Point Cruz (CVE 119) - Naval Cruise Book

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their own countries. But Syngman Rhee thought that aII the prisoners should be released and refused to let the Indians on South Korean soil. This is where the Point Cruz came in. The lndian's ar- rived in Inch-on harbor: there they were transferred to the Point Cruz: then they were flown by helicopter to Panmunj-on -without touching South Korean soil. The first of the five Indian ships arrived at lnchon on August thirty-first with I600 troops embarked. They were tak- en by boat to the Point Cruz where they proceeded up to the flight deck and the waiting aircraft. Thirty- nine Army and Marine helicopters were used, and from sun up to sun set they ran continuous shuttle runs-five In- dians per trip, over and over. And when the first I600 Indians were gone, more came. And when it was all over, more than 5,000 combat- loaded Indian troops had been flown from the deck -of the carrier. And we had a record too: the largest helicopter airlift in his- tory. And Operation Platform was ended.

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. . . During the early part of fall we edged our way into lnchon and started the big operation of the cruise: Oper- ation Platform. The reason for it all was pretty complicated. lt seemed that with the signing of the truce in Korea the prisoner - of - war problem became insolvable. Both sides were to pull their pris-oners that didn't want to return to their own countries up t-o Panmunjon and place them there under Indian cus- tody. Then they were to hold confer- ences to urge the prisoners back to

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