Rip Diz Laird

[cardboard_killer]

Famed World War II fighter pilot Dean ‘Diz’ Laird has died at 101

 

Dean “Diz” Laird, the only known Navy ace to shoot down both German and Japanese planes during World War II, has died, his daughter told CNN on Monday. He was 101.

 

Andrea Laird said her father died by her side in Walnut Creek, California, on August 10.

 

In June, according to his daughter, Laird took his final flight with the help of Dream Flights, a Nevada company that is “dedicated to honoring military veterans and seniors with the adventure of a lifetime,” according to the company website.

 

He was joined by fellow fighter pilot Clarence “Bud” Anderson, who is set to turn 101 in January.

 

“He and Bud got together, and we also had a bottle of champagne there for them. For them to each toast after their flights,” Andrea Laird told CNN.

 

His career began in the European theater, according to a biography on the USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum. Flying a Grumman Wildcat, he shot down two German planes – a bomber and a seaplane – during an operation off Norway in 1943. He switched to the Pacific in 1944 and shot down several Japanese aircraft, according to the museum.

 

After World War II, Laird flew in the Korean War and the Vietnam War, in which he made a total of 32 trans-Pacific flights, his daughter said.

Edited August 30, 2022 by cardboard_killer

[BOO]

2 hours ago, cardboard_killer said:

Dream Flights, a Nevada company that is “dedicated to honoring military veterans and seniors with the adventure of a lifetime,” 

 

I suspect many would have already had enough adventure to last a lifetime but a noble venture non the less.

 

Clear Skies Mr Laird.