Koelsch and Neal
3 JULY 1951
KOELSCH AND NEAL
John K. Koelsch was English, born in London and educated at the Choate School. In 1940 he joined the Royal Air Force and fought in the Blitz. He came to the United States in 1942 and joined the US Naval Reserve as an aviation cadet. He was commissioned an Ensign on 14 September 1942 and flew torpedo bombers through WWII. Remaining in the US Navy after the war, he completing a Bachelors degree in 1949 at Princeton.
With the outbreak of the Korean conflict he joined Helicopter Squadron 1 (HU-1) at Miramar, California, and learned to fly the two-seater Sikorsky H-5. Helicopters, unarmed in this day, were used for medevac, reconnaissance, and recovery of downed pilots. Summer of 1951 found Koelsch flying with the Helicopter Utility Squadron HU-2 “Fleet Angels” from USS PRINCETON (CV-37) off the eastern coast of North Korea.
In the late afternoon this day, PRINCETON received a distress call from USMC CPT James V. Wilkins, whose F4U Corsair had gone down deep in North Korea about 35 miles southwest of Wonson. Wilkins parachuted to safety but sustained serious leg burns. Despite the approaching darkness, foul weather, low ceilings, and enemy fire, Koelsch choppered to the Anbyon Valley. A pass over the valley yielded no sign of the flier, yet Koelsch persisted. On a second pass in thickening fog, Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class George M. Neal spotted a collapsed parachute. Wilkins was quickly located, and as enemy small arms fire erupted, a hoist was lowered to the Marine. But the enemy fire took its toll as he was being raised. The helo sputtered, the engine smoked, and with Wilkins still dangling, Koelsch guided the H-5 to a crash landing on a mountainside. Quickly Neal and Koelsch rounded up the Marine and ducked under cover. For three days the trio hid in the North Korean countryside. When no rescue choppers were seen, they decided to strike for the coast, which they reached six days later. Here they were captured while hiding in a native hut.
The three were taken to a POW camp where they were barely fed and subjected to beatings and brainwashing almost daily. Such prisoners were often coerced into making propaganda statements and false confessions. Koelsch endured the beatings and resisted such demands. But shortly his weakened condition became complicated with dysentery. Koelsch died in enemy custody on 16 October 1951. For his disregard of personal safety in recovering the downed aviator, and his conduct as a POW, LTJG Koelsch was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Wilkins and Neal survived to be exchanged after the armistice in 1953. Neal was awarded the Navy Cross.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 10 JUL 25
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 3 “G-K”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1977. pp. 679-80.
Secretary of the Navy Public Affairs. “SECNAV Names Destroyer in Honor of US Navy, Korean War Veteran.” 26 March 2019, AT: web.archive.org/web/20190326174417/https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story.id=109029/ retrieved 9 August 2024.
United States Congress. United States of America’s Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients and their Official Citations. Columbia Heights, MN: Highland House II, 1994, p. 203.
USS Koelsch (DE-1049) Commissioning. Program from Commissioning Ceremony. 10 June 1967.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: Koelsch is interred in Arlington Cemetery. Our Garcia-class Cold War destroyer escort DE-1049, later FF-1049, remembers LTJG Koelsch. AD3 Neal passed away on 1 December 2016 and also rests in Arlington. Our Arleigh Burke-class destroyer GEORGE M. NEAL (DDG-131), currently under construction, honors the Navy Cross recipient.
