 proudly we hail from New York City where the American stage begins here is another program with a cast of outstanding players public service time has been made available by this station for your army and your air force to bring you this story as proudly we hail the para pilot of the United States Air Force our story is entitled the para pilot this is the story of a para pilot team in Korea members of the tactical air command who by an ingenious method direct a knockout punch to enemy ground forces from behind their own lines our first act curtain will rise in just a moment but first college men there's a great new opportunity in your United States Air Force because it's an important new job for aircraft observer officers men who can apply mathematics to the practical problems of flight men who can deal with complex equipment and exacting problems if you had two or more years of college and if you can qualify for intensive aviation cadet training the Air Force will give you a year's postgraduate study with pay yours will be an important job which can be filled only by the finest young men visit your local US Army and US Air Force recruiting station today for full details and now your army and your Air Force present the proudly we hail production the para pilot you know what a para pilot is a para pilots a fighter pilot who parachutes to the ground so he can direct air strikes at enemy ground troops he jumps into or beyond the front lines the para pilot is part of TAF the tactical Air Force it's up to TAC the tactical air command to provide Air Force cooperation with land naval or amphibious forces in the field it becomes a tactical air force and it's the job of the tactical Air Force to keep enemy planes from attacking our own front line troops to cut off enemy ground troops from supplies reinforcements and communications and to knock out enemy guns troops or positions which the Army for one reason or another cannot get to with their own weapons in general this means close-up support of our frontline troops and practically no one gets any closer than a para pilot team it's nighttime in Korea we're at a joint operational center not far below the 38 parallel here ground forces men and Air Force men are hard at work acting as a team a message has just come in through the Army control that from the 10th division that a company of infantry has been cut off on hill 288 other message from captain mallets division sir they're still cut off on hill 288 yes I know what's the situation there now division says the front will remain relatively quiet for the rest of the night company sees pretty well dug in as no indication of immediate danger though the enemy has them completely surrounded from the buildup in the area the commanding general 10th division expects the enemy to attack early tomorrow looks though mallet is outnumbered at least five to one hill 288 you can see it on this map about a hundred miles southeast of Yongyang just about on the parallel part of this spiny ridge that runs generally in north and south here I've been there pretty rugged country the range of hills 288 is about the highest that's right captain mallet probably had orders to hold gale 288 if at all possible that was before his company was cut off now it's probably the safest place for them to be wasn't a relief column sent to help them guess what but it didn't get through what state are the supplies in captain their immediate situation isn't desperate they have supplies for short time but they need relief as soon as possible right I think we all know the situation now never relief column army g2 says even if they started now they couldn't get through in time this is a job for the airports we will set up a pre-planned close support strike drop in supply better send a parapilot team in there first captain more get a parapilot team here for briefing right away lieutenant Andrew Schaefer is an experienced tactical pilot with 50 fighter bomber missions behind him he's well acquainted with the tactics required to provide accurate close air support he's 26 years old and comes from Mount Carmel Illinois he's been specially trained at air ground school in southern pines North Carolina as a parapilot at southern pines he was team with sergeant Ray Carroll from Keen, New Hampshire an Air Force radio technician who has received special jump training at Lawson Air Force Base Georgia at Lawson lieutenant Schaefer and sergeant Carol learn jumping techniques becoming adept at jumping with all the necessary radio equipment from aerial troop transports these two men constitute a parapilot team okay Ray off we go into the wild black yonder I was having such nice dreams don't you ever get nervous not me I figure if the lieutenant thinks he can do it I guess I can do it too and carrying the baby besides a mighty big baby they call this VHF radio out for the portable sort of a king-size walkie-talkie but it's a lot more portable than a plane of Jeep than it is rusted lug around it wouldn't be much good without it though I wonder where the idea started taking fellows like us and making a jump team out I think it was started in North Africa or Italy it didn't jump then they had forward air controllers on the ground with and ahead of the troops how'd you get into it volunteered never knew I'd end up a jumper I heard about these parapilot teams it seemed like a good idea well it is take a pilot