[Myrddin]

Doesn"t that make him an Ace for the enemy?

My understanding is that he crashed 5 aircraft between the time he started flight training and the time he took aircraft #6 into combat where he was shot down.

[Cicero]

That is correct. His joke nickname was Ace, because he managed to crash five of his own planes. That was before he got shot down on his first mission into Vietnam.

This wasn't just a matter of bad luck. Anyone who wasn't an admiral's son would have been washed out long since for bad attitude and incompetence. How many pilots get the chance to wreck five of their own planes through sheer screwups?

[Old_Mil]

My understanding is that he crashed 5 aircraft between the time he started flight training and the time he took aircraft #6 into combat where he was shot down.

If this is true, then not only can we prevent McCain from becoming president in '08, we can prevent him from being re-elected to his Senate seat. Swift Boat Vets #2.