Alexander Vraciu
US Navy World War II fighter ace · United States · Lived 1918 to 2015 · aged 96
Alexander Vraciu is read about 51 times a day, in 8 languages.
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Something wrong?Alexander Vraciu was a United States Navy fighter ace, Navy Cross recipient, and Medal of Honor nominee during World War II. S. Navy's flying aces, with 19 enemy planes downed during flight and 21 destroyed on the ground.
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Vraciu at DePauw University
Captain E. W. Litch presenting Lieutenant Junior Grade Alexander Vraciu with the Distinguished Flying Cross on June 5, 1944
Lt. Alex Vraciu uses his hands to indicate his downing of six aircraft on June 19, 1944. All were Yokosuka D4Y "Judies".
Alex Vraciu's most famous Grumman Hellcat, an F6F-3, survived the war and now flies with The Fighter Collection in the UK.
It was restored using parts from multiple aircraft (taking on the serial number of an F6F-5K for convenience according to TFC) and painted in the markings it wore when serving with VF-6.
Alexander Vraciu being interviewed, Hayward, California, 1989
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About this person
Alexander Vraciu was a United States Navy fighter ace, Navy Cross recipient, and Medal of Honor nominee during World War II. At the end of the war, Vraciu ranked fourth among the U.S. Navy's flying aces, with 19 enemy planes downed during flight and 21 destroyed on the ground. After the war, he served as a test pilot and was instrumental in forming the post-war Naval and Marine Air Reserve program. From 1956 to 1958 Vraciu led his own fighter squadron, VF-51, for twenty-two months. He retired from the U.S. Navy with the rank of commander on December 31, 1963. Vraciu later moved to Danville, California, and worked for Wells Fargo.
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