Top Photo: Arthur Van Haren sits atop his Vultee trainer aircraft. 

By his 25th birthday, Arthur Van Haren Jr. had survived dozens of dogfights with Japanese pilots in the Pacific theater and joined the US Navy’s elite ranks of fighter aces. Fewer than 400 Navy pilots achieved the five aerial victories required to earn the coveted title, and by war’s end, Van Haren had nine confirmed kills and three more listed as probable. Yet, for all the accolades and commendations he ultimately earned, few people at the time knew the full story of the man in the cockpit.

On paper, “Arthur Van Haren Jr.” looked like any other Navy pilot. With its crisp, Dutch syllables, the name fit comfortably into squadron rosters and officer rolls, offering no hint at a heritage that otherwise might have drawn suspicion or scorn in wartime America. Because the US military did not formally document Latino ethnicity, what got left out of the record—what went unspoken for many years—was that Van Haren may well have been the highest-scoring Mexican American ace in the entire US Armed Forces.

Van Haren was born in 1920 in the copper-mining town of Superior, Arizona, and raised in nearby Phoenix. His father, Arthur Sr., was a WWI veteran and a local athletic legend, the son of a Dutch immigrant and Dolores Granillo, who had come from the Mexican state of Sonora. Van Haren Jr.’s mother, Rose Valenzuela, was also a first-generation Mexican American, born and raised in Arizona. Together, these ancestral ties placed Van Haren within a long-established community of pioneering Mexican American families that helped shape the early history and culture of the American Southwest, even as they faced persistent discrimination and exclusion from the very society they helped build.

In Depression-era Phoenix, skin tone and last names could shape lives. They often determined where families lived, worked, or sent their kids to school. Restrictive housing covenants kept entire neighborhoods off-limits to nonwhite residents, and for many Mexican Americans, discrimination was a daily undercurrent of life. A little European ancestry and a Dutch surname, however, could go a long way in opening doors that others in the community frequently found shut. “Van Haren” could pass without comment where “Granillo” or “Valenzuela” might not.

But Van Haren didn’t rely on names alone. Driven, disciplined, and talented, he stood out wherever he went. At Phoenix Union High School, he earned All-State honors as both a quarterback and a catcher. The New York Yankees even took notice, offering Van Haren a shot at the big leagues, but an ill-timed football injury dashed his dreams of playing professional baseball. He went on to attend the University of Arizona on an athletic scholarship, joined the ROTC and, in the summer of 1941, enlisted in the US Navy’s aviation program as war loomed on the horizon.

Van Haren completed pre-flight training in Long Beach, California, where he met Los Angeles native and model Elizabeth Yates. The two married in the spring of 1942, just weeks after Van Haren earned his wings and commission in Jacksonville, Florida. He spent the next year as a flight instructor, training new pilots while raising a young family. Then, the seasoned instructor prepared to deploy to the Pacific.

Arthur Van Haren Jr. in uniform. 

Van Haren joined Fighting Squadron Two (VF-2), nicknamed the “Rippers,” a unit that developed a reputation for its aggressive tactics and high kill counts. It was a perfect fit for a standout like him. Flying the newly introduced F6F Hellcat, Van Haren and his squadron deployed aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) in late 1943. Their first combat came during Operation Galvanic, flying repeated sorties over Makin Atoll in support of US landings in the Gilbert Islands. From there, Van Haren took part in strikes across the Marshalls, Marianas, and Bonin Islands. 

A combat record of Fighting Squadron Two’s time in the Pacific shows the unit’s exceptional performance. 

Despite the physical demands of aerial combat, Van Haren flew with a medical condition that made high-altitude breathing more difficult. The oxygen-starved environments of the upper atmosphere could leave him dangerously fatigued, but he soon proved that he could still keep up with the best of his fellow fliers. On June 11, 1944, launching from the USS Hornet (CV-12), Van Haren scored his first confirmed kills, shooting down two Mitsubishi Zeros and earning his first Distinguished Flying Cross. 
Just eight days later, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Van Haren intercepted and destroyed a Japanese scout plane before it could report the fleet’s position. That same day, he led a strike against a formation of enemy fighters, accounting for two of his group’s five kills. Van Haren’s performance in that engagement helped secure a crushing American victory in what US fliers later dubbed the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” and earned him an Air Medal in the process. 

Van Haren flies his Grumman F6F Hellcat, numbered 32

Roughly two weeks later, on July 3, 1944, Van Haren added three more kills to his record during a mission near the Kazan Islands. Outnumbered and at an altitude disadvantage while protecting a bombing run, he engaged in steep dives and prolonged dogfights that tested his limits. His skillful flying and combat prowess that day earned him a Gold Star for his Distinguished Flying Cross and cemented his reputation as one of VF-2’s top fliers.

Van Haren’s final combat decoration came for a mission on September 12, 1944, in the vicinity of the Philippines. As the leader of a division of escort fighters protecting US bombers, Van Haren intercepted a cluster of Japanese fighters and personally destroyed one of the attackers. His quick response and precise leadership helped preserve the mission and earned him a second Air Medal. 

An October 1944 issue of LIFE magazine called VF-2 the “hottest fighter squadron in the Pacific.” Van Haren is pictured in the center. Gift of Tom Hermreck, 2002.417.001

After the war, Van Haren returned to Arizona and shifted his focus from combat to community. Using his GI Bill benefits, he completed his schooling and earned his law degree in 1948, later establishing a private practice in Phoenix, where he became a pillar of service. Though he rarely spoke about his wartime exploits, Van Haren showed the same selflessness and sense of responsibility that he did in the Pacific, often providing legal assistance to those in need at little to no cost. 

Today, Arthur Van Haren Jr. is widely recognized as Arizona’s top Navy fighter-pilot ace, and perhaps as the highest-scoring Hispanic American ace of World War II. His life and service underscore a broader truth—because Mexican American servicemembers were not segregated into separate military units like other ethnic and racial minorities, their contributions to the war effort were often absorbed into the collective record.  

Twenty years after Van Haren’s death in 1992, he became the first Latino flier inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame. That posthumous tribute helped to shine new light on a story that for a long time had flown under the radar. He may not have sought the spotlight, but his story stands out just the same. Van Haren was a decorated combat ace, devoted family man, and trusted advocate in his community. And while his Dutch surname may have allowed the other half of his heritage to go unnoticed in official records, his achievements make clear the vital role that Mexican American servicemembers played in World War II. 

Van Haren’s name may have blended in, but his service stood out.