25 APRIL 1944 - FIRST BATTLEFIELD HELICOPTER EVACUATION - #WWII On 25 April 1944, in the China-Burma-India, "CBI," Theater, Lieutenant Carter Harman, piloting a Sikorsky YR-4 Hoverfly aircraft of the 1st Air Commando Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), rescued four men from the jungle in Burma to mark the Army's first medical evacuation by helicopter. Those he rescued included Technical Sergeant Ed "Murphy" Hladovcak, also of the 1st Air Commando Group, who was piloting a Stinson L-1A Vigilant liaison plane that had crashed behind Japanese lines while carrying three wounded British soldiers to field hospital in friendly territory. The R-4 was the only aircraft that could reach and land at the location of the downed liaison plane. Given its range and lift capacity, the R-4 had to relay the wounded men to an expedient landing strip, which was also behind enemy lines, where another liaison plane could take-off and land, to ferry the patients to medical care. Since the YR-4 could only carry the pilot and one passenger at a time, the mission required Lieutenant Harman to complete the rescue in four lifts over two days. #Armyhistory #USArmy #TRADOC #ArmyAviation Secretary of the Army U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) U.S. Army Aviation Museum ALSO SEE: https://go.usa.gov/xuXQG... https://go.usa.gov/xuXQ7 #repostedfrom @armyhistory (at Wayne County High School (Tennessee)) https://www.instagram.com/p/CcyExbLuvNE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
