George Andrew Davis , Jr . George Andrew Davis , Jr . ( December 1 , 1920 – February 10 , 1952 ) was a highly decorated flying ace of the United States ( US ) Army in World War II , and later of the US Air Force during the Korean War . Davis rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in " MiG Alley " during the war . He was the only flying ace of the United States to be killed in action in Korea . Born in Dublin , Texas , Davis joined the US Army Air Corps in early 1942 , and after training was sent to the Pacific Theatre during the war . There , Davis flew in the New Guinea Campaign and the Philippines Campaign , scoring seven victories over Japanese aircraft . He quickly gained a reputation as a skilled pilot and accurate gunner whose " daredevil " flying style contrasted with his reserved personality . Davis did not see action in Korea until late 1951 . In spite of this , he achieved considerable success flying the F - 86 Sabre , quickly rising to become the war ' s ace of aces and downing 14 Chinese , North Korean and Soviet aircraft before his death in 1952 . During his final combat mission , Davis surprised and attacked 12 Chinese MiG - 15 fighters , downing two before being shot down and killed . For the controversial action , he was awarded the Medal of Honor . With a total of 21 victories , Davis is one of only seven US military pilots to become an ace in two wars , and one of only 31 to be credited more than 20 victories . He was the fourth highest scoring ace of the Korean War . Biography . George Andrew Davis Jr . was born in Dublin , Texas , on December 1 , 1920 . He was the seventh of nine children born to George Davis Sr . and Pearl Love Davis . In his childhood , Davis briefly lived in Maple , Texas . Davis attended Morton High School in Morton , Texas . Davis then attended Harding College in Searcy , Arkansas . After completing a degree , he returned to Texas . He took up farming for a time with his family before eventually deciding to join the military . World War II . On March 21 , 1942 , Davis enlisted in the United States Army in Lubbock , Texas , just after the US entry into World War II . On June 3 , he was appointed an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps . He was moved to Kelly Field in San Antonio , Texas for pre - flight training , which he completed in August . He was then moved to Jones Field in Bonham , Texas for primary flight training . During this training , he got his first 60 hours of flight time aboard a Fairchild PT - 19 trainer aircraft . Then , he flew for another 74 hours during Basic Flight Training in Waco , Texas and a final stint of training aboard the T - 6 Texan at Aloe Field in Victoria , Texas . On February 16 , 1943 , Davis completed his training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Army Reserve , and immediately ordered to active duty with the Army Air Corps . By this time he had accrued 314 hours of flight time . Davis ' first assignment was the 312th Bombardment Group based at Bowman Field in Louisville , Kentucky . There , he was qualified to fly the P - 40 Warhawk ground attack aircraft . He was trained there until August 1943 when the group was ordered to the Pacific Theater of Operations . New Guinea . Davis was flown to Port Moresby , New Guinea where he was quickly reassigned to the 342nd Fighter Squadron , 348th Fighter Group of the Fifth United States Air Force . The group flew the P - 47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft . By December , his unit moved to Finschhafen , where it could operate over the Solomon Sea against air forces of the Empire of Japan , and he quickly earned the nickname " Curly " because of his straight black hair . Davis was also known among the pilots to be very confident of himself . Davis served under the command of Colonel Neel E . Kearby , who himself would later win the Medal of Honor . Many of the other pilots in the unit would become Aces quickly in the conflict . In Davis ' first combat experience , his unit was sent on a patrol to Cape Gloucester on December 31 , 1943 , in support of the New Britain campaign as the Battle of Cape Gloucester began . However , the 15 aircraft were diverted to Arawe to the southwest . There , they were to counterattack Japanese aircraft which were targeting allied convoys during the Battle of Arawe . En route , they encountered 11 Japanese D3A Val and A6M Zero aircraft attacking an allied convoy from to . The US aircraft immediately ambushed the Japanese planes , catching them by surprise . Davis quickly attacked a disorganized formation of the aircraft , downing a D3A Val as it completed a bombing run . By