16 Facts About Tex Hill

David Lee "Tex" Hill was an American fighter pilot and triple flying ace.

Tex Hill was born in Gwangju, Korea, the youngest of four children of Presbyterian missionaries.

Tex Hill was a founding member of the Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity in 1932.

Tex Hill sailed from San Francisco under a fake passport and arrived at Rangoon, Burma, on September 15,1941.

Tex Hill learned to fly the P-40 in the AVG training program in Burma, and did well as a fighter pilot in the 2nd Pursuit Squadron as a flight leader and then squadron commander, becoming one of the top aces under the tutelage of Claire Chennault.

Tex Hill made his first kills on January 3,1942, when he downed two Nates over the Japanese airfield at Tak, Thailand.

Tex Hill activated the 75th Fighter Squadron and later commanded the 23rd Fighter Group as a colonel.

In 1944, Tex Hill returned to the US and took command of the 412th Fighter Group, America's first operational jet fighter group flying the P-59 Airacomet and the P-80 Shooting Star.

Tex Hill separated from active service in the USAAF in 1945.

Postwar, in July 1946, Hill was asked by Texas Governor Coke Stevenson to activate and accept command of the 136th Fighter Group of the Texas Air National Guard.

Tex Hill activated Guard units throughout the Gulf Coast and became the youngest brigadier general in the history of the Air National Guard.

Tex Hill ended his military career in the Air Force Reserve, retiring as a brigadier general.

In 1999, Hill was inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame located at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas.

Tex Hill was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2006.

Tex Hill was buried at nearby Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

On this date, Major Tex Hill attacked, without hesitation, superior numbers of enemy aircraft that were rising to intercept United States B-24 bombers.