Walter Gottlieb Benz Jr. (December 27, 1919 – March 21, 2010) was an American

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

in the 348th Fighter Group during World War II.

Early life

Benz was born on December 27, 1919, in St Louis, Missouri.

Military career

On 26 September 1941, he joined the

United States Army Reserves The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. History Origi ...

. After enlisting into the pilot training of the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

on the same year, he graduated and earned his pilot wings at

Ellington Field Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base is a joint installation shared by various active component and reserve component military units, as well as aircraft flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the aegi ...

in Texas, on April 29, 1942.

World War II

After the completing transition training for the

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

, Benz was assigned to the

342nd Fighter Squadron The 142d Airlift Squadron (142d AS) is a unit of the Delaware Air National Guard 166th Airlift Wing located at New Castle Air National Guard Base, Delaware. It is equipped with the C-130H Hercules. Overview The mission of the 142d Airlift Squa ...

of the 348th Fighter Group soon after the group's formation on September 30, 1942, at

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People and fictional characters *Mitchell (surname), including lists of both people and fictional characters *Mitchell (given name), lists of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Ca ...

, New York. The 348th Fighter Group, which was equipped with the P-47 Thunderbolts, was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater in June 1943. In late July 1943, the 348th FG arrived in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

via

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Engaging in aerial combat within days of arrival, Benz scored his first aerial victory on September 22, 1943, when he shot down a

Mitsubishi Ki-46 The Mitsubishi Ki-46 was a twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft that was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Its Army ''Shiki'' designation was Type 100 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft (); the Allied brevity code World War II Alli ...

'Dinah' reconnaissance aircraft that was conducting a late-morning reconnaissance over

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

. On 22 October and on November 15, he shot down a

Kawasaki Ki-61 The Kawasaki Ki-61 ''Hien'' (飛燕, "flying swallow") is a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft. Used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, it was designated the "Army Type 3 Fighter" (三式戦闘機). Allied intelligence initially be ...

'Tony' and Mitsubishi ABM3-32 'Hamp' respectively during escort missions for

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

and

B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

bombers. On 26 December, more than 100 aircraft of the V Fighter Command, among them 348th FG, were tasked in supporting the Allied landing at Cape Gloucester and protecting the Allied convoy at the beachhead. On that day, Benz shot down a

Mitsubishi G4M The Mitsubishi G4M is a twin-engine, land-based medium bomber formerly manufactured by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Air Service (IJNAS) of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to ...

'Betty' bomber east of Sakar Island, his fourth aerial victory, while other pilots downed over 61 enemy aircraft. On 26 July 1944, he was made commanding officer of the

and was promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on 7 October. During this time, the 348th FG began flying missions in support of the Philippines campaign. Stationed in

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

, the unit began conducting fighter sweeps in support of Allied forces' push towards north of the Philippines. On 11 December, Benz shot down a

Nakajima Ki-43 The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon"), formal Japanese designation is a single-engine land-based tactical Fighter aircraft, fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II. The Allied World War II Allie ...

'Oscar' over

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

, his fifth aerial victory and hence, earning the title of

. Four days later, he shot down a Mitsubishi A6M5-52 over

Semirara Island Semirara is an island in the Philippines located in the Caluya archipelago which is situated south of Mindoro Island. It is under the jurisdiction of the town of Caluya in the province of Antique. It is a major site of coal mining in the Philippi ...

, his sixth aerial victory. On 20 December, he scored his last aerial victories of the war, when he shot down two more enemy aircraft during a strafing attack on an airfield in

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ), it has a population of 1,408,454, as of the 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of ...

. In February 1945, the 348th FG transitioned from P-47s to the

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kin ...

s. In June 1945, the unit moved to airfield at

Ie Shima , previously romanized in English as Ie Shima, is an island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, lying a few kilometers off the Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa Island. The island measures in circumference and covers . As of December 2012 the island had ...

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, where they began flying long-range missions over the

Japanese Home Islands The is an archipelago of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine seas in the southwest along the Pacific coast of the Eurasian continent, and cons ...

. During World War II, Benz was credited with the destruction of eight enemy aircraft, while flying 280 combat missions. While serving with the 348th FG, he flew P-47s bearing the names "The Old Man" and "The Dirty Old Man".

USAF career

After the end of World War II, Benz was appointed as commander of the 348th Fighter Group in Okinawa and commanded it till 1946 when the unit was inactivated. Benz continued to serve in the newly created

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. In September 1952, during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, he was appointed as commander of the 8th Fighter-Bomber Group at

Suwon Air Base Suwon Air Base is a Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) base near Suwon city. Units The base is home to the ROKAF's 10th Fighter Wing (제10전투비행단), comprising: *101st Fighter Squadron flying KF-5E/KF-5F/F-5F *153rd Fighter Squadron f ...

in South Korea, flying combat missions in the

Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star is the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, two p ...

and

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

. Just two months after taking command of the 8th FBG, the unit became the first USAF unit in Korea to fly 50,000 combat sorties and first jet combat unit to attain such distinction. Benz retired from the Air Force at the rank of colonel, in 1970.

Later life

Benz died on March 21, 2010, at the age of 90. He is interred next to his wife at

Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of 2014, had over 144,000 interments. The cemetery was list ...

Awards and decorations

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

with bronze

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

* Distinguished Flying Cross with two bronze oak leaf clusters *

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

References

Notes

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benz Jr., Walter G., 1919 births 2010 deaths Military personnel from St. Louis Aviators from Missouri United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II American World War II flying aces Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Air Medal United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War American Korean War pilots United States Air Force colonels Burials at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery