Beyond Courage: Escape Tales of Airmen in the Korean War

by Clay Blair Jr

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181 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Clay Blair in 1955, this book is the story of five flyers during the Korean War that conducted successful escape and/or evasion after being shot down. Spoiler alert they were all successful.
Albert Schinz’s evasion involved surviving on an island alone.
Clinton Summersill and Wayne Sawyer evaded enemy troops and conducted a long trek through the cold terrain of Korea.
Donald Thomas was hidden by a Christian Korean family until smuggled onto a ship and then rescued at sea.
Melvin Shadduck was the only pilot in the book to be captured. He was captured by Chinese “volunteer” troops rather than North Korean troops. According to the book he is the only pilot to successfully escape from captivity and then evade back to UN forces for rescue.
I enjoyed reading about all of these true adventures and have nothing but admiration for these men. I am thankful such men served in our American military. I highly recommend this book for students of military history.

[Walt Shiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book in 1958 when I was 11 and just finished reading it again. It had a big effect on me and my view of war and warriors. Blair put together the stories of a few military aviators who went down behind enemy lines during the Korean War and managed to escape back to their own forces. The, typically Caucasian, men of the US forces simply could not blend into the local populace, and as a result, found themselves trying to E&E without being found by the enemy, who had proven themselves to be ruthless and brutal to POWs.

Although the writing seems a bit stilted and even awkward at times, the stories are nothing short of incredible. Most of these men were injured and pushed onward despite those injuries, disease, infections, despair, and enemy forces all around them.

If you've read similar stories of those who escaped from or evaded capture during WW II, particularly in the Asian theaters, or during the Vietnam War, the parallels are inescapable. There are a lot of stories of warriors fighting back to their own forces against seemingly insurmountable odds. Blair's "Beyond Courage" is an important part of that genre.

This book has been out of print for a long time now, but you can still find it the same way I did -- through your local library (I had to get it through the inter-library loan program). Some publisher should republish it. In the meantime, it is worth the extra effort to track down a copy. It's not a pleasant read by any means, but is an important part of the history or war and the warrior mindset.