[Louis William Chick, Jr. oral history interview (Part 1 of 2)]

In this two-part oral history, fighter ace Louis W. “Bill” Chick, Jr. discusses his military service with the United States Army Air Forces. In part one, he describes his experiences as a fighter pilot, including his time with the 24th Fighter Squadron in Panama, the 4th Fighter Group in England, and the 317th Fighter Squadron in Italy. Special focus on a bomber escort mission in January 1944 in which he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 over Udine, Italy; several years later, Chick met the German pilot while on a mission in Bolivia.

Louis W. “Bill” Chick, Jr. was born on March 31, 1917 in Dallas, Texas. He joined the United States Army Air Corps in 1937 and attended flying school at Randolph Field in Texas. During World War II, he served with a number of squadrons and groups, including the 24th Fighter Squadron, the 4th Fighter Group, the 355th Fighter Group, and the 317th Fighter Squadron. Chick’s postwar career included flying the Air Force’s first jet aircraft, the Bell P-59 Airacomet; commanding the first Republic F-84 Thunderjet group; and serving as chief of the USAF mission to Bolivia in the early 1950s. He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1958. In his civilian life, he worked as an engineer for the Ford Motor Company, then retired to take over his family’s ranch in Texas. Chick passed away in 1999.

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