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Ace with 5.00 Victories

First Lieutenant Robert C Milliken

Robert C. Milliken joined the U.S. Army Air Force in June of 1942. After training he was assigned to fly P-38s for the 429th Fighter Squadron of the new 474th Fighter Group out of Warmwell England in late April of 1944. Second Lieutenant Milliken flew his first combat mission on April 30, 1944. During his participation in D-Day operations, and thereafter, he flew a great variety of missions claiming his first of several victories when he shot down a German FW-190 in an air battle fought between Chateaudin and LeMans. Out of ammunition, Robert Milliken closed in on a damaged German Focke-Wolf 190. He called to his buddies. Could anyone help? No one answered. They were in dogfights of their own. Milliken settled his P-38 on the German's left wing, their planes buzzing through the air.
He looked over at me and I looked over at him, and then he looked down at his controls Milliken said. With no more bullets, he couldn't shoot the German again, so he played his options: Tip up the 190's wing with his own to flip it over? Clip the German's tail with his propeller? Ram the nose of the P-38 into the 190's tail surface? No, all those would be foolish. If he crippled his plane, he'd be of no use to his buddies, and they'd have to nurse him back home. Milliken considered one more option: Open his right window and unload the rounds from his .45 into the plane. Also not a good idea. He veered to the right, leaving the German 190 smoking on its own course. Milliken had already destroyed two German fighter planes in that air battle. One would have to get away. Barely 22 years old, Milliken already had three victories - three German planes downed in dogfights. Two more would make him an Ace. After having completed a tour of 69 missions by November 11th, 1944 he volunteered for two more missions during the Battle of the Bulge, and in a noontime dogfight shot down a German Me-109, a fifth victory which made him an ace. He returned to the United States in July of 1945 and, after the end of the war, was relieved from active duty in December 1945. He was awarded a Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal (16 OLC) for his five victories and four damages against German forces.