Killed 82 Years Ago Today; Lt William Fiedler Jr, KIA on Guadalcanal, June 30, 1943, he was 23 years old… See more

Killed 82 Years Ago Today;
Lt William Fiedler Jr, KIA on Guadalcanal, June 30, 1943, he was 23 years old…

William Fredrick Fiedler Jr was born on June 5, 1920 in Indianapolis Indiana, he enrolled in Ohio Northern University where he was a quarterback on the football team.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor he left college and enlisted in the Army at Fort Hayes Ohio, on December 21, 1941.

In early 1943 Lt Fiedler was flying Bell P-39D Airacobras with the 347th Fighter Group, 68th and 70th Fighter Squadrons from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal.

On June 30, 1943, while in the cockpit of his Airacobra waiting to take-off, he was hit by a Lockheed P-38 that suffered an engine failure while landing. Both aircraft burst into flames, Fielder was pulled from the burning wreckage unconscious but died of his injuries.

He is the only US ACE credited with five victories in the Airacobra.

Lt William Fiedler Jr is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii – PLOT Q 736