Train Killers in Korea

摘要

In the Korean War, as in all wars, performance in battle was frequently above and beyond the call of duty and often went without recognition. Such was the case with Lt. Cmdr. Felix Frederick Bertagna and his All-Weather Combat Aircrewman Petty Officer James Augustus Cormican, AT2, USN. In January 1952, during a single mission, they destroyed three North Korean locomotives that were pulling war supplies to the North Korean and Chinese Armies. Yet in their February 4, 1952 "Action Report to the Chief of Naval Operations," their achievements are described in a way that makes Bertagna's amazing actions seem routine. The report understates them in the following way: "Special predawn operations 12 January netted 3 locomotives and 36 rail cars destroyed and 2 locomotives damaged." The seemingly innocuous notation is part of a recently declassified document of several dozen pages.