George Schwartz Welch (May 10, 1918 – October 12, 1954) was a World War II flying ace, a Medal of Honor nominee, and an experimental aircraft pilot after the war. Welch is best known for having been one of the few United States Army Air Corps fighter pilots able to get airborne to engage Japanese forces in the attack on Pearl Harbor and for his work as a test pilot. Welch resigned from the United States Army Air Forces as a major in 1944, and became a test pilot for North American Aviation. Early life George Schwartz Welch was born George Lewis Schwartz, Jr. to George Lewis Schwartz, Sr. (November 15, 1887 – May 30, 1972) and Julia Ann Welch (April 29, 1891 – May 21, 1974), but his parents changed his name to avoid the anti-German sentiment that stemmed from World War I. His father was a senior research chemist for Dupont Experimental Test Station at Wilmington, Delaware. He had a younger brother named Dehn Schwartz Welch (March 31, 1920 – November 1, 1999) who served with the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1945. He attended St. Andrew's School (1936). He completed three years of a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue University, before joining the Army Air Corps in 1939. While attending Purdue, he was initiated as a brother of Delta Upsilon. USAAC flight training schools that he attended included: Brooks Field, Kelly Field and Randolph Field in San Antonio, Texas, as well as Hamilton Field in Novato, California. World War II After receiving his wings and commission in January 1941, Welch was posted to the 47th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group, at Wheeler Field, Oahu, Hawaii in February 1941. At dawn on December 7, 1941, 2nd Lieutenant Welch and another pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Kenneth M. Taylor, were coming back from a Christmas dinner and dance party at a rooftop hotel in Waikiki, that ended in an all-night poker game. They were still wearing mess dress when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Welch telephoned the auxiliary Haleiwa Fighter Strip on Oahu's North Shore to have two Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk fighters prepared for takeoff. Taylor immediately drove his Buick at high speed to Haleiwa to join the air battle. While climbing into their P-40s, the crew chiefs informed them that they should disperse their planes. "To hell with that", Welch said. Taking off with only .30-cal ammunition in the wing