Thank God for Clemson men like William Leverette...

Nov 2, 2019, 6:08 AM

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Please remember him this Saturday.

Born Palatka, Florida, September 5, 1913

Clemson’s Bill Leverette didn’t worry about the odds when he and three comrades attacked 30 German Stukas to protect some warships.

As commander of the 37th Fighter Squadron, Leverette on October 9, 1943, led seven P-38s on a mission to protect Royal Navy warships in the Mediterranean. He took out seven of the Stukas himself. When out of ammunition from shooting six of the Nazi ########, he rammed one more with his plane!

Only one other man in American history has taken down seven planes in on fight.

CITATION: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Major (Air Corps) William Lawrence Leverette (ASN: 0-322014), United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a P-38 Fighter Airplane and Commanding Officer of the 37th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, TWELFTH Air Force, in aerial combat against enemy forces on 9 October 1943, during an air mission in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. On that date, Major Leverette led seven P-38s on a mission to protect Royal Navy warships in the Mediterranean Sea. When he sighted a formation of 30 German JU-87 Stuka dive bombers, he sent three of his fighters to fly top cover while he and the other three closed on the Stukas which had a gunner manning a flexible machine gun plus two wing-mounted guns. Major Leverette took out seven of the Stukas while his unit shot down another nine, plus a JU-88. The rest either headed for home or ended up in the sea. Major Leverette's unquestionable valor in aerial combat is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 12th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.

https://www.historynet.com/slaughter-of-the-stukas-ace-in-a-day-p-38-pilot.htm

Slaughter of the Stukas: Ace in a Day P-38 Pilot

When American P-38s covering a British naval force in the Aegean Sea encountered a group of attacking German Ju-87s, a massacre ensued. In October 1943

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Thank God for Clemson men like William Leverette...

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