Fred J . Christensen Fred Joseph Christensen Jr . ( 1921 – 2006 ) was a fighter pilot and ace with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II . A member of the 56th Fighter Group in England , Christensen scored 21 . 5 aerial victories . He later served 24 years as a command officer with both the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve , retiring as a colonel . Biography . Pre - war . Christensen was born of Norwegian immigrant parents Frederik and Ruth Christensen in Watertown , Massachusetts , on October 17 , 1921 . His father worked as a machinist for Harvard University . Prior to World War II , he attended Boston University School of Music and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . World War II . In 1942 , Christensen joined the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet and was commissioned in December 1942 . After pursuit training , 2nd Lt . Christensen went to the Eighth Air Force in England in July 1943 . Completing an operational training unit course at RAF Atcham to familiarize himself with the P - 47 Thunderbolt fighter , he joined the 56th Fighter Group , based at RAF Halesworth , as a replacement pilot on August 26 , 1943 . Christensen was assigned to the 62d Fighter Squadron . He was credited with his first German aircraft shot down on November 26 , 1943 , a Messerschmitt Bf 110 near Papenburg , Germany . He was recognized as an ace on February 11 , 1944 , with the crediting of his fifth kill , a Bf 109 . He continued to regularly shoot down German aircraft , scoring two kills on the first day of Big Week , another on a long - range bomber escort to Berlin on March 6 , and four more in consecutive missions of March 15 and 16 . Promoted to first lieutenant in February and captain in April , Christensen shot down his 16th aircraft on July 5 , and also that day incurred the first battle damage of his tour . On July 7 , leading the 62nd FS , Christensen was returning from a bomber escort mission and overflew Gardelegen Airfield , assessing it as a possible strafing target . Christensen noted numerous parked aircraft dispersed on the field , but then observed a flight of Junkers Ju 52 transports in trail at very low altitude , approaching to land . Christensen dove on the landing pattern from and shot down the next - to - last transport with hits on the left side . He quickly overtook and fired at a second target , which burned and crashed . A third transport attempted to evade to the left , but he downed it with a deflection burst , setting its fuel tanks on fire . The German pilot attempted to land , but crashed short of the field . As Christensen maneuvered for a fourth interception , his engine quit from fuel starvation . Christensen switched tanks , air - started his engine , and barely off the ground , fixed another Ju 52 in his sights . He scored several hits , and in its attempt to evade , the transport flew into the ground . Christensen attacked a fifth airplane , observing strikes on its fuselage and wing root , and shot it down before it could land . He then destroyed a sixth Ju 52 to become an " ace in a day " in an engagement that had lasted less than two minutes . In all , 10 of the 12 transports were shot down by the 62nd FS . Christensen flew 107 combat sorties with the 56th Fighter Group and used five different aircraft to record his victories , including two assigned as his personal aircraft : Christensen ' s 21 . 5 officially credited kills rank him 12th among all Army Air Forces aces , 7th among aces of the Eighth Air Force , and 5th among P - 47 aces . Sinbad . While in England , Christensen adopted a stray black cat and named it Sinbad . He is reputed to have taken Sinbad with him on missions , carrying him in the cockpit of his P - 47 as both a good luck charm and inspiration to his fellow pilots , then bringing the cat to the United States as a pet in September 1944 after the end of his tour . A family anecdote held that a war correspondent covering the 56th FG tried to photograph the cat , which kept jumping all over packed parachute s . All of the pilots using the gear returned safely , contributing to his legend . Post - war . Christensen became a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard in 1947 and served as a full - time ANG pilot until 1961 . He was base commander of the ANG base at Logan International Airport between 1948 and 1961 , then joined the Air Force Reserve at Hanscom Air Force Base , Massachusetts . Christensen retired from military duty in 1970 with the rank of colonel . Christensen resided in Wayland , Massachusetts , was a jazz musician on both the piano and clarinet , and was a member of the American Fighter Aces Association , the Massachusetts Aviation Historical Society , and the Order of Daedalians in addition to several veterans groups . He died of complications from diabetes on April 4 , 2006 , at Northborough , Massachusetts . Awards and decorations . Command pilot American Defense Service Medal European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal National Defense Service Medal Armed Forces Reserve Medal