Now 86, retired Air Force fighter pilot Ernest "Ernie" Dunning recalls a military career that included aerial dogfights, flying supersonic jets and more than two years in a Korean prisoner-of-war camp.

Dunning was born in Chambersburg in 1925 and grew up in a house on the corner of Seventh and Montgomery streets. He had two sisters.

"I figure my childhood was pretty normal for Chambersburg at the time," he said.

As a boy, Dunning quickly figured out that he wanted to be a fighter pilot. He spent hours assembling model airplanes and imagining adventures in the clouds. After graduating from Chambersburg High School in 1943, he joined the army almost immediately.

"In my opinion, there was no better career," he said. "I knew that's what I wanted to do. I had no desire to fly with the airlines."

Dunning requested a position with the Army Air Corps. He graduated from training and received his pilot's wings in November 1944. Although the world was still at war, Dunning wasn't deployed to Europe or the Pacific. He remained on stand-by in the United States until World War II ended in 1945.

He was subsequently discharged from the army and decided to pursue higher education. After one semester majoring in nautical engineering at Penn State, Dunning received an appointment to attend West Point. He took it, graduating as an officer in 1950. By that time, a new military branch had been created: the United States Air Force.

It had been four years since

he had flown, so Dunning was sent for refresher training. From there he underwent fighter weapons school in Nevada. He was flying the single-seat F-80 Shooting Star, the first fighter


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