Lowell Kermit Brueland born in a small town in Iowa. He was raised on farm two miles from town. Brueland’s father was one of the largest acreage farmers in Webster country. He also raised cattle. During World War I, his father accumulated several hundred thousand bushels of corn. He wanted to sell them at a profit, but the stock market crash and Great Depression caused him to sell at much less than he preferred. By the time he paid for the transit of the corn to its destination, he went bankrupt. The family left their beautiful home and only kept one team of horses and a cow. They managed to keep only the furniture that they could carry. It was a drastic situation to live through. Typhoid fever struck when Brueland was five years old. The disease took his mother. He lived with his father until he was in high school. His younger brother and sister lived with his father’s sisters. His dad remarried when Brueland was in high school. He gained a step sister after the couple married. His new sister’s name was Georgia Ann but Brueland always called her Wee Speck [Annotator’s Note: this will later become the name of one of his fighter aircraft]. Before Pearl Harbor, Brueland saw the indications that the United States would be drawn into the war. Draft boards were being set up. Brueland had spent a lot of time with outdoor activities while growing up. Consequently, he knew he would not want to go into the Army. He only had a high school education. The Elks Club started a night school and he attended it for two years. That attendance qualified him as having two years of college. As a result he put in for the Cadet Program [Annotator’s Note: the Army Air Forces Aviation Cadet Training Program]. The draft board was breathing down his neck until Brueland’s name came up. He was given a one month grace before he had to enter the Army. He got into the Cadet Program as a result. Brueland found Pearl Harbor to be a terrible blunder on the part of the American military. He felt heads should roll as a result of the surprise attack. He was not as much surprised as he was upset about the attack on the Hawaiian military installations. He might have been on a paint job when he heard about the attack.

Lowell Brueland had a normal flight training. He graduated in September 1942 and was assigned to the 20th Fighter Group. After three or four months, the group moved to March Field. The P-38 [Annotator’s Note: Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft] was being assigned to the group. Someone said if Brueland flew that plane he would remain in the 20th. He transferred to the 354th Fighter Squadron in Haywood, California. The winter was spent there. He was then assigned to 355th Fighter Squadron. There were 45 pilots including a commander authorized for the squadron. There was a pecking order for the 44 pilots. Brueland wanted the last position. This would prevent his having to worry about command. He stayed there until he became an Ace [Annotator’s Note: an Ace is a fighter pilot who has been confirmed as shooting down five or more enemy aircraft] with the 354th. He was the only individual from the squadron who stayed on in the Army of Occupation [Annotator’s Note: occupation duty was performed in Germany after the surrender of the Nazi government in May 1945]. He stayed with the 354th Fighter Squadron until its deactivation orders were received. The P-39 [Annotator’s Note: Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter] was the first aircraft flown by Brueland in the 354th. It had the engine behind the cockpit. There was a 40mm cannon in the nose and four 30mm. It drove like a tricycle. If the plane got into a flat spin, it was hard to get out. He achieved 400 plus hours in it before going overseas. He trained for the Pacific, but left his training base by train headed due east. They had no idea that they were being shipped to Europe. The 355th was the lead squadron and 356th was group headquarters. The 354th and 355th were always together. They were elite squadrons. During training, the squadrons did acrobatics to hone their maneuver skills. During one incident, Brueland took newspapers out of his uniform and tossed them out the cockpit to see if he could maneuver through them. The papers were sucked into the P-39 intakes behind the cockpit and the engine had problems as a result. The squadron commander went looking for Brueland to chastise him. Brueland never abandoned an airplane. Rather than bail out of an airplane that ran out of fuel, he found an abandoned airstrip and put the plane down there. He called the tower and provided them the information. He spotted a three lane highway near the strip and decided to put it down there. Prior to setting down, he saw a limousine arrive and changed his mind. He put the P-39 down on the strip, but he was going too fast. He pulled up his landing gear, but the plane just kept going so he lowered the gear to get more drag. He tangled in some barbed wire but kept going until he ended up on a Main Street intersection in a California town. He de-armed all the guns and was going to walk back to view the damage he had done. He was picked up and returned to base. That was the only airplane he ever came close to abandoning. He was fortunate all the way through the war. As he headed east en route to Europe, he did not know his destination. He got to the east coast and boarded a British troop carrier and spent 13 days getting to England.