the end of the short battle , eight Japanese aircraft had been shot down and only one American plane was damaged . The next combat mission came on February 3 , 1944 . Then , the 16 P - 47s were on a mission escorting a flight of B - 24 Liberator s on a bombing mission over Wewak . When they were west of the target area , they were ambushed by a flight of Nakajima Ki - 43 Oscar s and Kawasaki Ki - 61 Tony aircraft at . As the US aircraft rushed to the defense of the bombers , Davis managed to attack and shoot down a Ki - 61 Tony which had been attacking another P - 47 . In all , seven Japanese aircraft were destroyed in the attack . The next day , Davis was promoted to first lieutenant . For the next several months , Davis ' unit undertook patrol and escort missions in the Cape Gloucester area and around the islands of Saidor Island , Manus Island , and Momote Island . Through May , these actions were relatively uneventful , except for one fighter sweep mission from Wewak . Davis flew 69 missions from May to August , including several dive - bombing attacks on Japanese positions on Hansa Bay . Davis then flew another 40 missions from September to November , including six patrols between Wakde Island and Hollandia . On November 14 , Davis was promoted to the temporary rank of captain . The Philippines . Around December , the unit began supporting missions in the Philippines , and was moved to Tacloban Airport on Leyte Island . After five uneventful weather - probing missions , Davis and the unit were assigned an escort mission on December 10 . The aircraft were to cover a flotilla of troop transports moving from Baybay to Oromoc Bay . En route , they were attacked by four Ki - 61 Tony aircraft at . After a quick series of maneuvers , Davis climbed to and used the glare of the sun to ambush two of the aircraft below him . He pursued them as far as Cebu Island . He closed to within of the pair before destroying the first with his machine - gun , and then the second as it attempted to dive for cover in a cloud . The unit undertook eight more patrol missions over Mindoro , covering allied convoys . On December 20 , Davis was one of 12 Thunderbolts patrolling Mindoro when eight A6M Zeroes were spotted attempting to ambush the flight from behind . Davis managed to rake the cockpit and kill the pilot , earning his fifth victory and certifying him as a flying ace . Immediately after this , however , Davis aircraft was itself stuck by machine - gun fire from another aircraft , damaging the propeller and left wing components . Three days later , on a mission to escort several B - 24s on a bombing mission of the Japanese - held Clark Field , Davis shot down two more Zeroes , part of a group of Japanese aircraft attempting to harass the bombers . Between this action and February 19 , 1945 , Davis flew another 47 missions , most escorting bombers or ships , in addition to a few ground - attack missions but saw little or no aerial combat in that time . On February 19 , he was withdrawn from the front to begin certification on the P - 51 Mustang , logging 45 hours of training time on the aircraft through the end of March . He returned to combat duty only briefly in April , flying in three combat missions as a copilot aboard a B - 25 Mitchell bomber . On May 3 , 1945 , he was reassigned to Goodfellow Field at San Angelo , Texas , helping to train new pilots and serving as an operations officer for the base . He served in this duty until the end of the war . During his World War II service , Davis flew in 266 missions , accruing a total of 705 combat hours and destroying seven Japanese aircraft . For these exploits , he was awarded the Silver Star Medal , two Distinguished Flying Crosses and nine Air Medal s . By the end of this war , Davis had accrued over 2 , 200 hours of flight time . Post - war . After the end of the war , Davis served in a number of administrative positions in the United States . On August 10 , 1945 , he was assigned to the 556th Air Base Unit at Long Beach , California . On August 24 , 1946 , he was offered a commission as a first lieutenant in the active duty Army Air Corps , demoting him from his temporary rank but effectively allowing him to stay in the military in spite of the demobilization and downsizing of the US military . Several weeks later on September 7 , Davis was ordered to the 554th Air Base Unit in Memphis , Tennessee , where he served on one of the Army Air Corps aerobatic demonstration teams , the predecessors to the United States Air Force Thunderbirds . Davis returned to front line units on January 6 , 1947 , when he was moved to the 71st Fighter - Interceptor Squadron , 