These 7 American legends were pilots for the Flying Tigers

These 7 American legends were pilots for the Flying Tigers · 1. Gregory Boyington · 2. James H. Howard · 3. Robert L. Scott · 4. Robert W. Prescott. Home MIGHTYSURVIVAL MIGHTYTRENDING MIGHTYTACTICAL MIGHTYCULTURE MIGHTYGAMING MIGHTYFIT MIGHTYMONEY MIGHTYHISTORY MIGHTYSPORTS MIGHTYMOVIES TheMIGHTYFITPlan MIGHTYMEMES PRESS MIGHTYHEROES MIGHTYSTORIES Login MIGHTYHISTORY These7AmericanlegendswerepilotsfortheFlyingTigers HaroldC.Hutchison PostedOnMay13,202106:41:00 The“FlyingTigers”(formallyknownastheAmericanVolunteerGrouporAVG)werefamousforbeinginthefightveryearlyinWorldWarII.TheywererecruitedtoflyfortheRepublicofChina— withthequietapprovaloftheUnitedStatesgovernment. DespitethefactmanyhadnoflightexperienceinfightersliketheP-40smadefamousbytheAVG,theywereabletoinflictheavycasualtiesontheJapanese— evenastheyhadtofallbackduetobeingbadlyoutnumbered. Soit’snotsurprisingthat someoftheFlyingTiger pilotsbecamelegendslaterinthewarandbeyond. 1.GregoryBoyington Probablythebest-knownFlyingTigersalum(duetotheTVseries“BaaBaaBlackSheep”or“BlackSheepSquadron”),BoyingtonclaimedsixkillswhilewiththeTigers— althoughCAMCOgavehimcreditforonly3.5. Somehistoriansdisputethattotal,butwhatisbeyondanydoubtisthefactthatBoyingtonwouldlaterbecomethetopMarineaceofalltimewith28kills.HewouldalsoreceivetheMedalofHonorforhisservice.     2.JamesH.Howard HowardwasrecruitedfortheFlyingTigersfromtheNavy.HiskilltotalwiththeFlyingTigerswassixandathird,perCAMCObonusrecords (pilotsreceived a$500bonusforeveryconfirmedkill). Notbad,buthisrealmomentofglorycamewhenthesonofAmericanmissionariesinChinawasallthatstoodbetween30 GermanfightersandagroupofB-17FlyingFortressesonJan.11,1944. AtleastthreeoftheNazifighterswereshotdowninthatincident,andHowardprobablyputleadinmore.HewouldreceivetheMedalofHonorforhisactions. Hemodestlysaid,“IseenmydutyandIdoneit.”   JamesH.Howard,afterreturningfromcombatdutyinEurope.(USAAFphoto)   3.RobertL.Scott TheGeorgianativeunofficiallyflewwiththeFlyingTigers beforehetookcommandoftheirsuccessors,the23rdFighterGroup,andwasknownasa“one-manairforce.”Scottultimatelyscored13killswiththe23rdFighterGroup,butwasbetterknownforwritingthebook“GodisMyCo-Pilot,”whichlaterbecameamovie.     4.RobertW.Prescott A5.5-killacewiththeFlyingTigers,PrescottwasbestknownforbeingamongthosewhofoundedtheFlyingTigersLine.WhilethataviationfirmisnowpartofFederalExpress,itdidgainameasureofimmortalityinanepisodeofthe1960siterationofDragnet.   A747withtheFlyingTigersairlinefoundedbyRobertPrescott,anAVGveteran.TheairlinewaslaterboughtbyFedEx.(PhotofromWikimediaCommons)   5.RobertNeale Nealescoredatleast15killswiththeFlyingTigers,perAVGrecords.HadheacceptedacommissionfromtheUnitedStatesArmyAirForce,hecouldhaverackedupamuchhighertotal. Instead,hestayedon,andwasthefirstcommanderofthe23rdFighterGroup— whilestillacivilian —untilRobertScottofficiallytookcommand.Nealethenbecameacivilianferrypilotforthedurationofthewar. 6.David“Tex”Hill HillwasborninKorea— likeHoward,thesonofmissionaries. PriortojoiningtheAVGheservedintheNavy,whereheflewtwoplanesthatwerenotableduringtheBattleofMidway:TheTBDDevastatortorpedobomber(notableforthelossessufferedbytorpedosquadrons)andtheSB2UVindicator(theplaneflownbyRichardFleming,theonlyMedalofHonorrecipientfortheBattleofMidway). Hillscored10.25killswiththeAVG,thenstayedonafterwardswiththeAirForce. Hillendedthewarwith18.25kills,andnotonlycommandedthe23rdFighterGroup,butlatercommandedanAirNationalGuardfightergroupduringtheKoreanWar.     7.CharlesOlder Older wasn’t onlyadoubleacewiththeFlyingTigers,hescoredeightmorelaterinWorldWarII. ThenheflewanightintruderbomberintheKoreanWarbeforegraduatingfromlawschoolandbecomingajudge,presidingovertheMansontrial. MansontookaswingattheformerFlyingTiger,butbailiffsrestrainedhim.ProbablyluckyforManson…withhisexperienceoffightingagainstlongodds,Olderprobablycouldhavetakenthepunkdown.   AFlyingTigerinfrontofCharlesOlder’sP-40.Olderhad10killswiththeFlyingTigers,andaddedeightmorelater.(AVGphotoviaWikimediaCommons) MORETOREAD RELATED Todayinmilitaryhistory:U-2spyplaneisshotdown OnMay1,1960,aU-2spyplanewasshotdownovertheSovietUnion,sparkingadiplomaticcrisis. Built... READNOW RELATED CivilWarthroughWWII:Howfemaleroleshaveevolvedinthemilitary Theinvolvementoffemalesinthemilitarygoes... RELATED ThisheroWWIIdestroyerwasreachedintheworld’sdeepestshipwreckdive OnOctober25,1944,theJapanesenavylaunched... Trending After77years,theArmyreturnedabirthdaycaketheystoleduringWWII Germanyreversesheavyweaponsrestrictionstosendanti-aircraftgunstoUkraine TheSwitchbladeisoneofthedeadliestdronesonthemodernbattlefield DoNotSellMyPersonalInformation