Despite his family’s political clout and wealth, George H.W. Bush deferred his college education following the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. He enlisted in the Navy upon graduation from Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. He was only 18 years old. “I wanted to go fight for my country. And I decided that I wanted to go into naval aviation. And so, I signed up,” Bush once told CNN. Earning his wings before his 19th birthday, he was the youngest Navy fighter pilot. But the job nearly cost him his life.