The Heroic Mission to Save Korean War Orphans
During the brutal conflict in South Korea, Korean War orphans faced almost certain death until a dedicated US Air Force chaplain stepped in to orchestrate a miraculous rescue mission. According to the veterans’ media outlet We Are The Mighty, the late Lt. Col. Russell Blaisdell, who served as the 5th Air Force chaplain, is being remembered for leading Operation Kiddy Car, one of the most remarkable humanitarian evacuation efforts in military history.
As an orphan himself, Blaisdell could not turn a blind eye to the vulnerable children left behind on the battlefield after most troops evacuated. Interviewed by the Las Vegas Sun in 2001, he recalled that any child in needβregardless of nationality or backgroundβwas simply a child who deserved to survive. Alongside master sergeant and assistant chaplain Merle Mike Strang, Blaisdell gathered roughly 1,000 children with plans to evacuate them via Incheon Harbor using a single truck.
Operation Kiddy Car and the C-54 Airlift
When the expected ships failed to arrive at Incheon Harbor, Blaisdell faced a desperate situation. Seeking help at a mostly abandoned military headquarters, he met Brig. Gen. T.C. Rogers, who dramatically offered a fleet of C-54 transport planes if the children could reach Gimpo Airport. Securing trucks with the help of Marine Corps personnel, Blaisdell successfully transported the 1,000 children 20 miles to the airport.
On December 20 and 21, 1950, the children boarded the C-54 transport planes and successfully evacuated to safety on Jeju Island, where an orphanage run by Lt. Col. Dean Hess awaited them. Author Arissa H. Orth has estimated that the total number of war orphans reached approximately 100,000, cementing the enduring legacy of these humanitarian efforts in South Korea.
