Ninth Flyer 15_4_2005

              OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE 9TH AFA, INC.
Karen Spence
I
I 've been
considering
this article
for quite some
time and
knowing that
Air Force Chief
of Staff John
Jumper was
retiring this
summer, it got
me thinking about the future of Air
Force Leadership. As you know,
General Jumper was guest speaker at
our Convention in Washington D.C.
this year and he and I had an
opportunity to discuss an issue that's
been close to my heart for a while.
It all started a few months ago when I
was sitting in my doctor's waiting
room (my usual hobby these days) and
I happened to glance at a copy of the
Air Force Times. The lead story's
headline questioned this issue so I
began digging further to see for myself
that Air Force leadership will and
should remain at the top echelon of all
the services combined.
In a story by Times staff writer,
Laura Calarusso, the headline alludes
to the fact that due to budget cuts,
potential fraud, leadership shakeups at
the highest levels, the question asks,
"Will the Air Force bottom out in
2005?"
According to General John
Jumper, former Air Force Chief of
Staff, the answer is a resounding 'no.'
Besides the fact that Senator John
McCain (R-AZ and former Navy) and
- ~' =- ~ ' ~ »= ~ ,
, ~-- c fl
- ",--
certain members of his staff put a
screeching halt to the expected
promotions of a number of the Air
Force's highest ranking this year,
budget cuts are forcing 12,000 airmen
to leave the military in addition to
program cuts, including research and
development on the famed Raptor.
Thousands fewer airmen have the
opporturiity this year to re-up under
new reenlistment program perk
packages which are now considerably
less than before.
At the very top, Air Force
Secretary James Roche and General
Jumper departed this year (General
Jumper's four-year tenure as Chief of
Staff concluded and he retired in
August). And the uncertainty
surrounding a coming round of base
closures through BRAC (Base
Realignment and Closure program) has
everyone from base level and higher,
holding their collective breaths.
Not to be outdone, funding cuts
announced at the end of last year hit
hard at the F/A-22 Raptor and the C-
130 cargo jet and gutted the E-10
command-and-control aircraft
program. But perhaps the most telling
scandal to hit government procurement
since the 1980s, prompted Senator
McCain to say enough already, and
the brakes were applied with no
looking back. The Pentagon was in
shock and folks in D.C. and
elsewhere were becoming protective
of their jobs and their security.
See Leadership on page 17
BE ON THE LOOKOUT __ ]
The 9th Flyer is always looking for interesting stories, anecdotes, quips,
jokes and the like for future publication. This is one way we can keep the
memories a.live sharing with those with whom we served.
Also, we'd like your thoughts and comments about The Flyer or any other
subject you'd care to opine for our letters to the Editor section.
Emails are prefered with attached photos but if you must send snail mail,
'· please let us know if you wish to have the items returned to you.
THE NINTH FLYER
Fall 2005
Volume IX, Number 4
Published quarterly by the
Ninth Air Force Association, Inc.
A Tennessee non-profit veterans
corporation. Chartered as a not for profit
veterans corporation in Tennessee and
registered with the IRS as a 501-c-19
organization,
Headquarters of the Ninth Air Force
Association located at:
Published by Karen Spence
Visit us online at:
www.ninthairfon:eassoc.org
Editorial Policy
The Ninth Flyer is published each
January, April, July and October. We
solicit submitted material from any
interested party who shares the goals
of the Association and wishes to share
information with our readers. Materials
must reach the editor at least 30 days
prior to publication, but no guarantees
are made that those materials will be
published in the next issue. Submissions
should be sent via email to the editor's
address below. When possible, photos
should be sent electronically as JPEGs
or through U.S. Postal Service. Photos
cannot be returned without SASE. All
entries will be published on a space
available basis and will be edited for
length, clarity, and good taste. Complete
identification of persons, equipment or
aircraft pictured must accompany
photos. We encourage submissions
from other veterans organizations.
Items appearing in The Flyer do not
necessarily reflect the views of the
Association. Editorial opinions and/or
comments will be clearly identified.
Permission is granted to reproduce
information in The Flyer unless
prohibited by copyright. Please credit
reprints appropriately.
Contributors may send electronic
submissions to:
·~-------------- ·---- ---·-- ----- ----
THE NINTH AIR FoRcE Assoc1AT10N, FALL 2005
THE CHAIRMAN'S DESK
The 9th
Air
Force
Association has
a new President
and Chairman.
The Board of
Directors con­vened
at Shaw
AFB, SC on
Newly elected chairman,
Lloyd Johnson,
BG (Ret)
Sept. 11-14, 2005, for their semiannual
Board meeting. An early item on their
agenda was to elect a new President
and Chairman. President Mike
Ingrisano unexpectedly tendered his
resignation effective Sept. 1, 2005. His
reasons are personal and we wish him
the very best. We lost an effective and
inspirational leader. Chairman Stanley
Stepnitz agreed one year ago that he
would serve until Sept. 05, and then
resign from the position of Chairman.
He too has served our Association with
TmyBubbles
by Lloyd Johnson
I was a P-51 Mustang Fighter pilot
stationed in Bangor, ME, when 'tiny
bubbles' almost did me in.
Air Force regulations required
fighter pilots to undergo yearly training
in a 'High Altitude Chamber' to
demonstrate the symptoms related to
the loss of oxygen while flying at high
altitudes. There were several Air Force
Bases in the United States that offered
this orientation. Westover AFB in
Massachusetts was the site that served
the units at Bangor.
I joined 12 other pilots and our
Flight Surgeon on the morning of July
1, 1951 for our flight in a C-47 from
Bangor to Springfield, MA. We were in
good spirits and looking forward to an
evening at the Westover Club and the
chamber training the next day. I had a
delicious dinner and did not consume
any alcoholic beverages. We enjoyed a
2
A Omge of Gmnand
outstanding devotion and dedication.
Our Association has benefited greatly
under the leadership of these fine
gentlemen.
The Board of Directors elected
newly appointed Director Perry Lusby
to serve as our President. Perry has
been a member for many years and
feels comfortable with his new position
on the Board. He has years of
experience and should be a valuable
asset in leading our Association. See
Perry's biography on page 6 ofthis
issue.
Lloyd Johnson was elected
Chairman. He was one of the founders
of the 9th AFA and has served in
several positions of leadership. The
affairs of the Association should
continue to function smoothly under
good night's sleep and arrived at the
Physiological Training Center for our
day of orientation and the flight in the
chamber.
We completed our briefing on high
altitude flying and entered the chamber
for our flight. Our helmets had headsets
but no microphone so the audio
communication would only be from the
instructor to us and the use of hand
signals from us to him if we needed
help or information. This lack of
communication procedure was changed
immediately after this flight.
We sat in the chamber for 30
minutes listening to a briefing by our
instructor and breathing 100 percent
oxygen which would reduce the chance
of the nitrogen in the blood stream from
changing from a liquid state into a
bubble (gaseous) state. We then
climbed to 25,000 feet (by pumping the
air out of the chamber) and took off our
masks to observe our personal symp­toms
of oxygen starvation. We immedi­ately
put our masks back on and began
to climb
THE N1Nrn AIR FoRcE AssocIATION, FALL 2005
the guidance of these two officers.
Another vacancy that was discussed
at length was the Base/Post Exchange
officer. Frank Lewis has served
admirably in this position for many
years but has elected to give it up. His
leaving has created a huge void in our
Association's ability to generate
interest in others by selling
merchandise from the Ninth Air Force
Association Base Exchange. You have
undoubtedly noticed the absence of the
Exchange Order Pages in this issue.
This is a missing link and the
Association really needs your help.
You are encouraged to call one of
your directors if you have an interest in
serving in this capacity. Although the
pay is not great, the satisfaction is
rewarding.
to 45,000 feet.
All went well until the chamber
reached 40,000 feet when my mask
failed and started to leak. The instruc­tor
recognized the problem and
immediately gave me another mask and
put me in the emergency lock and
descended to ground level. I was taken
into a nearby room and was advised to
lie on a cot having been given a mask
with 100 percent oxygen to help me
recover. The rest of the group com­pleted
the training and asked if I
wanted to join them for lunch. I
declined. I had no pain but just didn't
feel too good. I went into the rest room
and vomited which made me feel better.
