During World War II, Gerald Tyler became a U.S. Army Air Forces ACE, credited with shooting down 7 enemy aircraft in aerial combat. After the war he transferred to the new U.S. Air Force, and retired in 1962 as a Lieutenant Colonel. In 1968 he was awarded the Italian Olympic Gold Medal for flying a turbo-prop-powered version of the P-51 Mustang non-stop across the North Atlantic from Gander, Newfoundland to Shannon, Ireland.