Park spoke of ‘the greatest mercy mission of the war’ in a message to his tireless air and ground crews – tireless because the joy of those released made up for everything. There was, however, the agonizing fact that aircraft could move ex-prisoners more quickly than the system could handle them: if the uplift from Bangkok and Saigon, for example, was not strictly controlled, accommodation in Rangoon would be crowded out before shipping was available to take them home.