I returned to my cot and continued with
the oxygen mask.
It was 30 minutes or so later when
I looked at my watch to check the time.
I could not see the watch on my arm.
Then I remembered we were told to
remove our watches, fountain pens and
all other things which might be dam-
See Bubbles page 19
Hello, dear
9thAFA
Members!
Here are a
few notes
about the recent
changes and future
events for the 9th
AFA. Mike
Ingrisano has
Fern Mann
resigned as President of the Board for
personal reasons. Stan Stepnitz has
resigned as Chairman and Board
member. Stan is knee-deep in plans to
sell his home in Upper Marlboro,
Maryland, where he has lived for many
years. He has bought a lot on a
beautiful lake in Michigan near his
home town and will build a house there
within the next year. (We told him that
when the house is done, we expect to
have a Board Meeting there to "bless"
it.) Needless to say, we will miss both
Mike and Stan on the Board.
Meanwhile, back at the meeting,
newest Board member Perry Lusby
was appointed President, and Lloyd
Johnson will be the Chairman.
I can't say enough good things
about the folks at Shaw AFB and our
reception there for the Board meeting.
The quarters were very comfortable
and the staff was must helpful. General
Hansen talked to us about the Iraqi
conflict, and ideas for enticing more
members to the 9th AFA. Suggestions
were made about ways to get the
younger airmen interested (more about
that in the Minutes).
We are excited about the 2006 9th
AFA Convention which will be held in
Dayton, Ohio, August 23/28. Head­quarters
Hotel will be the Crown
Plaza. This is being planned in partner­ship
with the B-26 Marauder Histori­cal
Society. Hopefully this joint effort
will benefit both organizations and
encourage more people to attend.
Lloyd Johnson is 9AFA Chairman,
and is working hand in hand with Mr.
David Miller, President of the Ma-
THE SECRETARY'S PEN
Directors' meeting 1Jings new
ideas and c ges
rauder HS. So start making your plans.
Of course a visit to the Air Force
Museum will be on the agenda. I
understand that there have been a lot of
changes there in the last few years, and
I am anxious to see it again. The
"Memphis Belle" will there, hopefully
on display by then. Even though she is
an "8th AF" airplane, she means a lot
to us Memphis folks and to you who
saw her here at the Memphis Conven­tion
in 2000. Lloyd is also investigat­ing
the possibility of the 9th AFA
installing a plaque on the Memory
Wall. If that is completed, we could
also have a plaque dedication cer­emony.
Details will be in future issues
of The FLYER.
We hope to have a new Member­ship
Directory next year, and new
Membership Applications. Frank
Lewis has resigned as Base Exchange
Manager next year, so if you have a
little spare time, volunteering for that
position would be a "good thing." The
more folks that we have on staff, the
less work for everybody!
You can help make this organiza­tion
bigger and better ... whenever you
go to your local VFW or American
Legion club, Library or civic club
meetings, talk about your experiences
in the Air Force. You will undoubtedly
meet someone who shares similar
stories. Give them a membership
application-loan them your copy of
The FLYER- and ask them to join.
Call Ray Lowman at 1-888-740-8899
and he will send applications to you.
Karen is doing a great job with
The FLYER, but she needs help from
all of you. Send in your stories, and
Reunion notices. We'll help keep the
light on.
THE NINTH AJR FORCE ASSOCIATION, FALL 2005
9TH Am FORCE ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
SHAW AFB, SUMTER, SC
SEPTEMBER 12-13, 2005
1. Meeting called to order by Chair­man
Stan Stepnitz, at 9: 10 AM.
2. Invocation by Marvin Rosvold.
3. Pledge of Allegiance.
4. Roll call: Present: Stanley Davis,
Michael Horgan, Lloyd Johnson, Perry
Lusby, Vito Pedone, Marvin Rosvold,
Woody Sproul, Stanley Stepnitz, Fem
Mann. Absent: Orville Iverson, Bert
Lok, Ray Lowman, Paul O'Dell.
5. Chairman comments: Stan Stepnitz
distributed copy of his letter of resigna­tion
as Chairman and from Board of
Directors, effective at the end of this
meeting. He is in the process of selling
his home in Maryland, and building a
new home in Michigan.
Michael Ingrisano resigned from
Office of President and Board of
Directors, effective September 1, 2005.
After discussion about appointment
of new President and Chairman of the
Board, Fem read from By-Laws.
ARTICLE VII - BOARD OF
DIRECTORS, Par. D. "The Board of
Directors shall elect ... a Chairman to
preside at their meetings .. .The current
or past President may serve
as ... Chairman of the Board."
ARTICLE VIII - OFFICERS,
paragraph A. - B. -1. "The President. ..
shall be elected from among current
Directors, or persons who have
experience as previous officers or
directors of the Association."
Vice President Mike Horgan was
appointed "President Pro-Tern" for this
Board meeting.
----- See Secretary on page 12
3
REMEMBER WHEN
Blazing the trail m D-Day Reprinted with permission
Stars and Stripes, ;June 1944
Here is how the Pathfinders led the successful Troop Carrier-Airborne Infantry
operations on the Cherbourg Peninsula
All the great promises of Troop
Carrier, all the hopes which its
champions have had for it, have been
richly, triumphantly fulfilled. If this
sounds like intemperate praise, look at
the record. In the cold darkness before
H-hour, 9th Troop Carrier Command
dropped behind the enemy's forward
defenses of Normandy Beaches, two
Airborne Infantry Divisions, the lOlst
and the 82nd-dropped them in the
area they were supposed to have been
dropped-and it did it with a total
aircraft loss of less than two-and-a-half
percent. In four hours, two aggressive
divisions with essential equipment
were where the enemy wanted them
least. Compare, if you want to, our
aerial loss with the Germans' Crete
when more than 20 percent of
participating planes and gliders were
destroyed.
The Plan-To understand how
well the operation was carried out, you
should know the plan: "to begin about
four hours and thirty minutes prior to
Civil Twilight (the predawn) to assist
in the initial assault." That was the
assignment of the 101 st American
Airborne Division while the 82nd was
"to land to the immediate west of the
101 st to prevent movement of enemy
reserves to the east and west."
Timed with out vertical landings
were British operations involving one
airborne division. Using the C-47 (the
British called them Dakotas), Sterlings,
and Horsa gliders, the British
equivalent of 9th Troop Carrier,
established protection for the left flank
of the British beach by dropping its
airborne load just where it was
supposed to, at the set time and with
slightly less than expected. For both
nations, Troop Carrier made its mark.
4
The Operation-On 4 June, 1944 at
2134 hours, Lt. Col. Joel L. Crouch,
commanding officer of 9th Troop
Carrier Command Pathfinder and his
pilot, Captain Vito S. Pedone, (current
Director for the 9th AFA) reported their
C-47 airborne. For the historically
minded, that's the time the first plane
was up-the tactical beginning of the
liberation of Europe. Crouch and the
two planes he led crossed the enemy
coast, on the west shore of the
Cherbourg Peninsula, at 0006 hours, 6
June-D-Day. At 0016 hours, Crouch
dropped a stick of parachutists on the
drop zone.
There were six drop zones and
there were six Pathfinder formations to
mark them, each consisting of one
flight. The specially trained crews of
airborne infantry carried by these
planes established certain radio
navigational aids on the drop zones and
showed marker lights for the guidance
of pilots of the main column.
Starting with Col. Crouch, the
operation proceeded through 26
separate formations (called serials by
Troop Carrier personnel) of paratroop­carrying
planes, totalling 821 aircraft.
After them were serials 27 and 28
totalling 103 more planes each of
which towed one CG-4A glider. The
paratroop-carrying planes transported
payloads of 3,850 pounds including
containers, supplies, equipment and
troops. Once over the sea, they
conscientiously gave the Navy every
recognition signal they could think of.
