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Donald McPherson, then a Navy fighter pilot, sits in the cockpit of his F6F Hellcat during World War II. McPherson, recognized as America’s last surviving WWII ace, died Aug. 14, 2025, at age 103. (National WWII Museum, New Orleans)

Donald McPherson, a Nebraska World War II veteran and the last surviving American "ace" pilot of the conflict, has died at age 103.

McPherson served as a Navy fighter pilot in the Pacific theater aboard the USS Essex and was credited with shooting down five Japanese aircraft — the threshold to be considered an "ace."

The American Fighter Aces Association and the Fagen Fighters WWII Museum confirmed he was the last living U.S. pilot with that distinction.

Who was Donald McPherson?

The backstory:

McPherson enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and trained a

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