Bud Anderson
The 357th Fighter Group was the first in the U.S. Eighth Air Force to enter combat from the outset of World War II equipped with the North American P-51 Mustang. Credited with 595½ aerial victories—including a record 18½ Messerschmitt Me 262 jets—and 106½ aircraft destroyed on the ground, the group also produced a record 42 aces.
Of the 357th’s nine double and triple aces, one remains. With 16¼ victories to his credit, Clarence Emil “Bud” Anderson Jr., 100, is the highest-scoring living American fighter ace. His many activities in the postwar U.S. Air Force included flying Republic F-105D Thunderchief fighter bombers over Vietnam as commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing from June to December 1970, before retiring on Feb. 29, 1972. On Dec. 2, 2022, the Air Force capped off his career by promoting him to the honorary rank of brigadier general.
As a boy growing up in Oakland, Calif., how early did you set your sights on aviation?
My brother and I both grew up fascinated by aviation. There was a mail plane flying by daily and at least one airport within 30 miles of us. Douglas B-18s were based at Moffett Field. Our parents would take my best friend, Jack Stacker, and me to the airport, dump us there and pick us up.
Did you have any flight background before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps on Jan. 19, 1942?
I was already a private pilot—it helped in my early military training. I
