Last surviving US WWII 'ace' pilot dies at 103: Who is Donald McPherson, who downed Japanese aircraft during the war?

Donald McPherson , a World War II veteran from Nebraska believed to be the last surviving American “ace” pilot, has died at the age of 103.

McPherson, who served as a Navy fighter pilot aboard the USS Essex in the Pacific theater, earned the Congressional Gold Medal and three Distinguished Flying Crosses after downing Japanese aircraft during the war. The American Fighter Aces Association and the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum listed him as the conflict’s last living US ace.

McPherson, who flew F6F Hellcat fighters, downed five Japanese aircraft — the threshold to earn the title of an “ace” pilot, according to AP.

But his family says McPherson wanted to be remembered less for his wartime exploits and more for his faith, family and service to his community. “His first thing would be that he’s a man of faith,” his daughter Beth Delabar told the Beatrice Daily Sun, which first reported his death on August 14.

Born in 1921, McPherson enlisted in the Navy in 1942 at 18. He flew F6F Hellcat fighters with Squadron VF–83, recalling missions where he narrowly escaped enemy fire. “Maybe God is not done with me,” he once told his daughter, Donna Mulder, after returning from combat with a bullet hole a foot behind his cockpit seat.

After the war, McPherson returned to Adams, Nebraska, where he and his wife Thelma helped start youth baseball and softball leagues, served in local churches and veterans’ groups, and remained deeply rooted in community life. The town later named its ballfield McPherson Field in honor of the couple.

He was honored at the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum’s Victory at Sea event in Minnesota last weekend.