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p51 Pilots Biographies, Last Name Starting With "P"
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Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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Laurence C. Parfitt
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Recalled to active duty in 1950, he flew
100 fighter-bomber missions in the F-80
with the 51st Fighter Wing in Korea. Later,
with various ADC fighter squadrons in the
CONUS he new the T-28, T-33, F-86D, E, F
and L. In 1954, on duty with the US Navy's
famous VF -11 "Red Rippers," he accumulated 91 carrier landings in the F2H4 Banshee aboard the USS Coral Sea
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John E. Parker
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Parker completed his second tour of duty
after 37 ground support missions in Korea
while flying P-51 's and wishing for a P-47 .
He was a guest of honor, along with five of
his 44-I classmates, at Craig Field during
graduation exercises for class of 77-I
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Edward T. Pawlak
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Survived
a mid-air collision with another P-51 and also
a dunking in the English Channel. Returned
to the U.S. in Jan. 1947 and released from
active duty as a Major. Remained in active
reserves as a Lieutenant Colonel until retirement.
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Frank S. Perego
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Flew 115 combat missions in
P-47. Two E/A unconfirmed air-to-air, one
E/A destroyed on ground. Group received
Presidential citation for destroying over 500
vehicles in one day.
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Cletus W. Peterson
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Shot down April
1944 by ground fire strafing airport near
Osnabruck, Germany. Captured two days
later near Oldenburg, Germany. POW Stalag 111 13 months. Separated from service April 1945 Captain.
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Robert J. Pinkowski
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Aerospace Defense Command writes an
eulogy for the fighter Pilot.- Say what you
will about him; arrogant, cocky, boisterous
and a fun loving fool to boot - but he has
earned his place in the sun
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Harry K. Powell
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Also escorted bombers,
cut rail lines and attacked enemy airfields. In
one day flew three missions against the airfield at Udine, Italy. Participated in six campaigns - Rome-Arno, Southern France,
Germany, Air Combat-Balkans, North
Appennines and Po Valley. Received the
Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal
with three Oak Leaf Clusters
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Robert H. Powell
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April found him aboard the "Avant Pasteur" England-bound for the
Mighty 8th Air Force. Joining the 352nd
Fighter Group at Bodney, he flew some 83
combat missions in Jugs and Mustangs (the
Group switched to P-51s in April, 1944),
where he ran up an unofficial score of six
destroyed, two probables, and seven damaged
(later changed in official records to 4-6-7),
including destruction of the first HE-177.
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Walter F. Pratt
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He remained in the service and retired in
October 1967 as a Lt. Colonel after serving
over twenty-five years. During that period he
flew over 37 different types of military
aircraft, mostly fighters from the P-40
through the F-106 and is a member of the
MACH 2 Club (pilots who have flown twice
the speed of sound) and the Society of Air
Safety Investigators No. 165.
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Royce Whitman Preist
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WWII FIGHTER ACE!
Deacon Priest left home in 1938 before graduating from high school and joined the Army as an aviation mechanic, then was top graduate in Glider school when the program shut down. The Glider Training CO sent him to flight training where he was commissioned as a second Lieutenant at Craig Field in November, 1943. He achieved his wings on the same day he was notified he had passed the US Military Academy Entrance exam and offered an appointment to West Point. Priest refused and became a fighter pilot which was the reason he joined the Army in the first place.
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