Duane Thorin joined the Navy in 1939, and became a flying C.P.O. in 1943. He was also a test pilot and a carrier-qualified pilot. In 1949, he was designated helicopter pilot #216. With his helicopter he made more than 130 rescues in the Korean theater. He was shot down and captured near Wonsan on February 7, 1952 and interred by the Chinese in Camp Annex #2 on the Yalu River. His book A Ride to Panmunjom was drawn from those experiences and was published in 1956.
