P-47 Thunderbolt, photo USAFFred Christensen was an ace pilot in World War II. He always flew his P-47 Thunderbolt with a stray black cat he found named Sinbad. Every time he returned from a mission carrying the cat in his arms, it would cheer and encourage the other pilots.

Some believe he was the last living WWII flying ace. Christensen, 84, died this week but lived a great and heroic life. He didn’t want to be known as a hero, but he was always happy to talk to groups of people, especially children, to let them know that wars are not always good things. While studying at MIT and Harvard, he "joined the military after Germany invaded Norway, where his ancestors were from, and his extended family lived," reports the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

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