The U.S. Army Air Corps was the last lifeline for the Chinese Army’s struggle against the approaching Japanese Army. After the Japanese shut down the supply chain along the Burma Road that the Allies used to supply the Chinese, the Allies were left with one choice. They continued to supply the Chinese by air over the treacherous Himalayan mountain range. This route, famously named “The Hump,” is what Langhorst and thousands of others flew continually.

Langhorst arrived in Jorhat, India, in July 1945. From here, troops flew these dangerous missions over the Himalayan Mountains to southern China. While the famous volunteer group the Flying Tigers helped fend off the Japanese invaders, Langhorst and other Combat Cargo Groups provided the Chinese with the aviation fuel, ammunition, and other supplies they desperately needed.

By spring 1945, 13 more air bases were built in southern China to reach the goal set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of bringing in 10,000 tons of supplies a month. The U.S. Army Air Forces exceeded this goal by hauling in over 44,000 tons a month by summer 1945. By July 1945, they increased their loads to 71,000 tons a month. Langhorst was very proud of this work and sent his daughter a “little pair of wings” for her first birthday.

On July 17, 1945, Langhorst boarded a C-109 cargo plane as a co-pilot with three other crew members. It left Jorhat, India en route to an airbase in Chengtu, China. This was supposed to be a routine mission, hauling aviation gasoline. After giving a position report over Pathalipam, India, Langhorst and the three other crewmen were never heard from again. After an extensive search, nothing was found. Langhorst and his crew were declared dead one year and one day later, and their remains were designated as “non-recoverable.”