Pilot training During the summer between his junior and senior years in college, Vraciu participated in the
Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) at
Muncie, Indiana, where he received a private pilot's license. On October 9, 1941, he enlisted as a
naval aviator in the
U.S. Navy Reserve. He reported to
Glenview Naval Air Station in suburban Chicago for preliminary training as a pilot, and received additional pilot training at
Dallas and
Corpus Christi, Texas, in early 1942, and in
San Diego,
California, in 1943. Vraciu was designated as a
naval aviator and commissioned as a Naval Reserve
ensign in August 1942, and promoted at the end of March 1943. While a cadet at NAS Corpus Christi in 1942, Vraciu had heard
Lieutenant Commander Edward "Butch" O'Hare, the
U.S. Navy's first
ace, speak to the cadets. Now he heard that O'Hare was reforming
Fighting Squadron 3 (VF-3) in San Diego, and by the flip of a coin, he got orders to report to VF-3. The squadron completed their carrier qualification (CQ) and catapult launches in their new F6F-3 Hellcats on board the
escort carrier by early June when Air Group Six was ordered to Hawaii. On June 14, the squadron boarded escort carrier , arriving at
Pearl Harbor on the morning of June 22. By that afternoon, O'Hare had led his first 18 Hellcats to
Pu'unene Naval Air Station on
Maui. O'Hare chose Vraciu as his wingman and gave him valuable advice regarding air combat tactics. On July 15, all Air Group Six squadrons were renumbered with the number 6.
World War II service on June 5, 1944 "Judies". Vraciu's first air-to air combat took place over
Wake Island in October 1943, flying from the light aircraft carrier . Vraciu scored his first victory on October 5, 1943, when he and O'Hare encountered an enemy formation. O'Hare flew below the clouds to find a Japanese
Mitsubishi Zero and Vraciu lost sight of him. Vraciu followed a second Zero to Wake Island, where it landed, and
strafed the Zero on the ground. Vraciu also destroyed his first
Mitsubishi G4M ("Betty") bomber while it was parked on the runway. During a mission in the
Gilbert Islands (Makin and Tarawa atolls) on November 20, 1943, Vraciu downed a Betty bomber. (During his earlier training with O'Hare, Vraciu had learned to use the high side pass
maneuver when attacking a Betty to avoid the lethal
20mm cannon wielded by its tail gunner.) After USS
Independence was damaged in fighting with the Japanese, Vraciu's squadron transferred to , and by the end of January 1944 the men were aboard . The ship's nickname of "The Evil I" because of its reputation for bad luck did not affect Vraciu's combat success; he began downing Japanese aircraft in multiples. On January 29, 1944, Vraciu shot down three Betty bombers, bringing his total number of downed enemy planes to five, achieving status as an ace. On February 17 he shot down four Japanese fighters over
Truk Atoll. With nine victories, he became and remained VF-6's leading ace of the war. When USS
Intrepid returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs in February 1944, Vraciu had an opportunity to rotate back to the United States, but he preferred to stay in the
Pacific and requested additional combat duty. He joined
VF-16 aboard on February 27, 1944. Vraciu's most successful day as an aviator occurred on June 19, 1944, during the First
Battle of the Philippine Sea, also known as the "Great
Marianas Turkey Shoot." Despite a malfunctioning
supercharger, he intercepted a formation of Japanese
dive bombers and destroyed six in a period of eight minutes. After Vraciu landed, the
ordnancemen on
Lexington discovered that he had used only 360 rounds of ammunition. (On average, each of the six kills followed a burst lasting less than five seconds.) On June 20, 1944, while escorting bombers in an attack on the Japanese
Mobile Fleet (
Kido Butai), Vraciu downed his nineteenth plane, making him the leading U.S. Navy ace, although he held that title for only four months. Vraciu was nominated for the
Medal of Honor for his actions at the First Battle of the Philippine Sea; however, when the nomination reached the desk of
Admiral George D. Murray at Pacific Fleet Headquarters in Hawaii, it was downgraded to a
Navy Cross. Vraciu returned to the United States on leave in August 1944, and was promoted to a lieutenant upon his return to San Diego, California. Until he received orders for a new combat assignment, Vraciu made public appearances to promote the U.S. Navy in the United States. Vraciu returned to combat in the Pacific in late 1944, flying
Grumman F6F Hellcats in
VF-20. On December 14, 1944, after two missions with VF-20, his plane was downed by
anti-aircraft fire during a mission over the
Philippines. Vraciu parachuted from his plane, landing in the Tarlac province of Luzon. He was rescued by
Filipino resistance fighters, who appointed him a brevet major in command of a guerrilla unit. After spending five weeks with the guerrilla fighters, Vraciu rejoined American military forces and returned to USS
Lexington. He spent the last few months of the war serving at the Naval Air Test Center in
Patuxent, Maryland. Vraciu ended the war as the U.S. Navy's fourth highest ranking ace, credited with downing a total of nineteen enemy aircraft and destroying twenty-one on the ground.
Post war service Following World War II, Vraciu was promoted to lieutenant commander and spent six years as a
test pilot. He was instrumental in forming the post-war Naval and Marine Air Reserve program. After staff assignments with the U.S. Navy in
Washington, D.C., Vraciu became a jet training officer at
Los Alamitos Naval Air Station in
Orange County, California, and attended the Naval Post-Graduate School at
Monterey, California. Promoted to
commander, Vraciu led his own fighter squadron,
VF-51, for twenty-two months, from 1956 to 1958, and won the individual gunnery championship at the U.S. Navy's Air Weapons Meet at
El Centro, California, in 1957. Vraciu officially retired from the U. S. Navy on December 31, 1963, while serving as the public information officer at the
Alameda Naval Air Station in
Alameda, California. ==Later years==