It's winter above North Korea. Your airplane has been hit, and the pilot is unable to feather the prop. You are going down. The other three crewmen are discussing when to jump. The new untrained 2nd lieutenant navigator in the right seat with a borrowed and ill-fitting parachute knows he will likely fall out of the chute when it opens.
This isn't an action movie. It's what real people experienced as aviators during the Korean War, spending countless missions flying through the dark, risking life and limb to navigate the mountains and valleys of enemy terrain.
For veteran navigator Charles W. Hinton, his time in the war was short, but the memories of what he and his squadron accomplished will last a lifetime. Pulled from navigation school straight into a tour of duty, he had no previous training to speak of and learned to fly combat in a B-26 attack while literally in the line of fire.
Korea: A Short Time in a Small War is a firsthand account of Hinton's six months of experience during this tumultuous period in history, along with the stories of a diverse collection of friends and foes he interacted with along the way.
About the Author: Charles W. Hinton grew up in Central Illinois, where he was the star basketball player at his high school. He then attended the University of Illinois and was pulled out of college twice. The first time, in 1945, he was drafted into the army-and the second time, he was called to serve in the Korean War as an aerial navigator.
After completing fifty combat missions in Korea, Hinton remained in the US Air Force as a transatlantic navigator. He served as an AFROTC assistant professor of air science at St. Olaf College and went on to fly in support of astronauts, catching space capsules returning from orbit.
After retiring from the military, he became a project director of nutrition programs for the elderly-Meals on Wheels and Congregate Dining.
He currently lives in a small beachside town with his wife, Lois, with whom he has four children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
