
Jesus Villamor is one of the pioneer pilots for the Philippine Air Force, which was known as the Philippine Army Air Corps interwar, as a crew in the B17 as part of the US Air Force's Strategic Bombing Squadron. Upon his return to the Philippines, Villamor was assigned to lead the 6th Pursuit Squadron (now 6th Tactical Fighter Squadron) shortly before the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in December 1941. In the skies above Zablan and Batangas Fields, against Japanese Zeros, his squadron of P-26 fighters engaged the enemy. Despite the disadvantage, Villamor and his squadron was credited with four kills- one Mitsubishi G3M bomber and three Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Two of them were personally shot down by Villamor himself. For leading his squadron and for his two confirmed kills, Villamor was twice cited by the United States Army for bravery, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross for actions on December 10, 1941 and an Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a second award of the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for actions on December 12, 1941. Viillamor is the only Filipino to receive the DSC twice.