[2] Originally from Luverne, Minnesota,[3] Aanenson enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942 but was not called up to active duty until February 1943.

He left for Santa Ana Air Force Base for pre-flight training and then to Primary Flight School at Thunderbird Field near Phoenix, Arizona.

Aanenson then received Advanced Flight Training at Luke Field, Phoenix, Arizona, where he was commissioned a second lieutenant on January 7, 1944.

[2][4] Aanenson demonstrated exceptional courage and ability as a fighter pilot, amassing tens of kills and beating all odds to survive the early months of his tour of duty.

[5] Later in the war, he was taken out of the cockpit and embedded with advance troops, with his skills put to good use as a quick-response aircraft attack coordinator.

[2] This was later turned into a documentary video, A Fighter Pilot's Story, which Aanenson wrote, produced and narrated.

[6] The documentary reported a remarkable coincidence, in which Aanenson's P-47 was called down to assist some American troops under attack by a tank.

He surveyed the scene, then reported to the troops that the tank was too close to them for him to fire upon it without risking injury to the Americans.

[citation needed] Aanenson died from cancer at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, on December 28, 2008, aged 87.

[3] The painting Thunderbolt Patriot by William R. Farrell, now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution of the National Air and Space Museum, depicts Aanenson having just returned from a combat mission over Germany during World War II.

[citation needed] The airfield at Luverne Municipal Airport (KLYV) was named Quentin Aanenson Field in his honor.