Operation Ivory Soap: The WWII Experiment That Created Modern Helicopter Combat Missions

Between June 15 and July 29, 1945, six Army Air Forces pilots flying experimental Sikorsky helicopters evacuated between 75 and 94 wounded American soldiers from the Philippine jungles while under Japanese fire. Their mission was to transport aircraft parts, not casualties, but the pilots felt differently. Those six weeks of improvised rescues became the first combat helicopter medical evacuations under hostile fire in military history. While the numbers were small compared to later conflicts, it proved that helicopters could save lives on the battlefield - a concept that would reshape military aviation and lead directly to Army MEDEVAC and Air Force Pararescue units today.