[1][2] On January 5, 1942, Bade enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the United States Army Air Forces and on July 26, 1942, he was commissioned a second lieutenant and awarded pilot wings at Luke Field in Arizona.

On June 30, while protecting Allied ships near Rendova Island, he shot down a Nakajima E8N "Dave" floatplane, his fifth aerial victory and earned the title of flying ace.

[2] In late 1943, Bade returned to the United States where he served as an instructor pilot and later was assigned by Republic Aviation to coordinate the P-47 Thunderbolt inspection and flight test program in Evansville, Indiana.

While leading part of a fighter sweep preceding a bombing raid on hostile shipping in the Shortland-Kahili area, First Lieutenant Bade fought back desperately against intercepting Zeros which struck from behind and below.

When his crippled wingman fell off in a smoking dive, he followed him down until his own plane was tailed by four Japanese fighters whose disintegrating fire riddled his wings and fuselage and jammed his guns.

Immediately afterward, although bleeding profusely from a deep head wound, he flew to the defense of several of our bombers which had been stripped of fighter cover and were being attacked by a swarm of Zeros.

Undeterred by complete lack of fire power and suffering great pain, he put his damaged plane through a series of headlong passes with such formidable aggressiveness that the Japanese airmen broke off their fight and fled.