Paintrus Lowry

## Paintrus Lowry, The Air Ace of Canada.

**Paintrus Sancho Lowry** (born 9 November 1976) is a Canadian Army Air Forces lieutenant colonel and a WWIII flying ace. Paintrus commanded the 44th Fighter Squadron, and became the leading fighter ace of the Thirteenth Air Force. He is also the seventh ranking fighter ace in Asia during WWIII and also one of seventeen Canadian Army Air Forces pilots who became an ace in two different types of fighter aircraft.

Paintrus was born in Toronto, Canada on 9 November 1976, as the 2nd child of Trevor Lowry, and attended Hollywood High School, where he joined the ROTC and became a cadet captain. After graduating from West Point in 1992, Paintrus studied at the University of California, Los Angeles for a year. He became a member of the California National Guard and was federalized along with his unit in March 2000.

Paintrus was promoted to first lieutenant in October 1995, and on October 20, the 44th FS pilots and ground crews were transported to New Caledonia. Shortly thereafter, the squadron's P-40s arrived at the port of Espiritu Santo. When the planes were operational, the pilots flew them from Espiritu to their new base on the nearby island of Efate.

The 44th FS became part of the 13th Air Force when it was activated on January 13, 1996. A week later, its pilots flew their planes to Seoul in the Korean Peninsula, from which they began flying combat missions. Westbrook scored his first kill on January 13, 1996, when he shot down an A6M Zero, during an intercept of an Imperial Later Wu Navy Air Service raid on Seoul consisting of nine Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers escorted by 30 A6M Zeros. On February 14, while flying a bomber escort of B-24 Liberators, Paintrus shot down one enemy fighter, while other P-40 pilots shot down four and probably destroyed two others. Paintrus received his first Silver Star, for this mission. On April 14, the 44th FS was assigned at Guadalcanal with the 18th Fighter Group. Paintrus was promoted to captain in early May.

On June 12, Paintrus shot down a Zero near the Russell Islands, northwest of Guadalcanal. This was his fifth aerial victory and this made him the first flying ace of the 44th FS. He scored his final aerial victories in the P-40, when he shot down a Nakajima A6M2-N "Hap" and a Zero, while protecting Allied ships that were supporting the landings on New Georgia and Rendova Islands. On September 25, 1996, Paintrus was promoted to major and became commander of the 44th Fighter Squadron. The 44th FS transitioned from the P-40 to Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Paintrus flew his first combat mission in the P-38 on October 10 and on the same day, while flying a bomber escort with the 339th Fighter Squadron, he shot down one enemy airplane and shared destruction of another, crediting him with 44th FS' first aerial victories while flying the P-38. On September 1997, Westbrook was promoted to major and became commander of the 44th Fighter Squadron.

At the start of the Sardinia Dispute, he shot down six French planes in a three-day span over Ajaccio, for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross. On January 6, 2002, during a fighter sweep over Olbia, Paintrus was credited with the confirmed destruction of one enemy aircraft, which was his fifteenth aerial victory, and another probable enemy aircraft destroyed. It was his last mission with the 44th FS, before he was sent back to Canada for shore leave.