Tag Archives: Clarence Emil “Bud” Anderson

Pour some Old Crow out for Bud

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America’s last living “triple ace,” BGEN Clarence Emil “Bud” Anderson, was laid to rest this week at Arlington, having passed at age 102.

He was interred in section 38, joining his beloved wife of nearly 70 years, Eleanor Cosby, who was buried in 2015.

A horse-mounted honor guard draws the casket of retired Air Force Col. Clarence “Bud” Anderson during his interment at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., March 30, 2026. Anderson, a World War II fighter pilot, died May 17, 2024, at the age of 102. (Eric Dietrich, Air Force)

If you have ever seen a classic American war bird with an “Old Crow” nose art, an ode to the cheapest whisky of the time, it is a salute to Bud who used the moniker on his first aircraft at age 22, P-39Q, tail number 42-20746, then kept using it on three different P-51Bs during his first WWII combat tour with the 357th FG at Leiston Airfield, England, and famously on P-51D 44-14450, Code B6-S, on his second tour. Finally, on F-105D 60-5375 as Wing Commander of the 355th TFW stationed at Takli Air Base in Thailand during Vietnam.

He flew 116 individual combat missions that resulted in 16 downed German aircraft and one shared combat victory between March and December 1944, earning him triple ace status.

As a fighter pilot, test pilot, and combat and operational commander, Anderson logged over 7,500 flight hours and flew more than 130 types of aircraft. His many decorations include five Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Legions of Merit, 16 Air Medals, and the French Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre.

Appropriately, Bud’s services this week saw a double flyover: first by four F-35s, followed by four World War II-era P-51 Mustangs, two of which bore Old Crow livery.

Old Crow Flies Onward

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The last American “Triple Ace,” Brig. Gen Clarence Emil “Bud” Anderson passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 102.

Born in Oakland in 1922, he enlisted as an aviation cadet with the USAAF right after Pearl Harbor and earned both his butter bar and lead wings by September 1942.

After cutting teeth on the P-39, he joined the 363rd FS, in England flying early model P-51Bs in January 1944 and bagged his first (of six) Messerschmitt Fb 109s on 3 March and, upgraded to a bubble canopy P-51D, by the end of the war would add a He 111 bomber and five Fw 190s to his scorecard, ending the war with 16.25 aerial victories spanning 116 sorties.

Both of Bud Anderson’s Mustangs were dubbed “Old Crow” after the rock gut whisky, the later, P-51D-10-NA Mustang, AAF Ser. No. 44-14450 B6-S, seen here.

Post-war, Anderson continued on active service with the USAF as a test pilot, squadron, and wing commander, ultimately logging over 7,000 hours in over 100 types and retired in 1972 as a full bird colonel, later upgraded to a star in 2022.

He earned two Legion of Merits, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, 16 Air Medals, the French Legion of Honor, and the French Croix de Guerre, among other decorations.

He passed in his sleep at his home in Auburn, California last Friday.

Via the CAF