James Howell Howard
Brigadier General, U.S. Army Air Forces
Medal of Honor Recipient
World War II

Brigadier General James Howell Howard (13 April 1913 - 18 March 1995) was a U.S. Air Force officer and the only fighter pilot in the European Theater of Operations in World War II to receive the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest award for valor.

James Howell Howard was born on 13 April 1913 in Canton (now Guangzhou), China, where his American parents lived while his ophthalmologist father was teaching eye surgery there. Howard returned with his family to St. Louis, MO, in 1927. After graduating from John Burroughs School in St. Louis, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pomona College in Claremont, CA, in 1937, intending to follow his father's footsteps into medicine. Shortly before graduation, however, Howard decided that the life of a Naval Aviator was more appealing than six years of medical school and internship, and he entered the U.S. Navy as a naval aviation cadet. He began his flight training in January 1938 at Naval Air Station Pensacola, earning his wings the following January in 1939.

Military Career

Howard initially was a U.S. Navy pilot aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), based at Pearl Harbor, HI, beginning in 1939. In June 1941, he left the Navy to become a P-40 fighter pilot with the American Volunteer Group (AVG), the famous Flying Tigers in Burma. He flew 56 missions and was credited with shooting down six Japanese airplanes. Following the disbandment of the Flying Tigers on 4 July 1942, Howard returned to the U.S. and was commissioned a Captain in the Army Air Force. In 1943, he was promoted to the rank of Major and given command of a P-51 Mustang fighter squadron in the 354th Fighter Group, based in the United Kingdom.

On 11 January 1944, Howard single-handedly flew his P-51 into some thirty Luftwaffe fighters that were attacking a formation of American B-17 Flying Fortress bombers over Oschersleben, Germany. For more than a half-hour, Howard defended the heavy bombers of the 401st Bomb Group against the swarm of Luftwaffe fighters, repeatedly attacking the enemy airplanes and shooting down as many as six. The leader of the bomber formation later reported that, "For sheer determination and guts, it was the greatest exhibition I've ever seen. It was a case of one lone American against what seemed to be the entire Luftwaffe. He was all over the wing, across and around it. They can't give that boy a big enough award."

The following week, the Air Force held a press conference in London at which Major Howard described the attack to reporters, including the BBC, the Associated Press, and CBS reporter Walter Cronkite. Andy Rooney, then a reporter for Stars and Stripes called Howard's exploits "the greatest fighter pilot story of World War II."

The story was a media sensation, prompting articles such as "Mustang Whip" in the Saturday Evening Post, "Fighting at 425 Miles Per Hour" in Popular Science, and "One Man Air Force" in True magazine. The New York Times reported on 19 January 1944, that after Howard's P-51 ran out of ammunition, he continued to dive on enemy airplanes. "An attack by a single fighter on four or five times his own number wasn't uncommon," wrote a fellow World War II fighter pilot in his postwar memoirs of Howard's performance, "but a deliberate attack by a single fighter against thirty plus enemy fighters without tactical advantage of height or surprise is rare almost to the point of extinction."

The following month, Howard was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and in June 1944, he was presented the Medal of Honor by General Carl Spatz for his valor on 11 January.

Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps.

Place and date: Over Oschersleben, Germany, 11 January 1944.

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy near Oschersleben, Germany, on 11 January 1944. On that day Col. Howard was the leader of a group of P51 aircraft providing support for a heavy bomber formation on a long-range mission deep in enemy territory. As Col. Howard's group met the bombers in the target area the bomber force was attacked by numerous enemy fighters. Col. Howard, with his group, and at once engaged the enemy and himself destroyed a German ME. 110. As a result of this attack Col. Howard lost contact with his group, and at once returned to the level of the bomber formation. He then saw that the bombers were being heavily attacked by enemy airplanes and that no other friendly fighters were at hand. While Col. Howard could have waited to attempt to assemble his group before engaging the enemy, he chose instead to attack single-handed a formation of more than 30 German airplanes. With utter disregard for his own safety he immediately pressed home determined attacks for some 30 minutes, during which time he destroyed 3 enemy airplanes and probably destroyed and damaged others. Toward the end of this engagement 3 of his guns went out of action and his fuel supply was becoming dangerously low. Despite these handicaps and the almost insuperable odds against him, Col. Howard continued his aggressive action in an attempt to protect the bombers from the numerous fighters. His skill, courage, and intrepidity on this occasion set an example of heroism which will be an inspiration to the U.S. Armed Forces.

In early 1945, Howard was promoted to full Colonel and assigned as Base Commander of Pinellas Army Airfield (now St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport) in Florida. With the establishment of the U.S. Air Force as a separate service in 1947, then-Colonel Howard was transferred to the Air Force. In 1948, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force, commanding the reserve 96th Bomb Wing.
Post-Military Life

As a civilian after the war, Howard was Director of Aeronautics for St. Louis, MO, managing Lambert Field while maintaining his military status as a Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He later founded Howard Research, a systems engineering business, which he eventually sold to Control Data Corporation.

He married Mary Balles in 1948 in a military wedding ceremony. In later years, they were divorced and Howard then married Florence Buteau.

In the 1970s, Howard retired to Belleair Bluffs in Pinellas County, FL. In 1991, he wrote an autobiography, Roar of the Tiger, chiefly devoted to his wartime experiences.

On 27 January 1995, Howard made his last public appearance when he was guest of honor at the annual banquet of the West Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America, in Clearwater, FL.

Honors

On 11 January 1994, the 50th anniversary of the Oschlersleben attack, the Board of County Commissioners in Pinellas County proclaimed "General Howard Day" and presented him with a plaque.

A permanent exhibit honoring General Howard was also unveiled in the terminal building of the county's St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

An exhibit paying tribute to Howard was subsequently dedicated at his alma mater, the John Burroughs School in St. Louis.

Death and Burial

On 27 January 1995, Howard made his last public appearance when he was guest of honor at the annual banquet of the West Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America, in Clearwater, FL.

Brigadier General James Howell Howard died six weeks later, on 18 March 1995, at the nearby Bay Pines Veterans Hospital. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, in Section 34, Lot 2571.

He is survived by two sisters.