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MR. KENNETH O. JERNSTEDT, AVG Marine Corps aviator and AVG "Flying Tiger" Flight Leader and fighter ace: As a Flying Tiger, Mr. Jernstedt is credited with the destruction of 12.5 Japanese aircraft in the air and on the ground. Seriously wounded in aerial combat, Mr. Jernstedt was evacuated to the U.S., where after recovering from his wounds Jernstedt went to work test flying fighter aircraft for Republic Aircraft Corporation. As a test pilot, Jernstedt would fly nearly every Second World War fighter plane produced by the U.S. , however he would spend most of his time further developing Republic's P-47 Thunderbolt and the experimental XP- 72 , a highly modified version of the Thunderbolt that was one of the fastest propeller driven aircraft ever built. After the war, Jernstedt returned to his native Oregon, where he entered the commercial business world and eventually ran for public office, serving two years as a state representative and twenty years as a state senator.
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