He also developed into a masterful fighter pilot who was able to transfer his skills to others efficiently and in detail. His contributions in Korea and Vietnam were immediate and final. He killed over 100 North Korean troops in one single mission, and the Bolo sweep was the most successful MiG attack in Vietnam. He saved countless other pilots and soldiers lives by his actions, and he helped develop maintenance and flight techniques that worked in dogfight situations.
His long-term impact is still being felt. His son entered the Air Force in 1968 and became the first black Director of the Air National Guard, and he served 38 years, retiring in 2006. He is still remembered as a strong, tactical fighter who could maneuver his planes with skill and alertness, and who was fiercely loyal to his men and their mission. He developed tactics in Korea that helped provide close air support for ground troops, techniques that are still used today.
There are clear links between James and today's Air Force, because of his leadership qualities and skills. He showed that blacks could...
He spent most of his life working for the government. After his combat service, he was became a spokesperson for the Defense Department in the Public Affairs Department (PAD) in the 1970s, when the Vietnam War was still brewing. He also became vice commander of the Military Airlift Command (MAC) in Vietnam and the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) because of his work at the PAD. To give a
" You figure, Williams explained to the author, you don't like what's happening at home in Chicago, and now in the U.S. Marines "...you finally get a chance to get away." Those were Williams' reasons for joining the military and participating in the Vietnam War as an African-American youth. Indeed Williams saw the military as not just an escape, but as "a form of incarceration" - but the war might
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