Despite the fact that our navies were
all over the channel there was no
repetition of the Sicilian error in which
the Allied navy shot down Troop
Carrier planes.
As special equipment, our C-47s
had flame dampers on exhaust outlets,
the best navigational equipment that
could be devised and flak suits for the
See Blazing on page 5
Standing from left: Navigator William K. Culp, an unknown flight crew member,
Commander Col. Joel Crouch, Pilot Vito Pedone. Seated from left: Flight Surgeon
Edward E. Cannon, and Radio Operator Al Conrad.
THENINTHAlRFoRcEAssocIATION,FALL 2005
~----------------------Blazing from page 4
crew. There was no other armor or
armament, and not one ship had a self
sealing gasoline tank.
Aircrews were up for between
three-and-a-half and four hours during
which time they, without exception,
flew magnificent formation, navigated
so well that there was not a single case
of seriously mistaken drop, and they
maintained radio silence assiduously.
There were no lights in any of the
planes, aircrews were dark-adapted and
the only noise aside from that of the
engines, came from the paratroops,
most of whom sang all the way out.
There were no abortions or tumbacks
short of target, although one pilot made
two passes and still couldn't find a DZ,
so he brought his cargo home. Not
more than a dozen other paratroops
were brought back to base-all of them
men who had been wounded by flak or
small arms fire.
The last paratroop serial, No. 26,
dropped at 0244 hours while the first
paratroops of the main column (as
distinguished from Pathfinder crews)
dropped at 0030 hours. The split­second
timing in between was based on
an airspeed of 150 mph except at drop.
Naturally, glider tows made their
approach considerably slower, although
they carried no interior loads. Their
CG-4As had payloads of 3,750 pounds,
composed of troops, vehicles and
equipment.
Weather varied throughout the
operation, but in the main it was
favorable. Early planes reported ceiling
down to about 1,000 feet despite the
fact that forecast had been for a 3,000-
foot ceiling. Later crews found ceiling
going down as low as 500 feet­necessitating
blind drops-while others
found it up to 3,000 to 4,000 with
moonlight breaking through. Wind was
fresh but not strong; visibility good.
It should be noted that as soon as
the advance Pathfinder aircraft made
their left turn over the Channel island
to the direct approach to the six drop
zones, it became necessary to make
decisions to take or avoid action.
According to Pedone, they could
appreciate that the cloud was going to
affect the success of the operations.
The lead Pathfinder aircraft made the
appropriate decision to avoid the clouds
and most of the Troop Carriers
followed the Pathfinders. By the time
the first two passed that drop zone,
most of the rear eshelon aircraft had
already made the correction. Cloud
cover was seven to 10 miles in length,
three miles wide and 5,000 feet high
floating at a ceiling of 500 to 700 feet
above the DZ and moving very slowly.
Inbound to England, the lead
Pathfinder carrying Couch and Pedone,
stopped at a designated military airport
and reported directly in person to
General Dwight D. Eisenhower. After
the departure, they returned to base
and reloaded.
Earlier that evening, the entire area
had been prepared by as heavy serial
bombardment as could be dared
without giving the whole show away.
Tactical surprise was counted on-and
achieved. All planes reported flak and
two or three were seen to go down in
flames, but the concentration of fire
which the enemy could have mustered
had he known was coming was
definitely not there.
Fighter cover-not escort, but high
cover-was maintained over the entire
THENINTHAlRFORCEASSOCIATION, FALL 2005
area and a small force of Mosquitoes
hung around, bombing, dive-bombing
and shooting at flak emplacements and
searchlights. They rambled all over the
coast and caused a few C-4 7 pilots to
report enemy night fighters. They kept
a lot of German heads down.
As for enemy ground interference
there was some worry about things
called air landing obstructions which
Jeny had placed all over the Cherbourg
Peninsula. These are posts about ten or
twelve feet high planted in likely
landing zones. Some are pointed at the
top and they frequently have barbed
wire stretched between them. However,
we know of no case in which our
airborne loads were dumped on these
obstructions.
The gliders worried the command
most because they came last of all -
when presumably the enemy would be
alerted - and because they had to fly
so slow. However only one tow plane
was lost and only four gliders were
prematurely or improperly released.
Their job was finished at 0408 hours,
and Troop Carrier was through for a
while.
Began then what will always be
remembered by a lot of us as the great
sweating-out. There was for a long
time no way to know what was
happening to the men we'd dropped.
5
NINTH NEWS
--------------- ---·---~--- ------------- -·--·---·-·--·----· ----------------·-
Welcome 9th AFAPresiden~ Perry Lusby
Perry Lusby was born and raised in
Kentucky where he attended school
throughout his scholastic career. He
enlisted prior to the draft and entered
the U.S. Army early in 1941, serving
with the 1st Cav. Division at Ft. Bliss,
Texas until he was accepted as an
Aviation Cadet in 1942, serving
primarily at Chickasha, OK, undergo­ing
Advanced Training at Foster Field,
TX, and graduating in class 43B
destined for Rich-mond,
VA where he
trained for transition
to the P-40 and P-47
aircraft.
Perry was
transferred to Wright
Field, OH, to
perform accelerated
service tests on the
P-47 and was
reassigned to the
389th Squadron,
366th Fighter Group
at Bluethenthal
by Karen Spence
tions. He was transferred to Carribean
Air Command in late 1948 and further
assigned as Senior Air Advisor to the
Adjutant General of Puerto Rico and
the PRANG until late 1953. He
attended the Air Force Instrument Pilot
Instructor Course and several senior
management courses while serving at
that assignment
Perry returned to the states and
was selected to head the F-86D
Field, NC. In early
1943, he trained with
that group until
Newly appointed 9th AFA President
Perry Lusby at home today.
program but instead
was sought to be the
Wing Operations
Officer at Like AFB,
A'Z. He was then
tapped to serve in
Norway as a member
of the MAAG to the
RNAF in early 1955.
From there, he was
assigned to the 4 7 4th
Tactical Fighter
Wing at Cannon
AFB, NM, where he
served as assistant
Wing Operations
Officer where he was
promoted to Colonel.
overseas orders arrived in December of
that year.
Perry was promoted to Assistant
Group Operations Officer enroute to
England and to Group Ops Officer in
April, 1944. He held that position until
the end of hostilities in June, 1945.
He returned to the states and was
assigned as Commander of Matagorda
Island Bombing and Gunnery Range
until a hurricane wiped out that
installation in August. Then, he was
briefly assigned to Williams Field, AZ
followed by Squadron Officers School
at Tyndall Field, FL.
From there, Perry was assigned to
Lackland AFB, TX, where he served as
assistant deputy for Division Opera-
6
Finally, Perry's career took him to
Wing Deputy for Operations until
1962, then on to Director of Operations
and Director of Fighter Tanker Reece,
HQ 9th AF until early retirement in
1964 when he accepted a position of
General Manager, Western Division of
Scholastic Publishing Company until
final retirement in 1982.
Among Perry's 14 military
decorations are included the DFC ,
Soldiers Medal, the Air Medal (with
clusters), the Presidential Unit Citation
Award and others. He flew 86 combat
missions in the P-47 and a number of
During his business career, Perry
served as President of his local Cham-
THE NINTH AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION, FALL 2005
ber of Commerce, Director of the Lions
Club, Director of the local hospital and
also as a director of his local country
club. Perry is credited with serving on
a number of community projects.
Since final retirement, Perry has
served on many local community
oriented projects, traveled extensively,
and enjoys fly fishing, golf and dupli­cate
bridge. He's been an officer of the
P-47 Pilots Assn and is currently a
director of the 9th AFA.
His wife, Mary, is an emergency
room doctor and they have two sons
with families of their own. The couple
enjoy three grandchildren and one
great-granddaughter.
With such a successful military
career under his belt, the 9th Air Force
Association is grateful Perry accepted
this position. We welcome Perry and
his wife, and look forward to good
things from them in the future.
