That's a remarkable story, and Pardo is a legendary hero.
I do believe there was a similar story in the Korean War, with one F-86 pushing another to safe territory, but I don't recall the details--I'll have to see if I can find it somewhere.
Meanwhile, Robin Olds, Pardo's Wing Commander in the story and another legendary USAF hero, had his own unique experience in WWII. He had managed to sneak up behind a large group of Luftwaffe fighters and was in perfect position behind one of them when both of his P-38's engines abruptly quit. Olds had correctly dumped both of his drop tanks before engaging in combat, but in his excitement had forgotten to flip the fuel feed switch to an internal tank. The silence must have been, as the old cliche goes, "deafening." But since he was already lined up, he pulled the trigger anyway. And as he would recount the tale later, "To this day, I claim to be the only fighter pilot in the history of aerial warfare to shoot down an enemy aircraft while in the glide mode." Believe it or not, that flight would soon get
even more exciting, but that's another story.
Cut to about 8:00 for the whole story:
nypost.com
