This little-known story from the Korean War has a bit of everything – action, excitement, special operations troops, the CIA, and more. It all started the day North Korea invaded South Korea. The invasion took both General MacArthur and the newly formed CIA by surprise, neither of whom had any strategic or tactical warfare plans for the Peninsula.
MacArthur famously disliked civilian agencies working in his theater. He had stonewalled the OSS during World War II in the Pacific and didn’t want a bunch of spies in suits setting up shop in Korea. However, the CIA had a line of agents working in North Korea and was a valuable source of information. It helped that several members of the CIA had come from the Army that fought in World War II. With MacArthur’s blessing, the CIA sent George Aurell to aid in the war through paramilitary and special operations efforts.
Still, the situation between MacArthur and the CIA was tense, and it wasn’t until CIA director and retired Army General Walther Bedell Smith – who had been MacArthur’s chief of staff at one point – came to Tokyo that the schism was healed. The two hammered out the CIA’s purview and came to an agreement: MacArthur wouldn’t interfere with the Agency if it established an Escape and Evasion plan for downed United Nations pilots.
Hellbound and Down 