Editor's note-it is with regret that
former President Michael Ingrisano
resigned this position to take on more
strenuous tasks of researching materi­als
for an upcoming book. He and his
wife, Nancy, were responsible for the
success of our recent reunion in D.C.
Thanks for your tireless work, Mike,
and we wish you and Nancy much
success in the future!
LOOKING BACK
------- -------- ----
Sky roars with Yank p ---by William Randolph Hearst, Jr.
Hearst Newpaper Group
This is the second of a series of three articles by William Randolph Hearst, Junior, describing operations of
the Ninth United States Air Force at an advanced fighter bomber field somewhere in Belgium.
At an advanced Ninth U.S. Air Force
fighter bomber field somewhere in
Belgium, Nov. 25, 1944-
The next day after my arrival,
the sky was crystal clear, with the sun
actually transmitting some warmth to
the rain-soaked earth.
There had not been a day like it
for months around here and to use
aviation terms it was "ceiling and
visibility unlimited."
As a consequence, everything in
the American Air Force was up.
The offensive all along the west
was under way and an atmosphere of
eagerness on the air bases to take
advantage of the good weather was in
evidence on every hand. In this group
almost everybody went out at least
twice. The same activity was dupli­cated
at every other fighter and bomber
field. The sky was literally roaring
with planes the whole day. Add to this
fighter-bomber activity supporting
each army, medium bombers and
heavies of the British and you may get
a rough idea of the terrific aerial
beating the Germans took all along the
front from Holland to Switzerland.
This was one day I wanted to be up in
the air.
Dull Moments Entirely Lacking
Both Thunderbolt "piggyback"
planes were being used operationally
during the morning, but Lieutenant
Colonel Paul Douglas assured me I
would get a mission that afternoon. As
it was, the morning never had a dull
moment. My roommate, Lieutenant
Remy L. Olson assigned to the first
mission, was awakened at 5 o'clock.
Having attended briefings and
seen so many squadrons take off, I
tried to roll over and get in a little
more "sack time" as the boys call
sleeping (derived from the bags we
sleep in). My attempted slumbers were
soon disturbed by the roar of planes
just outside as the mechanics made
preflight warm-ups all over the field.
Finally Paul Douglas bounced in
the room fully and sharply dressed as
ever shouting "fire" at the top of his
voice. I was washed and dressed and
we went down to the squadron snack
bar for breakfast of pancakes, eggs,
and coffee.
Right after that, we went to
Lieutenant Colonel John D. Haeslers
trailer with built-in stove-the nerve
center of group operations.
Actually the control tower is the
first nerve center in every field but it is
concerned only with the take off and
the landing of the planes.
Returning Plane Blazing
The operations trailer, in addition
to clearing all this information, has
coming through it all orders from the
higher command planning in advance
future missions, the immediate status
of all planes, instructions to all
squadrons, flying and weather condi­tions
and a multitude of complex
details.
We had no more than gotten inside
when Johnny was notified from the
control tower that one of our boys was
returning from a mission with a fire in
the right wing which had burned out
and his hydraulic system and still
burning in a tire.
I followed his heels to a jeep and
we raced across the muddy field to the
tower. There by the radio, Johnny
spoke to the pilot ascertaining from
THE NmmAIRFoRcE AssocrATION, FALL 2005
him from the nature and extent of the
fire then ordering the pilot to bring the
ship in on its belly.
Just outside an emergency fire
truck stood by and as I saw the ship
with its right wing flaming approach­ing
the end of the runway, its wheels
tucked up in preparation for a crash
landing, I jumped on the back of the
truck.
The pilot brought the plane down
leveling off about five feet above the
ground and finally touching the runway
amid a shower of sparks in the smooth­est
landing I have ever seen.
Skids 500 Yards on Runway
He must have been going 120
miles an hour because he skidded at
least 500 yards, finally coming to a
halt at the edge of the runway, a couple
hundred yards away of our racing fire
truck. I could see his propeller finally
cease whirling as the tips of the blades,
each bent back by striking the ground,
came to a standstill.
Pilot Lieutenant Edward Dame of
Kittanning, Pa., piled out of the cockpit
and got out of there in a hurry as we
came alongside. The boys had their fire
extinguishing hoses and shoes splitting
off their spools almost before we came
to a halt.
Two other fire trucks as well as a
couple of ambulances pulled up in a
matter of seconds and soon the fire
area was covered by a foamy white
carbon dioxide the Army uses for
extinguishing fires in planes.
Everything about the plane is
inflammable, such as gasoline, oil,
rubber, ammunition, even aluminum,
See Yank on page 8
7
and water is practically useless.
After seeing that plane was not
going to explode, the pilot returned to
the cockpit and removed any portable
pieces of equipment he had.
The fire fighters were having a
field day with their apparatus, splash­ing
about the foam with the spray of
three fire hoses. Half a dozen of the
senior officers of the field were on the
spot within a minute or two.
I said the plane stopped at the edge
of the runway. It was an example of the
coolness with which lieutenant Dame
handled the situation as it kept the
runway clear, enabling the rest of the
planes to use it on that clear flying day.
Even as we stood there two Thunder­bolts
came roaring down the strip.
Wind Nearly Causes Tragedy
A gust of wind caught the one
nearest us, slipping it over so that its
wing barely missed hitting the dam­aged
plane's wing by just about six
inches. That was the first episode of a
busy day.
We went back to the operations
trailer and listened to Johnny Haesler
direct the movements of various
flights. At a bomber field, there is
generally one launch per day, employ­ing
all serviceable planes. Sometimes
medium or light bombers will have two
of these mass takeoffs. D-day was an
exception as many medium groups
flew three times. Fighter fields,
however, particularly fighter bomber
fields, fly in units of four, known as a
flight, with three or four flights per
squadron and three squadrons on the
field. Fighting and dive bombing as
they do in direct support and immedi­ately
in front of ground troops, their
targets are often small installations,
such as tanks or gun emplacements.
Therefore they often fly four or eight
planes to a mission.
Thus instead of one big takeoff
and a landing by the group as a whole,
the field is alive all day with a small
number of planes taking off and
landing. Add to this practice flights by
8
Yank from page 7
new boys and test flights of newly
overhauled motors and you have a
damned busy runway.
Right of Way Given Aircraft
Crossing the perimeter of the track
or runway necessitates having a
combined air and ground traffic MP at
each intersection. As planes always
have the right of way, you often have
to wait five or 10 minutes going to
your barracks or mess in a jeep. This
may give you some idea of traffic
around a station on a busy day.
After the episode of the belly
landing, I went over and listened to a
couple of briefings of outbound
missions and interrogation of returning
flyers. Between these we were stand­ing
outside soaking up a little sunshine,
when three Douglas transport planes,
each towing gliders, approached at
about 1,000 feet.
They were flying into a 40 m.p.h.
breeze and appeared barely moving
through the sky above us. Even as we
watched them approaching, one of the
tow lines broke and we spent the next
few minutes sweating out the glider; it
seemed for a while as though he
wouldn't be able to stretch out his
glide sufficiently to make the field.
He did, though, as his tow plane
circled the field like a mother bird
watching over its young.
Tow Ships Make Safe Landing
Two other sets of planes also made
a wide turn and one of their gliders cut
loose and landed on the field. The third
took up its course again but in a little
while all three tow planes landed on
the field. It seems that the last one tried
to go on but the wind at that altitude
apparently also cut its tow lines.
The morning's unscheduled events
on the ground reminded me of a crack
made by a telephone operator in the
picture, "Grand Hotel."
After about a dozen incidents,
occurring one after another, the girl
looks up at some one standing by the
switchboard and says facetiously, "You
see nothing ever happens at the Grand
THE NINTIJ AIR FoRCE Assoc!ATION, FALL 2005
Hotel."
To complete the morning, while
sitting in the operations trailer about
11:30 a.m., Haesler, who had been
talking to the flying control tower
turned and said laconically, "Hank
Mazur and his gang have been in a
fight. They ought to be back in a
couple of minutes." So Technical
Sergeant Don Facka, of public rela­tions,
and I went over to their pilots'
room to wait for their return.