like me I know what a fighter bomber can do and what it can't do and team a guy like me with a fellow like you who can keep radio communications open we become an effective air ground team listening to Colonel back there I got an idea that this was a lot like one of the practice jumps made together down Georgia yeah that's a good thing for us on our first real jump we get something that sounds like a tactical problem I'm not worrying so much about a night jump did enough of those just hope they're expecting us companies see that all they'll be expecting us you know I wish in a way we'd get there and get started still we shouldn't have too much trouble looks like we're here they're ready for us as a plane woman all right you take care of the equipment I'll check in and out sure fellas says here we go again the parapilot team Lieutenant Schaeffer and Sergeant Carol get themselves checked in and out and get their equipment into the plane that will carry them up to and over the front lines and drop them on hill 288 meanwhile let's take a look at the hill and see how company C is making up regulars clockwork aren't you notice Gus every four and a half minutes they put one of those things in their mortar and lob it over here yeah I never thought I'd brutal of rocks so much we were dug in though they'd have to blast to get us out of here the way the guns place we can knock off anything trying to come up this hill long as the ammo holds up watch it take it easy there Mac you start shooting all the boulders around here and we'll be sitting with an empty gun before you know it honest guess I thought it was moving when do you think I help will get here I heard help was coming I don't know we usually get what we need one way or another no Mac when I first set eyes on this hill I wouldn't give you a nickel for it now I'm getting sort of fond of it I've been in a lot worse places I guess if we had enough supplies you could stay here forever well that's brasses we're not mine our worry yours mine is that open space there in front of us we keep that there clear that's all we can do captain and the others up to them to keep us supplied and I guess it will they always do I don't see how they can do it this time they're in time oh there's another player that one of ours right in the same spot you must be digging quite a hole there yeah that's all right with me just long as they don't change your range your elevation the hole is there not here another one they're all off their schedule without notifying us is that polite well maybe they went on daylight saving time all of a sudden maybe that came from a different mortars we're getting close funny I always have the feeling when we drop a flare we're making ourselves a perfect target yeah with all that light you think they must be able to see it from the ground yeah and on the ground can't see through that light though you notice back there when we drop those two flares that small cut between those two hills sure enemy gun emplacements in the valley being perfect position to keep anything from coming up that road have to get through that cut to get up front yeah were you thinking what I was that I was lieutenant the guns can be seen by a fighter bombers maybe we could bomb and silence them and then a tank-led column could get past the smaller guns and clean them out all right mark those coordinates on the grid I already marked position see here every place I put an X right here on the grid Queen coordinates 35 20 and 33 21 I guess part of what's talked to us right right up the place for a long time don't they see to drop slower in their parachutes than we do in our they look there they go you say they couldn't see through the light to shoot us from the ground that idea well maybe they can't put their radar you see the troops you got them spotted yeah spotted and mocked down what's this more fly well we're being given the grand tour around hill 288 minutes or something while they drop the airlift of supplies and ammo it looks like troops there in there yeah another couple of flares are I mark those two positions okay got them spotted in my boy they really are surrounded aren't they yeah well you needn't say they pretty soon it'll be we us we whatever you want to call it are fine the more we know the more we can do hey it's a convoy all right long moving slow must be 40 trucks maybe more did you catch that yeah we certainly did what we saw I'd say it I guess those is the supplies for the attack they hope to make on hill 288 there's still a couple of hours from getting there though at the rate they're moving and on the road they've got to take a fine thanks well we're set aren't we yes sirs there just will ever be I guess look am I that good an example can't you even look frightened me yeah if you want to know the truth I'm scared to death for a jump I always that's good that makes me feel better but you don't show it well I can't remember when you look so calm look we land together with our equipment just like the night jumps and lost in the air base right now all right there go our flares I'll go first after you any time you say we're all set one at a time thanks oh and thanks for the lift too I'll do the same for you someday you are listening to the proudly we hail production the para pilot will return in just a moment for the second act America's finest young men are getting into the blue of the United