US EditionOldest Surviving World War II American Ace Pilot Dies
Donald McPherson shot down five enemy planes as a Navy pilot in the Pacific during WWII and was honored with the Congressional Gold Medal and three Distinguished Flying Crosses.
- On Aug. 14, Donald McPherson, a World War II Navy fighter pilot believed to be America’s last surviving ace, died at age 103.
- McPherson enlisted in 1942 and then completed an 18-month flight program before flying F6F Hellcat fighters with fighter squadron VF-83 from USS Essex in the Pacific theater, meeting the ace threshold by shooting down five enemy planes.
- His service earned multiple high honors including the Congressional Gold Medal and three Distinguished Flying Crosses, and he described aggressive maneuvers in a Fagen Fighters WWII Museum video that sent enemy planes into the ocean.
- After the war he dedicated himself to founding youth baseball and softball leagues, serving as Scoutmaster and church and veterans' group leader, and Adams, Nebraska named McPherson Field honoring Donald and Thelma McPherson.
- The American Fighter Aces Association noted that Donald McPherson was the last living U.S. ace, with the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum and Adams, Nebraska community tributes honoring him.
44 Articles
44 Articles
Military Times
Marine Corps TimesWorld War II’s last American ace dies at 103
Don McPherson claimed his score in the conflict’s last campaign: Okinawa.
World War II airman Alan Magee survived a 22,000-foot fall without a parachute
On January 3, 1943, a miracle occurred over the skies of France. While on a daylight bombing mission over occupied Saint Nazaire, a B-17F named “Snap! Crackle! Pop!” with the 360th squadron of the 303rd bomb group, tossed its ball turret gunner out of the plane without a parachute. Amazingly, his story doesn’t end there. For anyone else it might have ended there, but not for Alan Magee (U.S. Army) Saint Nazaire was home to a strategic U-boat bas…
Fighter pilot Don McPherson died this month at the age of 103. He was considered the last surviving American air ace of World War II, pilots who managed to destroy five or more enemy aircraft. According to official figures, 1,447 pilots earned this distinction between the beginning of World War I and the end of the Vietnam War, the vast majority during World War II. Fewer than fifteen of them remain in the US after McPherson's death, primarily f…
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