I didn't realize it, but so few
Luftwaffe came up nowadays, that a
good dogfight, which all boys hope
they'll get mixed up in, is an excep­tional
occurrence. With the dive
bombing and strafing they do, their
greatest danger is from flak. For
example, when we busted in, I asked
Lieutenant Gener Kesting if Captain
Mazur was in yet.
"No, he's not. What's up?" he
asked. I told him they had been
bounced by some Jerries and gotten
into a fight.
He snatched off his little overseas
cap and banging it on the floor said
"Nothing like that ever happens to me.
That Mazur draws Jerries like flies.
I've had 71 missions with this gang,
and I have never yet seen a Jerry
plane."
Score: 5 Down, 3 Damaged
They came in the door just then,
Captain Mazure, once captain of the
1942 West Point football team, and a
bunch of his "panser busters," includ­ing
First Lieutenant Robert E.
Caldwell, of Roseville, Calif., First
Lieutenant Joseph L. Williams, of
Kentucky, and Second Lieutenant
Bryce A. Raiston, of North Dakota.
One of their boys had been shot down
when they had been jumped by 15 or
20 FW-190s just after bombing at low
altitude. Between them, they had
gotten five and damaged three more.
The poor intelligence officer, Lieuten­ant
Ted Skalto, was trying to get a
coherent story out of them, but they
were so full of their own and their
See Yank page 15
New execs take hrl at 9th AFA
by Ray Lowman
Director, 9th AFA Folks, we have had several has held all the officer positions and
changes in our officer and board chairman of many committees. He
member staff has been a mentor to all of us who have
since our last issue of the Flyer.
Stan Stepnitz resigned as Chair­man
of the Board and Board Member.
He was replaced by Lloyd JOhnson.
Mike Ingrisano, Jr. resigned as Presi­dent
and Board Member and was
replaced by Perry Lusby. The new
officers and board members were
nominated and unanimously approved
by your Board during their September
meeting at Shaw
AFB, SC.
Stan Stepnitz
resigned for health
reasons and a
residence move to be
close to aging
relatives. Stan has
served us well over
served you. We appreciate him
assuming the office of Chairman once
again.
Mike Ingrasino, Jr. resigned to
devote his time to extensive research
and writing. Mike has written several
books and many articles .. He has been
at the forefront in setting the record
straight regarding World War II
history. Mike has served our Associa­tion
as a Board
Member, Vice
President and
President. This years
convention in
Washington, D.C.
was
many years as a
Board Member, Vice
President, President
and Chairman.
Always at the
forefront in volun­teering
for special
and challenging
projects such as
Col. Ray Lowman USAF (Ret)
9th AFA Director
one of our best and
an example of his
superb leadership.
We also recognize
the contributions
made by his wife
Nancy who kept
things organized and
running smoothly at
establishing and maintaining our Web
Site. He has been instrumental in
establishing support for our Associa­tion
from top echelon active duty,
which included present and former
Ninth Air Force Commanders and the
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff.
I think you all know Lloyd Johnson
as a founding member of the Ninth Air
Force Association and a dedicated
supporter and contributor since. He
the convention.
Their service and
dedication to our objectives is appreci­ated
and will be missed.
Perry Lusby comes to us as a long
time 9AFA and Ninth Air Force
Member. In fact he was the Director of
Operations at Ninth Air Force
Headquarters, Shaw AFB when he
retired as full Colonel. I have known
and been a close friend of Perry since
our cadet days. Believe me when I
say we are fortunate to have him as our
President.
THE NINTH AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION, FALL 2005
.. 1ngs
We regret to inform you of the
following passings since our last
publication.
May they rest in peace ...
CV1330
Hugo E. Pressnal
Deceased: 5/22/04
363FG, 681FS
V2862
John J. McDonough
Deceased: 4/12/03
3rd Sqdron, Instrument
Specialist 686
A3796
Robert L. Stuart
Deceased: 1/17 /03
363FG, 381FS
CV1276
James W. Laughlin
Deceased: 6/12/05
362FG, 377FS
CV1365
John E. Connor
Deceased: 2004
404FG, 508FS
V3262
Frederick G. Vosburgh
19TAC, HQ
Deceased: Unknown
See Wings page 10
9
CS>~ 1'."""'~«aj£,, ~"'-- ~" "So-~~,..,
~ c ~·~ "l!' -·
·;:''"JI;~:) ~= ~ '&>~r ~
~ ~ >" "' ""
"'(.;=~~-~"-"-
Things we find interesting on the internet are found here with no commendation to the author or guarantee of ownership. The following
information passed muster with "Ask Jeeves" so we're passing it along.
-------- ------~
What's in your wallets?
A corporate attorney sent the
following out to the employees in his
company. Consider part or all of it for
future action.
1. The next time you order checks
have only your initials (instead of first
name) and last name put on them. If
someone takes your checkbook, they
will not know if you sign your checks
with just your initials or your first
name, but your bank will know how
you sign your checks.
2. Do not sign the back of your
credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID
REQUIRED."
3. When you are writing checks to
pay on your credit card accounts, DO
NOT put the complete account number
on the "For" line. Instead, just put the
last four numbers. The credit card
company knows the rest of the number,
and anyone who might be handling
your check as it passes through all the
check processing channels won't have
access to it.
4. Put your work phone number on
your checks instead of your home
phone. If you have a P.O. Box use that
instead of your home address. If you
do not have a P.O. Box, use your work
address. Never have your social
security number printed on your
checks. (DUH!) You can add it if it is
necessary. But if you have it printed,
anyone can get it.
5. Place the contents of your
wallet on a photocopy machine. Do
both sides of each license, credit card,
etc. You will know what you had in
your wallet and all of the account
numbers and phone numbers to call
and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a
safe place. Also carry a photocopy of
your passport when traveling either
here or abroad. We've all heard horror
stories about fraud that's committed on
us in stealing a name, address, Social
Security number, credit cards.
Unfortunately, I, an attorney, have
firsthand knowledge because my wallet
was stolen last month. Within a week,
the thieve(s) ordered an expensive,
monthly cell phone package, applied
for a VISA credit card, had a credit
line approved to buy a Gateway
computer, received a PIN number from
DMV to change my driving record
information online, and more. But
here's some critical information to
limit the damage in case this happens
to you orsomeone you know:
1. We have been told we should
cancel our credit cards immediately.
But the key is having the toll free
numbers and your card numbers handy
so you know whom to call. Keep those
where you can find them.
2. File a police report immediately
in the jurisdiction where your credit
cards, etc., were stolen. This proves to
credit providers you were diligent, and
this is a first step toward an
investigation (if there ever is one).But
here's what is perhaps most important
of all: (I never even thought to do
this.)3. Call the three national credit
reporting organizations immediately to
place a fraud alert on your name and
Social Security number. I had never
heard of doing that until advised by a
bank that called to tell me an
application for credit was made over
the Internet in my name. The alert
means any company that checks your
credit knows your information was
stolen, and they have to contact you by
phone to authorize new credit.By the
time I was advised to do this, almost
two weeks after the theft, all the
damage had been done. There are
records of all the credit checks
initiated by the thieves' purchases,
none of which I knew about before
placing the alert. Since then, no
additional damage has been done, and
the thieves threw my wallet away.This
weekend (someone turned it in). It
seems to have stopped them dead in
their tracks.
Now, here are the numbers you
always need to contact about your
wallet, etc., has been stolen:
Equifax: 1-800-525-62852.
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-
397-37423.
Trans Union: 1-800-680-72894.
Social Security Administration
(fraud line): 1-800-269-0271
We pass along jokes on the
Internet; we pass along just about
everything. But if you are willing to
pass this information along, it could
really help someone that you care
about!
--·----------------·-------------------
Wings from page 9
V3454
Bernard (Ben) R. Baker
Deceased: 4/1/05
48FG, 493FS
CV2154
William E. McFadden
Deceased: 5/7 /04
442TG, 303TCS
CV Bob V Barker
Deceased: 11/11/04
Our thoughts and prayeres are extended to
these members' family and friends.
