CONFIDENT COMBATANT

Col. Joseph Peterburs downs a Luftwaffe top ace

JAN TEGLER

JOE PETERBURS ENJOYED “EVERY MINUTE” of his combat experience during the late stages of World War II. Becoming a five-victory ace and shooting down an Me-262 flown by a famed German pilot was simply part of four intense months of combat, days as a POW, and fighting alongside a Russian tank unit. And that’s just one period of an Air Force career that lasted 36 years, including combat in the skies of Korea, ejecting from a jet during the Cold War, and an assignment to Vietnam that nearly cost him his life during the Tet Offensive. Eighty one years after it all began when he was called to active duty in January 1943, 99-year-old Peterburs is buoyant, congenial, and modest about his incredible career. Prepared and eager to fight There…

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Flight Journal (Digital) - 1 Issue, November/December 2024

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