First Lieutenant Douglas P. Pedersen hailed from Long Beach, California.

He was a co-pilot on a B-24 Liberator. On one of his missions they had a serious accident and his crew was disbanded. At this point Doug' applied for and received a transfer to become a fighter pilot.

He was assigned to the 4th Fighter Group, 336th Squadron in November 1944, flying P-51 Mustangs. He claimed nine enemy aircraft destroyed - eight in one day, 16 april 1945 - while strafing Praha/Kbely Aerodrome. This was a banner day for the 4th Fighter Group with claims of 105 destroyed. The Group lost eight pilots and their planes; two were killed and six became POWs (all brought down by flak).

This seemingly banner day was not shared equally by the Group's three squadrons involved. Becky Squadron, in which Pederson was flying, had 22 P-51s in the fray and destroyed 28 enemy aircraft. However, they lost seven P-51s, and they also lost the seven seasoned pilots flying them. Almost one-third of the squadron was either killed or became POWs.

Lt. Pedersen was flying Number 3 to the leader, Colonel Woods. On the first pass over the airfield Col. Woods, his Number 2, and his Number 4 were shot down, and shortly thereafter four others were also lost.

After discharge Pedersen was the only B-24 pilot to become an "Ace".



Awards: DFC (OLC), AM (5OLC), WWII Victory, EAME (2 x Battle Stars).