The Afterburner Podcast S1:E3

Don Beerbower was a gifted aviator, Squadron CO, triple ace, and leading scorer in the 9th Air Force at the time of his death in WW2 at the young age of 22 years old. In this podcast I share his amazing story, which is unfortunately not very well known today, as Beerbower did not get the postwar acclaim that many others did.

I believe he was one of America's best pilots, and probably the greatest forgotten ace of the USAAF.

If you want to know more, check out the podcast, and please go buy Paul Sailer's wonderful book "The Oranges Are Sweet."

The gun camera footage is not Beerbower's and is not always matching aircraft types in question, but I did generally try to coordinate to give an idea of what is happening. I included many pictures of Beerbower and his aircraft. The rest are generally of the 354th FG. You will recognize some other famous aircraft.

I'm also aware Robin Olds did not shoot down 5 jets in Vietnam, but only 4, and it's a mistake at the end of the video to say he became an ace in Vietnam.