Dean Elmer Hess (December 6, 1917 â March 2, 2015) was an American minister and United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who was involved in the so-called “Kiddy Car Airlift,” the documented rescue of 950 orphans and 80 orphanage staff from the path of the Chinese advance during the Korean War on December 20, 1950. He is the subject of the autobiography Battle Hymn, published in 1956, which later served the basis for the 1957 film of the same name, where he was played by Rock Hudson.
Following the December 7, 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hess enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces. He served as a combat pilot in France after the Normandy landings, and flew a total of 63 combat missions in P-47s.
Hess was recalled to active service in July 1948, and was stationed in Japan as part of the American occupation there. In June 1950, he was transferred to Korea at the outbreak of the Korean War as the commander of Bout One Project, the program under which a cadre of USAF instructor pilots trained South Korean pilots in flying the P-51D Mustang. Hess served in Korea until June the following year, at which time he had flown 250 combat missions.
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