George Preddy

American World War II flying ace

George Earl Preddy Jr. (February 5, 1919 – December 25, 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces officer during World War II and an American ace credited with 26.83 enemy air to air kills (a number that includes shared one half and one third victory credits), ranking him as the top P 51 Mustang ace of World War II and eighth on the list of highest scoring American aces.

Preddy was born in 1919 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the second of four children born to George Earl Sr. and Clara Noah Preddy. He attended Aycock School and Greensboro High School. Following graduation, he worked at a cotton mill and attended Guilford College for two years, before becoming a barnstormer pilot.

On September 1940, he enlisted in the North Carolina National Guard and served with the 252nd Coast Artillery Regiment. Preddy attempted to become a naval aviator in the U. S. Navy, but was rejected thrice. As a result, he entered the Aviation Cadet Program of the U. S. Army Air Corps on April 29, 1941. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Air Forces and was awarded his pilot wings at Craig Field in Alabama, on December 12, 1941, just five days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

George Preddy was killed on the morning of December 25, 1944, by friendly fire. On that day, he was leading a formation of 10 P 51s and after patrolling for about three hours, they were directed to assist in a dogfight already in progress. Preddy destroyed two Bf 109s before being vectored to intercept a lone Focke Wulf Fw 190 strafing Allied ground forces southeast of Liège, Belgium. As he pursued the Fw 190, Preddy's aircraft as well as two other P 51s passed over the Allied front line at treetop height. A US Army anti aircraft (AA) battery (believed to be part of the 430th AA Battalion, XIX Corps) fired at the Fw 190 but missed and, instead, hit Preddy's P 51. Preddy managed to release his canopy but was unable to bail out before his aircraft hit the ground at high speed. Although the shallow angle of impact meant the crash was potentially survivable, his wounds from .50 caliber machine gun fire were mortal. During World War II, Preddy was credited with the destruction of 26.83 enemy aircraft in aerial combat plus 4 shared destruction and 5 destroyed on the ground while strafing enemy airfields. While serving with the 352nd FG, he flew P 47 and P 51s bearing the name "Cripes A'Mighty". Initially, the United States Air Force Fighter Victory Credits Board in the 1950s reduced his aerial credits to 25.83 before Preddy's first cousin Joe Noah challenged the change after discovering that the board disallowed one of Preddy's aerial victories for which he received his first Silver Star. In 1978, the USAF corrected the error when another board was convened, officially crediting Preddy with 26.83 aerial victories. Preddy's brother William, a P 51 pilot with the 503rd Fighter Squadron, 339th Fighter Group, was later buried alongside George at the Lorraine American Cemetery, Saint Avold, France. William died in what is today's Czech Republic on April 17, 1945, from wounds he sustained when he was shot down by enemy AA fire, while strafing České Budějovice airfield. Before his death, William was credited in destroying one enemy airplane in aerial combat.

In 1993, Preddy's first cousin Joe Noah founded the Preddy Memorial Foundation to honor both Preddy and his brother. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2087 in Greensboro was named after George Preddy, soon after the end of World War II. In 1968, Business Interstate 85, through Greensboro, North Carolina was given the street name Preddy Boulevard, in memory of both Preddy brothers.