Friendship Flight in Honor of Colonel Dean Hess, the 'Father of War Orphans'

Colonel Dean Hess, U.S. Air Force, 8th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony at Jeju Aerospace Museum

The 8th memorial ceremony for Colonel Dean Hess of the U.S. Air Force, who saved over 1,000 war orphans during the Korean War and is known as the "Father of War Orphans," will be held at the Jeju Aerospace Museum.

According to the Air Force on the 11th, the memorial event, hosted by Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Lee Sang-hak, will be attended by Colonel Dean Hess's three sons and five citizens who were evacuated to Jeju thanks to his efforts during the war. Following the reading of the memorial speech and the laying of flowers and tribute, a memorial flight will be conducted by South Korean and U.S. fighter jets and the Air Force's special flight team, the "Black Eagles."

The friendship flight of the South Korean and U.S. fighter jets will include three KF-16s from the Republic of Korea Air Force and two F-16s from the U.S. Air Force. The vertical tail fins of these fighter jets will bear a commemorative logo symbolizing the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance, reflecting on the significance of the alliance.

During the Korean War, Colonel Dean Hess led the BOUT-1 unit, established by the U.S. Air Force to train F-51 fighter pilots and combat pilots for the Republic of Korea Air Force, transforming the fledgling Korean Air Force?then a barren field for air operations?into a capable fighting force. Over the course of one year, he flew more than 250 sorties, significantly contributing to repelling enemy ground forces in the early stages of the war.

The phrase "信念의 鳥人" (Shin-nyeom-ui Jo-in, "By Faith I FLY") inscribed on Colonel Hess's F-51 fighter plane symbolizes the spirit of today's ROK Air Force pilots. On December 20, 1950, just before the January 4th retreat, he, along with U.S. military chaplain Russell Blaisdell, safely evacuated about 1,000 war orphans from Seoul to Jeju Island using 15 C-54 transport planes and helped establish an orphanage. Even after returning to the U.S. following the war, he frequently visited Korea to care for the orphans and led fundraising activities for war orphan support for over 20 years.

In recognition of his contributions, the government awarded him the Meritorious Service Medal in 1951 and 1960, and the Sofa Award, established in 1962 to commemorate So-pa Bang Jeong-hwan. The Air Force erected a memorial monument in Jeju in 2017 and holds an annual event to honor him.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.