States Air Force if you're interested in your share of democracy your future in the free world and in the exciting life of a pilot or aircraft observer see if you can qualify for training as an aviation cadet if you're between 19 and 26 and a half years of age have at least two years of college are single and in good physical condition see your army and Air Force recruiter about your future in the United States Air Force aviation cadet program for full information visit your nearest US Army and US Air Force recruiting station today you are listening to proudly we hail and now we present the second act of the para pilot right here so right it's raining I think glad to be on the ground now we gotta get in touch with company see all right you want to get in touch with anybody except Saint Peter I'd sort of move if I was you all right which way though which way but fast some mortar on one of them hills with lark keeps lobbing shells and right about where you are every four and a half minutes and they haven't sent one for about three right right right we're coming just a bar room here for us you're welcome to try to squeeze in what's that thing portable to a radio transmitter I live and breathe a walkie talkie coming right out of the sky I was hoping for ammunition and reserves when I saw you guys coming I figured they were sending para troops to help us what do we get a couple of fly boys I take it this is part of company see sure is I want to try to contact the tactical air control party of 10th division and check in you better wait a second why you see right on schedule right where we were standing oh thanks thank nothing of it my friend we ought to be able to do this on batteries yeah sure lieutenant this should be brief anytime now in 10th up jumper one from destination able jumper one from destination able calling Peter oboe jumper one reporting we're on destination able stand by for further report standing by Roger jumper one out well now I've seen everything that gadget cooked to I could use a hamburger plenty onion pickle and relish for me no onion got a date and I wish I did hey hey captain's Jeep thought somebody to come looking for you they'll take you back drop in again anytime don't bother to ring thank you will do that yeah just bring a blonde next time this be right cozy little place for this fixed up right oh it's gotta be a blonde speaking for myself no we'll leave that to you okay come on right we better go see the captain right we're back on the ground again we go by Jeep so that's the way it is from the reports we were getting from our scouts if they weren't planning a night infiltration I'd have been surprised I'd I'd been wondering about that captain melon that's their usual tactic I had feeling they would try it just about the time you arrived it's quite likely your flares through the mall or maybe they were waiting for that convoy we saw to arrive or they may have thought the convoy would be close enough so they could count on it and it wasn't now whatever it was all indications where they'd attack and they didn't if they had attacked we could have beaten them off I'm confident with that but they couldn't have done it indefinitely I'm tired or forces are limited and we need more supplies oh did you recover our drop 90% makes me feel a lot more secure well I think we know the situation now we'll send back our report it'll be getting light in a little while I think they'll attack then under any conditions unless we can hit them first and keep them off balance the parapilot team of lieutenant Schaeffer and sergeant Carol report by radio their message was picked up several miles back by the air controller of the TACP consisting of a small mobile unit a jeep containing receiving transmitting and generating equipment go ahead jumper one this is Peter Robo go ahead jumper one read your loud and clear earlier there are five mortars on hill 178 and 171 grid Peter probably needs some close support strafing attacks right we'll relay your message Roger number one standing by for further instructions number one out really that message from our parapilot team on hill 288 back to JLC through your Army net three at once urgent now the situation is in the hands of Colonel Bingham and the other experts at the Joint Operational Center the different aspects of the problem are discussed and plans are jointly agreed on the group at the center awaits results and considers new reports as they come in dawn is beginning to break sending fingers of light probing over an unhappy war torn line a squadron of f-84 fighter bombers thunder jets have started out for hill 288 now listening for word on their radios from lieutenant Schaeffer the air ground controller Schaeffer and Sergeant Carroll after informing company see that a squadron of fighter bombers is being dispatched to help go back to take up their frontline positions I am back we're back again you said not the phone just drop in how we told you to bring a blind I told Captain Malo we'd set up near you and use your field phone to contact him I thought you boys had about the best observation post on the hill thought may we dig in near you not too close though I don't like your four and a half minute mortar nor your own machine gun it makes too much noise for our purposes yeah it's a pretty good spot right here good view on a certain amount of protection from the rear what's gonna happen