Baited Trap: The Ambush of Mission 1890

by Tracy D. Connors, Ph.D., CAPT USN (Ret)

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Baited Trap, The Ambush of Mission 1890 is the true, harrowing story of helicopter rescue Mission 1890, one of the most heroic—and costly—air rescues of the Korean War.

Baited Trap: The Most Daring Korean War Helicopter Rescue Mission

Now Available — 2026 Color-Restored eBook Edition

A forgotten rescue mission. A devastating ambush. A love story that endures across generations.

Baited Trap: The Ambush of Mission 1890 tells the gripping, true story of one of the most dangerous—and costly—helicopter rescues of the Korean War. Based on formerly classified reports, personal scrapbooks, and family testimony, this story comes vividly to life in the newly restored 2025 eBook edition. Through powerful photographs and first-person accounts, this book reveals the human cost of war and the courage of those who risked everything for their comrades.

The Mission
On the second anniversary of the Korean War, a team of American airmen made a daring attempt to rescue a downed Navy pilot trapped deep behind enemy lines. Under withering ground fire, they hovered over a North Korean mountainside in a fragile H-5 Dragonfly helicopter. The first two attempts were turned back by gunfire. The third succeeded—but the return flight ended in tragedy.

The Aftermath
With the helicopter destroyed and several crew members missing, families back home entered a long, painful limbo of red tape, silence, and heartbreak. This book explores what happened on the mountain—and what happened to the loved ones left behind.

The Research Behind the Story
After decades of secrecy, the full truth can finally be told. Baited Trap is based on:

• Official U.S. military documents declassified after 50+ years

• Personal scrapbooks, letters, and oral histories

• Investigative work using the Freedom of Information Act

• Family interviews and previously unknown photos

What Makes This Edition Special

• Color-restored images and maps

• Never-before-published photographs from family archives

• Expanded sections on the families’ postwar journeys

• Updated introduction by the author

The Korean War’s Greatest Love Story
Baited Trap is much more than a heroic war story from the “forgotten war.” It is also the Korean War’s greatest love story, following Wayne and Della Lear, Bobby Holloway, Ron Eaton and Dolly Sharp, and Frankie and Archie Connors as they tried to put their lives and families together even as the Korean War was reaching out to engulf them.

“The reader may easily forget that the events depicted are not fictional,” Kris Barnett (Book Review, Graybeard Magazine, Korean War Veterans Association) noted.  “Furthermore, the men involved in the mission were never officially recognized for their sacrifices as part of Mission 1890. However, this book finally tells a story that has not been told but should have been.”

“After detailing the mission, Connors describes its aftermath. At the time, the whereabouts of the servicemen involved in the initial crash as well as the rescue mission were unknown. With credible information, the families clung to hope that their loved ones were alive as prisoners of war. Each man was listed as Missing in Action, leaving the families in heartbreaking limbo.”

“A remarkable amount of correspondence between the families and military officials is presented in the book, capturing the frustration and uncertainty. As the men’s lives did, the families begin to intertwine as they connect with one another in the years that follow the mission. Sadly, one by one, the belongings of the men make their way back to their families, as do some of their remains. Nonetheless, the returned belongings and remains are not enough to provide closure for many family members.”

Connors includes final thoughts in his concluding section: “Slowly, as one set of hopes died, others would begin to grow, as Baited Trap recounts. Lives, however battered and broken, could be put back together again. All of them tried…not all were successful. The eventual toll for Mission 1890 was much greater than the three servicemen, as it turned out.” (Kris Barnett, Book Review, Graybeard Magazine, Korean War Veterans Association)

Pages: 393 (Softbound), ePUB pages vary depending on reading device.  Extensively illustrated with official and family album photographs.

ISBN 13: 978-0-9640138-3-4

Digitally watermarked, DRM-free

Format: EPUB  E-books can be used on all reading devices.  Immediate eBook download after purchase.

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