F-51 Korean War Combat Diary 7,000 Missions

– 65 Years Ago Today – January 28, 1951

F-51 Korean War Combat Diary Excerpts…

January 25: 18th FBW squadrons were “notified of a policy change on awards and decorations.” The Air Medal “will be awarded every 30 missions and the Distinguished Flying Cross will no longer be automatically awarded at 30 and 75 missions. From now on, the DFC will be awarded only through meritorious achievement extraordinary.”
January 28 Hoengsong, a few miles north of Wonju, was retaken after USAF fighter-bombers dropped 8,000 gallons of napalm on communist positions within a 30-square-mile area.

7,000th Mission. Major Charles McGee holds up seven fingers to celebrate his return from the 7,000th mission for the 18th Fighter-Bomber Group on 28 January 1951. It was the 83rd mission for McGee, a WWII veteran and a former Tuskegee Airman, now flying with the 67th FBS.
7,000th Mission. Major Charles McGee holds up seven fingers to celebrate his return from the 7,000th mission for the 18th Fighter-Bomber Group on 28 January 1951.

7,000th Mission. Major Charles McGee holds up seven fingers to celebrate his return from the 7,000th mission for the 18th Fighter-Bomber Group on 28 January 1951. It was the 83rd mission for McGee, a WWII veteran and a former Tuskegee Airman, now flying with the 67th FBS.

Excerpted from Truckbusters from Dogpatch: the Combat Diary of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing in the Korean War, 1950-1953.