The Super Ace Who Refused to Count Their Kills
1,500Flying high over Berlin on April 17, 1945, Ivan Kozhedub maneuvered his La-7 with the precision that had made him the Soviet Union’s most feared ace. He rushed in aid of a group of American B-17 Flying Fortresses under attack by Luftwaffe fighters defending their capital.
As Kozhedub chased away the German attackers, tracer rounds suddenly flashed past his cockpit. He turned sharply, scanning the air around him. To his shock, a group of American P-51 Mustangs had mistaken his La-7 for an enemy aircraft.
Kozhedub tried to signal his identity, but the American pilots kept coming, their guns blazing.
Alone and outnumbered, Kozhedub banked sharply, dodging another burst of 50-caliber gunfire. As he leveled out, the pilot who had downed dozens of German aircraft faced an impossible choice: shoot down his allies or risk being shot down himself.
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