Curtiss Hawk H81-A-2, P-8138, #57 of the A.V.G. Second Squadron Vice Leader James H. Howard, Kunming, China, May 1942.

James Howard joined the A.V.G. in June of 1941, and went on to command the A.V.G.’s 2nd Pursuit Squadron. He was officially credited with destroying 2.333 Japanese fighters in the air and 4 on the ground during his tour with the Flying Tigers (this is often mistakenly reported as six aerial kills, likely due to the USAAF having six Japanese kill flags applied to his P-51B ‘Ding Hao’ for publicity photos after his famous air battle against Luftwaffe fighters on January 11th 1944 that earned him the Medal of Honor.) He went on to score 6 more confirmed kills in Europe flying P-51Bs, with two additional damaged and 1 probable kill. Howard has the distinction of being the only USAAF pilot in the European Theater in WWII to receive the Medal of Honor. When interviewed for this profile, Howard stated he did not recall having tiger decal on his plane, and the wing covers the spot where it would be in the only known photo. (NOTE: A photo of #97 that has a tiger decal is often mistaken for #57.)

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