‘ One of Us is NOT Going to Go Home Tonight’
The Story Of An Ace Pilot, 55 Years Late
From Lt. Gener al Charles“ Chick” Cleveland
Charles“ Chick” Cleveland is a retired Air Force lieutenant general and fighter Ace. During his combat tour in South Korea, Cleveland shot down five MiG-15s and was also credited with one probable kill.
Later, Cleveland was named executive assistant to General William Westmoreland, commander of U. S. forces in Vietnam, vice commander of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing in England, director of personnel programs at the Pentagon, and finished his career as commander of Air University.
Among Lt. Gen. Cleveland’ s many decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster.
I
was born in Hawaii, in 1927, the same year that Charles Lindbergh made his famous flight across the Atlantic. My father was a lieutenant in the Army, and we moved from Hawaii to Fort Benning, Georgia. Even after my father’ s early death, my mother loved the Army. While doing housework, she would sing“ The Caissons Go Rolling Along.”
After graduating from high school, I wanted to go to West Point in the worst way. Fortunately, I was able to do just that and emulate my big brother, who graduated in 1944 and entered
World War II right after. He was later wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, and I always looked up to him. The difficult decision for me came when it was time to choose which branch to enter after graduation from the academy. I was torn. Growing up, I wanted to be an infantry officer, like my father, but I had always been fascinated by airplanes. I used to read all the aviation magazines, and would marvel at the airplanes in movies. By the
THE VAUNTED F-86 SABRE, CONSIDERED THE BEST FIGHTER OF THE KOREAN WAR. OF THE 41 AMERICAN“ ACE” PILOTS IN KOREA, ALL BUT ONE FLEW THE SABRE. time I was preparing to graduate from West Point in 1949, the Air Force had become a separate branch of service, but they didn’ t have an Air Force Academy yet, and they wanted their share of West Point graduates to come into the Air Force. I ranked my choices as Air Force number one, infantry number two, and artillery number three. Luckily for me, I ranked high enough in my class to get a commission in the Air Force, and I haven’ t regretted it for a minute. I spent 35 years in the Air Force and loved every minute of it. Well, almost every minute. I didn’ t enjoy getting shot at, but I loved the Air Force and still do.
As I wrapped up pilot training, the Korean War was picking up, and I felt like that was where I needed to be. The country had spent hundreds of thousands on me at the military academy and in pilot training, I felt it was my duty to go, and anyway, I wanted to go. I entered the war as a volunteer F-84 fighter pilot, arriving in Japan in February, 1952. Soon after I got there, I learned I would be flying the F-86, assigned to the 334 th Fighter Squadron of the 4 th Fighter Wing at Kimpo, along with several other pilots. We
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