George A. Vaughn Jr.; World War I Ace

Retired Gen. George A. Vaughn Jr., a decorated World War I flying ace who shot down 13 enemy planes and one balloon and later founded the New York Air National Guard, has died. He was 92.

Vaughn, of Staten Island, died Monday at New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center in Manhattan.

He received the British Distinguished Flying Cross, the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, the Silver Star and two citations in recognition of his combat record.

Vaughn left Princeton University to join the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps. He was sent to England, where he trained with the Royal Air Force.

In 1918, with only 90 hours of in-flight training, he encountered a German fighter plane on his first day of action and shot it down.

Vaughn was shot down twice during the war but escaped uninjured.

On graduating from Princeton in 1920, Vaughn joined Western Electric Co. as a research engineer. He became a sales engineer and aviation representative for Westinghouse in 1922. In 1928, he organized Eastern Aeronautical Corp. and became its president.