Frederick Boots Blesse This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Book Review: Aces in Command: Fighter Pilots as Combat Leaders (By Walter J. Boyne) : AH

   www.thehistorynet.com/reviews/ - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/9/2001   Last Visited: 10/9/2001

   Although Frederick Boots Blesse did not add to his 10 Korean War victories while serving as director of operations for the 336th Tactical Fighter Wing in Vietnam in 1967 , his insistence on mounting gun pods on McDonnell F-4 Phantoms enhanced their dogfighting ability and enabled The Gunfighters , as he dubbed the wing , to add 17 North Vietnamese fighters to its tally. Victor over 13 German aircraft while serving in the 479th Fighter Group during World War II-with Zemke as his commander for a time-Colonel Robin Olds missed Korea , but was credited with another four victories over Vietnam and might have claimed more had he not feared that achieving ace status there would result in his tour of duty as commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing being cut short.
   
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   Born to Army families , Blesse and Olds grew up feeling at in a military environment. Rickenbacker and Zemke , in contrast , worked and brawled their way up from humble origins that left both with feelings of inferiority when they entered the elitist social milieu of the officer-pilot. While Rickenbacker overcame the prejudices he encountered with a combination of solid martial achievement and personal charm , Zemke often took an antagonistic approach that sometimes succeeded in the short run , but ultimately prevented him from getting a general's stars. All four adapted the tactics of the men they led to the changing state of the art of fighter aircraft , and Blesse later wrote what he learned over Korea into a fighting doctrine that Boyne presents as a Boelcke Dicta for the jet age.