In 1956, a B-52 Stratofortress bomber crashed, making it the first one to be taken out by the enemy. Unfortunately, it took a legendary WWII fighter pilot down with it.

Incredible Fighter Pilot

Fighter pilot Patrick Fleming was a naval aviator during World War II. In December 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, Fleming was on the USS Cincinnati on its way to the British West Indies.

Their mission was to keep tabs on the French Navy and keep an eye out for Nazi blockade runners. When Flemming's time on the ship was up, he headed to Pensacola, Florida, for flight school.

After flight school, he was ready to take on the Japanese. In 1944, he boarded the USS Ticonderoga and fought to take back the Philippines. His first kill was a Japanese Zero.

He flew a Grumman F6F Hellcat, attacking an enemy vessel near the Philippines. The next mission was to stop bombers from attacking an American task force. On that mission, he had two kills-"Frances" twin-engine Yokosuka P1Y bombers.

Becoming An Ace

During sweeps over Luzon, he and two groups of Hellcats came upon 20 Japanese Zeros and Nakajima Ki-13 Oscars. The squadron was able to take out 10 of the planes, with Fleming taking down two and achieving ace.

Japanese reinforcements came, and the outnumbered Hellcats began fighting them off. Fleming claimed another 2 kills out of the nine downed planes.

In 1945, Fleming and 10 other fighters found four fighters, which the squadron took out. Fleming gained another hit. Their mission was to hit the Japanese aerial defenses, and more fighters flew up to meet them. Fleming took out another two.

In February 1945, Fleming and his squadron began an assault on Tokyo. Over two days, the pilots took out 65 enemy planes. Fleming racked up nine additional kills.

Test Pilot

Over six missions, Fleming reached 19 kills. At the end of the war, Fleming was set to become a test pilot training at Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Something Fleming wanted to do, just not with the Navy.

He left the Navy and joined the Air Force, training in Ohio at Wright Field. He broke the sound barrier in an X-1 and began testing a long-distance bomber.

He had the honor of being the first to test a B-52 Stratofortress. However, the plane crashed. Fleming was able to bail, but his parachute malfunctioned.