Ret. Col. Walker “Bud” “Honest John” Mahurin, credited with 24.25 kills in both WWII theatres and the Korean War, passed away on May 11 at the age of 91.  Besides shooting down aircraft in three theatres, Mahurin had the dubious honor of being shot down in each one.  He escaped France with the aid of the French resistance (as did Chuck Yeager).  Yeager talked his way into continuing to fly in Europe (despite his exposure to the underground); Mahurin went to the Pacific theatre instead.  In the later conflict, Mahurin was a Korean POW for 16 months.

For those who are wondering, “honest John” may denote someone who is sincere, or one who is so trusting and innocent (read: naive) that he is easily cheated or deceived.  It would be interesting to hear how Mahurin got his callsign.

Mahurin will be interred at Arlington National Cemetary in August.  The timing likely reflects the long delays in Arlington funerals over the past few years.