When Communist MiG-15s appeared, he experienced one of the frustrations that dogged all F-86 pilots at that time. The higher the Sabres flew, the more unstable they became, while the MiGs could fly higher and loiter longer because they were lighter and were close to their bases on the Chinese side of the Yalu River. That international border with North Korea was theoretically a line over which American interceptors could not cross, since China was not officially involved in the war. As Gabby led a flight along “MiG Alley” near the Yalu, no MiGs took the bait, and he was as disappointed as the other Sabre pilots at not being able to attack the enemy fighters at their bases.

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Leading a flight of four F-86s on July 8, Gabby saw some F-80s and MiGs scrambling at 10,000 feet and barreled down behind a MiG that was breaking away from the fight. As he had in Europe, he got on its tail, held his fire until close enough, then blasted it to pieces with his six .50-caliber machine guns. He knew now he was still able to attack an enemy aircraft and make a kill.

Around this time, the Americans noted that the MiG pilots seemed more skilled, and suspected they were facing experienced Russian pilots—though they couldn’t be sure. (That suspicion was officially confirmed after the Soviet Union’s fall.) There was always the temptation to cross the Yalu River after them, and Gabby and others admitted they sometimes did so if they thought they could shoot down a MiG without going too far (see “MiG Madness,” March 2008 issue).

Gabby got his second victory, over Pyongyang, on September 2. A stray MiG-15 was heading home when he took it out with a deflection shot. A month later he downed another one. Meanwhile, Communist air tactics changed. Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, they formed two long lines of 50 to 60 fighters—“MiG trains”—flying down both sides of the peninsula. More F-86s and pilots were clearly needed, so two new wings were formed in November, with Gabby commanding the 51st FIW. Its first mission was on December 1.

Gabby flew all of the 51st’s early missions, and devised a new tactic known as the “fluid four,” a more flexible version of WWII’s finger-four that was better suited to jets. By January 1952, the wing had destroyed 26 MiGs with only seven losses. Gabreski got one on January 11, and shared credit for another on February 20.

It wasn’t all war all the time for Gabby, especially when winter weather prohibited operations. Although he didn’t make it a practice to flaunt his faith, he was a deeply religious and compassionate man despite his “killer” military reputation. The wing chaplain had located an orphanage in Suwon that was crowded with poorly clothed, sick and starving children. When Gabby heard about it, he had the wing sponsor the orphanage and appealed to the citizens of Oil City for help. They responded with mountains of donated clothing, medicine, school supplies and building materials.

Combat operations picked up with the clearing spring weather. Gabby was leading a flight along the Yalu River on April 1 when he sighted the contrails of 30 MiGs climbing up from Antung in the safety of Chinese airspace. He was very conscious of the imaginary line he should not cross, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. The sun was behind his formation as 15 MiGs came out of the contrails, and Gabby pounced on a straggler returning to his Chinese base. He fired until the enemy pilot blew off his canopy and bailed out. That brought his jet tally to 5½ victories and made him the first American to become an ace in two wars.

Concerned that he would be disciplined when his flight returned, he called his pilots “so we could coordinate our combat reports, blurring the fact that we had crossed the Yalu to attack the MiGs.” No one ever challenged their reports.

Gabby scored again on April 12, to finalize his total at 6½. Combined with his 28 kills in Europe, that made him the third-highest-scoring American ace of all time, after Lockheed P-38 pilots Dick Bong and Thomas McGuire. He was grounded after completing his 100th mission, returning Stateside to a ticker tape parade in San Francisco and a visit with President Harry Truman at the White House. The airman commented in his memoirs that “it was quite a thrill for a Polish kid from Oil City who had almost flunked out of flight school.”

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