1st Fighter Group . He remained with this formation for most of the year . On September 18 , 1947 , the United States Air Force was created as a separate branch from the US Army . Davis was commissioned as a captain in the new branch . During his time with the 71st Squadron , Davis attended Air Tactical School and Tyndall Air Force Base . He was also a flight commander and air inspector while with the unit . Korean War . Upon the outbreak of the Korean War , Davis continued to serve in the 71st Squadron and did not see combat in the initial phase of the war . As it progressed , however , Davis began training on the F - 86 Sabre , the latest jet engine - powered fighter . On February 15 , 1951 , he was promoted to major and in October 1951 he was assigned to the headquarters of the 4th Fighter - Interceptor Wing , which was based in Japan and operating aircraft throughout Korea . As such , Davis was sent to the conflict as a fighter pilot . Command and success . During a patrol November 4 , Davis was credited with a " probable " victory over a MiG - 15 of the Soviet Air Force or Chinese Air Force , giving him his first victory in the Korean War . On November 10 , 1951 , Davis was given command of the 334th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron , one of the subordinate units of the 4th Wing . Davis and his squadron were relocated to Kimpo Airfield to allow them the best access to " MiG Alley " , where much of the air - to - air combat took place . Of his leadership , subordinates often praised the quality of his training , and Davis spent a great deal of time training new and younger pilots in tactics during his command . Commanders noted he often led by example , and Davis was known to be greatly respected , even among his rival ace pilots . He gained the nickname " One Burst Davis " for his extremely accurate shooting . From November 1 to 26 he flew 17 missions in the Sinanju and Uiju areas , most resulting in no combat . On November 27 , Davis was leading a formation of eight F - 86s on a patrol near Won - Ok when they spotted and attacked six MiG - 15s . He immediately downed one of them , striking its fuselage and forcing the pilot to bail out . He pursued a second MiG - 15 to Koch ' ong - ni and damaged it , forcing its pilot to bail out , as well . In all , four of the MiG - 15s were destroyed by Davis ' patrol . For several more days , Davis led relatively quiet patrols , until November 30 , Davis ' 22nd combat mission in Korea . Around 16 : 00 , Davis ' flight of eight F - 86s spotted a large group of nine Tupolev Tu - 2 bombers from the Chinese 8th Bomber Division , escorted by a force of 16 Lavochkin La - 11 fighters from the Chinese 2nd Fighter Division near Sahol along the Yalu River . The force was en route to a bombing mission on the Taehwado island in the Pansong archipelago . Davis maneuvered the patrol into position for a firing pass on the bombers . He completed four attack runs on the formation , being continuously attacked by the La - 11 fighters , which were unable to score any hits on his aircraft . In spite of being separated from his wingmen , he managed to destroy two of the bombers and cause the crew of a third to bail out . By this time , another group of F - 86s arrived to continue the fight , as Davis ' aircraft were low on ammunition and fuel . As the flight attempted to withdraw , one of Davis ' pilots , Raymond O . Barton , called for help . Davis flew to Barton ' s location and found Barton ' s damaged aircraft was under attack from 24 MiG - 15s from the Chinese 3rd Fighter Division arriving as reinforcement . As two MiG - 15s prepared a final attack on Barton , Davis swooped through their pass and scored direct hits on one , killing the Chinese flight leader that commanded the MiG pack . The second broke off its attack . Davis then escorted Barton ' s damaged aircraft back to base , landing with only of fuel left in his tanks . For the day ' s actions , Davis was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . The Taehwado bombing mission forced the Chinese Air Force to end all bombing missions for the rest of the war , while the " hat - trick " of downing four Chinese aircraft in the fight resulted in raising Davis ' confirmed victory count in Korea to six , making him the fifth jet ace of the war and the first ace in the history of the US military to become an ace in two wars . At this point , Davis wrote to his family that he expected to be home by Christmas , but this was changed when the Air Force extended his tour of duty . On December 5 , Davis flew his next combat mission , his 23rd for the war . While on a search - and - destroy