This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Nicole Summers, MMFN
to remember
Ashford, James Joseph (Jim), LTJG.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Wichita, KS
Last Address Marshall, MO
Casualty Date Sep 04, 1951
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Korea, North
Conflict Korean War
Location of Interment Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery (VA) - San Diego, California
Korean War/Korea, Summer-Fall 1952/Raids on the Sui-ho Dam
From Month/Year
June / 1952
To Month/Year
June / 1952
Description The attack on the Sui-ho Dam was the collective name for a series of mass air attacks during the Korean War on thirteen hydroelectric generating facilities by United Nations Command air forces on June 23–24 and June 26–27, 1952. Primarily targeting the hydroelectric complex associated with the Sui-ho Dam in North Korea, the attacks were intended to apply political pressure at the stalled truce negotiations at Panmunjeom.
Heavily defended by Soviet Air Forces and major anti-aircraft guns, the hydroelectric targets were subjected to attacks totaling 1,514 sorties. These were conducted jointly by fighters and fighter-bombers of the United States Air Force, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and South African Air Force, the first time in 21 months that the separate air arms had worked together on a massive scale. The attack on the facilities was followed seventeen days later by another series of large-scale joint attacks on the capital city of Pyongyang.
The attacks succeeded in permanently destroying 90% of the facilities struck and completely knocked out power in North Korea for two weeks, as well as reducing available power to northeast China by 23%. North Korea, however, built new facilities but did not restore its previous capacity until after the armistice in 1953. Their effect on the truce talks was also nil, as highly publicized repercussions in both the UK and the United States Congress undermined their impact.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
June / 1952
To Month/Year
June / 1952
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories on 16 September 1951, one of these planes, damaged in combat, crashed into aircraft parked on the forward flight deck causing an explosion and fire which killed seven. After repairs at Yokosuka, she returned to frontline action on 3 October to launch strikes up to the Yalu River and provide close air support for U.N. troops. Her two deployments in the Korean War were from August 1951-March 1952 and July 1952-January 1953.