[verum ago]

Maybe I’m missing something, but NK’s border with the Soviet Union is miniscule.

NK borders with CHYNA. At the time, I suppose that the air threat came from the USSR, but I expect that that was in no way true on the ground.

The Oriskany was way up north away from the frontlines striking North Korean logistics at Yalu river crossings on the Chinese border, not far from that miniscule Soviet border. In fact, she was only 100 miles from the major Soviet airbase at Vladivostok, which is where the attack originated from. Stalin's original decision to commit Soviet pilots to interdict US/UN missions was based on frustration with the Chinese being ineffective at disrupting the bombing raids on rail lines and bridges over the Yalu. Some of the records released after the war also indicate the Soviet military leadership at Vladivostok were very unhappy with having a US carrier task force only 20 minutes' flying time from their base there, and were likely keen to 'send a message.'

[Empire_of_Liberty]

I thank you for that reply.

I have no doubt that, specifically during Korea, the MIG aircraft were largely flown by Soviets. Jet aircraft were new, and so was China.

The Yalu River is not that far north and mostly separates Korea from China. The Tumen river does separate Korea from the Soviet Union, near Vladovostok.

There seems, to me, a “cloud” of history of the Cold War that protects China from its actions in killing Americans in Korea and Vietnam that, frankly, bothers me. I am sure that China was aided and supplied by the Soviet Union, but they in turn were the entirety of the cause of the Korean war and the killing of Americans, there.

For some reason, China gets a complete pass and is never even mentioned in the article.

It’s like reading about Ukraine.