James Howell Howard was born in Canton, China back in 1913. In 1927, the family moved back to the United States settling in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from John Burroughs School, before entering Pomona College in Claremont, California. After graduating with a Bachelor of arts degree in 1937, he enlisted in the United States Navy as a naval aviation cadet.
In 1941, he joined the Flying Tigers in Burma, flying 56 missions he is credited with shooting down 6 Japanese airplanes. In 1942, when the Flying Tigers was disbanded he was commissioned as a captain in the Army Air Force. The next year he was given command of the 356th Fighter Squadron as a major. In 1944, he flew his P-51 Mustang escorting B-17’s over Oschersleben, Germany. After the war, he was transferred to the U.S. Air Fore where he obtained the rank of brigadier general. He retired in 1966 and died in 1995, he was 81.
What you may not know about James is that he was the only fighter pilot in the European Theater of Operations in WWII to receive the Medal of Honor. He also holds the distinction of being an ace in two operational theaters during WWII.
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