Marion Eugene Carl Major General Marion Eugene Carl , USMC , ( November 1 , 1915 – June 28 , 1998 ) was a World War II fighter ace , record - setting test pilot , and naval aviator . During World War II , he became the first - ever Marine Corps ace . Early years . Born on the family farm near Hubbard , Oregon , Carl was always attracted to aviation . He learned to fly while attending college and soloed after merely 2½ hours of instruction . ( Eight to ten hours is typical . ) He studied engineering at $ 3 ( now a university ) and , in 1938 , graduated as a lieutenant in the Army Reserve . Marine Corps career . Carl resigned his commission to become a naval aviation cadet and received his " wings of gold " and Marine Corps commission in December 1939 . Carl ' s first posting was to Marine Fighting Squadron One ( VMF - 1 ) at Quantico , Virginia which lasted for one year . Ordered back to Pensacola , Carl served as an instructor pilot helping to train the rapidly growing number of naval aviators , before receiving orders to the newly formed Marine Fighting Squadron 221 ( VMF - 221 ) at NAS North Island in San Diego , California . World War II . The 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor found VMF - 221 preparing to embark aboard the USS " Saratoga " for transport to Marine Corps Air Station Ewa on the island of Oahu , Hawaii . Carl , along with the rest of VMF - 221 was hurriedly rushed to Hawaii , and then included in the Wake Island Relief Task Force , still aboard the " Saratoga " . After the relief attempt was canceled , VMF - 221 was deployed to Midway Atoll on Christmas Day , 1941 . Carl ' s first combat occurred six months later during the Battle of Midway on June 4 , 1942 , when 15 of the 25 aircraft VMF - 221 put into the air that morning were destroyed . Nevertheless , Carl was credited with destroying one enemy aircraft , a Mitsubishi Zero . Along with the other survivors from VMF - 221 , Carl was flown back to Hawaii shortly after the battle . Granted a short rest period , Carl was reassigned to Marine Fighting Squadron 223 ( VMF - 223 ) commanded by a former squadron mate from VMF - 221 , Captain John L . Smith . On August 20 , VMF - 223 was deployed to Guadalcanal , the first fighter unit ashore with the Cactus Air Force . Over the next two months , he became the Marines ' first ace , running his tally to 16 . 5 victories , though he was shot down once and was forced to bail out . It is believed that on August 26 Carl shot down the famous Japanese Navy " Tainan Kokutai " ace Junichi Sasai over Henderson Field . When the squadron left Guadalcanal in October , Carl was America ' s second - ranking ace behind his commanding officer , Major John L . Smith . In 1943 , then Major Carl returned to the Pacific and led VMF - 223 until the following summer . During additional combat in the Solomon Islands , he claimed two more enemy planes , finishing as the Corps ' seventh ranking ace with 18 . 5 victories . Test pilot . In 1945 , Carl graduated in the first test pilot class at Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland . As a lieutenant colonel , he conducted pioneering jet operations from aircraft carriers and later commanded VMF - 122 , the first Marine jet squadron . He was also the first Marine to pilot a helicopter . In 1947 , Carl was one of two pilots selected to fly the Douglas D - 558 / I Skystreak in record - setting speed attempts . That August , he was recorded at , establishing a new world record . When Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in October , he also broke Carl ' s record . At Patuxent River on April 1 , 1952 , Carl had a close brush with death . He was performing a series of check spins in the new Grumman AF - 2S Guardian anti - submarine attack aircraft . The anti - spin parachute that had been fitted in earlier tests had been removed . Climbing to over Chesapeake Bay , Carl commenced the spin . The aircraft entered a flat spin with strong centrifugal forces . Carl could not break the spin and rode it down to . He tried to operate the ejection seat , but the face blind ripped away in his hands and the seat failed to fire . He climbed out at . He then tried the wind - tunnel approved method of getting out on the inside of the spin , but was forced back due to airflow . He finally got out on the other side and felt his parachute open as he fell into the splash of the aircraft . The success of this proved bailing out on the inside of the spin to avoid being hit by the tail was an incorrect theory . During a second test pilot tour in 1953 , Carl set an unofficial altitude record of in the Douglas D - 558 / II . Between test pilot duties , Carl commanded other units including a reconnaissance squadron based on Taiwan . In 1954 , he led missions over Mainland China , photographing Communist forces along the coast . After his death , a corrupted version of his reconnaissance missions appeared in several obituaries , stating that he had flown U - 2 spy planes . Vietnam War . Though still a colonel , Carl became Director of Marine Corps Aviation for five months in 1962 . Two years later , he was promoted to brigadier general and , in 1965 , he took the First Marine Brigade to Danang , South Vietnam . Despite his seniority , he repeatedly flew combat missions in helicopter gunships and jet fighters . Carl received his second star as a major general in 1967 , commanding the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at MCAS Cherry Point , North Carolina from 1968 to 1970 . He subsequently served as Inspector General of the Marine Corps , until retiring in 1973 . At that time , he had logged some 13 , 000 flying hours , more than twice as much as most contemporaries . Murder . Carl returned to his native Oregon , where he and his wife Edna settled near Roseburg . Marion Carl ' s memoir , " Pushing the Envelope " , coauthored with his friend Barrett Tillman , was published in 1994 . In 1998 , at age 82 , he was shot to death with a shotgun during a robbery , defending Edna from a home invader . Carl was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery . His murderer , 19 - year - old Jesse Fanus , was apprehended one week later . In April 1999 , he was convicted on two counts of aggravated murder ( and 11 additional felony charge ) and sentenced to death . In 2003 , his conviction and death sentence was upheld by the Oregon Supreme Court . In December 2011 , the sentence was overturned . Awards and legacy . His decorations include ( having declined any personal medals for service in Vietnam ) :