Capt Clarence Spence piloted a Lockheed P-38 Lightning twin-engine fighter plane, named "Arlene Jane" after his wife. In 1945 he flew with the famous 339th Fighter Squadron in the South Pacific -- credited with shooting down General Yamamoto, planner of the invasion of Pearl Harbor.

In the summer of 1945 at Balikpapan he was shot down during a split-second, low flying strafing mission. With searchlights on him he bailed out and a Navy seaplane picked him up without a scratch. He flew until the end of the war.

Spence was proud to have flown the best -- the P-38. He passed away 21 July 2002.