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U.S. military commemorates 75th anniversary of operation rescuing Korean War orphans

Published: 17 Dec. 2025, 17:50 Updated: 17 Dec. 2025, 20:53

This photo shows chaplain Maj. Gen. Trent Davis, third from left, and other participants posing next to a plaque during an event marking the 75th anniversary of Operation Kiddy Car at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 65 kilometers south of Seoul, on Dec. 17. [YONHAP]

The U.S. military on Wednesday commemorated the 75th anniversary of an operation rescuing Korean children orphaned in the winter of 1950, when North Korean communist troops threatened to take Seoul.

Under Operation Kiddy Car, more than 1,000 children and caregivers were airlifted to safety to the southern island of Jeju from Seoul on Dec. 20, 1950, thanks to the humanitarian operation led by chaplain Lt. Col. Russell Blaisdell and Staff Sgt. Merle Strang.

The U.S. airmen initially rescued lost children from the streets and worked to provide them with shelter and food. But as communist forces threatened UN troops and forced a retreat southward, Blaisdell and others loaded the orphans onto trucks at the port of Incheon and transported them to an air base in Gimpo, from where they were flown to safety.

"I love the fact that it really was a reminder of this great partnership that we have between the Republic of Korea and the United States," Maj. Gen. Trent Davis, the chief of chaplains at the U.S. Department of the Air Force, told reporters.

"And it is that partnership [...] it's really a partnership united by a shared heart that I think this ceremony speaks to," he added.

In his speech reflecting on the operation of 1950, Davis said Operation Kiddy Car had become "more than an air force operation."

"It became a shared act of compassion, an action that linked nations and a shared heart, a partnership that still defines our alliance today," he said.

This photo, taken Dec. 17, shows a plaque carrying photos from Operation Kiddy Car, when the U.S. Air Force conducted rescue operations for more than 1,000 orphans in Seoul, during the 1950-53 Korean War. [YONHAP]

When asked about the significance of the rescue operation 75 years after the devastating war in Korea, Davis underscored the importance of the South Korea-U.S. partnership in bringing hope.

"Hope to me is really lived out in this common partnership and an opportunity to me to serve," he said, referring to the compassion that U.S. airmen exhibited during the rescue operation. "I think it's that heart and that compassion that gives us hope today [...] that same heart that they have exists in airmen today."

The event was attended by some 100 personnel, including Col. Ryan Ley, the commander of the 51st Fighter Wing, and Park Ki-un, a Korean War survivor.

Meanwhile, the South Korean Air Force held a separate remembrance ceremony since 2016 for the late American fighter pilot Col. Dean Hess, who took part in the airlift operation.

Yonhap