MANY OFFSPRING OF KOREAN WAR’S 18TH K.I.A. HEROES NEED YOUR HELP

Of all of the tasks involved with being part of the 18th Fighter Wing Assoc., none brings more gratification than being able to connect the offspring of 18th heroes who were Killed in Action during the Korean War, with friends and associates of the fathers that they were never able to know.

We’ve had many quiet successes in uniting several of these now-grown sons and daughters with surviving 18th crews who’d slept, ate, drank and braved the  deadly challenges of that aerial war with those whose bravery was unquestioned, but whose luck was insufficient to bring them home again to their loved ones.

The "in-out of 18th dates" carried on our members’ application forms have usually been sufficient to compile a list of aging 18th veterans which have enabled the offspring to oftimes locate the father’s former comrades, but the case of Capt. James Heath, presented here, has been one of the tougher ones .... thus far.

I for one, especially ask our members to assist  Jim Heath Jr. in his lifelong quest, as a token of our gratitude for his tireless efforts at almost single-handedly building our new 18th FWA website which can be found at:   http://www.18thfwa.org/

  
Look closely, please ... do you recognize this Korean War 12th Fighter Squadron F-51 pilot?

James D. Heath, born in 1920, graduated from Advanced single-engine pilot training, Gulf Coast Command, in AAF Class 44-C, at Aloe Field, Victoria, TX, in March 1944, (when the above photos were taken). WW-II duties are not known at this time, but his son Jim Jr., now in his mid-fifties, recalls their having lived with him and his mother, Ruby, at Clark Field, PI, before the Korean War began, and remembers that his father was a model airplane hobbyist at that time.

Initial inquiries have not yet revealed the date or unit of Heath’s assigned duty at Clark Field, nor when he joined the 12th Ftr Sqdn in Korea. Like many others at that time, he could possibly have been deflected into any of several Base support units, rather than one of the three (12th, 44th, 67th) fighter squadrons. His son Jim believes that he had flown both F-51 Mustangs and F-80 jets while stationed at Clark Field before the Korean war.

On March 8, 1951, Capt. James Heath was shot down in Chorwon area, North Korea (Munsu-ri), while flying armed recce in “J. H. Hall’s” F-51, as wingman to Capt. Wendell D. Miller, call-sign ‘Migrate Yoke’. While attacking separate targets, Miller lost radio contact with Heath and, after a brief search with the aid of Migrate Queen flight, found scattered wreckage.... but no sign of life. No ground search was possible because of its location deep within enemy territory. After a brief listing as “Missing”, Heath was officially declared “Killed in Action”.

If you have personal recollections of Captain James Heath Sr., please contact Jim Heath Jr, at 512-331-2930, cell 512-913-7928 or e-mail:

jheath53@yahoo.com