Rotor Wash and Roast Duck: A Surreal Feast in Korea, 1950

 

On November 10, 1950, amid the bitter cold and chaos of the Korean War, the United States Marine Corps marked its 175th birthday with a celebration that defied logic, logistics, and the laws of poultry. In a moment that now lives on in the surreal margins of military history, a Marine helicopter squadron orchestrated a duck hunt using rotor wash as its weapon of choice.

The squadron in question was likely HMR-161, the first Marine helicopter transport unit deployed to Korea. Known for pioneering rotary-wing tactics in combat zones, HMR-161 had already proven the utility of helicopters for troop movement and supply drops. But on this particular day, they turned their aircraft into airborne shepherds.

The mission: deliver a roast duck dinner to every Marine in the area.

The method: herd a flock of ducks into a lake using the downwash from helicopter rotors, where Marines lay in wait behind camouflaged hunting blinds.

The result: a feast of improbable proportions.

Accounts from the time describe helicopters swooping low over the Korean landscape, stirring up flocks of ducks and driving them toward concealed positions. The birds, disoriented and panicked by the artificial windstorm, flew straight into the ambush. Marines emerged with armfuls of waterfowl, and the squadron’s mess halls reportedly served roast duck to every man that night.

This episode, while humorous and bizarre, also speaks to the improvisational spirit of the early helicopter squadrons. In 1950, rotary-wing aviation was still in its infancy. The Korean War was its proving ground, and Marine pilots were inventing tactics on the fly—sometimes literally. Whether dropping supplies on remote ridgelines or herding ducks into a lake, they were redefining what helicopters could do.

The duck hunt also reveals something deeper about wartime ritual. In the midst of hardship and uncertainty, the Marines carved out a moment of celebration. The birthday dinner was not just about food—it was about morale, identity, and the strange magic of making the impossible happen.

Today, the story of the rotor-wash duck hunt lives on as a mythic footnote in Marine Corps history. It’s a reminder that even in war, there is room for absurdity, ingenuity, and the kind of surreal spectacle that belongs in pulp magazines and oral legend.