[Robert Baird oral history interview]

Fighter ace Robert Baird discusses his military service with the United States Marine Corps during World War II. He describes his wartime experiences as a night fighter pilot and his time in Okinawa with Marine Night Fighter Squadron 533 (VMF(N)-533). Special focus on a combat mission on June 9, 1945 in which he scored his first aerial victory.

Robert Baird was born on November 13, 1921 in Los Angeles, California. He joined the Navy flight training program in April 1942 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corp shortly after. He served in the Pacific Theater with Marine Fighter Squadron 532 (VMF-532) and Marine Night Fighter Squadron 533 (VMF(N)-533) from 1942 to 1945. Baird remained in the military after World War II, flying with VMF(N)-542 and VMF(N)-513 in the Korean War and serving on the general staff of the First Marine Aircraft Wing during the Vietnam War. He retired as a colonel in 1971 and passed away in 1992.

Biographical information courtesy of: Boyce, Ward J., ed., American fighter aces album. Mesa, Ariz: American Fighter Aces Association, 1996.