Upon graduation he hoped to join the Navy’s cadet program but learned it was full. He attended the US Naval Academy for two years before completing his college education at the University of Arizona in 1935.
Payne was awarded 5½ kills because he had help from another pilot in downing one plane.įrederick Rounsville Payne Jr., was born July 31, 1911, in Elmira, N.Y., the son of a Spanish-American War veteran. The title fighter ace is reserved for those who have shot down at least five enemy aircraft in battle. ‘‘He was a very humble guy,’’ noted Bell. ‘‘Terrific,’’ he said when it was presented. Instead, US Representative Raul Ruiz presented it to him at the Palm Springs Air Museum on May 25. When lawmakers on Capitol Hill decided earlier this year to honor all of the nation’s fighter aces with a Congressional Gold Medal, its highest civilian honor, Mr. Received the Navy Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and other medals during a long military career. The battle was a turning point in the Pacific theater. Payne and others who ‘‘stood their ground at Guadalcanal’’ kept the Japanese from gaining control of the Pacific from Australia to the United States. ‘‘Fritz came along at a time when we were essentially losing the war,’’ said Bell. Payne did between September and October 1942 was take to the skies in an F4F Wildcat and shoot down four Japanese bombers and two fighter planes during a crucial battle for control of the Pacific Ocean that Allied forces had launched with no clear indication they could win.
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