Ken Jernstedt, Flying Tigers

American Volunteer Group Flying Tiger Flight Leader and Ace: living

A Marine pilot, who joined Claire Chenault’s Flying Tigers in China, Ken Jernstedt became the American Volunteer Group’s fifth-ranking ace, destroying more than 10 Japanese aircraft. Jernstedt joined the
Marine Air Corps in 1939, receiving his Navy wings in 1940. He became a Flight Leader for the legendary Flying Tigers after training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His “Hells Angels” squadron was among the first in action after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Before going into basic training he wanted to make sure he would like flying, so he took his first flight from the old Swan Island Airport in Portland, Oregon, in a small, two-seat airplane. Jernstedt said, “From that point on I was hooked on flying!” After World War II, he returned to Oregon making a home in Hood River where he ran a successful bottling company and began a political career that lasted 40 years. Beginning as a city councilman in 1951, he became Hood River’s Mayor in 1959. Jernstedt moved to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1966, and then served five terms in the Oregon Senate. He returned to Hood River as Mayor in 1989 and retired from politics in 1991. Due to glaucoma, his vision eventually deteriorated, and his guide dog, Driscoll, entered his life. Jernstedt received the Distinguished Flying Cross in October 1996 and in June of 2001 the Port of Hood River formally changed the name of the Hood River Airport to Ken Jernstedt Airport in his honor.

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