John Kelvin Koelsch

John K. Koelsch

John Kelvin Koelsch (born December 22, 1923 in London , † October 16, 1951 in Korean captivity) was an American soldier and rescue pilot with the rank of lieutenant.

Life

He graduated from Princeton University in 1942 and entered the service of the US Naval Reserve as a flight cadet on September 14 of the same year. In Fort Lauderdale he served in seasons 15 and torpedo seasons 97 and 18, in the latter as a chief officer. He rose to the rank of lieutenant (lieutenant junior grade) on August 1, 1946 and was transferred to the US Navy two months later . After further training at Princeton University in May 1948, he was used in February 1949 with a torpedo unit in Quonset Point , Rhode Island .

After the outbreak of the Korean War , he became a member of Helicopter Unit 1 in Miramar, California in August 1950. As officer in charge, he accompanied the aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CV-37) to the east coast of Korea . He made several successful rescue flights of downed pilots behind him.

On the afternoon of July 3, 1951, Koelsch and his copilot Neal were called to a volunteer mission to take them with their helicopter to a rescue operation deep in North Korean territory: before that, the pilot James V. Wilkins was 56 kilometers southwest of Wonsan with his heavy fighter plane been shot down.
Despite the rising darkness, deteriorating weather and under-fire from the ground, Lt. Koelsch locate the emergency pilot and initiate a rescue maneuver. However, thick fog prevented fire protection for the accompanying fighters and so, while copilot Neal was pulling up the injured pilot with the cable, the helicopter was forced to land by enemy fire and the entire crew was captured by North Korean soldiers.

During the entire imprisonment, Koelsch is said to have not disclosed any information despite brutal beatings and further mistreatment. This is said to have encouraged his fellow prisoners to do the same. While copilot Neal survived, Koelsch died there of malnutrition and a dysentery infection on October 16, 1951.

Honors

In 1955 Koelsch was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, the highest military honor of the American government . He was buried in the American Arlington National Cemetery . His grave is in Section 30, Grave Site 1123-RH. An American frigate was named after John Kelvin Koelsch in 1965, the USS Koelsch (FF-1049).

Web links

• Dictionary of American Fighting Ships