18 December 1941: First Lieutenant Boyd D. (“Buzz”) Wagner, U.S. Army Air Corps, commanding officer of the 17th Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) at Nichols Field, Pasay City, Commonwealth of the Philippines, shot down his fifth Japanese airplane, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter, with his Curtiss P-40B Warhawk near Vigan, Luzon. He was the first U.S. Army “ace” of World War II.
