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Force. Although developed in 1943, it saw only limited service in Italy just before the end of WWII.

Outperformed by the swept-wing transonic MiG-15 in Korea, the F-80  and was quickly replaced with the transonic F-86 Sabre. 

F-86 Sabre – Wikipedia

Developed in the late 1940s, the F-86 was one of the most important fighter aircraft in the Korean War.

The F-86 was produced as both a fighter-interceptor and fighter-bomber. The fighter-bomber version (F-86H) could carry up to 2,000 lbs. of bombs and an external fuel-type tank that could carry napalm.

Both the interceptor and fighter-bomber F-86 versions carried six 12.7 mm M3 Browning machine guns with electrically boosted feed in the nose that could fire at a rate of 1,200 rounds per minute. The guns, using armor-piercing incendiary rounds, were synchronized to converge at 1,000 ft in front of the aircraft

USAF pilots – NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

Mig-15 pilot – NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

While many American pilots in the Korean war were experienced WWII veterans, the North Koreans and the Chinese pilots lacked combat experience.

Although denied at the time, former Communist sources later acknowledged that, while North Korean and Chinese pilots increased their combat participation as the war went on, Soviet pilots initially flew the majority of MiG-15s that fought in Korea.

In Mig Alley, an area near the mouth of the Yalu River (the boundary between Korea and China), the North Koreans and their allies periodically contested UN air superiority.

Mig Alley – Wikipedia

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Defense Production Act

The Defense Production Act of 1950 was part of a broad civil defense and war mobilization effort granting the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons in the context of the Cold War. Since 1950, the Act has been reauthorized over 50 times and has been periodically amended.

Under the Act’s authority, President Harry S. Truman eventually established the Office of Defense Mobilization, instituted wage and price controls, strictly regulated production in heavy industries such as steel and mining, prioritized and allocated industrial materials in short supply, and ordered the dispersal of wartime manufacturing plants across the nation.

Source: Wikipedia

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All About Eve

All About Eve was a 1950 American film based on the 1946 short story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr.

The film starred Bette Davis , Anne Baxter , George Sanders, and Celeste Holm. 

Marilyn Monroe also appeared in one of her earliest film roles.

All About Eve won six  Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

Widely praised, All About Eve was selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress‘ National Film Registry, as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Source:  Wikipedia

Here is a recent New York Times post re: the film

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Bombing North Korea

Early in the war, after the virtual destruction of the North Korean Air Force, U.S.  Far East Air Force (FEAF)  B-29 bombers carried out massive aerial attacks on transport centers and industrial hubs in North Korea. During this period, the official U.S. policy was to pursue precision bombing aimed at communication centers railroad yards and industrial facilities deemed vital to war-making capacity.

In early July 1950, General Emmett O’Donnell, Commander in Chief of Pacific Air Forces proposed to General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Powers, that the U.N. forces initiate firebombing methods such as those used against Japan toward the end of WWII.

MacArthur is said to have responded: “No… I’m not prepared to go that far yet. My instructions are very explicit; however, I want you to know that I have no compunction whatever to your bombing bona fide military objectives, with high explosives, in major industrial centers. If you miss your target and kill people or destroy other parts of the city, I accept that as a part of war.”

In September 1950, MacArthur reported to the United Nations, “The problem of avoiding the killing of innocent civilians and damages to the civilian economy is continually present and given my personal attention.”

In October 1950, FEAF commander General George Stratemeyer requested permission to attack the city of Sinuiju, a provincial capital with an estimated population of 60,000, over the widest area of the city, without warning, by burning and high explosives. MacArthur’s headquarters responded the following day: “The general policy enunciated from Washington negates such an attack unless the military situation clearly requires it. Under present circumstances, this is not the case.”

whereismap

Despite the official precision bombing policy of UN forces, North Korea reported extensive civilian casualties.

Wikipedia

The apparent contradiction between a policy of precision bombing and reports of high civilian casualties might be explained by the very low accuracy of bombing.

 B-29 begins the bombing attack against a target in North Korea in February 1951
National Museum of the United States Air Force

According to a FEAF analysis, 209 bombs had to be dropped to reach an 80% likelihood of hitting a 20 by 500 foot target. Since many targets of the “precision” campaign were located in populated areas, high numbers of civilians were killed despite the policy of limited targeting.

Source: Wikipedia

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Mother Teresa

In October 1950, Mother Teresa and the small community formed by her former pupils received permission from the Diocese of Calcutta (Kolkata) India to identify as a Catholic organization. Her order the Missionaries of Charity, subsequently received approval from Pope Pius XII.

Mother Teresa stated that her mission was to care for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.

Anitamathias.com

My wife and I volunteered at her mission next to the Khalighat temple in 1993 after which I wrote the following:

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Cold War ~ Polish Movie

Cold War is a Polish film directed by Pawel Pawlikowski that stars Joanna Kulig and Tomasz Kot.

The plot follows the passionate and fateful romance of a couple from the ruins of post-war Poland through Cold War East Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris.

Shaped by politics, character flaws and unfortunate twists of fate, the film follows the couple through the somber landscape of Eastern-block countries, out to the West and back to Communist Poland again.

Although fatalistic and depressing, the film is well-crafted and sheds interesting light on life in a Cold War Communist state.

Rather than oversimplify the suppression in a police state, the film shows how indirect coercion and individual ambivalence can exert powerful control.

Cold War received nominations at the 91st Academy Awards for: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director and Best Cinematography. And at the 72nd British Academy Film Awards for: Best Direction and Best non-English language film.

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Kim Dynasty

Kim Il-sung ~ Wikipedia

His name roughly translates as: “One who becomes the sun”

Kim Jong-il ~Wikipedia

His name roughly translates: Kim Jong-un ~ Wikipedia

His name roughly translates as “r.

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Color TV

In 1950 the Federal Communications Commission issued the first license for color TV broadcasting, to CBS.

Although the field-sequential color system developed by Dr. Peter Goldmark was the first color television system to be adopted for commercial use, it was abandoned a year later because its signal could not be received on ordinary black and white television sets without a special adapter.

Color TV sets first became available in American stores in December 1953.

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Polio Epidemics

In 1950 Polio was one of the most serious communicable diseases among children in the United States.

Thousands of children were infected by the virus, and many were paralyzed or died.

Source: Our World in Data

Hospitals developed special units with “iron lung: ventilating devices

1953 Dr. Jonas Salk successfully tested a vaccine against poliomyelitis.

Flickr.com

In 1955, the U.S. began widespread vaccinations. By 1979, the virus had been completely eliminated across the country.

Source: NPR

Today polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

 http://www.amcharts.com/visited_count...#

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The Dead Come Home

Britannica.com





Deaths by U.S. service (Korean War Project)

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