Since we released Warhawk yesterday to pay homage to the Flying Tigers, we figured highlighting one of their best pilots would be fitting.
Brig. Gen. James Howard was nothing short of exemplary. He had the rare distinction of becoming an ace in two theaters of war.
He shot down 6 Japanese fighters while flying with the AVG over Burma then shot down 6 of the Luftwaffe over Europe.
He's also the only pilot of WW2 to receive the Medal of Honor while in the European theater after he single handedly went against 30 German fighters to provide cover for B17s on a bombing run.
When he ran out of ammo and almost out of fuel, he would purposely dive and aggressively maneuver his P51 against the enemy planes in order to break their attacks.
One of the B17 pilots who witnessed his actions said:
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"For sheer determination and guts, it was the greatest exhibition I've ever seen. It was a case of one lone American against what seemed to be the entire Luftwaffe. He was all over the wing, across and around it. They can't give that boy a big enough award."
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Howard continued his service until retiring after 28 years of slamming his nuts across the globe.
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