"He was still alert and fabulous just up until when he died," said a friend, Tibaut Bowman. He "lived his life to the fullest up to the end." According to an AP obituary, he "logged 3,500 hours, flew 150 combat sorties, and later tested the first U.S. jets before joining the [Texas] Air National Guard."
David Lee
"Tex" Hill
Tex recalls his first aerial victories, including a nimble Japanese fighter that challenged him head-on, lodging a bullet in his P-40's propeller, causing it to rotate out of balance. What about the Japanese fighter? "I blew him up."