- Leo K. Thorsness
Leo K. Thorsness (born February 14, 1932) is a decorated United States Military veteran and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force. Thorsness was awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in the Vietnam War, for an air engagement on April 19, 1967. He was shot down two weeks later and spent six years in captivity as a prisoner of war. - John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936 in Panama Canal Zone) is an American politician, decorated war veteran, and currently the Republican Senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. He was a presidential candidate in the 2000 election, but was defeated by George W. Bush for the Republican nomination. On February 28, 2007, during a guest appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman", … - Gary Powers
Francis "Frank" Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 - August 1, 1977) Capt. USAF; was an American pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down while over the Soviet Union, thus causing the U-2 Crisis of 1960. He was born in Jenkins, Kentucky and was raised in Pound, Virginia, on the Virginia-Kentucky border. After graduating from Milligan College in Eastern Tennessee, Gary was commissioned in the United States Air Force in 1950. - James Stockdale
Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale (December 23, 1923 - July 5, 2005) was one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the United States Navy. Shot down over enemy territory in 1965, Stockdale was the highest ranking naval officer held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He was released in 1973. He was awarded 26 personal combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor and four Silver Stars. - Dieter Dengler
Dieter Dengler (May 22, 1938 - February 7, 2001) was a United States Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. He was the sole survivor of an escape attempt from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. - Bud Day
George E. "Bud" Day (born February 24, 1925) is a former U.S. Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War and recipient of the Medal of Honor. He is often cited as being the most decorated U.S. service member since General Douglas MacArthur, having received some seventy decorations, a majority for actions in combat. Day enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1942 and served thirty months in the South Pacific during World War II. - Roland Garros
Roland Garros (October 6, 1888 - October 25, 1918) was an early French aviator and a fighter aircraft pilot during World War I. - Everett Alvarez Jr.
Everett Alvarez Jr. (b. 1937, Salinas, California) was a Navy Lieutenant Commander who endured one of the longest periods as a prisoner of war (POW) in American history. Alvarez was one of the first American POWs in the Vietnam War. He spent 8.5 years in captivity, making him the second longest-held POW in American history. Alvarez joined the United States Navy in 1960 and was selected for pilot training. On August 5 1964, during Operation Pierce Arrow, … - George Thomas Coker
George Thomas Coker (born July 14, 1943) is a retired US Navy commander, honored with the Navy Cross for his leadership as a prisoner of war (POW) during the Vietnam War, and a Distinguished Eagle Scout noted for his devotion to Scouting. In 1966, the A-6 Intruder on which Coker was serving as bombardier-navigator was shot down over North Vietnam. He was held as a prisoner of war in the "Hanoi Hilton" and other camps for 6.5 years (1966-1973). - Pete Peterson
Douglas Brian "Pete" Peterson was a US Air Force pilot who spent over six years (September 10, 1966–March 4, 1973) as a prisoner of the Vietcong after his plane was shot down during the Vietnam War. He returned to Hanoi in 1997 as the first U.S. ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with the goal of securing an account of those still listed as missing in action from the war. He was an ambassador until 2001. - Joseph Kittinger
Joseph William Kittinger II (born July 27, 1928) is a former pilot and career military officer in the United States Air Force. He is most famous for his participation in Project Man High and Project Excelsior and also, as being the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon. - Sam Johnson
Samuel Robert "Sam" Johnson (born October 11, 1930) is an American politician. He currently is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the Third District of Texas (map). - Joe Kernan
Joseph Eugene Kernan (born April 8, 1946), widely known as Joe Kernan, is an American politician who became the Governor of Indiana on September 13, 2003 upon the death of Frank O'Bannon. Born in 1946 in Chicago, Illinois, prior to becoming the governor, he had served as the Lieutenant Governor of Indiana. Kernan is a member of the Democratic Party. - Raoul Lufbery
Gervais Raoul Lufbery (March 14, 1885 - May 19, 1918) was a French-American fighter pilot and flying ace in World War I. Because he served in both the French and later the United States Army Air Service in World War I, he is sometimes listed as a French ace and sometimes as an American ace, though all but one of his 17 combat victories came while flying in French units. - Chuck Yeager
