George Milton Ochs

Other Events:

• Address: Address:
  1141 Hus Dr
  Watertown, WI 53098-3257
• Phone: (920) 261-5063
• Census: 1930, Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois

Notes:

ROA remembers the forgotten war - Korea - Reserve Officers Association of the United States remembers Korean War, 1950-1953
Officer, The, March, 2002 by Carol A. Kelly

Capt George M. Ochs, USAF (Ret.), of Gainesville, Fla., was attending the University of Michigan when the Korean War broke out. He was recalled to McChord AFB, Wash., to serve as navigator assigned to the 62nd Troop Carrier Squadron. He tells the following story:

Our mission was to fly personnel and equipment to Japan via Alaska, and we returned that way or through Hawaii, depending on the needs.

When I was sent to Japan, I was with the 61st Troop Carrier Squadron stationed at Ashiya AFB, Japan. As space in and out of Korea was critical, I became a member of Traffic Movement Control (TMC), which monitored the movement of the C-54 in and out of Korea.

The most critical time was when the Chinese entered the war. The advance base was called K-47. This was an enlarged section of road above the 38th Parallel. To land, you came in over a mountain and made a dive for the runway. In taking off, about 30 seconds off the runway, you were over the front line. To the left, there was a 3,000-foot mountain.

For six weeks, it was touch and go if the lines could hold. The squadron flew about 60 missions a day with the squadron's planes (three or four flights of four aircraft per flight). Each plane was loaded with 18,000 pounds of ammunition. We had to schedule so that the first plane was over K-47 at daybreak. Planes were scheduled five minutes apart. As the plane landed, the Marines were waiting to unload them. One was at the front, another parked and unloading, and the third loaded with ammo was off to the front. This was kept up all day, the last plane off at dusk. We used to wonder if the ammo that we had just offloaded was being fired when we took off.

To put it mildly, the crews were really stretched thin. At TMC, we had two lists: one, of the pilots who drank, and the other of those who did not. If the first pilot was a drinker, the sober co-pilot was with him. The same was true the other way around. To the squadron's credit during these six weeks, we never lost a man or a plane or a cargo, and we sure as hell had great respect for the Marines.

Ochs was an associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh until his retirement. He was very active in the national Democratic Party and was involved with a variety of charitable organizations. He received his undergraduate degree at Grinnell College in `1949, his M.A. from the University of Michigan (1951), and his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois (1960).

Drafted Jan 1943
Graduated Army Air Corp as 2nd Lt (Navigator) Jan 1945
Served with 7th Air Sea Rescue Service on Okinawa
Released from active service June 1946
Graduated Grinnel College 1949
MA U of Michigan 1950
Navigator for 62nd Troop Carrier
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Reference:
George M. Ochs, 27 May 2005

George married Marjorie A. Cross 8 Aug 1962. Marjorie was born 27 Jun 1926; died 26 Jun 2000; was buried Moravian Cemetery, Watertown, Dodge County, Wisconsin. [Group Sheet]