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 Erich
Hartmann is the world's all time "Ace of Aces" with 352
confirmed victories and the top German ace of WW II. Spending
his entire career on Germany's Eastern front he recorded
345 victories against Soviet aircraft and 7 against Americans.
The Soviets singled him out as a war criminal for destroying
so much Soviet property. He flew an amazing 1,425 combat
missions all in the Messerschmitt Bf-109. During this time
he was involved in over 800 dogfights and was shot down
18 times. For his victories he was personally awarded the
Knights Cross to the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords
and Diamonds by Adolf Hitler. In May 1945 he surrendered
to US forces and was turned over to the Soviet Union, where
he spent 10 years in a prison camp before he was released
in the mid-1950s. After returning to West Germany in 1955,
he served in the reformed West German Luftwaffe and retired
as a Colonel. He died in the fall of 1993 at the age of
71.
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