...four AD-3s from Fighter Squadron (VF) 194 and two F4Us from VF-653 led by Lieutenant Commander Robert Schreiber, CO of VF-194, were scheduled to hit three railroad bridges on the Kowon-Yangdok-Samdong-ni rail line. Aerial reconnaissance photographs from F9F Panther photo planes showed that the targeted stone bridges lay in a deep valley with heavily defended guns atop surrounding hills, which required a hit-and-run attack.

A single coordinated dive-bombing attack was planned in which each AD would drop two or three 1,000-pound delay-fused bombs, and the F4Us would drop 250-pound bombs on the bridges. Only two of the three bridges were destroyed, so Schreiber called for a second attack, during which VF-194 pilot Ensign Marvin S. Broomhead's AD was hit in the engine. Too low to bail out, he landed the Skyraider wheels up on a small, snow-covered clearing atop a mountain. Moments before touching down a small arms bullet grazed his temple, causing him to crash-land, breaking both ankles and a vertebra. Pulling himself out of the cockpit, he crawled clear of the wreckage to watch his circling comrades who were anxiously calling for the rescue helicopters from Rochester and Greer County, which were not available.

The cruiser Manchester (CL 83), however, had an HO3S-1 that was used for shore gun spotting, but it was more than 100 miles away. Despite the distance, pilots Lt. Edward Moore and Marine Corps 1st Lt. Kenneth Henry answered the call and headed inland, finding Broomhead surrounded by enemy troops on the mountain top. Suddenly their helicopter sputtered from enemy ground fire and rolled over next to the AD wreckage, injuring Henry in the process. Broomhead's squadron mates frantically called for a fourth helicopter. A rescue attempt by an Air Force helo was driven off by heavy ground fire and 60-knot winds.

Broomhead could not get up with both ankles broken, Henry was down with a sprained knee, and Lt. Moore was not about to leave them. With dusk approaching and the RESCAP planes running out of gas and ammunition, hope for a rescue was lost. All three were now alone in the darkness facing Chinese Communist troops coming up the hill.

By the following morning, the only visible trace of the three airmen was a large circle of what appeared to be blood in the snow near the wreckage. Actually, it was mostly dye marker from life vests that had spread through the snow, creating a huge red circle around the aircraft that gave the appearance of a massacre.