Veterans in Blue - Col. Arthur Fiedler

Col. Arthur Fiedler (Ret.) knew he wanted to be an aviator in 1930, at the age of seven, when a military family moved in down the block. By the age of 10, Fiedler declared to his parents that one day he would be a fighter pilot.
On Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese Imperial Forces attacked Pearl Harbor, thrusting America into WWII. Fiedler enlisted five months later.
Fiedler completed his training and in early June, 1944, arrived in the European theater where he would pilot a P-51 Mustang.
Fiedler would score six aerial kills before what would become a temporary separation from the military in early 1945.
Between 1966 and 1970 Fiedler flew more than 1,000 C-130 sorties over Vietnam before retiring in 1975 as a Colonel. During his career, Fiedler was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster and the Air Medal with 21 oak leaf clusters.