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KOREAN WAR DSC USAF MY BEST FIND EVER!


F 106 Pilot
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F 106 Pilot

I am a collector of USAF history primarily I collect USAF patches but if the right medal comes along I cannot help myself. The Korean War is my biggest interest as the patches from this war are the finest ever made. So the Korean War holds a special place in my collection. I had the opportunity to acquire this fine group. It belonged to 1st LT John J. Najarian of the USAF. He is one of only 36 USAF men to be awarded the DSC for heroic action in the Korean War. They only gave 4 MOH's out to USAF personal and they were all posthumously awarded. About half of the DSC were awarded the same way. The list of DSC winners from Korea sounds like a who's who in the Air Force mostly aces. Lt Najarian was the only award for Air Rescue. He was original put in for the MOH by his commander but is was lowered to the DSC. His Rescue has been called the greatest rescue ever in the history of the Air Force. The group is quite large in size it consists of his Boxed DSC, award certificate, his original narrative of the mission, a couple hundred small and large photographs, many newspaper articles on his heroic mission, letters from senior officers, a book on air rescue with his story in it ,2 Air Classic magazines that tell his story, travel bag with his name on it and many more items. For me this is as good as it gets. I am honored to be the keeper of such a historic group. I have a DSC from a WWll ace and now this one from the Korean War. I hope now to be able to locate an Air Force Cross from the Vietnam War to complete it for me. This group and another item I just purchased from a fellow forum member took all of my fun money for a very long while but I just had to have it. Ben

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F 106 Pilot

Distinguished Service Cross

 

Awarded for actions during the Korean War

 

The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant John J. Najarian, United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as the Pilot of an SA-16 rescue aircraft with the 3d Air Rescue Squadron, in action against enemy forces in the Republic of Korea on 11 June 1951. Lieutenant Najarian was informed that a fighter pilot had been forced to abandon his aircraft near Kyomipo, Korea, deep in enemy territory, and he was directed to proceed to that location and determine if the rescue could be effected. The distance involved prevented Lieutenant Najarian from arriving before dark. Arriving at the scene, fighters circling the area told him that the downed pilot was in the river but that his exact position could not be determined because of darkness. In spite of the fact that the landing would have to be made on an unknown river, at night under enemy fire, and without knowing the depth of the river or the location of rocks and sandbars, Lieutenant Najarian decided to attempt the rescue. Disregarding intense enemy anti-aircraft and small-arms fire which precluded the use of landing lights, he lined his aircraft up with the course of the river and made an instrument letdown and landing, descending at the rate of two hundred feet a minute until impact with the water. Since the landing had been made above the estimated position of the pilot, he turned his plane around and taxied downstream searching for the downed airman. During this turn the aircraft came close to the bank of the river from which enemy troops were firing. The pilot flashed a small light to enable his rescuers to find him and was picked up. Intense enemy fire prevented the use of lights, so Lieutenant Najarian made a hurried take-off on instruments and returned the pilot to a United Nations base in Korea.

 

General Orders: General Headquarters Far East Command: General Orders No. 221 (August 31, 1951)

 

Action Date: 11-Jun-51

 

Service: Air Force

 

Rank: First Lieutenant

 

Company: 3d Air Rescue Squadron

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That's a pretty comprehensive grouping you've got there. Easy to see why you're so stoked with it!

 

Sabrejet :thumbsup:

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F 106 Pilot

Thanks guy for the input on this group. To answer a couple of questions No it does not have a number on it and I looked at the 30 some newspaper articles I have and it does not mention his Armenian Heritage. I will post a couple of the short articles. Ben

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F 106 Pilot

Here is a article out of the Military Transport magazine called Trans Pacifican Dec 7 1951. I wonder what happened to that painting as I have several photos of him and Generals around it. Ben

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teufelhunde.ret

Now that is one very brave pilot - to land in unknown waters at night and under fire - wow that took some b***s! It is a fine addition to your collection!

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:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

Fantastic grouping to an incredibly heroic pilot !!

 

As you mentioned, Korean War DSCs are incredibly scarce...especially so to a flier !! I'm lucky enough to have a posthumous Korean War DSC grouping to a forward observer with paperwork...along with a posthumous WWII DSC grouping to a paratrooper but I'm still looking for a posthumous Vietnam DSC grouping. Any one out there !?!

 

The Korean War is kind of "overlooked" by the collecting community to a certain extent but many of these gallant warriors served in WWII as well and even went on to Vietnam. Thats a rare breed !!

 

Thanks for showing !!

 

Vic

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  • 11 months later...
F 106 Pilot

Thought I would bring this back to the top as I was looking at this group today. What a brave pilot to land at night in an unknown river under enemy fire. A true American hero. Ben

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BigJohn#3RD

A truly heroic Airman and a great addition to any collection. Thank you for sharing.

Regards,

John

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