First Person War Stories
Remarkable stories of war told by those who fought for a proud nation. Their words. Their voices. Our first episodes tell riveting stories from World War II, then we move on to the Vietnam War and other dramatic conflicts.
Latest Episode
In this final part of his interview, Col. Anderson describes how and why he joined the Air Force, his training, patriotism, his appreciation for his squadron, and more.
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Col. Clarence (Bud) Emil Anderson served in the United States Air Force during World War II, and is a triple ace fighter pilot. He’s the highest scoring living American fighter ace, and the 10th highest scoring Mustang Ace of all time.
Col. Anderson was a member of the 357th Fighter group, which was said to have “shot down the "most airplanes in the shortest time of any unit in the European theater, perhaps the whole Air Force.” They had over 600 aerial victories in 14 months, and 42 aces, more than any other fighter group.
He also commanded the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, an F-105 Thunderchief unit, during its final months of service in the Vietnam War.
Col. Anderson was inducted in to the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008, and in 2013, was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.
This year, Col. Anderson celebrated his 100th birthday. Click here to learn about his birthday celebration.
For more pictures of Bud during the war, click here.
More About Warriors In Their Own Words and The HONOR Project
Warriors: In Their Own Words tells remarkable stories of war told by the veterans who fought for a proud nation. Their words. Their voices. Our first episodes tell riveting stories from World War II, then we move on to the Vietnam War and other dramatic conflicts. These podcasts are a production of The HONOR Project: Heroes of Our Nation On Record.
Since 1991, award-winning documentarians Rob Kirk, Rob Lihani and Donna Lusitana have been recording and archiving the remarkable and very personal stories of living U.S. wartime veterans from World War I through modern conflicts. To provide an ongoing structure for the preservation of these stories, recounted by those who lived them, Kirk, Lihani and Lusitana joined with digital media pioneer, Marc Honorof, to create The HONOR Project.
“We are in the business of reporting history,” said Kirk, “Right now, these incredibly candid stories from a passing generation are what America wants to hear. We didn’t just sit these men down with a list of questions and ask them to reel off facts. We let them speak from the heart and captured all the emotion of their experiences.”
"By wrapping contextual narration around these astonishing stories and adding high quality production values,” said Lihani, “we have produced podcasts which are not only educational, but fascinating as well, along the lines of Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation, or HBO’s Band of Brothers. Many of these veterans are no longer with us, so their accounts need to be remembered and archived. There simply is no substitute for listening to these men tell us their own experiences, in their own words and voices."
If you enjoy hearing these dramatic stories directly from our Nation's heroes and want to support us, please give us a 5-star review on iTunes and any other platform you have found us on. Also please share the link with your friends who you think would appreciate these compelling chapters of our history.
The Team
Ken Harbaugh
Declan Rohrs
Sean Rule Hoffman
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