William Thomas Whisner Jr. (October 17, 1923 – July 21, 1989) was a career officer and pilot in the United States Air Force, retiring as a colonel with 30 years of military service.

[1] Immediately upon graduating from high school, Whisner applied for the United States Army Air Forces cadet program, being accepted and began his training on 8 April 1942.

[1] Whisner's first assignment in the Air Corps was sent to Westover Field in Springfield, Massachusetts, for operational training, where he learned to fly the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft.

Throughout the summer, Whisner and his fellow aviators were occupied in training flights over England, where they acclimated to flying in unfamiliar weather.

[1] In late January 1944, the US Army Air Corps adapted a new strategy for P-47s to escort bombing runs as they returned from their missions.

As the Fw 190 attempted to dive behind a bank of clouds, Whisner struck it with three bursts from his machine gun, and it descended to 800 feet (240 m) before its pilot bailed out.

[3] In May, Whisner and the group continued aggressive bombing missions, and while he was unable to get any aerial victories, he was credited with destroying several ground targets.

The pilot was extremely skilled, but Whisner managed to strike the Fw 190 with six bursts of machine gun fire, destroying the aircraft.

Following Operation Overlord, Whisner conducted bombing and strafing missions in close air support of ground forces.

[5][6] His score later was revised by the Air Force Historical Research Agency to six destroyed, making that day one of the best for any USAAF pilot in the skies over Europe.

On New Year's Day 1945, Whisner was one of 12 Mustang pilots led by Meyer that had started their takeoff roll when a large formation of Fw 190s and Bf 109s hit the field.

In the ensuing battle, fought at low altitude and before the 487th Fighter Squadron pilots had time to form up, Whisner shot down a Fw 190, then was hit by 20 mm fire.

[8] With his windshield and canopy covered by oil and one aileron damaged, Whisner stayed in the fight, shooting down one more Fw 190 and two Bf 109s.

He was awarded a second Distinguished Service Cross for that day's work—one of only 14 USAAF men to be so honored in World War II.

Gabreski and a fellow former 56th Fighter Group pilot, Colonel Walker M. Mahurin and Whisner planned and executed a mission in early 1952 in which the F-86s turned off their IFF equipment and overflew two Chinese bases.

Whisner trailed the MiG deep into Manchuria trying to confirm Gabreski's kill, but his Sabre ran low on fuel.

[9] The others, George Andrew Davis Jr., Gabby Gabreski, Vermont Garrison, Harrison Thyng, and James P. Hagerstrom, are all Air Force pilots, as well as John F. Bolt of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Whisner also competed in air races, and in 1953, while a Major, he won the 1,900-mile Bendix Trophy Race, flying an F-86F Sabre jet from Edwards Air Force Base in California to Dayton, Ohio, in what was then a record time of 3 hours 5 minutes and 45 seconds, for an average speed of 603.5 miles an hour.

His score later was revised by the Air Force Historical Research Center to six destroyed, making that day one of the best for any USAAF pilot in the skies over Europe.

On this date, as his plane left the ground, Captain Whisner observed 30 hostile fighters preparing to strafe the field.

Disregarding the enemy's great superiority in numbers and position, and without waiting to form up with his flight, Captain Whisner attacked alone.

The extraordinary heroism and determination to destroy the enemy displayed by Captain Whisner on this occasion reflect highest credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States.

[15] The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting a Second Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Third Award of the Distinguished Service Cross to Major William T. Whisner Jr., United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as a Pilot with the 25th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, Fifth Air Force, in action against enemy forces in the Republic of Korea on 23 February 1952.

As Major Whisner bore in to deter the enemy action, another MiG-15 swept down on his tail and began lobbing shells at his aircraft.

In spite of the imminent danger of losing his own life, Major Whisner continued to force the first MiG-15 to break away, and, in the face of overwhelming odds, destroyed the enemy aircraft.

The downed MIG-15 raised Major Whisner's record of enemy aircraft destruction to five and one-half and established him as the seventh jet ace of the Korean campaign.