Van Edgar Chandler (March 5, 1925 – March 11, 1998) was an American military officer and flying ace who was credited in destroying five enemy aircraft in aerial combat during World War II, becoming the youngest flying ace in the United States Armed Forces.

[2] In February 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces but was initially rejected due to his young age.

While flying a mission one week after his arrival in England, Chandler's P-51 suffered a malfunction and he had to bail out over Germany.

[3][4] After returning to his unit, he scored his first aerial victory on September 12, when he shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 over Wiesbaden, Germany.

During the war, he was credited in shooting down three Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s while flying the F-86 Sabre, bringing his total aerial victories to eight.

[4][2] After attending Air War College from August 1968 to August 1969, Chandler was assigned as Deputy Commander for Operations of the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Tuy Hoa Air Base in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.