Confident Combatant Col. Joseph Peterburs downs a Luftwaffe top ace

Dan Martin flies over the San Jose, California landscape in his beautifully restored P-51D Mustang “Ridge Runner.” This late war model saw combat with the 356th Fighter Squadron in Europe and is similar to the P-51D flown by ace Col. Joseph Peterburs of the 20th Fighter Group’s 55th Fighter Squadron. This warbird would later compete in the Reno Races “Super Stocker” class and was able to clock lap times in excess of 450mph! (Photo by John Dibbs/Facebook.com/theplanepicturecompany)

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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...

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