in a few minutes a squadron of f-84 should appear we get in touch with them by radio tell them what to hit and where I better get over to my litter transmitter get to work I'll see you later you better get your pals here soon it's an unavoidable part of the parapilot's job that to be effective he must be in a position to observe the enemy in order to observe the enemy it's almost impossible not to be observed because their portable transmitter signal has a limited range and because of the speed at which the planes will come there'll be little time before the thunder jets are over their target once radio contact has been established jumper one calling Foxtrot blue leader jumper one calling Foxtrot blue leader do you read anything yet no no nothing wonder where they can be wait a minute when they're coming in now the maps all laid out yeah everything's right jumper one calling Foxtrot blue leader you're coming in faintly we're on hill 288 grid Peter coordinates 1843 that's 18-43 this is jumper one enemy convoy of about 40 trucks just south of penguin hill Roger jumper one jumper one now grid queen gun emplacements well dug in stopping our tank columns on eastern side hill 178 western side hill 161 grid queen coordinates 3520 and 3321 can you see them have them spotted blue leader to white flight stop that convoy with rockets then straight jumper one to Foxtrot blue leader new enemy attack beginning down here enemy troops in five main concentrations do you have napalm Roger jumper one we have napalm attack is coming from grid Peter one two dash four seven there's a tree halfway down the hill do you see it blue leader Roger that's where we want the napalm jumper one have instructed one flight which is spotted gun emplacements that dive bomb those positions circle back to cover my flight while we're napalming tell it I think that took him completely by surprise I've been tracing that trajectory I think I got them all spotted here they're marked here yeah oh wait a minute captain now it's calling yes captain they did it looks pretty good here too okay I'll tell him I think that strike knocked out or disrupted the main groups on the ground now ones who'd already started looking still coming all right how was that low flight still has rockets what now you can make your strafing attacks on the north side of the hill hit the attackers coming up with machine gun that's gonna slow up their attack I think it's busted up for good right now if we can get those mortars that are hitting around us there seem to be five of them about grid Peter four six dash five nine four eight dash six six four nine dash four six one oh dash six two and one three dash six four Roger conked them mortars first time in a long while I felt free to walk away from a gun I don't think you'll see much movement there for quite a while I better give the leader a call blue leader this is jumper one thanks for a fine show right thanks lieutenant I want to say thanks to funny thing though we go over the world here we are three of us yes I'll have to treat you sort of a neighbor then besides you boys we're in a lot better position I thought would be I mean we still got supplies left thanks to airdrop and not much of the enemy right here anyway yeah it's been about six minutes I think we quieted that mortar to Gus the machine gunner from company see can kid that they're sort of neighbors but what I was really talking about was teamwork teamwork and partnership that doesn't depend on the latitude or longitude the kind of teamwork that comes from people with the same kind of training and basic ideals whether they were born in Maine or California in Minnesota or Texas the kind of teamwork that sent the parapilot team to hill 288 that sent for the F 84s to break up the enemy air attack that shot up the enemy convoy bringing reinforcements that cleared up those annoying mortars behind the next hills that blasted the big gun and placement so that a relief column could get through and company see could go back behind the lines for a well deserved rest proudly we hail the parapilot a highly trained unit of the tactical Air Force and all the officers and men of the USAF air ground operations school whose training makes this kind of successful teamwork possible here's a message from your United States Air Force to you you have a chance to join the key men on the Air Force's flying team as an aircraft observer yes you can be one of the men who plot the sky tracks of the heavy bombers and the big transports if you look ahead now while you're in college here's what you can do you can take a year's training with pay and after graduation as an aviation cadet become a flying officer team member with the silver wings of an aircraft observer but can you qualify you can if you're between 19 and 26 and a half single are in good physical condition of high moral standards and have had two or more years of college training for full information visit your nearest United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting station this has been another program on proudly we hail presented transcribed in cooperation with this station proudly we hail is produced by the recruiting publicity center for the United States Army and United States Air Force recruiting service this is Kenneth Banghart speaking and inviting you to tune in the same station next week for another interesting story on proudly we hail