James "Jabby" Jabara (10 October 1923 – 17 November 1966) was the first American and United States Air Force jet ace.

[1][2] Born in Oklahoma, he lived in Kansas where he enlisted as an aviation cadet at Fort Riley after graduating from high school.

Jabara flew two tours of combat duty in Europe during World War II as a North American P-51 Mustang pilot, and scored 1.5 air victories against German aircraft.

Jabara was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma,[3] of Lebanese descent; his father, John, and mother came from Marjayoun, a town in Southern Lebanon.

Standing five feet, five inches (165 cm) tall,[8] Jabara was short for a potential fighter pilot (and was reportedly required to wear corrective eyewear[7]), but this did not prevent him from immediately enlisting as an aviation cadet of the United States Army Air Forces at Fort Riley, Kansas.

[11][15] In another incident, while Jabara engaged a German aircraft, they collided in mid-air, and when both pilots safely floated to the ground, they met and shook hands.

"[6] Jabara returned to the United States and was assigned as a flight commander, now at the rank of captain, with the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, flying the newly operational North American F-86 Sabre jet fighter at the New Castle County Airport in Delaware.

Divided by the 38th Parallel, both the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to maintain the division until a mutual decision was made about the future of the peninsula.

[18] Jabara achieved his first confirmed victory on 3 April 1951 when 12 F-86 Sabres took on 12 MiG-15s in MiG Alley, a region in northwestern North Korea.

[21] In preparation for the oncoming battle, Jabara and the other F-86 Sabre pilots were ordered to jettison their auxiliary fuel tanks to improve their maneuverability.

Jabara's right fuel tank failed to separate from his wing, and protocol required he return to base as the aircraft would be impeded by the extra weight and imbalance, and limit his potential to match off with a MiG.

[10] However, with his desire to become a jet ace, Jabara decided to continue to the air battle, where he was able to still handle his aircraft well enough to be credited with shooting down two MiG-15s with .50 caliber machine gun fire.

[6] Data-matching with Soviet records made available since the end of the Cold War has since shown that only one MiG was lost in the combat, and that Jabara's jet-versus-jet tally was four at best.

[24] Jabara later stated in an interview, "That was my bag for the day, and it made me feel pretty good to know that I was the first jet ace in the history of aerial warfare [sic].

The Jabara family grocery store in Wichita was thronged with people for days, and both he and his father John appeared on local and national radio and television.

[6] Two days later he flew his last two missions, and although he was eager to find more MiGs in an attempt to tie or surpass Joseph C. McConnell's 16 air victories, he did not see any opposing aircraft.

[21] The Soviet Union had four other pilots who credited as having exceeded or tied Jabara's victories: Yevgeny Pepelyaev with 21 to 23, Nikolai Sutyagin with 21 to 22, and both Alexander Smorchkov and Lev Schukin with 15.

[32] Jabara returned to the United States in July 1953,[9] and was assigned as commander of the 4750th Training Squadron at Yuma Air Force Base (later renamed Vincent AFB), Arizona.

[6] At Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, Jabara piloted the first supersonic bomber, the Convair B-58 Hustler as part of the 43d Bomb Wing.

[9][11] Jabara also helped train NATO pilots on the F-104 Starfighter in July 1964, when he was stationed at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona and he wrote of the aircraft's significant technological improvement over the F-86 Sabre.

He flew his first mission in July 1966, joining an F-100 Super Sabre flight group for a bombing run that damaged several buildings held by the Viet Cong in South Vietnam.

[3] She swerved back onto the highway but during the rapid turn, she lost control and the vehicle returned to the median where it rolled several times.

[35][36] Jabara sustained head injuries and was pronounced dead on arrival at a Delray hospital, and Carol Anne died two days later.

A memorial service was held for Jabara at Homestead Air Force Base with a missing man formation fly-by.

[38][39] His grandson, 2d Lt Nicholas Jabara, USAF, a 2001 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, was killed during pilot training in a T-37 accident at Laughlin AFB, Texas on 31 January 2002.

He was also awarded the Silver Star for two missions flown on 10 and 12 April 1951, where he shot down two MiGs while defending American bombers.