Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Branch: U.S. Air Force
Unit: 8th Bombardment Squadron, 3d Bombardment Group, Fifth Air Force
Military Honors: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: September 14, 1951 - KIA Near Yangdok, Korea
Age: 31
Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, John S. Walmsley Jr. graduated from high school in 1936 and attended the University of Maryland. In 1941, Walmsley married Flora Catherine O’Malia. That year the United States officially joined the war (World War II, 1939-1945), and the 21-year-old Walmsley enlisted in the Army to help the cause.

He was trained as a pilot with the Army Air Forces (a precursor to the United States Air Force) earning his wings in November of 1943. Walmsley was assigned as a flight instructor and served in both the U.S. and the post-war U.S.-occupied Japan, training pilots. He would not see combat during his World War II service.

Remaining in the military after the war, Walmsley received air tactical school training in 1949, and became a specialist with air control and warning squadrons by the time the U.S. entered the Korean War in June of 1951.

John Walmsley rose to the rank of Captain, and was assigned to the 8th Bombardment Squadron, 3d Bombardment Group of the 5th Air Force. He piloted a Douglas B-26 Invader light bomber, with three other crew members.

Flying from Kunsan Air Base in South Korea, Walmsley and his crew flew night reconnaissance missions to track enemy supply movements. The North Koreans found it hazardous to move supplies and large convoys during the day, as U.S. air power could easily find and destroy them.

On September 14, 1951, Capt. Walmsley’s B-26 bomber was on a night reconnaissance mission when it came across a “target of opportunity”—an enemy supply locomotive moving on a major supply route near Yangdok, in central North Korea.

Walmsley attacked, dropping his bombs and successfully disabling the train. But it was not destroyed completely. He radioed for backup and could have returned to base, having run out of ammunition. Instead, Capt. Walmsley repeatedly flew low-level passes under heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire, using a searchlight on his aircraft to guide another bomber to destroy the target.

On one of their passes, Walmsley’s B-26 was struck by enemy anti-aircraft ground fire and crashed into the surrounding mountains, exploding on impact.

Captain John S. Walmsley Jr., along with the navigator/bombardier 2nd Lieutenant William Mulkins, and photographer Captain Philip Browning were lost in the crash. Only Master Sergeant George Moror, the squadron’s gunner, survived the crash. Moror was found by the enemy, taken prisoner, and released after the war.

For his courage under fire and dedication to the mission, Walmsley was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Captain John Springer Walmsley, Jr. (AFSN: AO-815023), United States Air Force, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty serving with the 8th Bombardment Squadron, 3d Bombardment Wing, Fifth Air Force in action against enemy forces over Yangdok, Korea, on 14 September 1951. While flying a B-26 aircraft on a night combat mission with the objective of developing new tactics, Captain Walmsley sighted an enemy supply train which had been assigned top priority as a target of opportunity. He immediately attacked, producing a strike which disabled the train, and, when his ammunition was expended, radioed for friendly aircraft in the area to complete destruction of the target. Employing the searchlight mounted on his aircraft, he guided another B-26 aircraft to the target area, meanwhile constantly exposing himself to enemy fire. Directing an incoming B-26 pilot, he twice boldly aligned himself with the target, his searchlight illuminating the area, in a determined effort to give the attacking aircraft full visibility. As the friendly aircraft prepared for the attack, Captain Walmsley descended into the valley in a low level run over the target with searchlight blazing, selflessly exposing himself to vicious enemy anti-aircraft fire. In his determination to inflict maximum damage on the enemy, he refused to employ evasive tactics and valiantly pressed forward straight through an intense barrage, thus insuring complete destruction of the enemy’s vitally needed war cargo. While he courageously pressed his attack Captain Walmsley’s plane was hit and crashed into the surrounding mountains, exploding upon impact. His heroic initiative and daring aggressiveness in completing this important mission in the face of overwhelming opposition and at the risk of his life, reflects the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

Walmsley was listed as Missing in Action after the incident and was presumed dead on February 28, 1954. He left behind his wife Flora and two daughters—9-year-old Amy and 3-year-old June.

Captain John S. Walmsley Jr. is memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery Section F, Site 46-3, and is also remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. His name is listed on Panel 100 of the Wall of Remembrance.

Sources
Artist’s rendering: Craig Du Mez, from original photo
National Museum of the United States Air Force: Capt. John S. Walmsley Jr.
Congressional Medal of Honor Society: John Springer Walmsley Jr.
U.S. Department of Defense—Medal of Honor Monday: Air Force Capt. John S. Walmsley Jr.
Military Times—Hall of Valor: John Springer Walmsley
Honor States: John Springer Walmsley
American Battle Monuments Commission: John Springer Walmsley Jr.
Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation: John S Walmsley
Burial Site: Find a Grave

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