-----------------··---- --------------------
10 THE NINTH AIR FoRcEAssoc1ATION, FALL 2005
_,
My~on
AS I SEE IT
.~ by Coert Munk
Dutch Dakota Assn., Holland
Editor's Note: Jan Bos first came to our attention through Orv Iverson and his letter may be found in the "Letters"
section of this edition. He is the editor of Dutch Dakota Association in Holland and was interviewed recently about his
passion for collecting WWII information and memorabilia. The format is Q & A and The Flyer has received permission
from Mr. Bos to reprint the story. T his time is Jan Bos the person
in the spotlight. Jan is a
reliable editor of the Dutch
Dakota Association and his
specialty is the Dakota, flown by the
Yankees on
various fronts in
World War II.
Q: What is the
most beautiful
location of your
hometown?
A: The skyline of
Nijmegen. It can
be viewed when
you drive across
the Waal River
bridge into town.
It gives the feeling
that you are
getting home.
A: A book, titled A soldier s story
written by Arthur G. Kroos. He is a
veteran of the 80th AA/AT Battalion,
82nd Airborne Division. Kroos was in
his CG-4A Waco glider enroute to the
landing zones at
Groesbeek. The C-
47 was shot down
by German anti­aircraft
fire over
Schouwen­Duiveland
islands
(west coast of
Holland). The crew
of the C-4 7, the
gliderpilot and the
glider riders were
captured by the
Germans. Captain
Kroos was
liberated in 1945.
Q: Who would One crew member
you like to med
in person?
Jan Bos, 2004, in the cockpit of his old passion: was killed in the
The Dakota/C-47. Now in the cockpit of the PH-DDZ
(picture Paul vand en Berg) crash.
A: This is a
difficult question, since there are many
interesting persons on the globe to ask
questions. Many of them are American
World War II veterans, now 80-85
years old. When there is possibilty to
meet one in person, I will get in touch
with him or her.
Q: Who do you like the most?.
A: That is an easy question. My
family: my wife Ans, our daughter
Judith, her husband Arnello and their
daughter Renee, our first grandchild;
and our youngest daughter Linda and
Dennis, her boyfriend. Our children
live in Nijmegen and we see them a
lot. Every Tuesday Ans and I are
babysitting.
Q: What is on your pedestal
cupboard?
Q: What is the
news of the day?
A: There are several subjects in the
news that are of interest. One of the
subjects is the civil war in Sudan.
Nobody (world leaders) seems to care
of this conflict; then the Palestine­Israeli
conflict in Gaza and of course
the war in Iraq.
Q: With whom would you like to
change for a day?
A: Andre Kuipers and especially the
day he flew around the globe. (Andre
is a Dutch astronaut).
Q: Why did you become a volunteer
of the Dutch Dakota Association?
A: I would like to inform others about
my hobby: the history of the C-47 s
and their crew members, I would like
THE NINrn AIR FoRcE AssocrATION, FALL 2005
to share the stories and pictures with
the readers of the Dakota Magazine
Q: What bothers you?
A: Aggression in traffic and the
conduct of football [soccer] supporters/
vandalism and similar problems.
Q: What do you do when you
witness aggression?
A: Try to make an arrest. I am a cop
and this is my job. But keep an eye on
my personal safety
Q: What is so important for you
about your hobby?
A: To keep the old plane flying and
keep her history alive for this and
future generations.
11
MOTION by Lloyd Johnson, that Perry
Lusby be elected President of the 9th
Air Force Association. Second by
Rosvold, motion approved, effective at
the close of this meeting.
MOTION by Stan Stepnitz that Lloyd
Johnson be elected Chairman of the
Board of Directors. Second by Lusby,
motion approved, effective at the close
of this meeting.
Chairman Stepnitz said that last
April he wrote to all the 9th Air Force
former commanders, asking their ideas
and assistance in getting more members
into our Association, with varying
answers. Gen. Charles F. Wald had the
best answer:
"Please don't take the declining
numbers to indicate something is wrong
with the group. You touched on a few
of the reasons why the organizations'
numbers are declining. Let me suggest
a few more that need our consideration.
Since the 1980s, our total Air Force
population has decreased significantly.
We have fewer and fewer folks that are
eligible to be members. Secondly, our
folks in the 9th remain constantly
deployed. Since the first Gulf War, the
9th Air Force has been the Air Force's
linchpin to all deployment supporting
Central Command. It's a full time job
that offers little time to participate in an
outside organization. But, there are a
few actions we could take to sustain
and improve membership.
1. Open membership to our corpo­rate
friends. We have a large group of
Corporate partners providing aircraft
systems, right on up to satellites, to
help make the 9th Air Force of today
GREAT. Let's get them involved in our
heritage and way ahead.
2. Let's make all active duty airmen
of all 9th Air Force to include all our
Wings, immediate temporary members.
After their initial tour, normally three
years, focus on getting them to be
official members, paying dues and
active in all activities.
3. Finally, let's work on the Life­time
Membership perspective, for
12
Secretary from page 3
corporate, active and civilian member­ship.
We need it to be affordable, but
used to encourage active participation.
These are just a few ideas for
increasing membership. I am encour­aged
about what you do and I know we
can improve on the long term member­ship
growth. Stay in touch."
Gen. Michael Moseley, current
Chief of Staff of the U. S. Air Force:
"Thank you so much for informing me
of the 9th AFA fading numbers. I agree
with you. It is important to keep
membership strong, as the 9th AF is too
historical and proud to be forgotten. I
would like to help in any way I can.
Please let me know where I can be of
assistance. Let's make the 9th AFA the
strongest it's ever been.Count me in."
From HQ US European Command,
Deputy Commander Gen.Charles F.
Wald ... "I am delighted to hear that the
Board members are answering posi­tively
about necessary changes through
Board action at your next meeting. We
will distribute the Ninth Flyer that you
provided to those in our command. Best
wishes for a super convention and good
luck and best wishes for the future.
6. D-Day Briefing Charts. Stan
Stepnitz discussed the D-Day Briefing
charts used by the 9th Air Force telling
all the 9th Air Force what to do on D­Day.
The charts were uncovered by a
man whose relative had received these
original briefing charts, put them in a
file, then died. That file cabinet was
found many years later and it contained
these 1944 D-Day briefing charts.
Years were spent verifying the accu­racy
of the charts. They have been
authenticated and deemed by Mr. Grant
Hales, historian, to be one of the Air
Force's "Crown Jewels." The charts
have since been sealed in mylar for
preservation. We of the 9thAFA, have
been asked if we are interested in
obtaining the charts.
Stan will contact the owner and
attempt to acquire the documents.
7. Secretary's Report. After short
review, the Minutes of Board of
THE NINTH AIR FoRcEAssoc1ATION, FALL 2005
Directors meeting in Arlington, VA.,
May 5, 2005, were approved.
8. Treasurer's Report. Chairman
Stepnitz read the report sent by Paul
O'Dell.
Detailed copy of Treasurer's report is
attached to these minutes.
MOTION made that Treasurer's Report
be approved as presented. Motion
approved.
Paul suggested that we reduce the
number of Flyers that we have printed -
due to decline in members. From 1,250
to 1, 100. After discussion it was
concluded that because the cost of
printing is the same for 1,250 is the
same as 1,100, no change should be
made.
Paul asked for permission to mail a
few "leftover" copies of the FLYER, at
his expense, to some loyal members
who have been with us from the
beginning who are now unable to pay
dues. The Board agreed that is a good
idea. We could also distribute extra
copies to Public Libraries, Air Force
bases, Base Commanders, etc.
MOTION made to have five extra
copies of the FLYER sent to each
Director (more if needed) for distribu­tion
as outlined above. Motion ap­proved.
Paul said that he would like to
--See Secretary on page 13
_I'
proceed with the transfer of manage­ment
of the CDs from Ray Lowman to
the treasurer, as they had previously
discussed.
MOTION made that management of
the CDs be turned over to Treasurer
Paul O'Dell whenever he and Ray
Lowman can make the change. Motion
approved.
