World War II Honoree

Ray Garcia

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

West Chester, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Friends of American Heroes

He proudly served his country in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot during WWII with the 57th Fighter Group aboard the USS Sea Owl. He flew 82 combat missions against the Germans in Europe. He returned from each mission with a bullet riddled plane and was one of the first American pilots to have a combat encounter with a German jet plane. He was heading through the Panama Canal to fight the Japanese in the Pacific when the war ended.