Lieutenant Colonel Jean André Pezon began his military career during World War I and became a flying ace credited with ten confirmed aerial victories.
Cooperating with Ambrogi, Maurice Bizot, Charles J. V. Macé, and other French pilots, Pezon drove his score as a balloon buster to nine by 29 October 1918; he also downed a German two-seater reconnaissance plane.
He was awarded the Médaille militaire on 5 October to add to his Croix de guerre; the text of the accompanying citation noted, "He has returned frequently from missions with his plane rendered unfit for further use by enemy fire.
"[1] On 22 June 1919, having been mentioned six times in dispatches, he was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur; the citation noted that he pressed home an attack on a German troop train to "within 30 metres".
He has rendered valuable service for the army by carrying out 20 severe combats in a scout, at low altitude and with particularly favorable results.
A pilot of the first order who gained ten official victories and never ceased to distinguish himself in his Escadrille by his spirit of initiative and remarkable dash.
On 30 March 1918, he descended to within less than 30 meters of the station at Château-Salins, to strafe a train transporting enemy troops, killing 17 and wounding 28.