Bruce Hinton

San Antonio, TX

Bruce Hinton

June 30, 1919 - June 27, 2009

Bruce Hinton (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) who piloted the first American F-86A Sabre Jet to victory over a Russian MiG-15 in the Korean War died June 27, 2009, in San Antonio, Texas.

The battle is memorialized on the Smithsonian Institution's National Aviation and Space Exploration Wall of Honor, Washington, D.C.

A History Channel documentary titled "Battle Stations: F-86 Sabre Jet Strike" features the famous dogfight and a conversation with Colonel Hinton.

Born in Calistoga, California, June 30, 1919, he graduated from Stockton High School in 1936 and Modesto Junior College in 1939 (General Engineering). He joined the Army Air Corps in 1940, trained at Randolph Field. Texas. The Colonel served continuously from 1940 to 1965.

In 1954 Colonel Hinton was group commander of the newly formed Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Colonel retired in 1965 and worked for Hughes Aircraft Company's Missile Systems Group in California until 1988.

In 2005 he and his wife moved from Henderson, Nevada, to the Army Residence Community in San Antonio, Texas, where he died from complications of dementia. He was 89.

He is survived by his wife Jenny Hinton; daughters: Sally Ennis, Kim Hinton and Laurel Hinton; four grandchildren: John, Colin and Ryan Ennis and Katie Kaufman; two great grandchildren, Rianna and Maiya Ennis; a sister, Lillian Bennett (Richard); a brother Bob Hinton, 3 nieces and a nephew.

A memorial service was held on August 4, 2009.