An “ace” is a military pilot credited with shooting down 5 enemy aircraft during aerial combat.    During the Korean War (1950 to 1953), there were 39 US Air Force (including one US Marine on temporary duty) aces flying F-86 Sabres for the UN.   On the Communist side, there were 52 Soviet “Volunteer” Mig-15 aces flying for the North Korean Air Force (KPAF) and between 6 to 9 Chinese Mig-15 aces.    Lieutenant Guy Pierre Bordelon Jr.  (1 February 1922 – 19 December 2002) was the only US Navy night fighter ace of the Korean War and was the last ace flying a propeller-driven aircraft of the 20th century.

Bordelon earned his wings as a US Naval Aviator in 1943 and he became an instructor at Kingville, Texas but not because he was a good pilot.    He barely gradulated from the US Navy flight school where he almost washed out.    He was…