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On some combat missions, sky conditions and bad weather added to the
challenge of air-to-ground fighter-bomber work. On one of these missions,
on February 16, 1953, the clouds below were scattered to broken. The
target was a North Korean tank-training base. Even with three-second
spacing, I lost sight of the number three man in front of me. Bomb release
was close to 4,000 feet AGL. When pulling off the target and climbing
above the cloud condition, I could not spot the flight I was with, so I
returned to base and entered the traffic pattern as a single ship.
Close to pitch-out I was told to go around at
least three times. Preference was given to three and four-ship formations.
This mission had 64 aircraft, including 8 Marine F9F Panther jets all
trying to land at the same time. One of the Marine jets suffered combat
damage. I was told
to approach and land as close as possible behind him. I
was perhaps 40 to 50 yards back when he touched down. His landing gear
collapsed and he slid off the runway in a pile of dust. Looking back after
landing, I saw this giant of a man stand up in the cockpit. It was Ted
Williams. A month or so later, he returned to the States in time for the
1953 All-Star game.
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