Lowell Brueland arrived in England from the United States. It was interesting being there. He witnessed beautiful countryside. In the beginning of his time in Europe, the squadron had no airplanes until the P-51B [Annotator’s Note: North American P-51B Mustang was the first variant from the basic design which was referred to as the P-51A] arrived. His squadron was the first recipients of that model aircraft. Brueland had taken one flight in a P-51A which had been issued to the British Air Force. The A model had the Allison engine while the B variant had the Merlin engine. The engine change allowed the Mustang to fly better at the higher 35,000 feet altitude. The normal flight altitude was 30,000 feet. Brueland was able to fly the B model before he went on his first combat mission. The P-51 was a different plane from the P-39 [Annotator’s Note: Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter aircraft] he had flown before. Once airborne, the P-51 was the best propeller fighter. Some pilots liked the 47 [Annotator’s Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft] but the 51 was Brueland’s choice [Annotator’s Note: Brueland flew the P-39 in training in the United States then both the P-51 and P-47 in combat in World War II].

Lowell Brueland's first combat mission in the Mustang was a piece of cake. He performed escort duty with a flight of bombers. Meeting no resistance, he went searching for targets of opportunity. Nothing was sighted. The only thing encountered was flak [Annotator’s Note: flak was the commonly used term for German antiaircraft artillery fire]. He thought he got away without any damage on that flight but after his return, his ground crew chief said he had a hole in the plane. There was a piece of flak about the size of his fist that had penetrated the radiator. Luckily, the shrapnel acted as a plug in the opening it had generated. After that, Brueland had a healthy respect for combat missions. He learned not to fly straight but to jog around. He was not particularly anxious or nervous on any of his missions. Most pilots were not. Some encounters with the enemy provided vivid memories others such as his first missions were not very memorable. He only remembered fighting against a 109 [Annotator’s Note: Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter aircraft]. Later encounters had Brueland as flight leader. The pilots in the squadron flew in a mutual defensive formation. The Germans preferred to attack the incoming raiding groups early before the Allies had gotten too far into their homeland. This would force the fighters to drop their extra fuel tanks. That prevented the fighters from escorting the bombers fully through their total mission. That left the bombers without fighter protection against Luftwaffe attack. One instance had 16 enemy 109 fighters above and well ahead of the oncoming American bomber formation. The group of Jerry [Annotator’s Note: Jerry was a term used by the Allies to refer to the German enemy] 109s was seen by Brueland. He turned and pursued them. Getting a fix on the fighter in the rear of the group, Brueland fired a burst and the canopy flew off the enemy plane. The pilot bailed out. The next one got a burst, and he caught on fire. After a couple of hits on the number three, Brueland sunk into his slipstream and his P-51's [Annotator’s Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] screen iced up. Visibility was severely reduced. Just before, Brueland looked about and noticed an enemy closing in on him. He did not see any 51s to aid him. He went into a climbing turn to avoid the enemy. Nothing happened. As he rose in altitude, the frost on the inside of his plane dissipated. He was at about 32,000 to 34,000 feet and all by himself. He could spot the contrails of the other aircraft. He heard a fellow pilot named Gross [Annotator's Note: then Lieutenant Clayton Kelly Gross who is also featured in the Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum] in a panic. He had just gotten clobbered. He advised Gross to drop down with the bombers and fall in with their formation until Brueland could get to him. When time permitted, Brueland dropped down and saw what looked like a B-17 [Annotator’s Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber] with three engines on one side. Brueland told Gross to fly to Sweden [Annotator’s Note: Sweden was neutral during World War II so pilots who landed in or bailed out over Sweden were detained for the duration of the war] and bail out so he would not be put in prison. Looking over Gross’ aircraft, Brueland could see no fuel or oil leaks even though the hydraulic controls were damaged. Upon reaching Sweden, Brueland told Gross to bail out. After circling him two times, Gross did not exit his P-51. Brueland advised that he was headed home. Gross followed him. When they reached England, their landing gears were lowered. Gross had flat tires so Brueland told him to land on his wing and he would escort him in. Brueland touched down and looked behind him but there was no one on the runway behind him. Gross had landed beside Brueland. There were 34 holes in that aircraft. None went through the radiator. The plane was safely returned to base.

