Phoenix resident Eric Halvorson set out on a mission to memorialize his grandfather after learning how the trailblazing World War II fighter pilot suffered at home after facing deadly combat.
Lt. Arthur Van Haren Jr., of Phoenix, shot down nine Japanese enemy planes as part of the aggressive U.S. Naval Aviation Fighting Squadron Two, also known as the VF2. These feats exceeded the qualifying five kills to earn him the elite rank of fighter ace — a rarity during that war for someone of Latino heritage like Van Haren.
His family regularly shared this account of the family patriarch’s valor…