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Pilot mastered air-to-air, air-to-ground combat

First Lieutenant James L. “Mac” McWhorter shoved the throttle of his P-47 Thunderbolt forward and climbed into a sky full of German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters.

It was Oct. 12, 1944 — another day of combat over Europe for a fighter pilot viewed by many as an inspiration. McWhorter, 23, belonged to the 365th Fighter Group, called the Hell Hawks. His outfit specialized in ground attack, dive-bombing and strafing at treetop altitude. He and his buddies routinely flew into action so low that even a round fired by a German rifleman could be fatal. But this day, McWhorter was higher, rushing into a dogfight at 11,000 feet.

In the first moments, McWhorter felt he was battling the entire German air force. But as planes from both sides maneuvered around him, he became pitted against a single, persistent German pilot.

Each pilot jockeyed for deadly advantage. McWhorter planted his P-47 on the tail of the Messerschmitt pilot, only to see his adversary twist upward to escape.

McWhorter accelerated through 300 mph and caught his enemy in a climbing right turn. For an instant, he’d seized the advantage: He fired a burst that peppered the dark gray Messerschmitt’s left wing and chopped loose its left main landing gear.

The Bf 109 tightened the turn. That was a mistake. McWhorter squeezed off a second burst that riddled the Messerschmitt’s fuselage and tail. The German pilot jettisoned his canopy, but before he could bail out, McWhorter’s next burst blasted the 109’s cockpit and engine.

The Messerschmitt’s propeller froze. Flames erupted from the German’s cockpit. McWhorter watched his victim spin earthward, aflame. The plane became a fireball on impact with the brown landscape.

“The fight lasted 45 seconds or a minute,” McWhorter said in an interview earlier this year. “I didn’t have time to think about that pilot. That Messerschmitt was just a target.”

Born in Georgia in 1920, McWhorter flew 83 P-47 combat missions.

In July 1944, while supporting Army units liberating France, McWhorter bellied in his damaged P-47, evaded capture and spotted advancing American troops. He broke from cover in front of a Sherman tank, yelled “Stop that son of a bitch!” — and was nearly shot by his rescuers. He went on to lead P-47s in the Battle of the Bulge and across the Rhine.

Among McWhorter’s awards was a Distinguished Flying Cross for that October 1944 dogfight. In interviews, fellow pilots praised him for initiative and leadership in combat. In turn, he said that 95 percent of his fellow pilots were “very reliable” and 5 percent were “outstanding.” Anyone who didn’t measure up, he said, didn’t last long.

When retired Maj. McWhorter died Oct. 22 at 87 after a long illness, the nation lost another link to the “greatest generation” that set a standard for today’s airmen. h

Thomas D. Jones, a former astronaut and Air Force pilot, and Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, are co-authors of “Hell Hawks!” a history of the 365th Fighter Group.