Most of you recognize this man and for those who don't it is Clarence "Bud" Anderson, WWII P-51 ace. Pictured by a P-51 painted like his old fighter.

I found out when I was in Kissimmee, FL this last April that he is the richest man in America (perhaps the world). Stunned? Well not me. In my local paper this last weekend, it listed some of the salaries of big company CEOs. Forty, fifty, even seventy million dollars a year! Aren't they richer than a pilot who grew up in Newcastle, CA. No! Surprised?

I'm not surprised because of what I witnessed during a friendly photo session in April 1999. You see, the USAF was interviewing Col. Anderson on the flightline. It was hot that day. I was standing close by taking pictures between segments of the interview thoroughly enjoying the presence of a great man. Towards the end, the interviewer asked Col. Anderson if he would tell everyone (the camera audience) how important it is to stay in school and finish your education. The question caught my attention and I was very anxious to hear his reply. Col. Anderson had been extremely helpful during the interview and all the time smiling.

The smile that reminds me of his picture during World War II. Take a look. There's a young man in the middle of a war. A war that has killed many- too many. A war that has sent young men out to fight and never return. Families forever changed. Young men forced to grow up whether they are ready to or not. A war that could take away the guy sleeping in the bunk next to you. You know the guy, the guy from Iowa. He never bothered anyone. Day in, day out, he did his duty and worked hard. When the war started he ran. He ran as fast as he could. He did not run away. He ran to sign up for service and fight for freedom, fight for his country. He washed out in flight school, but he was hell bent on flying. He went to Canada and joined up. He went through flight school - great guy. After arriving in England he was able to transfer to a USAAF fighter group. Now every day someone is shooting at him, trying to kill him. And one day they succeed. Your friend's fighter rips apart in the skies over Germany, a beautiful countryside littered with debris and death.

In the midst of all this young Bud Anderson poses for a photo and smiles like it's his high school graduation day, but it's not. It is just another day of war in a foreign country. Snow on the ground, it's cold. Fighting for your life, for your country and for people you don't even know. But why? Why did they do it? I believe it is because of the way they were taught when they were young, the way they were raised. I have always felt that men like Anderson are hard to beat. They don't make them anymore, they broke the mold. But perhaps not entirely. I have seen great young men and spent time with them. Men that remind me of the young Anderson. Two of these fine men are at West Point- brothers in more than one way. I have almost twenty years on them. I would trust them with my life.

They, and Col. Anderson, have what I believe is the finest quality known to man. Honor. This one word says a lot. A man with honor is a man you can always trust. A man that will do his duty and work to his fullest. A man whose handshake carries more meaning, more weight than any contract devised by corporate attorneys. A look in his eyes will tell you that.

Well, way back in April of 1999, in Florida, Col. Anderson assured me by his actions that he is a man of honor. Remember we were talking about the interview the USAF was doing. And when they asked Col. Anderson to give them a spot about staying in school, a very good thing to do, he wouldn't do it! The interviewer asked him to tell the camera the importance of staying in school before rushing off into life. The message they were trying to get across was something like you must finish school, stay in school and school's cool. We've heard them before and seen celebrities carrying this message. A noble message indeed.

But Col. Anderson smiled and said "I can't say that". Wow, I heard that and straightened up and leaned a little closer to Col. Anderson to hear the rest. "I can't say that because it's not true. I didn't stay in school". Now I don't know everything about Col. Anderson's career, but the point I got is that he did not finish all of his schooling before joining the military. Again, the interviewer tried to rephrase what he wanted and Col. Anderson told him that he couldn't say that because it was the same thing only reworded and it was not the truth. In the end they settled on something that was truthful and got the message across.

I sure learned something that day. There are still great men alive and well in this country today. They are still teaching us by their example. I work with Boy Scouts and this will be a story that I will tell. Now, it would have been very easy for Col. Anderson to just say what they wanted and who would have known? He would have known. He did not even think about it. That's not right, I'm not doing it -it's that simple. I could only wish that the people governing us would stop and think about that for a minute.

Money cannot buy and will not ever be able to buy honor. It is something you are taught and something you then have to earn. And if you don't earn it nobody should try to give it to you.

Today we often judge the success of others and of ourselves by the cars we drive, the planes we fly and our net worth. Well, that's a sad indication of what we think is important in life. I think that Col. Clarence "Bud" Anderson has shown us the meaning of true wealth.

Curtis Fowles

May 1999