During one mission when Lowell Brueland escorted allied bombers over Berlin, a flight of eight JU-88s [Annotator’s Note: Junkers 88 fighter bomber] approached them at a much higher elevation. The 88s assumed a steep dive toward the bombers. Brueland misjudged their speed and failed to engage them. They zipped through the defense of the four American fighters. The 88s fired a set of rockets that blew up two bombers. Brueland followed them and caught up with one of the 88s at the end of their formation. There was a twin 20mm weapon in the rear of the enemy plane that packed a punch. Brueland got the plane, but he felt responsible for not keeping the 88s out of the bomber formation. Brueland was assigned to the Ninth Air Force. The Mustangs were such a good aircraft that the Eighth Air Force took control of them and maintained that control up until a week or so before the Normandy invasion [Annotator’s Note: the Normandy, or D-Day, invasion of France occurred on 6 June 1944]. At that point, the squadron [Annotator’s Note: 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group] was assigned back to the Ninth Air Force. After the invasion, the squadron transferred into France as one of the first groups on the continent. Flying escort duty supporting the Ninth Air Force was pretty rugged flying. There was not much interaction with bomber crews but Brueland knew he did not want any part of bomber flight missions. He was happy to stick with escort duty. The difference between flying out of England with the Eighth Air Force was that they were billeted in Quonset huts and had dinner at night. Pilots could go on liberty at night in town. It was entirely different than the camps in Europe. In the camps, they were lucky to get what they could. The food was good. While in England, there were opportunities to go into London. Brueland did not go off base much. There were a few weekend trips. He enjoyed the pubs and English beer. He did not travel north because he was perfectly happy with a good mug of beer.

Lowell Brueland became Senior Flight Leader before the Normandy D-Day invasion. He had the opportunity to become the Operations Officer but rejected it. He was in the war to fly and not handle paperwork. He turned down the position because he was anxious to get the war over and return home. He did not want to spend a career in the Army. That was not the way events would later transpire. He could care less about promotion. After the war, he had a change of mind because he saw how many former military personnel could not get a civilian job. Those individuals wanted back into the service. Before leaving Europe, he decided to stay in the Army. He would have a 28 year career in the service as a result. Dr. Emerson [Annotator’s Note: Captain Warren S. Emerson was credited with six victories] was in his squadron. Brueland was not on the mission when Emerson received a 20mm wound to the back of his neck. He got his plane back because he was a good pilot. Emerson was one of the original members of 355th. Everyone of the old members got back home safely. One or two were POWs, prisoners of war, but they got back. Getting his fifth victory to become an Ace did not mean anything to Brueland. His interest was not in how many aircraft he shot down at the time. He may have gotten more aircraft than he was credited for. Even becoming a double Ace was not important. It was after he returned to the States that he realized the significance of those victories. Some pilots were very interested in those victories in order to get ahead and receive promotions. During the war, Brueland’s major concern was to become the Senior Flight Leader so he could select the missions he desired. The operations officer worked with Brueland on his preferred missions. Gross [Annotator's Note: then Lieutenant Clayton Kelly Gross who is also part of the Digital Collections of The National WWII Museum] and Brueland flew a lot of missions together. Brueland felt like he received more attention than he desired but it was better than receiving the negative kind of focus.