9. Board Membership. Lloyd Johnson
discussed the urgent need for our
organization to get more members,
younger members, and especially,
younger Board members, so we can get
their ideas and view points on ways to
entice new members. Perhaps a
committee should be formed. There are
many people retiring out of the 9th AF
every day. We need to pursue those
men and women to get them interested
and hopefully on the Board. They could
confer on things of interest to the
younger generation so we could follow
up on their ideas.
Vito Pedone stated we need a series
of articles telling the stories of veterans
in all the wars since WWII, particu­larly
the last 15 years, to be published
in the base newspapers as well as the
FLYER. This will have to be encour­aged
by the base commanders and
public relations officers saying "this is
what we will do" to help keep the 9th
AFA alive and perpetuate it for future
generations. Perhaps we could find
some college students interested in
history to work on this project. Along
this line, any one of us who knows an
Air Force person who has recently
returned from Iraq could interview
them and write a story for our Flyer, or
the base newspapers.
Stan said he would talk to his friend
Dave Worley, Chief of the D.C.
National Guard, and ask for his
personal story. Marvin suggested a
theme of especially honored people of
the 9th AF. Perhaps using biographies
of the 9th AFA Great Warrior recipi­ents
for a series.
10. Future Conventions: 2006, Lloyd
Johnson reported that he is now the
--- Secretary from page 12
Chairman of the 2006 Convention
which will be a joint effort with the B-
26 Marauder Historical Society. He is
working with David Miller, President
of the Marauder's. The convention
headquarters will be the Crown Plaza
Hotel, Dayton, Ohio, Thursday, August
24 to Monday, August 28, 2006. Mr.
Miller says they have a contract with a
management company to negotiate
rates with the hotel. Details will be
provided as they become available.
2007-Convention will be held in
Colorado Springs. Lloyd Johnson is
Chairman. He will work with the local
Convention Bureau to secure a hotel,
and date to be in mid-May, 2007.
2008-Mobile, Alabama. Ray
Lowman is Chairman and has done a
lot of preliminary planning.
2009-Vito Pedone discussed
possibility of a cruise. Consensus of the
Board was positive. Vito volunteered to
put together a package of cruise
information with no specific dates
including costs from home through
cruise and return home.
Vito discussed the possibility of
having a reunion of the 9th AF Path­finders,
101 st Airborne Pathfinders,
82nd Airborne Pathfinders, and Troop
Carrier groups (27) of the 9th Air
Force, within the next two years. That
should encompass about 3,000 people.
If this comes about, it would be the last
Airborne/Pathfinder Reunion. Vito will
follow up and report at next meeting.
11. Plaques-Lloyd Johnson reported
that the 9th AFA Memorial plaque will
be installed on the wall at Colorado
Springs soon. When we meet in
Colorado Springs for the 2007 Conven­tion,
the plaque will be covered, then
unveiled during our dedication cer­emony.
Discussion about putting a 9th AFA
plaque at Dayton AF Museum. Cost
would be approximately $1,500 to
$2,000.
MOTION by Lloyd Johnson that we
investigate the cost and logistics of
installing a 9th AFA Memorial plaque
THE NINTH AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION, FALL 2005
at the Wright Patterson Air Force
Museum at Dayton, Ohio. Seconded,
Motion approved. Lloyd said that he
would volunteer to do this.
Lloyd discussed plaque or memo­rial
at Chanute AFB Museum in
Rantoul, IL. He showed a photo of an
8th Air Force memorial in that museum
in the shape of a folding easel with
model airplanes attached at Chanute,
and suggested that we could do
something similar for our organization.
This display could be used at other
museums.
Marvin volunteered to investigate
cost, etc., and report to next Board
meeting.
12. Memorials. Vito talked about the
Air Force Memorial in Washington,
D. C., and said we need a plaque
installed there.
13. The FLYER: Stan asked for
comments for improvement or changes
to the Flyer. Marvin said that he would
like to see the official drawing of the
9th APA logo on the cover. The correct
drawing is as shown on the cover of the
Membership Directory. The shape of
the "9" is different. Marvin has
furnished the official drawing to Karen.
Vito said he has sent his story about D­Day
to Karen.
14. Other business: 9th APA Board of
Directors meet twice a year. After
much discussion, about date of next
Board meeting, it was agreed that 2006
Board meetings will be in Spring, and
at Dayton Convention in August.
2007 Board meetings will be at
Colorado Springs Convention in May
and a Fall meeting.
MOTION by Marvin Rosvold to hold
2006 Spring Board meeting in Omaha,
NE. After discussion, Motion was
withdrawn.
MOTION by Stan Stepnitz to hold
2006 April/May Board meeting in St.
Louis, MO. Motion approved.
Base Exchange: Karen has been
notified that she should delete the Base
Exchange pages from the FLYER.
In May 2005, Frank Lewis, keeper of
See Secretary on page 20
13
---, ___ Blazing from page 5
The only signal received from the
airborne troops was a panel marker
placed at the appointed time indicating
where they wanted resupply and
reinforcement.
This operation, which had been
decided on as part of the original plan,
began before dusk on D-Day. Two
hundred and eight C-47's towing 172
Horsa gliders of British manufacture
(carrying 6,900 pounds) and 36
American CG-4A's crossed the
Channel between 2110 hours and 2310
hours. The gliders caiTied additional
elements of the airborne divisions
already landed as well as items of
resupply - ammunition, food - and
some heavy equipment to our waiting
troops. The following morning, D-plus-
1, 48 Horsas and 150 CG-4A's were
released over the same spot; 249 other
C-47's dropped supplies. Thus the air
phase of the airborne operations to
"assist in the initial assault and prevent
enemy troop movements from east to
west" ended at 0900 hours on D-plus-
1. The entire operation had involved
1,371 sorties by 9th Troop Carrier
planes, plus 301 by gliders.
Operation Background­Basically,
the operation succeeded so
brilliantly because 9th Troop Command
received what every Troop Carrier
outfit had been seeking since the
beginning. For once, a troop carrying
organization was permitted to devote
itself to training for its combat
assignment instead of indulging in
freight hauling right up to the moment
of action. The 9th had its own
equipment and was not forced-as in
the early Mediterranean operations-to
use mixed, tired and foreign aircraft.
Moreover, the high command planning
for the operation took into account the
various special requirements­adequate
time in which to prepare for
the particular operation, as well as for
operations as a team under varying
conditions, a well-marked route to
objective, fighter protection and
bombardment diversion.
Coordination of the pre-invasion
training and of the actual D-Day
operations was achieved through the
Allied Expeditionary Air Force
Headquarters which controlled both 9th
Troop Carrier Command and its RAF
equivalent. The 9th remained under the
9th Air Force for administration and
discipline, but this channel was
bypassed for operations-orders went
straight from AEAF to 9th TC.
Troop Carrier, after years of being
mistaken for the Air Transport
Command (which properly has no part
of carrying through and into combat­Troop
Carrier's job) and after suffering
a great many lean days, made the
grade-with plenty of room to spare.
One of the most important jobs in
the invasion was that of Pathfinder
units which pointed the way for troop
carriers and gliders. Briefly, their job is
to do for Troop Carrier planes taking
tatget of Rx fraud
Veterans are receiving calls from a
company identifying itself as the
"Patient Care Group." This company is
claiming that the veteran's prescrip­tions
are now being dispensed through
them and if they wanted to continue to
receive their medications, they would
need to provide a credit card number.
14
The Veterans Administration has
not changed the process of receiving
and dispensing prescriptions. This
phone scam company is committing
illegal interstate wire transfer (a federal
offense) and veterans are asked to
immediately hang up and try tracing the
number from which they called you by
THE NINTH AIR FORCE AssoCIATION, FALL 2005
troops into enemy territory what RAF
pathfinders do for their night
bombers-mark the target so the main
forces can find it without delay and
without error. To do the job, they had
planes and crews carefully chosen from
among the best in all the groups that
made up 9th Troop Carrier Command.
