Korea proves helicopter transport at scale

The H-19 entered Korean War service as an unarmed transport used for medical evacuation, tactical movement, and frontline cargo support. Army trials showed it decisively outperformed the earlier H-5 Dragonfly, and the Marine Corps chose not to treat helicopters as a hand-me-down capability. HMR-161 arrived in September 1951 with fifteen aircraft; within eleven days, Operation Windmill lifted 74 Marines and about 8.5 tons of gear onto a ridge in the Punchbowl area. A week later the squadron moved 224 reconnaissance-company Marines and another eight tons of supplies to a hilltop. These lifts placed personnel and their immediate supplies where difficult terrain made surface movement costly. By February 1953 it had delivered 730 tons while supporting two regiments, operating in hot landing zones without losing a helicopter.