John Franklin Bolt (19 May 1921 – 8 September 2004) was a naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps and a decorated flying ace who served during World War II and the Korean War. He remains the only U.S. Marine to achieve ace status in two wars and was also the only Marine jet fighter ace. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel during his military career.
Born to a poor family in Laurens, South Carolina, Bolt was a self-described "workaholic" and was involved in numerous groups and social activities throughout his life. After dropping out of the University of Florida for financial reasons in 1941, he joined the US Navy and trained as a Marine Corps pilot. Sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations, he flew an F4U Corsair during the campaigns in the Marshall Islands and New Guinea, claiming six victories against Japanese A6M Zeros.
Bolt continued his service through the Korean War, entering combat through an exchange program with the United States Air Force (USAF) in late 1952. Over a period of several weeks in mid-1953, he led flights of F-86 Sabres into combat with MiG-15s of the Chinese Air Force, scoring six victories during fights along the northern border of North Korea, commonly known as "MiG Alley," giving him a total of 12 victories over his career.
Bolt stayed in the Marine Corps until 1962, serving as an analyst and instructor in his later career, before retiring and earning a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Florida. He subsequently settled down in Florida and began a private real estate law practice; he continued to be active in law until 1991. He died from leukemia in 2004.
Early years
John Bolt was born on 19 May 1921 in Laurens, South Carolina, to Thomas Crews Bolt and Emma Bruce Bolt (née Bagwell). John had a younger brother, Bruce. In 1924 the family moved to Sanford, Florida. In his youth, John Bolt gained the nickname "Jack" from his friends and family. His family was poor and he was for the most part responsible for providing his own clothes and social expenses from the time he was ten years old. He worked several part-time jobs, at one point working 30 to 40 hours a week at a local creamery in addition to attending school. He also enrolled in the Boy Scouts, eventually attaining the rank of Star Scout.
In June 1939, Bolt began attending Seminole High School. Described as modest and hardworking by his high school classmates, he was elected class president in his final two years in school.
Bolt attended the University of Florida, majoring in accounting and meeting most of the costs himself using money that he had saved while working through high school. He joined Phi Eta Sigma, an honor society and professional fraternity, and Alpha Tau Omega, a social fraternity. In 1941, his brother Bruce also enrolled at Florida, straining the family's expenses; John dropped out after his second year so that his brother could complete his degree. Bolt enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in April 1941 to train as a pilot, but deferred his training when the Marine Corps offered him the chance to finish college and attend law school, paying him 500 a year to do so.
World War II
Bolt left for basic training in June 1941. Though he intended to join the US Marine Corps, he signed up for the US Navy Flight Training Program, which would allow him to fly for the Marines. On completion of his basic training in November 1941, he was selected as a pilot, and moved to Naval Air Station Atlanta, Georgia in February 1942. He was placed on active duty just before the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into World War II. Completing his initial pilot training and transferring to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida for the next phase, he started flight training in the SNJ Texan. He also qualified to fly in the N3N Canary trainer aircraft. His final phase of flight lessons occurred in Naval Air Station Miami in Miami, Florida, where he flew the Grumman F3F, a biplane which was the navy's most advanced trainer at the time. Bolt completed this training on 18 July 1942, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, receiving his aviator wings that day as well.
Around this time, Bolt began dating Dorothy E. Wiggins, whom he knew from Sanford. The two married after two years of dating, and they eventually had two children together, Robert and Barbara. Years later, during the Korean War, Bolt had the words "Darling Dottie" stencilled on the side of his North American F-86 Sabre jet as a tribute to his wife.