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Show Fort Duchesne Naval Flier Rescues Marine Flying a close air support mission from the aircraft carrier car-rier USS Princeton off Korea, Lt. Hal . Crumbo, of Fort Du- ( chesne, Utah, played a leading role in the rescue of a Marine pilot in which planes, ships, helicopters and men from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps participated. Crumbo and his section mate, Lt. Emil O. Hampel, of Lupy, La., were part of a close air strike aimed at targets in North i Korea but were diverted when radio messages indicated that their Corsair fighter - bombers were badly needed to' fly protective pro-tective cover for a Marine flyer fly-er down behind enemy lines. Air Force and Marine planes, which had been protecting the downed leatherneck were low on fuel and had to leave the area when the Navy pilots arrived. ar-rived. iS888888SgSg8SSS&8SSSSS I Desperate radioing located two Marine helicopters and directed di-rected them to the spot where their shipmate was stranded. Mountain air currents and high brush prevented a helicopter landing and the downed flyer had to climb a tall tree and be literally plucked to safety. The long trip into enemy ter-ritors, ter-ritors, however, had used up so much fuel that the helicopters were unable to return to UN j lines. With the Navy flyers forj protection the helicopters started start-ed for the sea hoping to locate a friendly vessel to land on. Leaving Hempel to guard the rescue craft, Crumbo flew ahead searching for a ship. He managed man-aged to contact an amphibious vessel by radio on which the helicopters could land, and his sharp vision, which has earned j him the nickname "Chief Eagle eye," soon picked up the ship. The helicopters landed with gas gauges reading zero', but with- j out injury to crews or to the rescued pilot. Crumbo is a veteran of World War II, flying aboard the carrier car-rier USS Yorktown, and as a member of the naval reserves was recently recalled to active duty for the Korean hostilities. Hig squadron, an all reerye group, has just commenced combat com-bat operations against the Communists Com-munists as part of the air group of the flagship of Task Force 77, the USS Princeton, His phenomenal eyesight which earned him his nickname, has proven valuable to his squadron already. Other flyers say that his ability to pick out camouflaged trucks and positions posi-tions is nearly uncanny. Leading Lead-ing a section of Corsair fighters recently, he directed the flight in the destruction of seven trucks, an ammunition dump, four field pieces and a machine gun emplacement. |