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Before the United States entered WWII, eager American pilots flew Spitfires in the Royal Air Force
Eagle Squadrons. The RAF’s Seventy-one Squadron became the USAAF 334th Fighter Squadron in 1942, but kept
their Spitfires. In 1943 they transitioned to P-47 Thunderbolts and later to the P-51. The 334th flew in the 4th Fighter
Group of the 8th Air Force.
The 334th accounted for 395 kills against the Luftwaffe, and later flew F-86
Sabres in Korea, destroying 142 enemy aircraft. It flew F-105 Thunderchiefs in Vietnam and F-15 Eagles in Operation Southern
Watch, patrolling the no-fly zone in Iraq
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