25 Facts About Bud Mahurin

Colonel Walker Melville "Bud" Mahurin was a United States Air Force officer and aviator.

Bud Mahurin was the only United States Air Force pilot to shoot down enemy planes in both the European and Pacific Theaters and the Korean War.

Bud Mahurin was credited with shooting down 3.5 MiG-15s in Korea, giving him a total of 24.25 aircraft destroyed in aerial combat.

Bud Mahurin graduated from pilot training on April 29,1942.

Bud Mahurin was assigned to the 63d Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, and deployed to England with them in January 1943.

Bud Mahurin was caught in the B-24's prop wash and sucked under its wing, and when he tried to pull away, the tail and fuselage of his airplane was shredded by one of the B-24's propellers, forcing him to bail out.

Bud Mahurin had his best mission on November 26,1943, shooting down three Bf 110s, presumably shooting down another, and damaging a fourth to become the first American pilot in the European Theater of Operations to score 10 aerial victories.

Bud Mahurin scored two more victories in another aircraft, on November 29,1943.

Bud Mahurin eventually went on to score 19.75 confirmed victories in combat in Europe, with three more enemy planes probably destroyed, and one damaged, before being shot down himself.

Bud Mahurin was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 28,1945, and became commander of the 3rd Air Commando Group in September 1945.

Bud Mahurin was downed by defensive fire, this time from the ground, but was rescued from his life-raft in the ocean.

Bud Mahurin ended the war with 20.75 confirmed aerial victories and he had the unique distinction of being forced to bail out in both theaters.

At the start of the Korean War in 1950, Bud Mahurin was serving in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.

Bud Mahurin was credited with destroying 3.5 MiG-15s while TDY with 51st FIW, bringing his total to 24.25 in both World War II and Korea.

Bud Mahurin transferred to the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing on March 18,1952, to command its 4th Fighter-Interceptor Group at Kimpo AB.

Bud Mahurin flew a F-86E named "Honest John" while serving with both fighter wings in Korea.

Bud Mahurin spent 16 months in a North Korean prisoner of war camp.

Bud Mahurin was forced to endure sub-freezing conditions with minimal clothing, interrogations sometimes lasting all night, and being deprived of sleep and threatened with execution if he did not answer questions.

Bud Mahurin was discovered before he was able to complete the act and barely survived a tremendous loss of blood.

The interrogators finally gave up, to be replaced by a well-educated Chinese officer who spoke fluent English, brought Bud Mahurin books, arranged for better food, and generally improved his conditions.

Bud Mahurin reminded Mahurin that the allies did not know he was a prisoner of war, so he could be held until his death, never to see his wife and children again.

Bud Mahurin therefore resigned his commission in 1956 to accept a senior position with the aircraft industry.

Bud Mahurin died of "complications from a stroke" at his home in Newport Beach, California, on May 11,2010, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Bud Mahurin had two sons and a daughter from his first marriage.

Immediately thereafter Captain Bud Mahurin chased an enemy fighter far into Germany, where he destroyed it.