Bud Mahurin Colonel Walker Melville Mahurin ( December 5 , 1918 – May 11 , 2010 ) — known as Bud Mahurin — was a United States Air Force ( USAF ) officer and aviator . During World War II , while serving in the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) , he was a noted flying ace . Mahurin was the first American pilot to become a double ace in the European Theater . He was the only United States Air Force pilot to shoot down enemy planes in both the European and Pacific Theaters and the Korean War . During World War II he was credited with 20 . 75 aerial victories , making him the sixth - highest American P - 47 ace . He was credited with shooting down 3 . 5 MiG - 15 s in Korea , giving him a total of 24 . 25 aircraft destroyed in aerial combat . Biography . Born in Ann Arbor , Michigan , Mahurin joined the U . S . Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet on September 29 , 1941 after several years as an engineering student at Purdue University . Graduating from pilot training on April 29 , 1942 , he was assigned to the 63d Fighter Squadron , 56th Fighter Group and deployed to England with them in January 1943 . Based at Halesworth , England , then Captain Mahurin became a flight leader in the 63rd FS and began flying missions in May . On August 17 , 1943 , he scored his first aerial victories by shooting down a pair of German Focke - Wulf Fw 190s while escorting B - 17 bomber s as part of the Schweinfurt - Regensburg mission . One of these fighters was flown by " Major " Wilhelm " Wutz " Galland , " Gruppenkommandeur " of II / JG 26 , and an ace with some 55 claims to his credit . He became an ace on October 4 after shooting down three Messerschmitt Bf110s . On November 26 , Mahurin shot down three more Bf - 110s to become the first American pilot in the European Theater of Operations to score 10 aerial victories . His primary aircraft , P - 47D - 5 - RE 42 - 8487 , bore the squadron codes UN : M and was nicknamed " The Spirit of Atlantic City , N . J . " Mahurin was promoted to major on March 21 , 1944 , and on March 27 , his P - 47 was heavily damaged by a German Dornier Do - 217 bomber he helped shoot down , forcing him to bail out . He was picked up by French Resistance forces . On the night of 3 – 4 May 1944 , an RAF Westland Lysander attempted to retrieve Mahurin from France and fly him back to Britain . Before he could be picked up , the aircraft was shot down , and its pilot killed . The event was watched by Mahurin . The next attempt , again by a Lysander , on the night of 6 – 7 May 1944 , was successful . Because of his knowledge of the French Resistance , he was grounded and sent home . In October , he again shipped overseas as commander of the 3rd Fighter Squadron , the combat element of the composite 3rd Air Commando Group in the Philippines . While based at Mangaldan , Luzon , in January 1945 he was credited with destroying a Japanese bomber . Mahurin was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 28 , 1945 , and became commander of the 3rd Air Commando Group in September 1945 . Korean War . At the start of the Korean War in 1950 , Mahurin was serving in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force . In July 1951 he became commander of the 1st Fighter Group , training in the North American F - 86 Sabre . In December he began a 90 - day tour of temporary duty with the 51st Fighter - Interceptor Wing , serving as special assistant to the wing commander , Col . Francis S . Gabreski . Mahurin transferred to the 4th Fighter - Interceptor Wing on March 18 , 1952 , to command its 4th Fighter - Interceptor Group . On May 13 , 1952 , while strafing ground targets , his F - 86 was shot down by North Korean ground fire ; after crash - landing , breaking his arm , he was captured by enemy forces . Mahurin spent 16 months in a North Korean prisoner of war ( POW ) camp . He endured torture that included intense questioning , solitary confinement , sleep deprivation , threats of execution , and brainwashing . While being questioned about claims of the United States ' use of biological warfare , he admitted to dropping canisters of insects over North Korea . He was released in September 1953 and retracted his confession . His experience in brainwashing techniques provided the U . S . with invaluable material to develop survival training courses . Nevertheless , he and other returning POWs were condemned by Senator Richard Russell , Jr . and others because of their confessions . He was subsequently promoted to full colonel . Retirement . In 1956 , Mahurin resigned from the U . S . Air Force to accept a senior position in the aviation industry . While the Air Force attributed this to his own choice , stating he was low on the promotion list to permanent colonel and unlikely to make general , a pilot under his command in Korea , Robert Smith , asserts that the Air Force dishonored itself by pressuring Mahurin to resign from the service as a result of political infighting over the confessions , four years short of becoming eligible for retirement benefits . Awards and decorations . Command pilot