Jon Vander

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

- Dutch Vander

Jon "Dutch" Vander was a male human pilot from Onderon who first served in the Galactic Empire's Imperial Navy before defecting to the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War. Serving as the leader of Gold Squadron, a group of BTL Y-wing light bombers, he fought with his squadron in the battles of Scarif and Yavin, and he would be killed in the latter by Darth Vader while attempting a trench run on the Death Star.

Early life
A male human from the planet Onderon, Jon Vander was an Imperial pilot who defected to the Rebel Alliance when he refused to bomb pro-rebel areas on his homeworld.

Battle of Scarif
By 0 BBY, Vander had been promoted to leader of Gold Squadron, flying BTL Y-wing light bombers. Stationed at the Alliance's secret Base One on Yavin 4, the moon of Yavin, Vander and Gold Squadron would accompany Admiral Raddus in his support of the Rogue One team in their attempt to steal the technical readouts of the planet-destroying Death Star battle station. Assisting in the space battle as Raddus' fleet attacked the Shield Gate, Vander and Gold Squadron, along with Blue and Red Squadrons continued the fight until the plans were successfully transmitted to Raddus' flagship, and eventually, the Tantive IV

Battle of Yavin
"Loosen up!"

- Vander's last words before his death

Vander would live to survive Scarif, and would return to Yavin 4. After the plans were returned by the Millennium Falcon, Alliance High Command was able to pinpoint the weakness in the plans, a small thermal exhaust port leading directly to the main reactor, and decided that their best chance to exploit it would be through small starfighters, using proton torpedoes to target the shaft. Vander attended General Jan Dodonna's pre-flight briefing as the Death Star approached to destroy the base. He interrupted Dodonna by asking "Pardon me for asking, sir, but what good are snub-fighters going to be against that?" and then later gave Princess Leia a look of concern when Dodonna mentioned that the exhaust port was only two meters wide.

During the battle, three of Gold Squadron's Y-wings made up the first group that would fly into the Death Star's meridian trench. Vander was on point, followed by Davish "Pops" Krail (Gold Five) and fellow Onderonian Dex Tiree (Gold Two), who formed a buffer against enemy fighters. As Tiree was locking his targeting computer, he was shot down by Darth Vader's TIE Advanced x1. This caused Vander to panic as he couldn't maneuver; Krail tried to keep him calm but to no avail. A second later Vader fired into Vander's Y-wing, killing him instantly.

Appearances

 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * Star Wars: The Original Trilogy: A Graphic Novel