Night Fighters Over Korea

 

 

By

G.G. O’Rourke

with

E.T. Wooldridge

Naval Institute Press  1998 first printing

ISBN 1-55750-653-1

Appx. $30 USD

Review by Mike Gawell

 

Most every one has heard of the exploits of the Saber Pilots over Mig Alley, and anyone who has read of the exploits of the valiant soldiers of the United States know about Mac Arthur’s daring landing at Inchon and the Marines who walked out of the “Frozen Chosin”.

 

Valiant and heroic battles are these, and they are the stuff of Military legend.  But that is not what this book is about.  As the name implies, this is a book about a much under covered portion of the Korean War.  This is the battle of the nighttime sky.

 

Jerry O’ Rourke was a 28 year old detachment leader and pilot of the F3D-2 Sky Knight during the latter portion of the war in Korea, and beautifully outlines the development of the Naval and marine night fighting capabilities even taking the time to outline it’s inception during the Second World War.  If you are looking for a book where the author describes calling out “Migs at 10 o’clock high and coming down fast”, then this is not your book.  This is a thoughtful and well-prepared document of one man’s experience with his training, and the unit he fought with during the Korean conflict.  Most of the missions described are not all that interesting, except when trying to land in no light, with poorly trained ground controllers during a down pouring Korean rain on a muddy strip.  You know, reality of war sorta stuff.  The Marines proved they are the king of air to mud flying and along the way showed the Chinese, the Russians, and their colleagues in the U.S.A.F. what it took to be a pilot in the night time skies.  They proved what it took to protect the B-29 formations at night. 

 

The book is written in the first person, and gives a good accounting of the personnel, and the usual day to day stuff that makes an experience of the military, and perhaps offers some insight to those who have never served exactly what type of men do answer the call.

 

You will read of flying around the Eastern seaboard of the US playing “blind man’s bluff in a F4U corsair, and play tag in the dark with Mig-15s, only to watch them outpace the “Whale” as the Sky Knight was known.  You will learn that not all carrier commanders are the same, and exactly what happened to the leading corsair in the Korean theater, as well as a theory that Guy Bordeleon’s 5 night time kills were never verified.

 

You will get it straight, and you will read it as unvarnished first hand night fighting experience, and I must say for a book I was not very interested in at first, I am a much wiser person for picking it up, and reading about a subject that never held much interest for me personally.

 

Recommended to those wanting more about the Korean War, and what really went on.

 

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Review copy courtesy of me getting to the ripe young age of 38 and living to tell about it. (Birthday Gift)