Newly confirmed Korea ace receives Silver Star

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Newly confirmed Korea ace receives Silver Star

Staff report
Posted : Monday Dec 1, 2008 13:31:50 EST

Fifty-five years after he flew F-86 Sabres over Korea, retired Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland will receive a Silver Star for his aerial dog fights on Monday.

Cleveland qualified for the Silver Star earlier this year when the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records recognized a MiG 15 he shot down in 1952 as an official kill. The board’s decision made him an ace, a pilot with five confirmed kills.

Cleveland did not record the dog fight as a confirmed shoot down in 1952 because he had not seen the plane crash, flames coming from the plane or the pilot bail out.

More than 50 years later, a West Point classmate of Cleveland’s, Dolph Overton, found Soviet records of flight operations in Korea that included a shoot-down matching Cleveland’s encounter. Evidence from those records helped convince the records board that Cleveland brought down the MiG-15.

Cleveland will receive the Silver Star at Maxwell Air Force Base, where he served as commander of Air University from 1981 to 1984.

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Retired Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, third from right, flew F-86s in Korea as a flight commander with the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing at Kimpo Air Base. His fifth kill was confirmed by the Air Force Board for Military Corrections in February, officially making him an ace.

AIR FORCE Retired Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, third from right, flew F-86s in Korea as a flight commander with the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing at Kimpo Air Base. His fifth kill was confirmed by the Air Force Board for Military Corrections in February, officially making him an ace.