COL WILLIAM L. LEVERETTE, United States Army. On October 9, 1943, as commander of the 37th Fighter Squadron, he led seven P-38s on a mission to protect Royal Navy warships in the Mediterranean. When he sighted a formation of 30 German Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers, he sent three of his fighters to fly top cover while he and the other three closed on the Stukas which had a gunner manning a flexible machine gun plus two wing-mounted guns. Leverette took out seven of the Stukas while his unit shot down another nine, plus a Ju-88. The rest either headed for home or ended up in the sea.