[Robert L. Scott, Jr. oral history interview]

Fighter ace Robert L. Scott, Jr. discusses his military service with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He describes his wartime experiences as a fighter pilot, including his time with the 23rd Fighter Group in the China-Burma-India Theater. Special focus on an encounter with Japanese aircraft on July 31, 1942 near Hengyang, China. Scott scored two aerial victories and afterwards participated in the search for the downed airplanes. He shares his personal reflections on finding the body of one of the Japanese pilots.

Robert L. Scott, Jr. was born on April 12, 1908 in Waynesboro, Georgia. He joined the United States Army in 1927 and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1932. Afterwards, he applied for flight training and received his pilot’s wings in 1933. At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, Scott was serving as a flight instructor at Cal-Aero Academy Flying School in California. He was deemed too old to serve as a combat pilot, but Scott persisted and was able to join a top-secret bomber mission in the Far East, known as Operation Aquila. When that mission was canceled, he was appointed commander of the newly formed 23rd Fighter Group in China. In 1943, he returned to the United States to serve as deputy of operations of the Army’s School of Applied Tactics. That same year, he published his first book, God Is My Co-pilot, later made into a motion picture by Warner Bros. Scott remained in the military after the end of World War II and served in a number of command positions, including commanding the 36th Fighter-Bomber Wing in Germany. He retired as a brigadier general in 1957. As a civilian, Scott continued his writing career and continued to be involved in aviation, such as helping to establish the Museum of Aviation in Georgia. He passed away in 2006.