85 Tactical Airpower

85 Tactical Airpower. By: Raymond Waddy, Signed by: Werner Schroer, Bud Anderson, John Alison, Clyde East, Jack Broughton, Artist Ray Waddy Werner Schröer (12 February 1918 in Mülheim an der Ruhr – 10 February 1985 in Ottobrunn) was a German World War II fighter ace who served in the Luftwaffe from 1937, initially as a member of the ground staff, until the end of World War II in Europe on 8 May 1945, by which time he had reached the highest ranks of combat leadership. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.Schröer was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. For the fighter pilots, the grades of the Knight's Cross were also a quantifiable measure of their success and skill. Werner Schröer was the second most successful claimant of air victories after Hans-Joachim Marseille in the Mediterranean. Clarence Emil "Bud" Anderson (born January 13, 1922) is a retired officer in the United States Air Force and a "triple ace" in World War II. John Richardson "Johnny" Alison (November 21, 1912 – June 6, 2011) was a highly decorated American combat ace of World War II and veteran of the Korean War, and is often cited as the father of Air Force Special Operations. Clyde B. East As America's highest ranking reconnaissance ace, Clyde East's flying career spans World War II, Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Southeast Asia. Too young for the US Army Air Corps, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and, after mastering the Tiger Moth and Harvard, earned his wings and commission in 1942. He was soon ordered to England and began flying interdiction and harassment missions into France, Belgium, and Holland. East transferred to the USAAFs 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in 1944 where he flew Spitfires and later, the reconnaissance version of the famed P-51 (F-6C/D) Mustang . Jacksel (Jack) Markham Broughton (January 4, 1925 – October 24, 2014) was a career officer and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. He retired in the rank of colonel on August 31, 1968, with 43 separate awards and decorations, including four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars and the highest air force decoration, the presidentially-awarded Air Force Cross. Broughton avowed that his proudest accomplishment was being combat-qualified in every air force fighter from the P-47 to the F-106.He authored two personal memoirs of the Vietnam War that were highly critical of the direction of the air war there and the rules of engagement.