The True Story Behind this Film and the Novel That it is Based Upon

Behind The Bridges at Toko-ri - true facts behind fictional book by James A. Michener
Naval Aviation News, March-April, 2002 by Richard F. Kaufman

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James A. Michener wrote the novel The Bridges at Toko-ri from his experiences as a war correspondent-with the Seventh Fleet in Korea, dispatching stories on life aboard the carriers Essex (CV 9) and Valley Forge (CV 45). The novel tells the story of a civilian attorney recalled to active duty as a reserve Naval Aviator who is shot down over hostile North Korea. The enlisted helicopter pilot and crewman who try to rescue him are also shot down, and all three end up in a ditch fighting for their lives. Following Michener's death in 1997, the Library of Congress released the notes and journals that he compiled during the war, revealing many of the real characters and events behind the scenes of the popular story.

Soon after his arrival aboard Valley Forge in January 1952, Michener witnessed what was to become the central theme for his book. Early on 8 February, Rear Admiral John Perry, Commander Carrier Division 1, and his staff were alerted to engage in a possible rescue attempt of an escaped prisoner of war (POW) pilot, Lieutenant (jg) Harry Ettinger of Composite Squadron (VC) 35, who had been shot down in December 1951. Friendly guerilla forces removed the ailing Ettinger from a POW camp and took him to the Wonsan area, where they contacted U.S. intelligence units for a possible rescue.

It was a routine job for Chief (AP) Duane Thorin and Petty Officer Ernest Crawford, who manned the duty HO3S-1 helicopter aboard Rochester (CA 124) that morning. A member of the intelligence group replaced Crawford, and the HO3S-1 was loaded with supplies for delivery to agents on the ground. As Ettinger climbed aboard at the rendezvous point, the helicopter crashed. Meanwhile, the rescue combat air patrol (RESCAP) aircraft overhead were under heavy fire. Lt. John P. McKenna of VC-3 was fatally shot down in an F4U-5N Corsair, and four AD Skyraiders were forced to land due to battle damage. An HO3S-1 from Greer County (LST 799) was launched to try to reach Thorin, Ettinger and the crewman but was riddled with bullets. After two attempts the stricken helicopter departed the scene, safely landing aboard St. Paul (CA 73).

An hour later, four AD-3s from Fighter Squadron (VF) 194 and two F4Us from VF-653 led by Lieutenant Commander Robert Schreiber, CO of VF-194, were scheduled to hit three railroad bridges on the Kowon-Yangdok-Samdong-ni rail line. Aerial reconnaissance photographs from F9F Panther photo planes showed that the targeted stone bridges lay in a deep valley with heavily defended guns atop surrounding hills, which required a hit-and-run attack.

A single coordinated dive-bombing attack was planned in which each AD would drop two or three 1,000-pound delay-fused bombs, and the F4Us would drop 250-pound bombs on the bridges. Only two of the three bridges were destroyed, so Schreiber called for a second attack, during which VF-194 pilot Ensign Marvin S. Broomhead's AD was hit in the engine. Too low to bail out, he landed the Skyraider wheels up on a small, snow-covered clearing atop a mountain. Moments before touching down a small arms bullet grazed his temple, causing him to crash-land, breaking both ankles and a vertebra. Pulling himself out of the cockpit, he crawled clear of the wreckage to watch his circling comrades who were anxiously calling for the rescue helicopters from Rochester and Greer County, which were not available.

The cruiser Manchester (CL 83), however, had an HO3S-1 that was used for shore gun spotting, but it was more than 100 miles away. Despite the distance, pilots Lt. Edward Moore and Marine Corps 1st Lt. Kenneth Henry answered the call and headed inland, finding Broomhead surrounded by enemy troops on the mountain top. Suddenly their helicopter sputtered from enemy ground fire and rolled over next to the AD wreckage, injuring Henry in the process. Broomhead's squadron mates frantically called for a fourth helicopter. A rescue attempt by an Air Force helo was driven off by heavy ground fire and 60-knot winds.

Broomhead could not get up with both ankles broken, Henry was down with a sprained knee, and Lt. Moore was not about to leave them. With dusk approaching and the RESCAP planes running out of gas and ammunition, hope for a rescue was lost. All three were now alone in the darkness facing Chinese Communist troops coming up the hill.

By the following morning, the only visible trace of the three airmen was a large circle of what appeared to be blood in the snow near the wreckage. Actually, it was mostly dye marker from life vests that had spread through the snow, creating a huge red circle around the aircraft that gave the appearance of a massacre.

James Michener news-dispatched the death scene of the three airmen from his post aboard Valley Forge, believing that Chinese soldiers had killed them during the night (in reality, all three survived their ordeal and were repatriated as POWs after the war). His United Press article "An Epic in Failure" and International News Service story titled "Heroes Fail to Save Pal" hit the national news a week after the incident. A more detailed dialog of the episode titled "All for One" appeared in Readers Digest in July 1952, and became the inspiration for a magazine novel called "The Bridges at Toko-ri," which appeared in Life magazine on 6 July 1953. Its popularity blossomed into the best-selling 1954 book and movie.