An eagle among crows: Bud Anderson honored at Oshkosh

Bud Anderson came to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022 where he was warmly embraced by a standing-room-only crowd as he was surrounded by special warbirds restored to represent three aircraft he flew during World War II.

More than 1,000 enthusiastic fans packed the bleachers and the Warbirds in Review ramp on July 26, 2022, to see — and listen to — Bud.

Sharing the ramp was the newly-repainted Commemorative Air Force P-39 Airacobra in the markings Bud Anderson used on his Airacobra during late stateside training in Casper, Wyoming. The event marked the rare P-39’s debut in its new identity as Old Crow, the name Bud continued to apply to several aircraft over the years.

According to Bud the name Old Crow meant wise bird when he was talking with teetotaler friends; to others, it represented booze.

Also on the ramp with Bud was the P-51B Mustang belonging to Jack Roush, appropriately camouflaged and emblazoned with the Old Crow name.

Jim Hagedorn’s silver P-51D iteration of Old Crow finished the trio.

A session at AirVenture with Bud Anderson is something to be cherished, and the appreciative throng in the warbirds area understood that.

Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson tells stories about flying life-and-death combat over Europe in Mustangs as matter-of-factly as someone might describe a hike in the woods. Bud’s eyes twinkle and his mouth rises in a smile as it has for a century.

People come away from a session with Anderson knowing they have been in the presence of history, made and relayed by this man who faced mortal dangers and experienced things we can only begin to comprehend through his telling of the stories.

It was easy to get Bud to relate war stories to the crowd. He laughed as he began describing aerial combat with his hands, saying that was a necessary part of his communicating.

“I’m the number one guy in a four-ship flight,” Bud began. “Here come four Me 109s flying line abreast.”

The Messerschmitts quickly dispatched two B-17s. Bud and his Mustang compatriots interceded to cut the German fighters off from the bombers.

Bud found himself in a turning engagement with one of the 109s, with neither pilot able to get into firing position. Meanwhile, Bud was aware of the oncoming armada of B-17s, unable to deviate course.

The German fighter pilot broke away first, diving for speed as Bud followed.

“He got quite a head start, though,” Bud recalled.

The Messerschmitt pilot turned his fighter to face Bud’s Mustang. Anderson saw a good sight picture. “I got off a burst,” he recalled, adding he swept by the German plane. Pieces of Messerschmitt cowling and the enemy fighter’s propeller broke free from the airplane, and Bud could see the pilot bail out. That would be one of Bud Anderson’s 16-and-a-quarter aerial victories.

Now, about that quarter victory. Bud was part of a flight of four P-51s flying west at about 5,000 feet when he caught sight of a shadow that he traced to a Luftwaffe Heinkel He 111 twin-engine bomber. Old and slow, the enemy bomber was nonetheless a combatant that needed to be taken out of the war.

Known for his combat aggressiveness, Bud acknowledged that “my guys in my flight don’t get to shoot too much when they’re flying with me.”

So Anderson pulled the other three Mustangs into formation. He made the first gunnery pass on the He 111, watching smoke issue from one of the bomber’s engines. The other three P-51s in the flight performed firing passes, and the Heinkel made a crash landing, breaking up in the process.

Anderson watched as one German crewman left the wreckage and ran across the open field. Bud couldn’t resist the temptation, and roared over the fleeing airman at low altitude, his Mustang’s Merlin engine screaming, before pulling up smartly and making a victory roll. We may never know if that German aviator recounted the day he survived a Mustang attack to his family and friends for years after that.

Bud Anderson and the owners of the three Old Crows spoke for more than an hour, interacting with the audience. When it was time to go, Bud received a rousing standing ovation from an audience who clearly appreciated him, and who valued the time spent in the presence of a living legend who appeared just as grateful to be with them.