Description
Major Oscar Perdomo flew a P-47 Thunderbolt with the 464th fighter squadron, 507th fighter Group USAAF in the Pacific Theater,
where he became the last “Ace in a Day” of WWII.
Background
Major Oscar Francis Perdomo was the son of Mexican immigrants, born on June 14, 1919 in El Paso, Texas. Five years after his
birth, his family moved to California to the city of Los Angeles. After Perdomo received the required education, in February
1943, Perdomo entered the Army Air Forces (AAF) as an aviation cadet. He underwent training in Phoenix, Arizona, and Minter
Field, California. After he graduated from flight school January 7, 1944, and briefly became one of the school’s instructors.
Soon after, he requested to be sent into overseas service in World War II. At the Army Air Forces Basic Flight School at Chico,
California, he underwent further training as a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilot. While on a sweep mission over Kyushu, Japan
in 1945, in service with the 507th Fighter Group, he shot down five enemy planes in his Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, “Li’l Meatie’s
Meat Chopper” (serial 44-88211), to become the last ace of World War II.