Lowell Brueland flew missions on 6 June [Annotator’s Note: 6 June 1944] in Normandy. The first mission was to accompany the C-47s [Annotator’s Note: Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft] pulling gliders. The gliders were scheduled to land right at dusk. All proceeded well. The 355th Fighter Squadron was flying at the level of the gliders. The question was why not position themselves above the gliders to protect them. The mission, however, was to eliminate any flak in the area. It was flak free for the escort mission. The 353rd Fighter Squadron was the top squadron. The 356th Fighter Squadron flew at midrange to prevent any Jerry [Annotator’s Note: Jerry was a term used by the Allies to refer to the German enemy] attack on the gliders. The weather was cloudy and pitch black when the gliders arrived at the drop-off point. The Germans had installed vertical telephone poles to obstruct the glider landings. It was surprising that the casualties were not heavier than they were. The fighters flew back to a British airfield along with the C-47s. The next morning, paratroopers were brought in with the fighter escorts. The troopers were dropped in the vicinity of the gliders that had landed. When the fighters flew over the invasion fleet, they found it unbelievably crowded with ships. It was a solid mass of boats and ships of all kinds. It made an impression on Brueland. He did not realize that there were that many boats and ships in the world. It looked like one could walk across the water on the boats. The ships were in the water for a long time due to the amount of supplies they had to deliver. It was about three weeks after the invasion when Brueland’s squadron moved to France. It was a good field with satisfactory approaches on both ends. The fighters carried a belly tank or wing tank. The pilots transported their B4 bag [Annotator’s Note: a B-4 bag was a collapsible canvas suitcase used by pilots for their personal effects] and a sleeping bag. They carried more than the ground crew members had for personal gear. All the support activities brought tents and other logistical items with them.

Lowell Brueland earned the Silver Star after he arrived in France while performing a fighter sweep. He had completed his time on the sweep, but he had not been relieved by the squadron. Before the flight left, the British advised that a group of Jerrys [Annotator’s Note: Jerry was a term used by the Allies to refer to the German enemy] were in the area. Brueland and his flight intercepted a group of about 60 enemy fighters. The Americans tore into the 109s [Annotator’s Note: Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter aircraft], but they were low on fuel. The Americans could normally outmaneuver them but Brueland ordered his flight to take one out and go to base. Brueland got two 109s quickly. A couple of American fighters went down to break up a formation of 190s [Annotator’s Note: Focke Wulf Fw-190 fighter aircraft]. Brueland got another kill and the enemy scattered and left the area. Eight American pilots got 12 victories without a loss. That was the mission for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, or DSC, by General Spaatz [Annotator’s Note: General Carl A. Spaatz, also known as Tooey, commanded the United States Army Air Forces in Europe at that time]. Spaatz had been awarded the DSC in World War I for his missions. It was 25 years after Spaatz received his DSC when he awarded Brueland the decoration. Spaatz was kept aloft for 150 hours by the first refueling activity. It was accomplished by passing down Jerry cans [Annotator’s Note: a five gallon can used to carry fuel, water or other liquids] of fuel. Quesada [Annotator’s Note: Major General Elwood Quesada, also known as Pete, had worked as a team member with Spaatz on the refueling technique during the interwar period] was his copilot. Brueland was awarded the Silver Star for the mission when Gross [Annotator’s Note: then Lieutenant Clayton K. Gross who is also part of the Digital Collections of The National WWII Museum] was shot up so bad. There were good pictures of Brueland’s confirmed kills because the cameras [Annotator’s Note: gun cameras filmed targets fired upon by fighters] were working well.

Lowell Brueland named his Mustang [Annotator’s Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] after his half-sister. He called her Wee Speck. He carried her to school on his shoulders when it snowed. He named all his planes after her. Besides that, he wanted to be a Wee Speck when he flew. At one point, someone did not return Wee Speck from a mission. Brueland received a brand new P-51D. The assistant crew chief asked if he could name the airplane. The assistant crew chief was a good mechanic but had problems with other people. Brueland agreed that the man could pick a name. When he returned the next morning, he saw that his plane was called Grim Reaper. It had been painted overnight by lantern light. He flew the plane until he went on R&R, Rest and Recuperation. He flew Grim Reaper for about a month. When he returned from R&R in the United States he found out that a couple of pilots had gotten into a mock dog fight above the field. Reaper had been destroyed in the action by having its wings destroyed. The plane landed near the junk yard and the pilot landed near the medical tent. That terminated Grim Reaper. Brueland returned to the nickname of Wee Speck for his Mustang. It was fortunate that the wings were pulled off the aircraft before Brueland used the plane in a dive bombing mission. That was only one of several fortunate things that happened during the course of the war. Wesgard [Annotator’s Note: unsure of spelling] was the the assistant crew chief. Brueland had a good relationship with his ground crew. They were conscientious people.

