ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 85062
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| Date: | Thursday 25 October 1951 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  Republic F-84E Thunderjet |
| Owner/operator: | 182nd FBS, 136th FBW, Texas ANG, USAF |
| Registration: | 51-552 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Shukusen, Sukch'ŏn-ŭp, Sukch'ŏn County, South P'yŏngan Province -
 North Korea
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | K-2 Taeugu Airfield, Daegu, South Korea (RKTN) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Republic F-84E-20-RE Thunderjet 50-552, 182nd FBS, 136th FBW, Texas ANG (Air National Guard), USAF: Written off (destroyed) October 25 1951 when lost (failed to return) from combat operations over North Korea. Reported that aircraft was hit by AAA, crashed and burned in the area of Shukusen, Sukch'ŏn-ŭp, Sukch'ŏn County, South P'yŏngan Province. Pilot Lt Col James R Witt USAF (1918-2007) bailed out successfully, but was captured and taken as PoW. He was released from captivity in August 1953.
According to a rough translation into English from Russian sources (see link #7 for the original Russian text):
"25/10/1951 Kornienko Nikolay Lukich shot down an F-80 in the Shukusen region. On this day, the US Air Force acknowledged the loss of 3 F-84s (51-528 of 49th FBW and 51-552, 50-1159 of 136th FBW), 2 F4U-4, 1 FH-H2 "Banshee" Bu Aer No 124959, 1 F-51D and 2 helicopters. So Kornienko's victory is confirmed - he has either 1 of the F-84s or the FH-H2 "Banshees" on his account - their silhouettes are very similar to the F-80 and they are easy to confuse."
According to the following short biography of the pilot (see link #5)
"Lt. Col. James R. Witt, USAF, was flying an F-84E Thunderjet (51-552) on October 12, 1951 with the 182nd Fighter Bomber Squadron, 136th Fighter Bomber Wing, when his aircraft was hit by AAA; there were reported flames; he ejected, and was alive on the ground. The KORWALD Loss Incident Summary database also confirms that Lt. Col. Witt was hit by AAA; reported flames, successful bail out and alive on the ground.
Lt. Colonel was a Prisoner of War at Pyok-Dong for approximately two years. Records reflect that he was involved in the infamous 1952 POW Olympics. He was repatriated August 31, 1953.
After he was repatriated in 1953 in remained in the Air Force until he retired in 1974. Although it is unknown at this time the units he served with during these years, his service time was spent at U.S. Air Force bases in Montgomery, Alabama, Ramstein, Germany, Laredo, Texas, Ankara, Turkey, Klamath Falls, Oregon, Denver, Colorado, and he was Chief of Staff, Iceland Defense Force in Kefavik, Iceland.
Colonel James Witt passed away June 19, 2007 at St. Joseph Manor in Bryan, Texas at the age of 89 years.
He is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, Bexar County, Texas along with his wife of 59 years, Plot: Section CR Site 34"
Sources:
1. http://forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/F-84.html
2. https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1951.html
3. https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/dbSearchAF55.asp
4. http://www.accident-report.com/Yearly/1951/5110a.html
5. https://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=LegacySBV&type=Person&ID=116768
6. https://www.koreanwar.org/dpaa/korwald-all.pdf
7. https://airpages.ru/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1208690089/48
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukchon_station
Revision history:
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