patrol above Rinko - do , Davis spotted two MiG - 15s , shooting one down and forcing the other to withdraw . Ten minutes later , he spotted another MiG - 15 preparing to attack near Haech ' ang , and destroyed it , as well . One week later on December 12 , another group of MiG - 15s attacked Davis during a morning patrol near Yongwon . Davis destroyed one , and as a second attempted to target his wingman , Davis outmaneuvered it and shot it down , as well . At the end of the patrol , Davis had scored 10 victories in the Korean War , making him the first double ace of the war . During an afternoon patrol , Davis ' flight intercepted another MiG attack above Changha - Ri . He surprised and destroyed one MiG , and then turned on another in an aggressive attack which forced its pilot to bail out . After 30 combat missions in Korea , Davis had 12 victories . After this successful series of patrols , the Air Force ordered Davis to conduct only one patrol a day , in order to minimize the risk to him . It had previously sent this order on December 1 , but Davis had apparently ignored it . Both the Air Force and Davis ' family had growing concerns that Chinese and Soviet pilots would be gunning for him given his success and fame . By this point , Davis had 12 victories and the second - highest scoring ace pilots claimed only 6 . He was averaging a victory for every three missions . In January , Davis wrote home , expressing frustration at the slow logistics of replacement aircraft parts , claiming they were slowing down missions . He also began to express contempt for the F - 86 , feeling at times it was being outperformed by the MiG and that " something will have to be done " to give the UN pilots more of an advantage in combat . He also said he had begun to grow tired of the constant publicity on him . " They ' re trying to make a hero of me and I find it rather embarrassing , " he said in a letter . At other times , Davis indicated he preferred to stay in combat . In late January , the Air Force told Davis it wanted to rotate him back to the United States . By this point , Davis held every record for a jet pilot , including most victories of all types of aircraft , most MiGs destroyed and most victories over propeller - driven aircraft . Other pilots indicated they wanted him to stay , considering him an able and effective leader . However , these plans changed when it was determined the Air Force had no capable replacements for Davis who could command his squadron . Medal of Honor action . On February 10 , 1952 , Davis was flying his 59th combat mission of the war in an F - 86E , tail number 51 - 2752 . That day , he led a flight of four F - 86s on a patrol near the Yalu River , near the Manchurian border . Davis ' group was part of a larger UN force of 18 F - 86s operating in the area . As the patrol reached the border , one of the other pilots reported he was out of oxygen , and Davis ordered him to return to base with his wingman . As Davis continued the patrol with one wingman , Second Lieutenant William W . Littlefield , they were cruising at an altitude of when they spotted a flight of 12 MiG - 15s of the Chinese 4th Fighter Division . The MiG - 15s were headed in the direction of a group of US F - 84 Thunderjet s conducting a low - level bombing mission . The MiGs were below the two American pilots and had not noticed them . Without hesitating , Davis immediately sped behind the MiG - 15 formation and attacked it from the rear . His surprise attack destroyed one of the MiG - 15s , and he quickly turned on the next closest fighter , destroying it before it could outmaneuver him . By this time , Davis and Littlefield passed many of the MiGs and several were behind them . Davis then moved to target a third MiG at the front of the formation , but as he was lining up his shot another of the aircraft scored a direct hit on Davis ' fuselage , causing his aircraft to spin out of control . Littlefield said he spotted Davis ' landing gear open , indicating hydraulic failure . He attempted to defend Davis ' aircraft as it lost altitude but could not help Davis . Littlefield reported he did not see Davis bail out of his aircraft before it crashed . Davis was declared missing in action and presumed killed . Intense aerial searches of the area later revealed no evidence that Davis had survived the crash . In fact , a week after the incident , the Chinese military searched the region and recovered Davis ' body , still in the crashed aircraft . Despite the Chinese discovery of Davis ' remains , his body was never returned to the US . In four months in Korea , Davis had scored 14 confirmed victories , 1 