John C. "Pappy" Herbst

Who was John C. "Pappy" Herbst?

John C. "Pappy" Herbst was an American flying ace who was officially the second highest-scoring fighter pilot in the China Burma India Theater with 18 confirmed victories made during 7 months with the 23d Fighter Group. 23d FG Commander David Lee "Tex" Hill said of Herbst that he was "one of the greatest fighter pilots I ever saw."

Often described as "colorful", Herbst was one of the more successful aces of the United States Army Air Forces. Herbst first fought with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Europe against German aircraft, possibly downing one. He joined the USAAF as an instructor training fighter pilots stateside. After two years of teaching and intelligence duties, Herbst was sent to China to fight the Japanese. For seven months he led the 74th Fighter Squadron on far-ranging independent missions, operating from advance airfields under crude conditions and in the face of Operation Ichi-Go; a successful Japanese pincer movement. Herbst scored the majority of his kills during so-called "administrative" flights after he had already completed the theater requirement of 100 combat missions. After the war, Herbst toured in an aerobatic demonstration team flying jets. One day after marrying his second wife he crashed during an aerobatic maneuver and died.