After the battle of Yavin, Luke Skywalker gained notoriety as the pilot who destroyed the Death Star
But there were 13 other pilots that joined him in the attack, most of whom gave their lives
Today, we'll be talking about the unsung heroes of the battle of Yavin, the members of Red and Gold Squadrons
Red Leader was Garven Dreis
He was from the planet Virujansi
where he served alongside Antoc Merrick as part of the Rarified Air Cavalry
Until they fell under the control of the Galactic Empire
They were offered positions in the Imperial Navy but both he and Merrick joined the Rebel alliance instead
Dreis took part in the Battle of Scarif where he first saw the Death Star
Shortly after, he participated in the Battle of Yavin where he was shot down by Darth Vader
Red Two was Wedge Antilles who I would hardly consider an unsung hero,
but we're still going to cover him
He was once an Imperial pilot that defected about two years before the Battle of Yavin
He did not participate in the battle of Scarif, although he was present on Yavin at the time
He was one of the three survivors of the Battle of Yavin
and he went on to continue fighting the Empire, taking part in the Battles of Hoth, Endor, Kashyyyk and Jakku
Red Three was Biggs Darklighter
The man with the moustache who should need no introduction
He grew up with Luke on Tatooine until he left for the Imperial Academy
He defected after his graduation and joined the rebellion
As far as we currently know the Battle of Yavin was his first mission, and he was killed providing cover for Luke
Red Four was John D. Branon, he was killed dogfighting above the Death Star
Red Five was of course Luke Skywalker
He's not unsung, and if you don't know his story, you're probably confused as tell watching this video
So go watch Star Wars instead of this. What are you doing?
Red Six was Jek Tono Porkins
He was originally from the planet Bestine
and he flew with the Tierfon Yellow Aces before joining Red Squadron
He was the first casualty of the Battle of Yavin
Red Ten was Theron Nett
He was killed covering Red Leader during their attack run
Red Seven, Nine and Eleven are not shown in the film
However Pablo Hidalgo confirmed that Red Nine was Nozzo Naytaan
who flew as Red Nine during the Battle of Scarif
If that logic holds true Red Seven would be Harb Binli
and Red Eleven would be Ralo Surrel, both of whom also debuted in Rogue One
Moving on to Gold Squadron, they were led by Gold Leader, Captain Jon "Dutch" Vander
He was from the planet Onderon where he served in the Imperial Navy before defecting
He was part of a mission to escort Mon Mothma to Dantooine
where she urged individual rebel cells to unite against the Empire
He fought in the Battle of Scarif
and was killed during an attack run down the Death Star's trench during the Battle of Yavin
Gold Two was Dex Tiree who was killed during the same attack run
Gold Three was Evaan Verlaine
She was born on Alderaan and was mentored by Queen Breha Organa herself
She fought in the Battle of Scarif and was the only Y-wing pilot to survive the Battle of Yavin
She then Joined Leia Organa on a mission to rescue surviving Alderaanians
before they could be arrested by the Empire
She continued to serve Alderaan and the New Republic after the Battle of Endor
and was instrumental in the Battle of Kashyyyk
Gold Five was Davish "Pops" Krail.
He was originally from Dantooine and was killed shortly after Tiree and Dutch
Those are the only four Y-wing pilots that we know of for sure
But we also know many more took part in the battle
Again, to go back to Pablo Hidalgo's tweet
We might know that
Gold Six was Brace Marko,
Gold Seven was Gazdo Woolcob,
Gold Eight was Datchi Creel
and Gold Nine was Wona Goban
If that's all true we can assume that none of them survived the Battle of Yavin
But that's everyone that we currently know participated in the destruction of the Death Star in canon
Who is your favorite member of Red and Gold Squadrons, and why is it Biggs?
Let me know in the comments
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As always, thanks for watching and May the Force be with you