Wow… 116 missions… that was a serious bit of flying there. During WWII an Air Medal was issued for completing 5 missions and a flying cross was issued for every 25 missions. This was because of how dangerous the missions were during WWII.
The rank of General usually means no more flying. Probably why he decided to move to the civilian world of flying.
How do you shoot down ¼ aircraft?
Shot down 1 aircraft with the help of 3 other planes, or detached a wing and that was calculated to be ¼ of an aircraft?
Congratulations on a well-deserved honor, General Anderson. Twenty or so years ago I had the honor and great fortune to meet Gen. Anderson at the National Biplane Fly-in held at Bartlesville OK. He was the featured guest speaker that year. In one-on-one conversation, he was a quiet, low-key individual, with no trace of self-promotion. Let the Air Force bestow promotions!
Not long into our conversation, it came to light that we had a mutual friend. It’s interesting to note that the often-cited “six degrees of separation” principle operates at factors less than “six” in the aviation world, revealing points of commonality in the lives of people from amazingly varied backgrounds.
Congratulations General Anderson!! Well deserved. If you haven’t read his book, I highly recommend it. Hard to put it down.
Such a great man and inspirtation.
1 aircraft shot down, and 4 aircraft shooting at it. I heard his story about that at Oshkosh one year.
Yes, of the books I have read written by aces, “TO FLY AND FIGHT: MEMORIES OF A TRIPLE ACE” is my favorite. It has a wonderful forward by his close friend Chuck Yeager. Some of his dogfighting recollections are very real … felt like I was there with him…
I met him, Yeager and Robin Olds in a quiet setting of the NC mountains…they were there dedicating the opening of a new subdivision. I Was in the presence of royalty for sure.
Yes, of the books I have read written by aces, “TO FLY AND FIGHT: MEMORIES OF A TRIPLE ACE” is my favorite. It has a wonderful forward by his close friend Chuck Yeager. Some of his dogfighting recollections are very real … felt like I was there with him…
I met him, Yeager and Robin Olds in a quiet setting of the NC mountains…they were there dedicating the opening of a new subdivision. I Was in the presence of royalty for sure. Paul logue
Anyone searching out the book, note that in the title, “MEMORIES” should be “MEMOIRS”. One or two letters off makes a huge difference in doing a google or library search!