Retired Air Force Brigadier General Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager gained fame as the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. This historic flight in the rocket powered Bell X-1 aircraft took place on October 14th 1947, at Muroc (now Edwards Air Force Base), California. Muroc field was named after the town of Muroc formed by the Corum (Muroc spelled backwords) brothers in the early 20th century. General Yeager was born Feb. 13, 1923, in Myra, West Virginia. - James Robinson Risner
James Robinson "Robbie" Risner (b. 1925) was one of the most accomplished fighter pilots in the history of the United States Air Force. He retired as a Brigadier General in 1976. Risner was decorated for service in the Korean War due to dramatic success in aeronautical dog fights, becoming the 20th Jet Ace of the war, credited with eight enemy aircraft destroyed. During service in Vietnam he was shot down twice. - Ly Tong
Lý Tống, a Vietnamese-American, was born in 1946 in My Tho, South Vietnam and is an ardent anti-communist. - John Alcock
Sir John William Alcock (November 5, 1892 - 18 December 1919) was a Captain in the Royal Air Force who, together with navigator Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, piloted the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight from St. John's, Newfoundland to Clifden, Connemara, Ireland. Alcock was born in 1892 at Seymour, Old Trafford, England. He first became interested in flying at the age of seventeen. - Jeremiah Denton
Jeremiah Andrew Denton Jr. (born July 15 1924 in Mobile, Alabama) is a retired U.S. Navy admiral and a former U.S. senator of the Republican party. He spent almost eight years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and later wrote a book about his experiences. - George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush was the forty-first President of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993. Before his presidency, Bush was the forty-third Vice President of the United States in the administration of Ronald Reagan. He has also served as the member of the United States House of Representatives for the 7th district of Texas (1967–1971), the United States Ambassador to the United Nations (1971–1973), … - Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (May 2, 1892 - April 21, 1918) was a German fighter pilot known as The Red Baron. He was the most successful flying ace of World War I, and was credited with 80 confirmed air combat victories. - Douglas Bader
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, CBE, DSO and Bar, DFC and Bar, FRAeS, DL, RAF (21 February 1910-5 September 1982); surname pronounced) was a successful fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Bader is upheld as an inspirational leader and hero of the era, not least because he fought despite having lost both legs in a pre-war flying accident. - Hiroyoshi Nishizawa
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (January 27, 1920 - October 26, 1944) was an ace pilot of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force during World War II. It is possible he was the most successful Japanese fighter ace of the war; he personally claimed to have had 87 aerial victories at the time of his death. Some uncertainty is due to the Japanese habit of recording victories for the pilot's air group rather than the individual after 1941, … - Merian C. Cooper
Merian Caldwell Cooper (October 24, 1893, Jacksonville, Florida, USA - April 21, 1973, San Diego, California, USA, died of cancer) was an American aviator, American Air Force and Polish Air Force officer, adventurer, director, screenwriter and producer. Cooper's most famous film work was the 1933 movie "King Kong". He was the father of Polish translator and writer Maciej Słomczyński and was married to Dorothy Jordan. - Howard D. Wardle
Howard Douglas Wardle MC (August 15, 1915 - January 1995), commonly known as Hank, was a Canadian pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Wardle was born in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada. Howard Wardle joined the Royal Air Force in December of 1938. After completing pilot training, he joined No. 218 Squadron with the rank of Pilot Officer at Auberiver-sur-Suippes, France on November 29 1939. Pilot Officer Wardle was shot down near Crailsheim, … - Pappy Boyington
Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, USMC, (December 4, 1912 - January 11, 1988) was an American fighter ace. Boyington flew initially with the American Volunteer Group ("The Flying Tigers") in the Republic of China Air Force during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He later commanded the famous U.S. Marine Corps squadron, VMF-214 ("The Black Sheep Squadron") during World War II. Boyington became a prisoner of war later in the war. - Scott O'Grady
Scott F. O'Grady is a former United States Air Force captain who gained prominence after ejecting over Bosnia when his F-16C 89-2032/AV was shot down by a Bosnian Serb SA-6 on June 2, 1995 while patrolling the no-fly zone. The incident occurred near Mrkonjić Grad in Serb kept territory. He survived for six days eating little, avoiding Serb patrols and trying to contact Magic, the NATO organization. He evaded capture and was rescued six days later, on 8 June, … - Adolphe Pegoud
