Podpolkovnik (Lt. Col.) Ivan Kozhedub, flying a Lavochkin La-7 fighter, shoots down two Focke-Wulf FW-190s near Berlin. Already the Soviet Union’s all-time leading ace, these two “kills” push his victory total to sixty-two. He made 520 combat sorties during the war. Later promoted, Marshal (General) Kozhedub was three times named Hero of the Soviet Union.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3