Ace fighter pilot, Alden Rigby, graduated from Cadets at Spence Field, Georgia, in December, 1943. He graduated from P-51 fighter training at Bartow, Florida in April, 1944, then served as an instructor for two months before he was assigned to the 352nd Fighter Group, based at Bodney, England. He traveled across the Atlantic on the transport ship USS Mt. Vernon with no escorts. On January 1, 1945, he was one of twelve pilots who flew combat during the famous “Legend of Y-29 Mission”, in which he shot down two Me-109s and two FW-190s, becoming an Ace.