probable victory and 2 aircraft damaged , bringing his career total victory count to 21 . By the end of the war , he was ranked fourth among pilots , surpassed by Joseph C . McConnell , James Jabara , and Manuel J . Fernandez after his death . Immediately following word of the mission , fellow ace Colonel Harrison Thyng , commander of the 4th Wing , recommended Davis for the Medal of Honor . On April 15 , 1953 , he was posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel . Davis ' cenotaph is located in the City of Lubbock Cemetery in Lubbock , Texas . Also buried at this cemetery is musician Buddy Holly and fellow Medal of Honor recipient Herman C . Wallace . In April 1953 , Davis ' wife and family received his Medal of Honor from Air Force Chief of Staff General Nathan F . Twining at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock . A number of controversies have since emerged surrounding the circumstances leading to Davis ' death . His presence in Korea at the time , the necessity of his actions and the identity of his assailant have all been in dispute . Length of tour . After Davis ' death , US Representative George H . Mahon ( D - 19 ) ordered an investigation into why Davis had remained in Korea after he became a fighter ace . US military policy was to rotate pilots to stateside duty once they became aces , so that they could train other pilots and to prevent them from being killed in action . Mahon had been requesting Davis be rotated back to the US up to a month before his death . Davis ' wife , Doris Davis , expressed anger toward the Air Force after his death , claiming that he had wanted to return to the United States after he became an ace , but he was not allowed . She also claimed he was forced against his will into combat duty in Korea . Her complaints prompted media attention of the Far East Air Force and its policies regarding the rotation of troops and pilots in and out of duty in Korea . She became an outspoken critic of the entire war and publicly denounced it , something rarely done by widows of American soldiers in the war . Doris Davis had been a vocal opponent of the war since its beginning , however . Necessity of action . Subsequent to Davis ' death , historians have questioned if his actions were necessary given the situation . Historian Barrett Tillman contended Davis ' Medal of Honor was merely a public relations move brought on by the US military to quell questions surrounding his death , as well as draw attention away from his wife ' s vocal opposition to the war . The Medal of Honor citation credited Davis with saving the F - 84 formation , but the large formation of F - 86s Davis was leading actually outnumbered the MiGs and Davis could easily have drawn them into the battle . In spite of this , fellow pilots attested to Davis ' bravery . Fellow ace William Whisner said of Davis , " George Davis was the best fighter pilot I ever knew . The only thing he didn ' t have was concern of his own life . " As the Korean War progressed , other pilots began to describe Davis as " more brazen , more aggressive , and more willing to take risks in Korea than he was during World War II . " He became increasingly contemptuous of the Soviet and Chinese MiG pilots he faced as time went on , leading to other pilots thinking he may have underestimated the skills of his opponents , contributing to his death . Identity of assailant . Davis ' death generated controversy between China and Russia , in which both Chinese MiG pilot Zhang Jihui and Soviet pilot Mikhail A . Averin claimed to be his assailant . Although Zhang was credited by the Chinese for shooting down Davis ' F - 86 , Russian sources disputed his claim 40 years later by raising the possibility that Averin was the MiG pilot that had shot down Davis ' aircraft . Davis was the highest ranking US Korean War ace at the time and he was the only US ace killed in action during the war . His death would have been a huge propaganda victory for the nation whose pilot was responsible for shooting him down . Davis ' death at the hands of a Chinese pilot would also allow the Chinese to avenge the losses inflicted by him over Taehwado island on November 30 , 1951 . About 36 MiG - 15s from the Chinese 4th Fighter Division were involved in the February 10 engagement in which Davis was killed , and Zhang was among the group . According to Zhang ' s own report after the battle , while the MiGs were en route to intercept Davis ' group , he and his wingman became separated from the main element . As Zhang was trying to rejoin his formation , he spotted a group of eight F - 86s in the area between Taechon and Chongye at 07 : 40 . Zhang and his wingman then swung down onto the tails of two Sabres and opened fire . Zhang claimed that he shot down both Sabres , but enemy reinforcements soon destroyed his MiG while killing his wingman . The publicity of Davis ' death soon caught the Chinese attention . To determine whether Davis was killed by Zhang in the absence of gun camera footage , the 4th Fighter Division sent two search teams on February 16 and 18 , and they recovered a wreckage of an F - 86E , along with Davis ' body and his belongings . Davis ' dog tag is currently on display at the Dandong Korean War Museum . The search team also discovered that the crash site was within of where Zhang had ejected from his own aircraft , and Zhang ' s 12th Regiment was the only unit that operated near the area . In light of these findings and the testimonies from ground troops that had witnessed the battle , Zhang was credited by the Chinese military for shooting down Davis ' F - 86 . However , according to the recollections from the pilots of the Soviet 64th Aviation Corps , both Zhang and his wingman were probably shot down by Davis , who was in turn surprised and shot down by Averin , who had been scrambling to save the Chinese MiGs . Lieutenant General Georgeii Lobov , commander of the 64th Aviation Corps , also noted in his memoir that Davis was killed by a Soviet pilot . Currently , both China and Russia have taken credit over Davis ' death with no conclusive evidence to confirm either sides of the story . Regardless of the controversy surrounding Davis ' death , Zhang became a household name in China , and the victory was one of the few proud moments in the Chinese Air Force ' s poor performance in Korea . The Chinese military later awarded Zhang with the title Combat Hero , 1st Class for this action . Personal life . Friends and colleagues would later describe Davis as quiet , calm , reserved , and a natural - born leader . When flying , he would become " cool and calculating " in combat . He did not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco as many other pilots did , and had a subdued personality in spite of his " daredevil " flying style . Davis married Doris Lynn Forgason , and was survived by three children , Mary Margaret Davis ( born 1944 ) and George Davis III ( born 1952 ) . His wife was six months pregnant with their third child , Charles Lynn Davis , at the time of his death in 1952 . Aerial victory credits . Throughout his career , Davis was credited with 21 confirmed victories , 1 probable victory and 2 aircraft damaged . This made him one of only 30 US pilots to gain more than 20 confirmed victories over their careers . He had been known to be an extremely talented pilot and was especially accurate at deflection shooting , even from long distances against moving targets . Davis was one of 1 , 297 World War II aces from the United States , with seven confirmed kills during that war . He later became one of 41 Korean War aces from the United States , with 14 confirmed victories during that war . At the time of his death he was the top - scoring ace from the US , making him the ace of aces . By the end of the war , he was the fourth - highest scoring ace . During the Korean War , Davis ' accomplishments were particularly noteworthy . He was the only F - 86 pilot to be awarded the Medal of Honor , and he was one of very few pilots who was able to score multiple kills on a single patrol . This was an extremely rare feat , which Davis accomplished on four occasions and which was rivaled only by fellow ace James Jabara who also scored a notable number of double victories . In shooting down four Chinese aircraft on November 30 , 1951 , Davis scored the most kills in a single day of any pilot in the war . Davis also took the shortest time to become a double ace ; just 17 days in Korea . The next best pilot achieved the feat in 51 days . Davis is one of six US Air Force pilots and seven US pilots overall who achieved ace status as both a piston - engined pilot in World War II and as a jet pilot in a later conflict . The others are Francis S . Gabreski , James P . Hagerstrom , William T . Whisner , Vermont Garrison and Harrison Thyng , as well as John F . Bolt of the US Marine Corps . Military decorations and awards . Davis was decorated several times during World War II and the Korean War : Medal of Honor citation . Davis was the third of four members of the US Air Force to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the war , after Louis J . Sebille , John S . Walmsley Jr . and before Charles J . Loring Jr . All four Air Force recipients were pilots and all were awarded the medal posthumously .