Duane Beeson Duane Willard Beeson ( 1921 – 1947 ) was a World War II fighter pilot and flying ace . He scored 22 . 08 victories , including 17 . 3 air - to - air kills , 12 of which were scored in the P - 47C / D Thunderbolt , and 5 . 3 of which were scored in the P - 51 - B Mustang . Beeson was one of ten United States Army Air Forces pilots who became an ace in two different types of fighter aircraft . Early life and education . Beeson was born in Boise , Idaho . At Boise High School he and joined the Junior Reserve Officers ' Training Corps program as platoon bugler . Although slight in stature in high school he was a member of a boxing club and played high school football . By the spring of 1939 Beeson planned to study law at the University of California . Military career . Beeson planned to join the Army Air Corps as a pilot , but as he had not completed the required two years of college he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in Canada , which had no such entry qualifications . Beeson joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on June 23 , 1941 in Vancouver and trained at Prince Albert and Yorkton , Saskatchewan . By February 26 , 1942 , Beeson had 201 hours of flight time and had successfully completed the training curriculum with a rating of " A good average pilot and is slightly overconfident . No outstanding faults . " Beeson was posted to Bournemouth , England and started conversion to the Hawker Hurricane . On September 5 , 1942 Beeson was posted to No . 71 Squadron at Debden , Essex . At the time the United States Army Air Forces were arriving in England for operations over Europe . The RAF Eagle Squadrons were being absorbed into the Eighth Air Force , and Beeson among those who resigned their RCAF commissions and transferred to the USAAF . The newly formed 4th Fighter Group continued to fly its RAF - issued Supermarine Spitfire s until it received the P - 47 Thunderbolt s in early 1943 . Beeson flew his first combat mission with his new unit , the 334th Fighter Squadron . In November , Beeson flew a test flight to fire his guns and flew unauthorized over the French coast , attacking German road transport and damaging his aircraft . In January 1943 , Beeson was training on the Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt . On May 8 , 1943 , Beeson engaged a group of German fighters and shot down a Bf 109 . On June 26 , during an escort mission over Dieppe he spotted two Messerschmitt 109s , one with a P - 47 on his tail . Beeson shot down one Bf 109 into the sea , using just 400 rounds of ammunition . A month later Beeson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of 37 combat missions and two victories . On July 2 , the 4th Fighter Group became the first fighter group to penetrate German airspace . Over the Netherlands , the group engaged a flight of Bf 109s , attacking a formation of B - 17s . Beeson and his wingman dove from 21 , 000 feet into the enemy formation and Beeson shot down another Bf 109 . In September , after 65 combat missions , he was awarded the Silver Star . On October 8 , 1943 Beeson shot down two more Bf 109s over the Netherlands . The commanding officer , Lieutenant Colonel Donald Blakeslee , appointed Beeson the group ' s gunnery officer . On January 29 , 1944 , Beeson shot down a Bf 109 and a Focke - Wulf Fw 190 , earning him the Distinguished Flying Cross . A day later Beeson claimed his tenth enemy aircraft . By February 1944 , the Eighth Air Force launched a series of large - scale raids to prompt the Luftwaffe into a battle of attrition and create air superiority over Europe . Operation Pointblank was aimed at the destruction of the Luftwaffe through air combat , the strafing of German airfields , and the bombing of aircraft factories . The big raids were dubbed " Big Week . " The 4th FG P - 47s were equipped with two drop tanks that doubled their combat range . Blakeslee was able to get top priority for the new P - 51 Mustangs , promising " I ' ll have them operational in 24 hours . " When the group flew its first missions on February 25 , the pilots had less than one hour and ten minutes ' flight time in the new fighter . During the week , Beeson was awarded an oak leaf cluster to his Distinguished Flying Cross and promoted to captain . With 80 combat missions completed he was made commanding officer of B Flight at the age of 22 . On February 28 , Beeson got his new P - 51B . He and crew chief Willard Wahl named the aircraft simply " Bee . " In his first mission across the English Channel he strafed a Junkers Ju 88 on the ground . On March 23 , Beeson downed two more Bf 109s , making him the Army Air Forces ' most successful ace . It was Beeson ' s 93rd combat mission and he had 17 claims . He got two more kills , but on April 5 he was brought down by German fire from the ground and captured . In a prisoner - of - war camp Beeson passed the time boxing , reading , and studying . The camp was liberated by Soviet forces on April 29 , 1945 . It took Beeson nearly a month to make it back to Debden . While a prisoner of war , Beeson had been promoted to major and had received the Distinguished Service Cross , the Silver Star , the Distinguished Flying Cross with five oak leaf clusters , and the Air Medal , most of which were presented to his parents at Gowen Field . He returned to Boise in June 1945 and made every effort to get reassigned to the Pacific theatre , but the Pacific War soon ended . Beeson was reassigned to Sarasota , Florida , where he met his future wife , Tracy Waters . They married in Baltimore in January 1946 . Soon afterward Beeson became violently ill . Doctors diagnosed a brain tumor and Beeson was flown to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington , D . C . for an operation . He died before the operation could be performed . He was just 26 years old . In November 1993 , the Duane W . Beeson Terminal Building was named in his honor .