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Let that sink in. Triple Ace. At least fifteen kills\u00a0 – in his case, 16 in air-to-air combat.\u00a0 One Israeli in the Six Day War has 17, and Ukraine claimed one of theirs (since disputed) with 40, but since WWII these have been few and far between.*<\/p>\n
Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson arrived in the European Theater of World War II in 1943, an experienced pilot at a time when many of his contemporaries had around an hour of experience in the cockpit. Anderson had been flying since 1941, when he was just 19 years old, and he brought that experience to the air war above occupied Europe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Presciently, he got his pilot’s license just before the war started and joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. He was originally trained on the P-39 (no, that is not a typo) Airacobra, a P-40 looking MIDENGINE fighter. Engine behind the pilot? Who knew? Didn’t matter, his 357th Fighter Group would soon be issued P-51 Mustangs, perhaps with the most unique training regimen in aviation history:<\/p>\n
The pilots of the 357th would get little time to train with the P-51; as their commander famously told them, “You can learn to fly `51s on the way to the target.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now THAT is OJT.<\/p>\n
In his Mustang, nicknamed “Old Crow” for his favorite brand of bourbon, Anderson would fly 116 combat missions over two tours, logging some 480 hours and 16 air-to-air kills, usually while escorting bombers on their way to targets in Europe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Note the difference between fighters and bombers… as we learned from “Enola Gay” after 25 missions the bomber crews were done. After 25, apparently the fighter jocks were well broken in.<\/p>\n
After the war, he trained to become a test pilot, learning to fly the United States’ earliest jet aircraft while pushing it to its limits. He also participated in experimental flying, testing fighters attached to the wingtips of bombers to increase their ranges. These so-called “parasite” planes, F-84 Thunderjet fighters mounted on B-36 bombers, could detach and reattach to their mother ship when needed. Over the course of his career, he flew more than 130 different aircraft, logging an astonishing 7,500 flying hours.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Dunno about you, pretty sure on my best day I could even name <\/em>130 different aircraft.<\/p>\n
During the Vietnam War, Anderson was sent to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, where he was not only commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing and its complement of F-105 Thunderchiefs, he also flew missions against North Vietnamese supply lines.<\/p>\n
Anderson retired in 1972 as a colonel, earning two Legions of Merits, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, 16 Air Medals, the French Legion of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre over his 30-year military career.<\/p>\n
Anderson didn’t stop flying when he left the military; in fact, he didn’t stop flying until he was 90 years old.<\/p>\n
Anderson was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008, received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2015 (along with the other World War II aces) and a promotion to brigadier general in 2022.\u00a0\u00a0 Military.com<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Think we would all agree that his promotion was both overdue and richly deserved. BG Anderson died peacefully in his sleep on May 17.<\/p>\n
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