Description
Paratroopers of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team are shown in this photograph seated in the cargo compartment of a 314th Troop Carrier Group C-119 on a flight to the dropzone at Munsan-ni, Korea, in March 1951. This was the second combat airborne assault for the U.S. Air Force aircraft since their arrival in Korea in August 1950. The first assault was at Sukchon-Sunchon, Korea, in September 1950, when the 187th was dropped shortly after the Allied landing on the beachhead at Inchon. Dropping paratroopers is only one of the many missions performed by the 314th since they joined the conflict two years earlier.
Source-Dependent Questions
- Look closely at the photo, what do you observe about the paratroopers? Why are the men holding their gear and supplies?
- Compare this photo with Soldiers Seek Shelter. Make inferences about why paratroopers might have been beneficial in the Korean terrain.
Citation Information
"COMBAT CARGO, KOREA - Paratroopers of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team, seated in the cargo compartment of 314th Troop Carrier Group C-119 'Flying Boxcar,' 'sweat out' the flight to the dropzone at Munsan-ni, Korea," March 1951. Courtesy of National Archives