Night Fighter's Luck

In this memoir, Commander James L. Brown, Jr., recalls, in vivid detail, his service flying night fighters in World War II and in Korea. As a naval aviator in the Pacific Theater, he flew F6F-5N Hellcats on dangerous missions and very narrowly escaped death multiple times. After World War II, he flew the F8F Bearcat as a reserve officer before being called up for active duty in Korea, where he flew the F4U Corsair on night attack "heckler" missions. Brown recalls all of the times that he probably should have died, saved by his skills as a highly trained aviator, pure luck, or, as he sometimes guessed, because there must have been an angel riding the cockpit with him. Throughout his memoirs, Jim is brutally honest with his emotions and his mindset when presented with the everyday life of living with war. As with many of his fellow aviators, combat fatigue contributed to a state of mind that several times almost got him killed.

The late James L. Brown, Jr., pinned on his Naval Aviator's wings in 1944 at the age of 21 and became an elite night-fighter pilot. Recalled for the Korean War, he was assigned as a Night Heckler. He logged his last flight, while a Reserve Commander, in 1963. David G. Powers is a former Naval Aviator, a retired Army Aviator, and a happily retired airline pilot, all the while writing about flying and aviation history throughout his career. He lives in Pensacola, Florida.