Adolphe Célestin Pégoud was a well known French aviator who became the first fighter ace. Pegoud served in the French Army from 1907 to 1913. Immediately thereafter he began flying, earned his pilot's certificate, and in a few months, on September 21 1913, as a test pilot for Louis Bleriot, in a Bleriot model XI monoplane and in a series of test flights exploring the limits of airplane maneuvers, he flew a loop, believing it to be the world's first. - Donald Cunnell
Donald Charles Cunnell (1893-1917) was a British World War I flying ace who was killed in action over Belgium. - Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Hans-Ulrich Rudel was a Stuka dive-bomber pilot during World War II. Rudel is famous for being the most highly decorated German serviceman of the war (Hermann Göring was nominally more highly decorated, but he did not achieve his Grand Cross of the Iron Cross by combat action). Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the only person to be awarded the Knight’s Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. Rudel flew 2,530 combat missions and successfully attacked many tanks, trains, … - Bert Shepard
Robert Earl Shepard (born June 28, 1920 in Dana, Indiana) was a baseball pitcher who had his right leg amputated after his fighter plane crashed in Germany during World War II. He went on to pitch in one major league game for the Washington Senators in 1945. The 5"11", 185 lb. left-hander taught himself to walk and then to pitch with an artificial leg while confined in a German POW camp. In 1945 Shepard was back in the United States and wanted to resume his pitching career. - Max Immelmann
Max Immelmann was a German World War I Flying ace. He was born in Dresden, the son of a paper board container factory owner. After leaving school, he joined the "Eisenbahnregiment Berlin". During 1913 - 1914, he studied mechanical engineering in Dresden. When World War I started, Immelmann was recalled to active service, transferred to the "Luftstreitkräfte" and was sent for pilot training in November 1914. - William P. Lawrence
Vice Admiral William Porter Lawrence was an officer in the United States Navy. Lawrence was a noted test pilot who became the first Naval Aviator to fly twice the speed of sound in a Naval aircraft and was also one of the final candidates for the Mercury space program. During the Vietnam War, Lawrence was shot down while on a combat mission and spent several years as a prisoner of war; during this time he became noted for his resistance to his captors. - Junichi Sasai
Junichi Sasai was a Japanese naval aviator and fighter ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Lieutenant JG (中尉) Sasai’s final action took place on August 26, 1942, during the Battle of Guadalcanal. He was leading his squadron of Zero fighters from Rabaul to Guadalcanal, providing fighter escort for Japanese G4M bombers, attacking the US airstrip Henderson Field, … - Edward Mannock
Major Edward Corringham "Mick" Mannock, VC, DSO and Two Bars, MC and Bar (24 May, 1887 - 26 July, 1918) was a British First World War flying ace and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross. Mannock was regarded as one of the greatest fighters and patrol leaders of WWI, though he was not as well known by the public as the likes of Manfred von Richthofen or Albert Ball. - Fritz Rumey
Fritz Rumey (March 3, 1891 - September 27, 1918) was a German fighter pilot in the First World War. A prewar infantryman, he saw action against the Russians and was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd class. Subsequently he applied for aviation and completed an observer's course. Later he was accepted for pilot training and was sent to France in early 1917. After a brief period with Jasta Boelcke he went to Jagdstaffel 5 where he found success and fame. - Billy Fiske
William Meade Lindsley "Billy" Fiske III (June 4, 1911 - August 17, 1940), was an American notable for his achievements in the 1928 Winter Olympics, as well as being the first American pilot casualty of World War II during the Battle of Britain. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a wealthy banking family. At the age of 16, Billy Fiske became the youngest American to win an Olympic gold medal while participating in the 1928 Winter Olympic Games. - Lydia Litvyak
Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak, also known as Lydia Litvak or Lily Litvak, was a female fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during Second World War. With 12 victories, she is one of the world's only two female fighter aces, along with Katya Budanova. - Jefferson J. Deblanc
Jefferson Joseph DeBlanc (born in Lockport, Louisiana, on February 15, 1921), is a World War II Marine Corps fighter pilot and ace - shooting down nine Japanese aircraft during two tours of duty in the Pacific at Guadalcanal and Okinawa - and a Medal of Honor recipient. - Ron Arad
Ron Arad (born May 5, 1958) is an Israeli Air Force weapon systems officer (WSO) who is officially classified as missing in action but widely presumed dead.
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