Wenton Chan / Legends Wenton Chan was a Human male from the Core World of Corulag , where he gained flight experience by piloting T - 16 skyhoppers . During the Galactic Civil War , Chan volunteered to serve the Alliance to Restore the Republic , joining their starfighter corps and flying a T - 65 X - wing starfighter . By 0 BBY , he held the rank of lieutenant . Chan was assigned to Red Squadron as Red Eleven , and was stationed at Yavin Base on Yavin 4 . Once the location of the hidden base had been discovered by Imperial forces , Chan was part of the Rebel starfighter forces mobilized to attack the Death Star , the Empire ' s planet - destroying superweapon . During the subsequent battle , Chan was killed in combat , although the Alliance managed to secure victory by destroying the battlestation . Biography . A Human male born on the Core World of Corulag , Wenton Chan grew up in a wealthy , privileged family . He learned to fly by piloting T - 16 skyhoppers , but eventually left his family and homeworld due to their Imperial connections . Chan became a smuggler and gunrunner , before eventually joining the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War . He chose to serve in the Alliance Starfighter Corps due to his skill behind the controls of a starfighter , and was assigned to the Griffon Flight Wing . By 0 BBY , Chan had attained the rank of lieutenant , and had been transferred to Red Squadron stationed at the hidden headquarters of the Alliance , Yavin Base , on the moon Yavin 4 . Chan had the call sign Red Eleven , and led the unit ' s third flight . Following the destruction of the planet Alderaan , Yavin Base was discovered by the commanders of the Galactic Empire ' s new superweapon , the Death Star . Imperial forces , under the direction of Lord Darth Vader and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin , had planted a homing beacon on the freighter " Millennium Falcon " . The ship ' s crew and passengers — which included the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee partner Chewbacca , as well as the Jedi Knight Obi - Wan Kenobi and the farmboy Luke Skywalker — had infiltrated the battlestation in the Alderaan system . On board , they effected the rescue of Princess Leia Organa , Alderaan ' s former senator and a high - ranking member of the Rebel Alliance . They were allowed to flee the Death Star — carrying the plans of the new battlestation with them — so that the Empire could track them to the hidden Rebel base . General Jan Dodonna , commander of Yavin Base , analyzed the plans and found a weakness — a thermal exhaust port , located in one of the Death Star ' s surface trenches , would be vulnerable to a proton torpedo assault . A successful attack would trigger a chain reaction that would destroy the station . Following the homing beacon concealed on the " Millennium Falcon " , the Death Star entered the Yavin system . As the Death Star approached Yavin 4 , the starfighter squadrons at the base mobilized to meet the incoming threat . Under the command of Garven Dreis , Chan launched in his T - 65 X - wing starfighter alongside the other members of Red Squadron . During the battle , Chan was killed in combat ; however , the Alliance managed to secure victory when another member of Red Squadron , Luke Skywalker , completed a dangerous run down the target trench and released proton torpedoes into the thermal exhaust port . The Death Star was destroyed , saving the personnel at Yavin Base and ending the threat the battlestation posed to the galaxy . Personality and traits . Despite a privileged childhood , Wenton Chan rejected his family due to their connections to the Galactic Empire , opting for a life living on the fringe , and , eventually , as a Rebel pilot . A talented flyer , Chan was able to quickly transition from the T - 16 skyhopper to the T - 65 X - wing starfighter . Like nearly all Rebels , he volunteered for service with the Alliance , willingly risking his own life to defeat the Galactic Empire . Behind the scenes . Wenton Chan first appeared in 1977 ' s as an unnamed Rebel fighter pilot during the hangar launch sequence prior to the attack on the Death Star . Eighteen years later , Decipher , Inc . released the " Star Wars " Customizable Card Game ; one of the cards in the Premiere Limited set identified the pilot as Wenton Chan , a Corulag native . 1998 ' s " Star Wars Encyclopedia " established that he was a member of Red Squadron during the Battle of Yavin , while 2008 ' s " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " gave him the callsign of Red Eleven . In 2012 , " The Essential Guide to Warfare " included Chan in a roster of Red Squadron at the Battle of Yavin , and expanded on his background .