Legendary WWII pilot defeated German and Japanese foes: Ace played role when San Diego became naval aviation "center of universe"

Dean “Diz” Laird is a legend, the only known U.S. Navy ace to shoot down both German and Japanese planes during World War II. Despite close calls — once, his shot-up plane skidded across an aircraft carrier’s flight deck — Diz possessed a fighter pilot’s essential attribute: Supreme self-confidence.
 
“It never entered my mind that I would ever get shot down,” he said. “I thought I was too good.”

Now a Coronado resident, this Northern California native was a bit player in global drama. He saw the transformation of the Navy and its tactics, a transformation that also changed the service’s key West Coast port.

“In World War II, the aircraft carrier rapidly emerged as the dominant ship type,” noted Karl Zingheim, staff historian at the Midway Museum. “And San Diego was the center of the universe for U.S. naval aviation.”

San Diego retains that role. While World War II ended nearly 70 years ago and its veterans now account for only three out of every 1,000 San Diego County residents, we live in a region Laird helped shape. The pilot witnessed the expansion of North Island and Miramar. He saw the founding of two local groups honoring military fliers, the Distinguished Flying Cross Society and the Tailhook Association. And this ace is among the thousands who initially viewed San Diego as a duty station and eventually saw it as home.

Laird, 91, remembers it all: Air-to-air combat, storms at sea, the sudden deaths of comrades. What he doesn’t remember is being frightened.

“I had complete faith in my ability,” he said.

Story and photo:  http://www.nctimes.com