Who is the most iconic military aviator?

I have to go with Bruce Crandall, having 7-9 aircraft shot out from beneath you in one battle is pretty impressive (or terribly unlucky). &nbsp;The following short excerpt is from his Wikipedia entry:<div><br></div><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army" title="United States Army" style="color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;">U.S. Army</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;">&nbsp;officer who received the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor" title="Medal of Honor" style="color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;">Medal of Honor</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;">&nbsp;for his actions during the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang" title="Battle of Ia Drang" style="color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;">Battle of Ia Drang</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;">. During the battle he flew 22 missions(in one of the aircraft, then flew 6-8 different aircraft for a true mission total of 70-80 missions) in an unarmed helicopter into enemy fire to bring ammunition and supplies and evacuate the wounded. By the end of the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War" style="color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;">Vietnam War</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;">, he had flown over 900 combat missions.</span><br></div><div><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;"><br></span></div><div><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/BruceCrandall.jpg/180px-BruceCrandall.jpg" alt=" A black and white image of Bruce Crandall in his military dress uniform. He is facing the camera and turned slightly to the left">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_Medal_of_Honor%2C_Maj._Bruce_Crandall.jpg/220px-Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_Medal_of_Honor%2C_Maj._Bruce_Crandall.jpg" alt="A color picture if Bruce Campbell in his dress military uniform and cavalry hat. He is smiling and President Bush can be seen putting the Medal of Honor around his neck."><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19 [login to see] 39453px;"><br></span></div><div><br></div><div>And no super cool mustache!</div><div class="pta-link-card"><div class="pta-link-card-content"><div class="pta-link-card-title"><a target="_blank" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_Medal_of_Honor,_Maj._Bruce_Crandall.jpg/220px-Flickr_-_The_U.S._Army_-_Medal_of_Honor,_Maj._Bruce_Crandall.jpg"></a></div><div class="pta-link-card-description">É7áSZgµËIäU–C;{ã.M*‰š×Õ¦{@âKmI«©Ï­XCS‘^Dá]v÷D¹C»[äe éò¯Fp_¦§h‡œaš[× ç中urô¡ôª$#Rc­(ôNô˜Z0¢­S ³|qñT´ÿ ¨‰þ:‹œ´´4Šô¥â¨E1SµP‘Edƒ]Þº»½ ¨¦ŒÔOZQ:
EºÒ©ðŠÑ1¤îdDÎ|©Z…⛏³éÒ±Á¡Šûaâ†.là|3ç8ì+™Ë1É©Î.½kÝvêFl€åG...</div></div><div style="clear:both"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div><div class="pta-link-card"><div class="pta-link-card-picture"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png"></div><div class="pta-link-card-content"><div class="pta-link-card-title"><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang">Battle of Ia Drang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</a></div><div class="pta-link-card-description">The Battle of Ia Drang was the first major battle between regulars of the United States Army and regulars of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN / NVA) of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The two-...</div></div><div style="clear:both"></div><div class="pta-box-hide"><i class="icon-remove"></i></div></div>

I am the name sake of the most iconic aviator, in my opinion.  He was my uncle, my dad's oldest brother, and the person I am named after, William W. Patton, Jr.  He entered the Army Air Corps in 1933, after graduating from high school at age 16.  He hitch hiked and rode freight trains from Joplin, Mo to Randolph Field in Schertz, TX, where his first cousin, a SSG was stationed.  He was promoted to SSG by the time WWII began and was at Hickham Field in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked.  He was awarded a Bronze Star w/V for shooting down 2 Zeros during the attack.  He was stationed on Midway when the Japanese attacked and was awarded 2 more Bronze Stars w/V for shooting down 4 more Zeros on 2 different days and a 4th Bronze Star w/V for shooting down his 7th Zero as a tail gunner on a B-17.  Later in 1942 he entered flight school at Santa Rosa, CA and after completing basic pilot training was sent to Hobbs Air Field in New Mexico for training on the B-17.  From late 1943 through early 1944 he flew 24 missions over Europe before becoming ill with the mumps and having to be hospitalized, when his plane and crew were lost on what would have been his/their 25th mission.  He transferred to fighters, but before doing so, volunteered for the top secret mission, know as Aprohidite.  My uncle did not receive the same publicity or acclaim that the pilot of mission 5, Joseph Kennedy, received, but he flew mission 8 and successfully armed and got the plane headed to its destination.  He was awarded the DFC with Oak Leaf Cluster for this mission.  He was finally assigned to the 3rd Scouting Force, 8th AF and was on his 5th recon mission when he was listed as MIA.  He was eventually awarded the Purple Heart, but was MIA for 56 years until his body was found, still strapped in the cockpit of his P-51 Mustang on the border of France and Belgium.  He was found and excavated by the Army in Feb. 2001 and laid to rest with full military honors on Veteran's Day 2001 at the National Cemetary in Springfield, Mo.  This soldier was my hero for all my life and a reason I joined the military.  To me, he is my most iconic aviator.

That is a mustache for the ages! Impressive. We are all a bit better for having been in its prescence.