Not that the "where" is that important, but interesting-
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/world ... lbert.htmlMarcel Albert, Air Ace of France in World War II, Dies at 92
By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
Published: August 25, 2010
Marcel Albert, who became one of the leading French fighter pilots of World War II, flying Soviet-built planes in duels with German aircraft on the Eastern front, died Monday in Harlingen, Tex. He was 92.
His death, at a nursing home, was announced by France’s Order of the Liberation, founded by Gen. Charles de Gaulle during the war. The cause was complications of cancer, his nephew Jean Mavinger told The Associated Press in Paris.
Mr. Albert was among four pilots of the Free French’s Normandie-Niémen fighter unit to be decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union, receiving the citation in 1944. Flying Yakovlev fighter planes — known as Yaks — in combat alongside Soviet pilots, he took part in shooting down 24 German planes, according to the Order of the Liberation.
Created by de Gaulle in 1942 to help repel Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Normandie-Niémen unit was composed of nearly 100 French fighter pilots, almost half of whom were killed in action. According to the Normandie-Niémen Museum in Les Andelys, France, its pilots flew 5,240 missions and shot down at least 273 German planes.
Mr. Albert was born in Paris on Nov. 25, 1917. He was a mechanic with the Renault auto works before joining the French Air Force in 1938. He fought as a fighter pilot during Germany’s invasion of France in May 1940, shooting down two German planes on a single day; he later flew in combat out of England.
He left military service in 1948 and came to the United States, where he opened a chain of hotels.
Mr. Albert and his wife, who died last year, had no children. He is survived by a sister.
In November 2009, France’s ambassador to the United States, Pierre Vimont, went to Harlingen to present Mr. Albert with a medal recognizing him as a grand officer in the Order of the Legion of Honor.
And just three months ago, Mr. Albert found that the Russians, too, had not forgotten his exploits in the skies over the Soviet Union and eastern Germany. He received a visit from Russia’s consul general in Houston, Nicolay Y. Babich, who presented him with a commemorative medal struck for the 65th anniversary of World War II’s end in Europe. Mr. Babich also took a bottle of vodka as a gift from the Russian people.
At that time, Mr. Albert commented on how the sacrifices of wartime had proved their worth.
“The world isn’t in trouble at all,” he was quoted as saying by The Valley Morning Star of Harlingen. “The world has already been stable for over 50 years.”
But Mr. Mavinger said his uncle rarely spoke of his wartime experiences.
As Mr. Mavinger told The A.P., “All his friends died in Russia.”
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