Auburn’s Clarence “Bud” Anderson, whose life of flying took in dogfights over Europe in World War II and test piloting early jet fighters, is now a member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony last month in Dayton, Ohio, puts Anderson in the company of the Wright Brothers, moonwalking astronauts, legendary World War I fliers and a long list of aviation pioneers dating back more than a century.

For Anderson, the glittering night at what has come to be referred to as the Oscars of Aviation was a stellar moment in a love affair with flight that started as a farm boy near Newcastle in the 1920s.

Anderson, 86, made the trip to the July 19 ceremony from his Auburn home, joining family members for a celebration of his accomplishments that would draw a standing ovation from the ceremony’s attendees.

Anderson said the induction, with his son, Jim, placing a gold medal honoring his contributions to aviation around his neck, left him both honored and humbled.

“To be in that group is pretty humbling,” he said. “Aviation was my lifetime experience and I had an awful lot of help along the way.”

During his acceptance speech, Anderson reached back to his childhood to thank his parents, Clarence and Alice, for recognizing the passion they saw in their son and supporting his dream to fly.

In the early 1900s, Clarence Anderson had cleared land he owned about 3 miles outside Lincoln and planted peach and plum trees. “Bud” would be born in Oakland, because his grandmother’s house there was close to a hospital. But he would live all of his early years in rural Placer County.

His father must have seen a glint in Anderson’s eye when a biplane landed in a field and offered rides. The future Aviation Hall of Fame member got his first chance to soar. Through the veil of years, Anderson remembers that the money paid that day for the flight was probably an expense that would be felt in the household budget for days or weeks to come. But it was the start. He was 7.

At age 19, after graduating from Placer High School, Anderson earned his private pilot’s license through the Civilian Pilot Training Program in college. Again, it was his parents’ willingness to support his goal that helped lead him to a career in flight.

“I grew up in the Depression and it seemed there was no way I could fly but they were able to find the $9.50 for insurance that I needed to take the training program,” Anderson said.

Anderson received his wings and a commission in late 1942. He became a triple-ace while serving in Europe, flying his famous P51-D Mustang, nicknamed “Old Crow.” Five victories qualify a pilot as an ace. Anderson was credited with destroying 16¼ enemy aircraft in aerial combat and another plane on the ground.

Anderson flew 116 combat missions between November 1943 and January 1945, earning hero’s accolades and some of the highest military decorations awarded during the war. The list includes five Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, the French Legion of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre.

Anderson’s speech before a who’s who in the air world July 19 was also effusive in its praise to the people on the ground who kept him flying during 30 years of continuous military service — including 25 years in flight testing. During World War II, he flew 480 hours of combat duty and never crashed or suffered a wound.

He singled his World War II crew chief out for a perfectionist’s attitude toward the machines he worked on. Anderson noted that 91-year-old Otto Heino has achieved his own degree of fame since the war as a world-famous potter, living in Ojai, Calif.

After the war, Anderson carved out a respected, if not spectacular career as a test flight pilot and officer, rising to the rank of colonel with the Air Force. Over the years, he’s flown 130 different types of aircraft, including many of the early, experimental jet fighters.

In Southeast Asia, Anderson commanded a tactical fighter wing and flew bombing strikes against enemy supply lines. In all, he was decorated 25 times before retiring in 1972 to join McDonnell Aircraft Company as manager of the company flight test facility at Edwards Air Force Base.

Anderson retired from McDonnell in 1984 and moved from Lancaster to Auburn.

Anderson continues to fly, often joining his son, Jim, for flights in a Cessna out of Auburn Municipal Airport. His book “To Fly and Fight” has been lauded by military experts as “the finest pilot memoir of World War II.”

The accolades and honors keep coming. In his own biography, Gen. Chuck Yeager described Anderson as “the best fighter pilot I’ve ever seen.” Anderson has been inducted into the city of Lancaster’s Walk of Honor. The Commemorative Air Force organization has named him to the Combat Airmen Hall of Fame. Anderson’s battle skills in the air have even been incorporated into a video game.

Absent from the induction ceremony but not from Anderson or his family’s hearts, Eleanor Anderson — Bud’s wife of 64 years — recently moved from home to a skilled nursing facility in Auburn and was unable to attend the event.

“She’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” Anderson said.

The Journal’s Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.