That Others May Live: The Courageous Story of MASH Helicopter Detachments during the Korean War, 1950-1953

Prior to 1950, use of the helicopter for evacuation was extremely limited, as military top brass often considered it a worthless contraption; thus, rescue was uncertain at best for downed pilots and wounded soldiers stranded behind enemy lines. However, this all changed in Korea, where twelve U.S. Army helicopters from three detachments, working in tandem with seven, newly created Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units, would fundamentally change the Army's medical-evacuation doctrine forever. Using several models of the Bell H-13, the Hiller H-23, and the Sikorsky H-5 and H-19, this small band of courageous pilots pushed themselves and their aircraft to their limits, transporting 21,212 critically wounded soldiers for life-saving surgery to various MASH units, cutting the fatality rate from World War II in half. Adopting the 3rd Air Rescue Squadron's motto, "That Others May Live," these pilots and their helicopters were affectionately known to the wounded as "Angels of Mercy."