DECORATED WWII FIGHTER PILOT DIES AT 101

Today the WWII Veterans History Project honors the life and service of decorated WWII fighter pilot Jack Hallett, who recently passed away at the age of 101. We had the privilege to interview him in 2018, capturing his wartime memories in a compelling video interview.

Attached to the 9th Air Force in the European Theater, Hallett flew 104 combat missions in P-38 and P-47 fighter aircraft. He was shot down twice by enemy fire while overseas but found his way to safety and evaded capture both times. Most of his missions, including flying aerial cover during D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, were focused on supporting ground soldiers by bombing and strafing enemy installations, including bridges, airfields, tanks, and troop convoys.

In his P-47, nicknamed "Frigid Midgit," Hallett scored one aerial kill and destroyed several hundred German ground targets. He returned home a hero, achieving the rank of Major and receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross along with twelve Air Medals, awarded for "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight."

Upon returning home in 1946, Jack married his wife, Martha Jane, after meeting her during flight training in Alabama four years earlier.

"Giving the Past a Future, One Story at a Time."

WWII Veterans History Project