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Jed Boal Reporting Sixty-two years ago, Allied Forces in Europe turned the tide on the Germans in World War II.
Among the fighters who made a difference was a Utah pilot who became an Ace. He will soon join the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame.
Alden Rigby had little time to celebrate New Year's Day 62 years ago.
The Utahn shot down four German aircraft in 25 minutes.
Major Alden Rigby, Utah Air National Guard (Ret.): "Our chances were slim and none. We took our chances and got in the air."
The P-51 "Mustang" fighter pilot flew 76 combat missions over Europe.
He became an Ace by downing five enemy aircraft and was awarded the Silver Star for his heroic actions.
Alden Rigby: "I didn't really do any more than any fighter pilot would have done with the same circumstances."
The Germans that morning launched the Luftwaffe's last hope, a massive air attack aimed at sixteen Allied air bases. Rigby and other American pilots were on the runway when fifty to sixty German fighters swarmed their base in Belgium.
Alden Rigby: "That's a fighter pilot's nightmare to be caught on the ground."
This painting shows the moment Rigby got off the ground and started to fight.
Alden Rigby: "It was going to be each man for himself. There's no way we could stay together."
Rigby says he fired at the closest fighters.
Twelve American fighters downed twenty-four Germans and lost none of their own.
Rigby will be inducted into the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame at the Hill Aerospace Museum on Memorial Day.
Major Alden Rigby, Utah Air National Guard (Ret.): "We had the best training. We had the best equipment to fly. And we had support from the home front."
Selected from more than twenty nominees, Rigby becomes the twenty-first Utahn in the Hall of Fame.
Back home, Rigby served in the Utah Air National Guard and flew fighters with the Navy and the Continental Air Command during the Korean War.
He retired from the Guard as a Major and worked more than 25 years with the F.A.A. as an air traffic controller and Supervisor at Salt Lake International.
