page_title: William T. Whisner Jr.
section_title: Korean War
hierarchical_section_title: William T. Whisner Jr. / Military career / Korean War
caption_attribution_description: English: Francis S. Gabreski (left) congratulates another World War II and Korean War ace, Maj. William T. Whisner (center). On the right is Lt. Col. George Jones, a MiG ace with 6.5 kills. (U.S. Air Force photo)
context_page_description: William Thomas Whisner Jr. was a career officer and pilot in the United States Air Force, retiring as a colonel with 30 years of military service. He was a fighter ace with Army Air Forces over Europe in World War II and a jet fighter ace with the Air Force in the Korean War.
  Although best known for his credited destruction of 22½ aircraft in aerial combat and being one of only seven U.S. combat pilots to become an ace in two wars, Whisner commanded the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, before retiring in 1972.
context_section_description: In September 1951, Whisner deployed with the 334th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing to Korea, where he destroyed two MiG-15s in aerial combat and damaged four others, before joining the 25th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing in November 1951. He then destroyed another 4.5 MiG-15s with 2 more damaged, with total 6 enemy aircraft destroyed in Korea.
  During his time in Korea, he served under the command of ETO's leading ace, Gabby Gabreski. Gabreski was an aggressive commander and fostered a fierce rivalry between the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing and 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing, both F-86 Sabre wings, fueled in part by the fact that the 4th had also been the keenest rival of the 56th Fighter Group during World War II. Gabreski and a fellow former 56th Fighter Group pilot, Colonel Walker M. Mahurin and Whisner planned and executed a mission in early 1952 in which the F-86s turned off their IFF equipment and overflew two Chinese bases. These missions were known as clandestine 'Maple Special' missions. Gabreski brought with him from the 56th Fighter Interceptor Wing in June 1951.
  Before the mission of February 20, 1952, Gabreski and Whisner each had four MiGs credited as destroyed. During the mission, Gabreski attacked and severely damaged a MiG 15 that fled across the Yalu River into China. He broke off the engagement and returned to base after his own airplane was damaged, where he claimed the MiG as a "probable kill".
  Whisner trailed the MiG deep into Manchuria trying to confirm Gabreski's kill, but his Sabre ran low on fuel. He completed the shootdown and returned to K-14 where he confirmed the kill for Gabreski but did not claim it himself. Gabreski confronted him and angrily ordered him to change his mission report, confirming Whisner's own role in the kill. Whisner refused. Soon after, Gabreski recanted his anger and the two shared the claim, as a consequence of which three days later Whisner and not Gabreski became the first pilot of the 51st FW to reach jet ace status.
  As a result, Whisner was awarded his third Distinguished Service Cross for being the first ace of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing. He is also one of the two airmen to receive the Distinguished Service Cross three times.
  For a two-war total of 22 destroyed in the air, 1 probable, 6 damaged, and 3 destroyed on the ground, made him one of only 7 people to have been an ace in both World War II and the Korean War. The others, George Andrew Davis Jr., Gabby Gabreski, Vermont Garrison, Harrison Thyng, and James P. Hagerstrom, are all Air Force pilots, as well as John F. Bolt of the U.S. Marine Corps.
caption: Whisner (center) is congratulated by Gabby Gabreski (left) and Lt. Col. George L. Jones (right)
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