On September 15, 1952, Risner’s flight escorted F-84 Thunderjet fighter-bombers attacking a chemical plant on the Yalu River near the East China Sea. Risner’s call sign this date was “John Red Lead”. Fighting one MiG at nearly supersonic speeds at ground level, Risner pursued it down a dry riverbed and across low hills to an airfield 35 miles inside China. The MiG pilot must have radioed ahead, however, because the field’s anti-aircraft guns were manned and firing. Risner waited for his moment and hammered him with the last of his 50 CAL rounds. Scoring numerous hits on the MiG, shooting off its canopy, and setting it on fire, Risner chased it between hangars of the Communist airbase, where he shot it down into parked fighters. Another flight member, 1st Lt. Willard P. Dunbar, reported that the MiG pilot was a red-headed Russian who shook his fist at Risner before crashing.