Pieter Visser
Bio
Pieter Jacobus Visser was born on November 9, 1931, in the small community of Maclear on the eastern cape of South Africa. Following his graduation from Maclear High School in 1948, he moved to Johannesburg and began working for the government. During a weekend outing at Grand Central Airport, he fell in love with flying. While working on his private license, he connected with members of the South African Air Force, and they convinced him to apply to the South African Air Force. Out of one hundred applicants, he was one of four people accepted into the South African Air Force’s pilot program. Soon after earning his wings, he volunteered to go to Korea. Over the course of his time in Korea, he completed around sixty-three missions. In August 1953, he finished his tour of duty. After seeing the transformation of Korea, he believes Korea is an example to the world of what people can do when they are prepared to work.
Video Clips
Lucky to Encounter a MiG
Pieter Visser presents an overview of the South African Air Force’s role in Korea. He explains the primary missions were air to ground and that meant one would be lucky if he met any enemy aircraft or MiGs. He elaborates on scenarios where one might encounter a MiG or become engaged in a dogfight. Based on his experience, he disagrees with the assessment of North Korea’s Air Force as weak, but he states they were not as equipped as the United Nations.
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/piet-visser#clip-1
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The Dangers of the Mustang
Pieter Visser compares the strengths and weaknesses of the Mustang, Sabre, and the enemy MiG aircraft. Consequently, he shares how the majority of the people they lost were flying Mustangs. He notes he only flew four missions in a Mustang; the majority of his missions were in a Sabre.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PITtbLNRMCE&start=1524&end=1839
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/piet-visser#clip-2
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A Lucky Landing
Pieter Visser recounts the mission which forced him to make a tough landing. After completing an air attack, he recalls losing all of his controls and communication. He explains this left him with the tough decision to either land the plane or bail out. He describes the issues with both scenarios and why he chose to land the plane. Even with the ground crew shooting flares to deter him from landing, he remembers how he was finally, on the third attempt, able to come in slower and accomplish the landing. However, he admits his landing did cause damage which led to the commanding officer reprimanding him on his decision to force the landing.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PITtbLNRMCE&start=2055&end=2381
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/piet-visser#clip-3
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Precious Packages From Home
Pieter Visser reminisces about the parcel he received from his mother. He shares that letter writing was very important for the soldiers. He recalls opening the parcel to find the dried meat was all moldy. However, he remembers brushing off the mold and having no issues eating the meat. Surprisingly, he recalls no one asked him to share his package from home.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PITtbLNRMCE&start=2994&end=3115
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https://koreanwarlegacy.org/interviews/piet-visser#clip-4
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