Jon Vander/Legends

"Red Leader, This is Gold Leader. We're starting our attack run."

- Jon "Dutch" Vander

Jon "Dutch" Vander was one of the senior pilots of the Rebel Alliance. He fought in the Battle of Yavin, where he was killed by Darth Vader.

Biography
He was trained at the Imperial Academy as a fighter pilot, but during one of his missions as a TIE Bomber pilot, he discovered the true nature of the Galactic Empire's ideals. He was ordered to bomb his home planet. He simulated a failure in his Bomber and aborted the mission. He managed to escape the Imperials and joined the Rebel Alliance. Jon got the nickname "Dutch" from his Rebel friends. He became Gold Leader and was assigned to a Y-Wing, flying several campaigns for the Alliance with Gold Squadron.

During the Battle of Yavin, he was one of the first groups who flew into the Death Star trench. Dutch was point, followed by Tiree (Gold Two) and Gold Five, who formed a buffer for enemy fighters. Gold Leader chose an extremely close formation for his pilots; this is typical for the much faster TIE Fighters, but Gold Five believed this to be a mistake. As Gold leader was locking his target computer, Darth Vader shot him down, killing him instantly.

He had the emblem of the Specter Squadron on his helmet at the Battle of Yavin.

Behind the scenes

 * Vander was played by Angus MacInnes.

Appearances
Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (novel)
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Shield of Lies