Robert Neale (pilot)
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A Seattle resident, Robert Neale was a U.S. Navy dive-bomber pilot on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga when he joined the American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force in the summer of 1941.
He took over the AVG's 1st Squadron Adam & Eves after its commander Robert Sandy Sandell was killed, and was decorated by the British Government (Distinguished Service Order) for his exploits in the defense of Burma. Neale was one of the AVG pilots who volunteered two weeks' additional service in China after the group was disbanded; during that interim, he commanded the U.S. Army's 23rd Fighter Group--as a civilian--pending the arrival of the designated commander, Colonel Robert Scott.
After returning to the U.S., he served as a civilian transport or ferry pilot for Pan American World Airways. The AVG records credit him with 13 air-to-air victories, making him its top-scoring ace.
