Twice the Ace, Flying for the UK and the U.S.—George Vaughn, DFC, DSC

Vaughn returned to New York in early 1919 and in November received his DFC, presented aboard HMS Renown in New York Harbor by England’s Prince of Wales. Returning to Princeton, he finished his engineering degree in 1920. In addition to serving as commander of the New York National Guard Air Squadron for nearly ten years, Vaughn established several businesses. These included the Eastern Aeronautical Corporation, the Casey Jones School of Aeronautics, and the Academy of Aeronautics. These schools trained over 30,000 aviation mechanics for the military during World War II. Vaughn retired from the National Guard in 1940 as a lieutenant colonel, but as a special honor in 1986, New York Governor Mario Cuomo promoted him to brigadier general. He passed away in 1989.

Man, 12 hours of flight training was 'combat ready? Talk about having to learn in the cauldron of combat. No wonder they were considered replaceable.