Tear Jerker / Dogfights

• Although Bud Anderson managed to survive the war, he lost two of his closest wingmates Jim and Eddy, whom he would later name his children after.
• The death of Bob Scamara's friend John in "P-51 Mustang". During a combat mission, Bob's wingman was shot down by Japanese fighters and Bob tried to save his friend by chasing off Japanese fighters. However, his efforts to save his wingmate were in vain, as John was captured and lynched. Bob admits that he would rather give back his 3 victories just for his friend to survive
• The sinking of HMS Hood in the episode "Hunt For Bismark". Even the German sailors on the Bismarck were horrified by the destruction and deaths.
• The sinking of the Yamato in "Death of the Japanese Navy" definitely counts. Helldiver pilot Francis Ferry even sheds Manly Tears when he saw the pitiful state of the ship and its crew.
• The death of Joseph Sarnoski. While bleeding out and only seconds away from death, he crawls back to his gun position to shoot down a Dinah making a head on pass. While the series does not shy away from the reality of war, Joseph in particular suffers from a Family-Unfriendly Death. The change in music for this scene does not help.
  “Joe Sarnoski, his hands slick with blood, grips the trigger of his machine gun one last time…”
• In the first battle depicted in the episode "No Room For Error", Arthur Fedler Jr. Scores his 5th victory on a BF 109 flying just above the ground. However, the panicked pilot of the 109, upon his plane getting set afire ellects to bail out just 10 feet above the ground at the top speed of his fighter. The viewers are mercifully spared the exact details of his fate, aside from seeing him bail out and a quick first person POV where his body begins bouncing as he grunts in pain. But while the viewers are spared the sight... Fedler is not. Even decades later as he recounts the experience he is still audibly haunted by the fate of the 109 pilot.
  Art Fedler: Sighs... This was not a pleasant experience to see somebody killed like that... I... I...We... We have always expected that the air to air combat is machine against machine and we don't normally get to see the blood and the guts so this was pretty much of a shock...