The Case of the Missing Section
A true story of the Korean War
by Shelby M. Forrest

Howie Hean's chronicle in the summer edition of the MCAA Yellowsheet on VMF 312 operations in Korea gave an excellent portrayal of events involving the squadron from June, 1950 until June of 1951. Through no fault of his own, nor intent, he did leave out one thing that was, of course, unimportant so far as the outcome of the war was concerned. It was important, however, to the two pilots involved. And since I was one of the concerned pilots, I feel compelled to bring it to the attention of war historians for their edification, and to jog the memory of squadron buddies, who have no doubt long forgotten the incident--if they recalled it at all.

On that fateful spring day of April 20, 1951, a division of four checkerboard Corsairs was launched from the deck of the USS Bataan.

The division leader was Capt. Phil DeLong, and flying on his wing was Lt. Harold Daigh. I was leading the second section, with Lt. Bob Howard flying on my wing as "Tail-End Charlie".

The entry in my logbook for that day, that flight, was"recon-Kaesong". It was to be a routine reconnaissance flight, and the four planes were loaded for 'bear'--or, to be more accurate, for Communist targets of opportunity-- or for any assigned action for which our ordnance was required.

As I recall, it was a bright, sunny day, and it was rather quiet as we cruised along in a northerly direction. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a message from the radio, requesting our current position. This was submitted by Capt. DeLong, who was directed to immediately dispatch the second section to provide escort for a rescue helicopter. One of our pilots had been shot down and had bailed out successfully in a not-too-friendly area. We later learned that the pilot was one of our squadron mates from the Checkerboard Squadron, Lt. Bill Godby.

Our two plane section, which I referred to in the title of this article as "The Missing Section", turned to the assigned heading, and we were on our way to meet the rescue helicopter and escort it to the scene.

When we had been on our assigned heading for but a few minutes, an excited voice broke the silence with a chilling message. I recognized the voice of Harold "Digger" Daigh, who proclaimed loudly, "We are being attacked by Yaks--attacked by four Yaks.

I immediately came on the air and inquired, "Where are you , Digger. Where are you.?"

His classic reply I recall clearly to this day. "Over here," he said. Over here."

I motioned to Bob, and we quickly turned, standing the wings on end, and heading for "over here", wherever that was. My jubilation was short lived, however, as a voice ordered me in no uncertain terms, "Maintain your course to intercept helicopter. I repeat, maintain your course."

So I did what all good Marines should do, (and what they had better do). I obeyed orders . I complied, albeit reluctantly. Needless to say, that was one of the toughest orders I have ever had to obey.

Of course, I realized that was the only option. A pilot had been shot down. A helicopter was on its way to rescue him. The enemy was present in noticeable numbers, and two Corsairs were in the vicinity ready to protect the helicopter during the rescue attempt. That was the scenario . As it turned out, Phil and Digger didn't need our help, (although we would like to think they did) . They had things well under control. Even though encumbered by an ordnance load they did not have time to dump, they managed to dispose of four enemy planes-four Russian Yaks. We were disappointed, of course. As Marine fighter pilots, we itched to get involved in air to air, plane to plane combat. We all hoped for such an opportunity. But we were not to get that opportunity during the two months we would continue to face Communist forces in Korea. But we continued to do what was needed of us.

That's what makes it all worthwhile.

Oh well, we were consoled by the fact that Bill Godby was picked up by the helicopter and returned to the carrier safely. Who knows? Maybe we helped save 'Ole Bill's" butt. We like to think so, anyway.