“Duke” Hedman was the First American Aerial Ace of World War II
“He is a first rate combat pilot and the reckless bravery of his attacks … are something you can well be proud of.”
When one thinks of America’s World War II air aces—those who have destroyed five or more enemy aircraft in aerial combat—chances are the following names come to mind:
- U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) Maj. Richard Ira “Dick” Bong and Maj. Thomas B. “Mickey” McGuire, America’s top two aces of all time (forty and thirty-eight air-to-air kills respectively);
- USAAF Col. Francis “Gabby” Gabreski and Lt. Col. Robert S. “Bob” Johnson, America’s two aces of the European Theatre (twenty-eight and twenty-seven victories respectively);
- Cmdr. Dave McCampbell, the U.S. Navy’s all-time leading ace (thirty-four kills) as well as America’s single-day kill tally record holder (nine shootdowns on October 24, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf);
- Col. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington and Maj. Joe Foss, the top two U.S. Marine Corps aces of all-time (twenty-eight and twenty-six victories respectively).
But the chances are that relatively few have heard of Robert. B. “Duke” Hedman. Which is a crying shame, as he was actually the first American air ace of WWII, as well as a member of the legendary American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as the Flying Tigers. The National Interest now sheds light on Hedman’s story.
Duke Hedman’s Early Life?
Sadly, there seems to be a dearth of detailed information about Duke Hedman’s premilitary life. Given the paucity of such information, perhaps it’s little surprise that Hedman isn’t a household name in the fighter ace community like the gentlemen named above.
Thanks to the Flying Tiger Line Historical Society, we can glean that he was born somewhere in South Dakota in 1916 and later earned his pilot’s wings via the Hancock College of Aeronautics in Santa Maria, California.
The Making of an Ace: Hedman’s WWII Career
At some point, Hedman ended up with the 1st AVG, serving as flight leader for the 3rd Squadron, nicknamed the “Hell’s Angels.” Like his fellow Flying Tigers, he flew the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk with its iconic shark mouth nose art. This would set the stage for his becoming an ace, a feat all the more remarkable because he was an ace-in-a-day, as he shot down five Imperial Japanese bombers in less than fifteen minutes over Rangoon, Burma, on Christmas Day 1941. He daringly flew his fighter smackdab into the middle of the bomber formation, whereupon the Japanese fighter pilots performing escort duties were evidently hesitant to fire at the hotshot American fighter jock due to the risk of friendly fire.
Hedman’s exploits earned praise from his commanding officer, Brig. Gen. (later maj. gen.) Claire Lee Chennault, in a letter to the ace’s father, a banker in rural South Dakota:
“He is a first rate combat pilot and the reckless bravery of his attacks, both on strafing and bombing missions, and in aerial combat with the Japanese, are something you can well be proud of.”
Before the AVG was disbanded, Hedman managed to score one more aerial victory, bringing his final score to six. After the disbanding, he continued to contribute to the war effort against Imperial Japan via the China National Aviation Corporation, flying missions “over the ‘Hump’” of the Himalayas.
Hedman’s Life After WWII
As is the case with Hedman’s prewar life, there are also scant details of his postwar life. The one nugget of information that we were able to glean emanates from the Flying Tigers U.S. page on Facebook. Therein, we see a post from a Jackie Hedman Culbreath, who states that her father and Duke were first cousins and that after the war “he helped start the Flying Tiger Line and piloted cargo planes”; another poster on the discussion thread, Erick Krueck, adds the comment “Remember him as one of our DC-8 Captains… great man !”
For the benefit of our readers unfamiliar with Flying Tiger Line, it was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States—founded in 1945 and headquartered at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)—and a military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel; it was acquired by FedEx in 1989.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr
Christian D. Orr was previously a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ) and 19FortyFive. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at the Old Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.
Image: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
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