Which World War II flying ace was Kenneth Marlar Taylor friend 
George Welch
Kenneth M. Taylor
Kenneth Marlar Taylor (December 23, 1919 – November 25, 2006) was a new United States Army Air Corps Second Lieutenant pilot stationed at Wheeler Field during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.
 Along with his fellow pilot and friend George Welch, he managed to get a fighter plane airborne under fire.
 Taylor claimed to have shot down four Japanese dive bombers but only two were confirmed.
 Taylor was injured during the incident and received several awards for his efforts, including the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart.
George Welch (pilot)
George 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 being 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.
Donald N. Aldrich
Donald Nathan Aldrich (24 October 1917 – 3 May 1947) was a United States Marine Corps Reserve captain and World War II flying ace.
 With 20 victories, Aldrich was the fifth-highest-scoring Marine Corps ace of the war.
 He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force after the United States Army Air Corps refused him because he was married.
 Aldrich became an instructor pilot and transferred to the United States Marine Corps in late 1942.
 He joined VMF-215 in the Solomon Islands campaign in June 1943, flying the Vought F4U Corsair.
 Aldrich added to his 20 victories in three combat tours with six probables, the highest total number of probables in the Marine Corps.
 Postwar, Aldrich continued to serve in the Marine Corps and was killed in a 1947 plane crash. Robert B. Westbrook (pilot)
Robert Burdette Westbrook (9 November 1917 – 22 November 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces lieutenant colonel and a World War II flying ace.
 Westbrook, a member of the California National Guard before World War II, completed flight training in 1942, and was sent to the South Pacific with the 44th Fighter Squadron, which he later commanded.
 Westbrook gained his first victories while flying the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and in late 1943 began flying the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
 After scoring his fourteenth victory, Westbrook was sent back to the continental United States on leave in spring 1944, returning as aide to the commander of the Thirteenth Air Force.
 In late summer he became deputy commander of the 347th Fighter Group.
 With 20 victories, Westbrook became the Thirteenth Air Force's highest scoring ace.
 He was killed in November 1944 while strafing a Japanese gunboat. Władysław Gnyś
Władysław Gnyś (24 August 1910 – 28 February 2000) was a Polish pilot of the Polish Air Force, a World War II flying ace and the first Polish victor in aerial combat in World War II.
 He briefly served as the commander of No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron; he was shot down on his first mission over France on August 27, 1944. William J. Cullerton
William J. "Bill" Cullerton Sr. (January 1, 1923 – January 12, 2013) was an American World War II flying ace, entrepreneur, radio show host, and outdoorsman.
 Cullerton destroyed twenty-one Axis planes during the war, including sixteen destroyed in low-altitude attacks on the ground, ranking him as the second highest strafing ace in the 355th Fighter Group.
 He was the last surviving ace of the 355th Fighter Group ("Dragon Squadron"), which flew missions out of Steeple Morden, England, during World War II. Ira C. Kepford
Ira Cassius Kepford (May 29, 1919 – January 19, 1987) was a World War II flying ace who served with a land-based unit of the United States Navy.
 In 76 days of combat flying with the VF-17 "Jolly Rogers," he was credited with shooting down 16 enemy aircraft.
 At the close of his combat service in April 1944, Kepford was the Navy's leading ace. Herschel Green
Herschel "Herky" Green (July 3, 1920 – August 16, 2006) was a World War II flying ace in the United States Army Air Forces.
 Green was the leading ace of the Fifteenth Air Force, shooting down 18 enemy aircraft and destroying 10 more on the ground. Noel Gayler
Noel Arthur Meredyth Gayler ( ; December 25, 1914 – July 14, 2011) was an admiral in the United States Navy, who served as the sixth Director of the National Security Agency from 1969 to 1972, and ninth Commander of Pacific Command from 1972 to 1976.
 Gayler was awarded three Navy Cross medals as a World War II flying ace and is credited with five aerial victories while flying for VF-2 and VF-3.
 Gayler was an ardent advocate for nuclear disarmament. John J. Voll
John James Voll (May 3, 1922 – September 12, 1987) was a career officer in the United States Air Force and a World War II flying ace.
 He flew P-51 Mustangs with the 308th Fighter Squadron of the 31st Fighter Group.
 He was the third highest scoring P-51 Mustang ace of the war, and the top USAAF ace of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fifteenth Air Force, with 21 aerial victories.