When Lowell Brueland changed from Mustangs [Annotator’s Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] to Thunderbolts [Annotator’s Note: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft, also referred to as the Jug] he felt it was like flying a lead sled. There was no comparison. The 47's only advantage was the amount of damage it could withstand. There were cylinder heads shot off and large gaping holes on planes Brueland returned to base. One plane was sent to the junkyard and scavenged parts used for replacements on other planes. The 47 always seemed to manage to drag them back home. There was no aerial combat for Brueland while he flew the 47. He never saw an enemy aircraft while flying one. Many pilots put in for transfer back to the 6th when the Jugs showed up because it was the low ebb of the 354th [Annotator’s Note: the 354th Fighter Squadron was Brueland’s squadron at the time. The 6th refers to the 356th Squadron which flew Mustangs on missions with the 354th]. The Jug was assigned to Brueland’s squadron before the Battle of the Bulge. The same types of dive bombing and strafing missions were assigned to the squadron while P-47s were flown. The major difference between the Mustang and the Thunderbolt was that, with the former, a pilot could get in and hit a target and get out fast. In comparion, with the 47, it was easy to get in and hit the target but the escape was slower. The pilots did not like the airplane. The winter campaign during the Bulge was miserable. Life in the tents was not too bad except it was very cold. Brueland did not have near the trouble many of the men had. His camping experience had prepared him for harsh weather. Brueland got the Mustangs back about a week or two after the Battle of the Bulge. When the battle was completed in Bastone, there was a conference with Doolittle [Annotator’s Note: General James Doolittle was the commander of the Eighth Air Force at that time] and many other Eighth and Ninth Air Force generals. There was a big news conference which happened concurrently. Three representatives from Brueland’s group attended the meeting. There was quite a lot of drinking. Brueland was not impressed with many of the higher ranking officers. He wondered why the Army was caught flat footed before the Battle of the Bulge. Brueland said the withdrawal of the 51s lessened their operational range to observe enemy activities. Notes were taken on the discussion. Within a week, the 51s were brought back. There were 27 brand new planes issued for each squadron. The war was nearing the end at that time. When everyone went home, Brueland was left in control over the brand new planes and the 30 brand new pilots. The squadron had no crew chiefs. Brueland assigned two pilots to each plane. They were told if they wanted to fly, they had to maintain their plane. Instructions were given to them on basic maintenance. Brueland was authorized to do maintenance on the aircraft. That included up to the 100 hour maintenance requirement. Every one of the aircraft was flown up to that threshold. After that point, the books were doctored to allow continued flights. Eventually, the Air Force grounded all flights.

Lowell Brueland saw that Germany had its last big gasp during the Battle of the Bulge. His squadron [Annotator’s Note: 355th Fighetr Squadron, 354th Fighter Group] had been close to the Russian border but was brought back to repulse the enemy offensive. Shortly after the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans were defecting to American bases. They wanted no part of the Russians. Before the declaration of surrender, the enemy was defecting. The American pilots later picked up German aircraft and flew them back. Brueland never was interested in flying the enemy planes. He did not like the looks of the cockpit. They had a 109 [Annotator’s Note: Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter aircraft] but Brueland never got in it.

