MiG Alley to Mu Ghia Pass

<p> Cecil G. Foster was born in Midland County Michigan on August 30 1925. He endured economic and emotional hardship during his youth living in a poor environment losing his mother before he was six and being separated from his brothers sisters and father. He joined the Army Air Force in 1943 as a private at the height of the World War II buildup and retired in 1975 as a lieutenant colonel. During his 32 years with the Air Force Foster served in several different capacities--pilot celestial navigator radar-navigator-bombardier intercept director and squadron commander. A major focus of this work is Foster's Air Force career in the Korean War where he was one of the highest-scoring aces of the air war. His record of nine MiGs destroyed places him twelfth on a list of 38 aces. Every one of the aircraft he destroyed was shot down in the area known as MiG Alley a small section of airspace along the Yalu River which separated North Korea from China.</p>