At 103, this P-51 Mustang pilot could soon become WWII’s last ace
By Jon Guttman
Friday, Dec 27, 2024
In the decades following World War II, numerous fighter pilots have emerged from the record books to belatedly receive an honor long denied them: credit for downing five enemy aircraft and recognition as an ace. Many of them were “discovered” and their records corrected by the American Fighter Aces Association.
Arguably, the last such man is James McCubbin, a North American P-51D Mustang pilot of the Eighth Air Force who is currently under consideration — at 103 years old.
John Galvin became an ace pilot during WWII, but his most prized award may have been his Submarine Combat Patrol Insignia.
By Jon Guttman
McCubbin was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 5, 1921. Upon graduating from high school in Kansas City, he studied engineering at the University of Missouri.
After two years of college, however, he left school to join the United States Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet, taking most of his training in Texas. Once training was behind him, he was assigned to the 385th Squadron of the 364th Fighter Group, based at Honington, England.
https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/military-history/2024/12/28/at-103-this-p-51-mustang-pilot-could-soon-become-wwiis-last-ace/
