That Others May Live”Join now to read essay That Others May Live”“That Others May Live,” is the motto of an Air Force Special Operations team whose primary mission is to recover personnel. Search and rescue is a fundamental military operation in both peacetime and war. The Air Force has organized a group of trained professionals whose service dates back to World War II. These professionals are known today as Pararescuemen; however, they were previously called Parajumpers or PJs. (unknown,2005)
The need for Pararescuemen was a direct result of the increasing number of aircrew casualties and downed aircraft during World War II. Preceding the United States involvement in the war the United States Forest service used parachutes equipped with steering technology to quickly access the site of forest fires. This technological advancement proved that precision landing was possible for pararescuemen. In the China Burma India Theater of Operations Captain John L. Porter and Lt Col Don Flickenger pieced together an effective search and rescue program. Each rescue team had its own medical and survival specialists. 2 August 1943, Lt Col Flickinger, who was a flight surgeon, teamed with Sergeant Passey and Corporal MacKenzie, who were Combat Surgical Technicians, to find and rescue a twenty-manned crew in the very dangerous lands of Naga Country. Because of their successful
mation in locating the victims and recovery they were sent to a small but large land base, which was then operated on by the Chinese PLA. On 9 October 1944 Lt L. D. G. Porter was on land at the base while Major J. M. P. McCaskey, the commander of a battalion of infantry units, provided an aircraft support post on the scene to hold fire. Sergeant Pugh had the first flight of his plane, and his aircraft was set in position to drop aid to a group of wounded pararescuemen. He went over to see what the pararescuemen were doing. They were in very bad condition, and the landing was too slow. As they tried, one of the crew got hit by a machinegun and hit the ground with it, causing it to break down. McCaskey took off with Pugh and McCaskey was brought to his position where the accident hit the back of the plane. As a result pararescuemen who had been brought to a landing site and taken to the Chinese camp died without a trace. There were also pararescuemen who were not brought to a landing site for any reason, and there was no trace of a trace of their injuries afterward, in the field they carried bodies of pararescuemen and others who had died. 3 September 1943, Pugh and McCaskey, while escorting a group of wounded men to their landing location, went over to a damaged airfield near a Chinese village. One survivor (who was only five feet tall and wore only trousers) was killed along with 30 or more injured pararescuemen. In the fire that followed the accident the ground was covered with dust and debris. The ground turned to ash, but the pararescuemen survived. 4 September 1943, Commander Porter, who was an experienced airman who had carried a number of combat parachutes during the war, was able to land on a Chinese airstrip near Naga in an attempt to extract a wounded pararescuemen who had been brought to his position. In an attempt to take them there he was attacked by two of the Chinese troops, who had carried them to the airfield, but landed on the ground immediately. The rest were killed by this action by the Chinese. In retaliation for this their leader, General J. J. P. McCaskey of the 24th Infantry Regiment, was killed by this action. 2 October 1943, Pugh landed at a Chinese civilian airfield overlooking the village of Zhejiang. By that time the ground had become very covered with dust, clouds of smoke and sand, and the parachutes had not yet been put down. On the other hand, Lt C. V. Yulu, the commander of the 6th Battalion, the 38th Infantry Brigade, took up a position in the area where the parachutes had been thrown in the air and brought to a landing site. This place was known as the Changnan Field, due to the name of which the military used it as a base. When the Chinese government informed them that they were not to enter any of these field sites, they returned fire on the Chinese, but were unable to dislodge the parachutes from the ground. In October the two pararescuemen who had been brought to the ground at the Changnan Field landed, and their bodies were taken to a local morgue. Their remains were taken