World War II Ace Pilot, Career Air Force Officer Dies At 102

Col. Joseph H. “Joe” Joiner, a World War II ace and 30-year, 10,000-flight-hour Air Force officer, died Jan. 10 at the age of 102. Growing up near the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas, Joiner always wanted to fly. He signed with the Army flight training program (because they accepted him first) and eventually flew three tours with the 336^th Fighter Squadron in P-51 Mustangs as part of the famed 4^th Fighter Group in Europe.

He became a Flight Commander with just 170 hours of combat experience and only nine months after graduating from flight school, leading his squadron on 20 missions and the entire group of three squadrons on two missions over Europe. He ultimately destroyed 4.5 German planes on the ground (one shared with another pilot) and 3.5 in air-to-air combat, the last two being Focke Wulf Fw-190s on his 84^th and final mission Feb. 20, 1945.

Deciding to make his career in the post-war U.S. Air Force, Joiner later flew Mustangs with the USAF Red Devils, the first Air Force demonstration team, based in Las Vegas; then F-101, F-102, and F-106 “Century Series” jet fighters during the Cold War. At age 50, he flew forward air control (FAC) missions in Vietnam in OV-10 Bronco twin turboprops and later Cessna A-37 jets.

Fellow ace and 4^th FG combat pilot, the late Frank Speer, described Joiner in his book 81 Aces of the 4^th Fighter Group—“He earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses, nine Air Medals, and a Unit Citation. After all these experiences, he feels he did nothing special. The readers will decide otherwise.”