DeLong: "We were climbing through two thousand feet when we saw four aircraft approaching us from the northwest at five thousand feet. My wingman, Lt. Harold Daigh, identified them as F-51 Mustangs, so we believed them to be friendly. For this reason, we didn't pay much attention to them as they turned toward us in a loose right-echelon formation. Suddenly, I became aware of what we were facing when one of their seven-point-seven millimeter rounds entered my cockpit and damaged my radio! Right after that, there were several more ‘thumps,' which were more rounds hitting my aircraft."The Marine Corps operated four day-fighter Corsair squadrons during most of the war. One specialized squadron, however, flew at night, and its exploits during pitch-black nights over North Korea's mountains and valleys were well known throughout FEAF. The F4U-5N Corsair shown here was one of those night stalkers from VMF (N)-513. Note the radar pod on the tip of the right wing. This was taken in 1951 at Pohang AB South Korea (courtesy of John Corrigan via author).Lt. Daigh was maneuvering to get behind Yak-9 nos. 3 and 4 when his efforts to dump his ordnance failed! Despite the weight, he pressed the attack and opened fire on the closest one but didn't see any results. Immediately, he shifted his attention to Yak no. 4 and fired a long burst, scoring hits on the wing and fuselage. Seconds later, its wing broke off and it plummeted straight into the ground. In the meantime, Capt. DeLong had his hands full with other problems.DeLong: "As soon as I was fired on, I executed a quick split-S maneuver to pick up speed. When the fight started, my maps were spread out in my lap, so now I was trying to evade the Yak's guns with my cockpit full of loose maps, which did not help my visibility! I had to get rid of them somehow so I'd be able to fight effectively. These were the tensest moments of the entire mission because you have to remember that we were only at two thousand feet when the fight started! In seconds, I stowed the maps and recovered from the dive, climbing sharply to the left."This particular Yak flight was either flown by pilots who had survived aerial combat on many earlier occasions, or by fearless and aggressive instructor types. The dramatic loss of the first Yak did not deter the others. They continued to press the fight.DeLong: "Two of the Yaks made another pass on me from astern, but I was able to turn the tables. While I was still in my defensive turn, one of the enemy fighters crossed in front of me from right to left. I hit it with a solid burst that did significant damage. The Yak began to stream black smoke, nosed over and went straight into the ground about half a mile from where Lt. Daigh's kill had crashed. Things were happening so fast and furious that I didn't realize I was still carrying my bombs. I jettisoned everything except my rockets. I decided that I might be able to use them if the remaining two Yaks proved too tough, or if others joined the fight."There may have been a few incidences during the Korean War in which air-to-ground rockets were fired at another hostile aircraft, but as erratic as these rockets were, their chance of hitting anything was small. A lucky direct hit on any aircraft would have resulted in a fiery explosion and a certain "kill."DeLong: "The fight continued to heat up as I sharply banked to the left and chased two Yaks out in front of me. Lt. Daigh was behind the first one, and the second one was right on his tail. I radioed him about the danger, and he cut to the left, causing the trailing Yak to overshoot him. Seconds later, Daigh nailed him with a burst, and the Yak began to trail smoke from its cockpit and wing root. I closed on the one out in front, and as soon as I squeezed off a quick burst, I saw smoke, but this one wasn't ready to call it quits!"The Yaks were all fast and very maneuverable, but their construction wasn't as rugged as that of the Corsairs and Mustangs. They possessed good firepower and, in the hands of a good pilot, gave Marine pilots plenty of cause for concern. These aircraft had given the veteran Luftwaffe pilots plenty of trouble during the last half of WW II. The North Koreans had been given a significant number of these aircraft in the late 1940s for their fledgling air force. DeLong: "As soon as I hit the Yak, he split-S'ed. I followed him into the maneuver and continued to score hits, and as the rounds chewed into their mark, pieces of the aircraft fell off and trailed past me. Seconds after I let up on my guns, the Yak pilot stopped using evasive tactics, and at that moment, I knew he was finished. Then I realized that I still had all of my rockets, so I selected the rocket launcher and hit the switch; nothing happened. Without losing a beat, I fired another burst from my guns, and that finished him off. Seconds later, papers, maps etc., flew out of the Yak's cockpit as he jettisoned his canopy and bailed out."The Yak crashed into the water below, and Capt. DeLong racked up his second kill of the day. The enemy pilot parachuted safely into the water, and as the helicopter was on its way to pick up the downed Corsair, DeLong radioed that they should also try to pick up the Yak pilot, but the communication was never received. There had been four Yak-9s in the fight against the two Corsairs, and all were shot down, but only three confirmed.Of course, it isn't over until the fat lady sings!DeLong: "The dogfight had lasted about ten minutes, and we had shot three down and had one ‘probable.' Fortunately for Lt. Daigh, a few days later, UN forces found a Yak in shallow water within the same area, and this was all that was needed to upgrade the ‘probable' to a confirmed kill. It was a day that I'll long remember, and the only thing that could have made it better was to have taken one of the Yaks out with one of my rockets!"
