The Brown Shoes Project

15 February 1988

AvCad serial #736-20-91
AvMidn serial #496956

[note from Lou Ives:  Glenn and I were in the same squadron (VA-134 Hellrazors) as ensigns in 1949,.  I had been appointed Midshipman on 16 December 1946 with file #496290, designated 24 June 1948, and commissioned 19 December 1948.  Although he outranked me by a year, my lower serial number caused all kinds of rank problems—another of those curious aviation midshipman glitches.]

[Note from Glenn Follows:]

Fred Blechman
AvCad, NavCad
(Never a Flying Midshipman)
Retired as Captain, USN

Now that I have your attention from the title, "Confessions of a Japanese Ace – How I Downed Five Corsairs!" let me set a few facts straight before I get into the details ...