Lt. Col. James H. Howard MOH

 

 

Ok, this guy is one of my heroes. If you'll look at the picture below you should notice something interesting that'll explain why.  Obviously, he is a successful and skilled WWII fighter pilot.  I mean...12 Kills!  There are not a lot of fighter pilots with that many victories.

But...there are very few, if anyone else, WWII US fighter pilots who have shot down 6 enemy aircraft in the Pacific and 6 in Europe.  Yes, LTC Howard was an American Volunteer Group  (AVG) pilot. The AVG was also known as the "Flying Tigers".  The Flying Tigers were disbanded in July of 1942 and LTC Howard rejoined the Army Air Corps. Hence, the 6 Japanese flags on the side of his P-51.

 A couple of years later (January 1944), he's the commander of the 356th Fighter Squadron, a P-51 Squadron.  The mission for which he is awarded the Medal  of Honor is an escort mission with 50 P-51s assigned to protect 3 divisions of B-17s.  (I have no idea how many B-17's were in a division but I'd bet, at that time in the war, it was a lot!)

Luftwaffe fighters attack the bombers and the P-51 engage.  LTC Howard shoots down one German fighter, but loses sight of his group.  Climbing back to escort the bombers, he sees that they're being attacked by 30  plus German Fighters.  So...What does he do?

He attacks.  He shoots down 2, probably 2 more kills and damages 2 other enemy planes.  Not bad for a single aircraft.  He RTB's (returns to base) and on his post mission walk around his plane, only a single bullet hole was found.  Pretty good flying and fighting skills, I'd say.

 Citation to accompany the award of the Medal of Honor to Lt Col James Howard

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Oschersleben, Germany, on 11 January 1944. On that day Col. Howard was the leader of a group of P-51 aircraft providing support for a heavy bomber formation on a long-range mission deep in enemy territory. As Col. Howard's group met the bombers in the target area the bomber force was attacked by numerous enemy fighters. Col. Howard, with his group, and at once engaged the enemy and himself destroyed a German ME. 110. As a result of this attack Col. Howard lost contact with his group, and at once returned to the level of
the bomber formation. He then saw that the bombers were being heavily attacked by enemy
airplanes and that no other friendly fighters were at hand. While Col. Howard could have waited to attempt to assemble his group before engaging the enemy, he chose instead to attack single-handed a formation of more than 30 German airplanes. With utter disregard for his own safety he immediately pressed home determined attacks for some 30 minutes, during which time he destroyed 3 enemy airplanes and probably destroyed and damaged others. Toward the end of this engagement 3 of his  guns went out of action and his fuel supply was becoming dangerously low. Despite these handicaps and the almost insuperable odds against him, Col. Howard continued his aggressive action in an attempt to protect the bombers from the numerous fighters. His skill, courage, and intrepidity on this occasion set an example of heroism which will be an inspiration to the U.S.Armed Forces.

 He retired in 1965 as a Brigadier General and passed away in 1995.  He is buried in Arlington. 

 

 

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Howard 

http://354thpmfg.com/images/img/blog/thumb-4.jpg

https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/11-january-1944/