ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 85711
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| Date: | Sunday 1 June 1952 |
| Time: | day |
| Type: |  North American LT-6G Texan |
| Owner/operator: | 6148th TCSqn /6147th TCGp USAF |
| Registration: | 49-3560 |
| MSN: | 168-714 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Hill 884, Heartbreak Ridge, Yanggu County, Gangwon Province -
 North Korea
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Chuncheon AB (K-47) South Korea |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
LT-6G Texan 49-3560 (MSN 168-714) Accepted by USAF at Downey, CA November 1951. Air Materiel Command, Long Beach, CA. To Sacramento Air Materiel Area (SMAAR), McClellan AFB, CA. To San Francisco Port of Embarkation. 601st ACR Squadron, To 13th Air Materiel Group, Kisarazu AB, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. To 6147th Tactical Control Group, Fifth Air Force, Pyeongtaek AB (K-6), South Korea. To 6148th Tactical Control Squadron, 6147th Tactical Control Group, Fifth Air Force, Chuncheon AB (K-47), South Korea.
Shot down by ground fire on Hill 884, Heartbreak Ridge, Yanggu County, Gangwon Province, North Korea, at approximate Coordinates: 38°18′N 128°1′E, 1 June 1952 (Both crew bailed out and survived).
Crew of LT-6G 49-3560
Captain Robert A Madden USAF (Pilot) - bailed out, survived, held as a Prisoner of War until his release on 1 September 1953, during Operation Big Switch at the end of the war.
2nd Lieutenant Ralph K Olivette, USAF (Obeserver) - bailed out, survived, injured (broken ankle)
Captain Robert Arthur Madden later told his story to the Moberly Monitor-Index newspaper "It was June 1, 1952 and Captain Robert A. Madden took his 'plane ‘down to the deck’ to get a closer look at a Red cave on Heartbreak Ridge. Madden, 28 of University City, Mo., had just pulled out of his dive when Red ground fire set his plane afire. ‘We kept on climbing until the fire got so bad we knew the plane was finished – it only took a few seconds – and we hit the silk. My observer broke an ankle leaving the plane. I was burned a bit. I came down on Heartbreak Ridge in a circle of waiting Reds. That night I tried to escape and they roughed me up a bit before they tied me up’. Later Madden told newsmen after his repatriation at Panmunjom on August 31, 1953 that he walked and trucked north to a POW collection center and then to camp No. 2. He was questioned by Communist intelligence officers at every stop and twice was threatened with beatings if he did not reveal military information. ‘But as it turned out it was just threats. I refused everything except my real name, rank and service number, but they did not give me any of the torture that they gave many fliers who were captured’ "
With the Korean War having ended two months earlier, Captain Robert A. Madden, former prisoner of war returned home a free man. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper described the homecoming. “Captain Robert A. Madden, a pilot who bailed out of his burning plane into Communist hands, landed at Lambert-St. Louis Field today, grinned happily and was greeted joyfully by his wife and family. ‘We never gave up hope’ said his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Madden, who with the Captain’s mother, Mrs. Laura Madden and other relatives and friends were in the welcoming party. The hope persisted despite the fact none of Captain Madden’s letters were mailed by his captors because as he explained, ‘I wouldn’t include the propaganda they wanted me to write’. He said he was questioned constantly by the Communists for as long as seven weeks at a stretch and was kept in solitary confinement. Madden was also greeted by members of the 110 Squadron of the 131 Bombardment Wing (Light) of the Missouri national Guard, his former outfit.”9
Robert served through the Vietnam War era retiring in the grade of Colonel (0-6) on February 28, 1969. The only reference to children is the Sr. in Robert’s name. His father passed away in 1958 at the age of 59 but death information about mother Laura could not be located. Elizabeth and Robert retired to Florida at an unknown date where he passed at the age of 74 on October 11, 1999. Elizabeth passed away February 14, 2011 at the age of 86 and they are both buried in the Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida.
Sources:
1. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1949.html
2. https://www.dpaa.mil/portals/85/KoreaAccounting/korwald_acc_NAME_20210226.pdf
3. https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/350228
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/940620/robert-arthur-madden
5. http://www.kwva.org/graybeards/gb_99/gb_9908_final.pdf
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Heartbreak_Ridge
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Mar-2021 02:26 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Mar-2021 02:27 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Country] |
| 15-Mar-2021 02:28 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 18-Apr-2021 20:23 | db | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
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