Lowell Brueland flew with Clayton Kelly Gross [Annotator’s Note: Captain Clayton K. Gross is also part of the Digital Collections of The National WWII Museum] during World War II. That was an interesting experience. He was a good pilot if he did not allow himself to get shot down. Although Brueland did not fly with Jack Bradley [Annotator’s Note: Lieutenant Colonel Jack T. Bradley flew in the same squadrons as Brueland. During his career in Europe, he had 15 confirmed enemy aircraft kills], he did not respect him very much. The main reason for the lack of respect was that Bradley was a ladies’ man. Bickel [Annotator’s Note: Captain Carl G. Bickel was credited with five and a half victories while flying in the same squadrons as Brueland] was the squadron commander and would become group commander much later. He had flown in the Far East with Chennault [Annotator’s Note: Brueland is referring to the 1st American Volunteer Group, also known as the AVG and the Flying Tigers, that flew for Colonel Claire Chennault and the Chinese government against the Japanese during the first six months after the United States entered World War II]. He was a good pilot and a fine individual. Howard [Annotator’s Note: Colonel James H. Howard was credited with six victories while flying in the same squadrons as Brueland. He also had two earlier victories against the Japanese while flying with the AVG] was a so-called Ace [Annotator’s Note: an Ace is a pilot with five or more aerial victories against the enemy] before he joined Brueland’s squadron. One pilot had a relationship with a nurse while Brueland kept her friend occupied during that time. Eagleston [Annotator’s Note: Lieutenant Colonel Glenn T. Eagleston flew in Brueland’s squadrons and had 18.5 confirmed kills while flying in Europe] was a good pilot and squadron commander. Bruce Carr [Annotator’s Note: Captain Bruce W. Carr flew in Brueland’s squadron, the 353rd plus others and acquired 15 confirmed kills while flying in Europe] thought he won the war all by himself. Carr felt the war would still be going on if he had not been there. It seemed to Brueland that Carr should have faced a court martial for some of his activities, but he never got caught. He was a glory seeker. On the way to a target, Carr dumped his ordnance load so that he could find aircraft to shoot down. That was not the thing to do, but he got away with it while he was with the 353rd Fighter Squadron. They were known as glory seekers. Brueland flew with Ken Dahlberg [Annotator’s Note: Captain Kenneth H. Dahlberg flew with the 353rd and 354th Fighter Squadrons and was credited with 14 aerial victories in Europe] into Oslo, Norway after the war had ended. The mission was a display of intent by flying over grounded enemy bombers as the German occupation of Norway ended. Dahlberg was a large individual who got into the hearing aid business after the war and made his millions. Bob Stephens [Annotator’s Note: Lieutenant Colonel Robert W. Stephens flew with the 354th and 355th Fighter Squadrons and had 13 confirmed kills in European air combat] was a squadron commander. Brueland did not fly much with him. One incident occurred before the invasion during a stand down. Stevens had to test out his aircraft and Brueland escorted him. They ended up close to the coast, and it upset a lot of people. There was a possibility of him being canned, but it did not happen. Eisenhower [Annotator’s Note: General Dwight D. Eisenhower] took a flight and received considerable flak for flying in the back seat of the aircraft. Quesada [Annotator’s Note: Major General Elwood Quesada, also known as Pete] flew the twin seat 51 [Annotator’s Note: North American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft] and the 356th Fighter Squadron escorted the mission. Brueland’s squadron maintained the unique aircraft, but the 356th Fighter Squadron had use of the plane. Had there been any trouble with the two seater, it would have caused real problems.

Lowell Brueland escorted a 51 [Annotator’s Note: Brueland escorted a North American P-51 Mustang which had been modified to be a two seat rather than single seat airplane] all over Europe. After the war he flew interesting flights to even Egypt and Greece. He was capable of repairing and maintaining the aircraft. The unit [Annotator’s Note: 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group] had a rest area toward the end of the war in Nice, France. There were separate hotels for officers and enlisted men. They billeted there until the end of the war when the group started breaking up. New airmen were sent down and the squadron took over until everybody was evacuated. Brueland had two sons who spent 22 years in the military. One was the sole medical officer who went through Ranger training. His eldest son joined the Marines and went through flight school at Pensacola. He is a full-fledged pilot but he never received his wings because of a two-thirds cutback in his flight school class. He stayed on and flew in various capacities. Both men graduated from jump school [Annotator’s Note: paratrooper training]. That was not Brueland’s cup of tea. He carried a parachute for 20 years but never used it and never wanted to. Both sons stayed in for 22 years and made lieutenant colonel. All three of the Bruelands are now retired. Brueland was fortunate in his 28 year flying career with fighter aircraft. He had 420 hrs of combat in Europe without a hole from enemy aircraft fire. He did receive damage from ground fire. Brueland flew practically every fighter plane used during his period of service except the F-16 [Annotator’s Note: General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon multi-role jet fighter aircraft] or 111 [Annotator’s Note: General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark supersonic jet fighter-bomber]. The P-39 [Annotators Note: Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter aircraft] was the only plane he ever bent [Annotator's Note: Brueland had a forced landing on an unused airstrip that he overshot with his P-39 during a pre-deployment training flight]. Flying that many years and always bringing the aircraft back to the runway meant that he was very fortunate and undeniably a good pilot.