Korean War

After 57 years, South Korea is still free.

Jim Escalle A tribute to Jim by his nephew Jim Escalle
80th FBS 80th Fighter Bomber Squadron
36th TFS 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Fabulous Rocketeers 336th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Kimpo AB, John Starr

The 8th Fighter Bomber Wing was called the Hoboes. I found a photograph that included "Hobo" in the caption on the back of the photo. Hobo in caption

The photograph was of General John K. Cannon's visit to the flightline at Suwon. The pilot is Lt. John Russell. Photograph

On at least two occasions the wing had to evacuate a forward airfield so quickly that most or all of the ground equipment was abandoned. The wing moved up or back according to the location of the front.

The history of the 8th Fighter Bomber Wing is located on the Air University web site. 8th Fighter Wing

The wing was converting from F-80's to F-86F's as my group arrived in early February 1953. I was assigned to the 36th Fighter Bomber Squadron, which was the first to convert; one of the pilots in the 80th had 35 missions before I got my first one. I flew 64 combat missions in the F-86F.

The history of the 36th Fighter Bomber Squadron is located on the Air University web site. 36th Fighter Squadron

The 36th Fighter Bomber Squadron served in the Southwest Pacific, including Australia and New Guinea, in World War II, flying Lockheed P-38's.

The 36th was co-located in Korea at K-13, Suwon, with the 35th Fighter Bomber Squadron "Black Panthers" and the 80th Fighter Bomber Squadron "Headhunters."

This photograph is a flight of four F-86F's of the 36th. If it were in color, it would show the tail stripes in red. The 35th had blue tails and the 80th had yellow tails. F-86F's over Korea

The 36th posed for a group photograph sometime in March or April 1953. We later lost three men in the C-124 crash at Tachikawa, Japan. One of them, Raoul Mouton, was in my flight. Albert Hamilton and Bill Stacy were the others. Jim Escalle was shot down later in June.36th FBS