Allegiance France Name Jean Pezon Rank Lieutenant colonel | Years of service 1915–1952 | |
Died 24 August 1980(1980-08-24) (aged 82) Unit 5 Regiment d\'Artillerie d\'Afrique, 58 Regiment d\'Artillerie d\'Afrique, 5 Groupe d\'Artillerie d\'Afrique, Escadrille 90 | ||
Service/branch Artillery; aviation | ||
Lieutenant Colonel Jean André Pezon began his military career during World War I and became a flying ace credited with ten confirmed aerial victories. He served his nation through World War II and into the Korean War.
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World War I
Pezon volunteered for military service on 4 September 1915, while he was still 17 years old. He was assigned to various artillery units until he was forwarded to Dijon for pilot's training on 27 February 1917. He moved on to Étampes on 12 March. On 22 May 1917, he was awarded Military Pilot's Brevet No. 6485. On 7 August, he was promoted to enlisted Brigadier and forwarded to Avord and Pau for advanced training.
On 1 January 1918, Pezon was assigned to Escadrille 90 as a Spad fighter pilot. On 16 March, he was promoted to Maréchal-des-logis. On 17 May 1918, he began his campaign against German aerial observers by teaming with Marius Ambrogi to destroy an enemy observation balloon near Juville. Cooperating with Ambrogi, Maurice Bizot, Charles J. V. Macé, and other French pilots, Pezon drove his score as a balloon buster to nine by 29 October 1918; he also downed a German two-seater reconnaissance plane.
Pezon's professional success paralleled his victory string. He was advanced to Adjutant on 25 June 1918. He was awarded the Médaille militaire on 5 October to add to his Croix de guerre; the text of the accompanying citation noted, "He has returned frequently from missions with his plane rendered unfit for further use by enemy fire."
Post World War I
On 22 June 1919, having been mentioned six times in dispatches, he was appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur; the citation noted that he pressed home an attack on a German troop train to "within 30 metres". On 16 August, he was commissioned a Sous lieutenant. Exactly two years later, he was promoted to Lieutenant.
He was elevated within the Légion d'honneur in 1936, becoming an Officier. The following year, on 14 July, he was promoted to Captain; it was a reserve commission.
On 25 June 1944, he was again promoted within the reserves, to Commandant. On 1 February 1952, he received his final promotion, to lieutenant colonel. The last day of 1952, the Légion d'honneur made him a Commandeur. He was also appointed an Officier in the Tunisian Ordre du Micham-Iftikhar.
When Jean Andre Pezon died on 24 August 1980, he was the last known living French ace from World War I.