Additionally, special equipment was
designed to assist in navigation-state­of-
the-art for the time.
At the end of each column was a
flight of Pathfinder aircraft which was
assigned to fly at night, probably in the
face of enemy opposition. It was the
job of this lead flight to hedgehop
below 500 feet or so, keeping under the
enemy's radar field, and fly directly to
the 500 yard by 500 yard field which
was assigned to them. There, they
dropped special Pathfinder teams of
Airborne Infantry at precisely the right
moment.
In such planes, there is the usual
crew consisting of a pilot, copilot,
navigator, radio operator and crew
chief-but all trained for their special
jobs. The crew of each ship would
work out the problem and be briefed to
carry on in case the other two don't get
there. Each aircrew member had
between 30 and 60 hours of special
Pathfinder instruction.
The 9th Troop Carrier Command
made history by carrying out the largest
airborne operation ever attempted and
by doing it with maximum efficiency
and minimum loss.
dialing *69. (This may be another
number in your area. Check the front,
information pages of your telephone
directory to determine the numbers by
which you may try to trace.) If you do
receive the number, contact Cindy
Gaylord, VA Public Affairs Specialist,
North Florida/South Georgia Veterans
Health System, direct line: (386) 754-
6302, FAX: (386) 758-6005,
cellphones: (386) 365-2477 or (352)
258-6242.
-----· -----~---
buddies' exploits that they talked all at
the same time.
Ralston's plane had been some­what
shot up. His radio had gone out
and flying four abreast, quite wide
apart as is thier custom, he had not
heard the boys warn him of the attack.
The first thing he knew was he was
being shot by a Jerry on his tail.
He got a few bullets through his
ship which almost rendered it uncon­trollable
and he said he was thinking of
jumping, but being an old-timer, he
dove for the ground, "hit the deck" as
they say, and started for home. Mazure
was griping like the devil because he
had gotten two Jerries in his sights and
missed them both-the first time he
had ever missed completely in a fight.
Oddly enough, throughout the fight,
German flak blazed away and no one
knew whether they were being chased
or chasing the Hun.
One of the Jerry pilots bailed out
on the way down and they were
kidding one kid that his victory
shouldn't count as the pilot got away.
Yank from page 8
It may sound a little cold blooded, but
actually there is no feeling other than
that of youthful excitement and
enthusiasm. By the time they finished
their interrogation and critique, it was
time for lunch.
The pilots of all three squadrons
eat together and these boys, being the
envy of all others, were hardly able to
get any food into them for answering
their questions and retelling their
experiences. ·Williams had gotten two,
and Caldwell, Diman and Ralston one
each. Ralston got his after he peace­fully
headed for home in his shot-up
plane.
Suddenly, a P-47 Thunderbolt shot
by him with a Fockewulf 190 on its
tail. He swerved his ship a little and
shot down the 190. Just about the time
a squadron of our P-38 Lightnings
dived in, the Jerries took off.
Mazure was mad because he
missed a couple but not nearly as much
as I who had missed the whole show.
My only consolidation was that I was
going up right after lunch.
Parting shots
We had a bit of space to share with
you a couple more pictures of the fun
we had at Convention.
Here's part of our group during Sen. Bob
Dole's speech at the memorial service
for the 60th anniversary of VE-Day.
A bronze of FDR at the President's
Memorial. Note the right forefinger is
discolored from constant touching.
Become a partner in the greatest militaty organization in the world
Join the 9th Air Force Association Today!
~------~~----=----------~~~--~~-----~-~~---
Dues: Annua/$20 (USA); $25 (Outside USA) Utetime:$200 (up to age 50); $175 (Age 50-70); $150 (Age 70-79); $125 (Age 80 & up);
Clip and send to: Paul O'Dell, 9AFA
Treasurer,
$500-Silver Eagle Life; $1,000-Golden Eagle Life.
9th Air Force Association
www.ninthairforceassoc.org
I Membership Application I
--- -(date) Referred by _____ (Initials & Mem. #)
I apply for membership in the Ninth Air Force Association as:
A Veteran of 9thAF 0 Active duty of the 9thAF 0 An Associate who supports the purposes of 9AFA (Non-voting)
My Name:--------------- SpouslJ-.------------~Country: ____ _
Address· City: ______ State_· _____ Zip_· ___ _
Home Phone: Bus.Phone: Fa/'<.-·------ E-maih-:-----
if you have an alternating (winter/summer) address, please list with phone AND the months at each location.
List the 9th AF organizations to which you were assigned: (use separate sheet if needeu+-----------------­My
Primary 9th AF Unit Number & Typ~·----------------------------
(e.g., Wing, Group, Sqdn., TAC, Hqtrs, Btn, Co, Depot, etc.) Location Approximate dates of assignment
Military Specialties: Civilian Career Specialties_· ___________ _
Associates- Your 9AF relatives or special 9AF interest: _________________________ _
THENINTHAIR FoRcEAssoc1ATION, FALL 2005 15
Stepnitz steps down
This is to advise you that as of
now, I am resigning from the Board of
Directors of the Ninth Air Force
Association.
Be further advised that I do so with
a heavy heart. I have loved working on
the Board and trying to do whatever I
could to promote the Association and
the 9th Air Force/USCENTAF.
Why? I am in the process of
leaving the State of Maryland and
returning to my home state of Michi­gan.
It is not that I only love that state,
I have a brother and a sister in Michi­gan
in less than desirable condition of
health. I want to spend more time with
them and cannot do so living so far
from them. Needless to say, the move
will be difficult in more than one way.
But, it must be done.
In closing, I know the Association
will be in good hands. There are
indications it will soon start to grow.
Good luck to you and yours.
Respectfully,
Stan Stepnitz, former Chairman
WWII 9th in the ETO
I am writing to ask for your help in
finding information about 9th AAF
"Reece" personnel assigned to detached
service to coordinate support for ground
troops, do BDA, interpret photo & grid
info for artillery and front line troops.
My Dad, Cpl. P. M. Larkin (Pho­tographer/
Aerial Photographer), served
with 30th PRS, and was among J 2 from
his squadron to be assigned such duties.
As his official Army records were de­stroyed
in the St. Louis fire of "76, and
Detached Service largely went undocu­mented
anyway, I'm having a great deal
of difficulty trying to document hisser­vice.
I know that he and another from his
Squadron, I think it was Sgt. Steven
Matuska, were assigned to take motion
16
to
the
pictures of the carpet bombing during op­eration
Cobra breakout from the St. Lo
area on 24/7 /44. Being on high ground
500 yds in front of the allied line (after a
1200 yd pull back for bombing) he was
injured in the back-bombing incident that
killed some 600 allied servicemen.
There are several other events, but I
guess there should be record of medical
treatment at a field hospital, particularly
as medics removed one of his dog-tags.
Anyway, if you could point me in the
right direction, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Regards,
Joe Larkin
Cali for memorabilia
Greetings from Nijmegen.
My name is Jan Bos, 51 years
old, married, my wife and I have two
daughters, one granddaughter. I am an
amateur historian on Troop Carrier
history. I collect all kind of data,
stories and pictures of the aircrew
members, the C-46s and C-47's and C-
53 's that dropped paratroopers, towed
gliders, evacuated wounded
from the front lines and supplied the
troops.
I am in touch with many Troop
Carrier veterans or next-of-kin.
Received your name and e-mail
address from a friend in the 436th
Troop Carrier Group. Since the Troop
Carrier Groups belonged to the 9th US
Air Force, thought I might include
you in my Troop Carrier e-mail contact
list.
Thank you for your time and all the
best
Jan Bos
Editor's note: Thanks to Orv Iverson
for forwarding the above letter to us.
I'm sure many of you will enjoy
THE NINTl-1 AIR FoRcE AssocJATION, FALL 2005
getting to know Jan who apparently
has a wealth of information to share. If
you're interested in finding out what it
was like for a regular GI in WWII,
check out Orv's WWII story and see
his online photos:
http ://home.earthlink.net/
-iversonom/index.html
or use a search engine like Google
under Iverson,Orv's WWII story.
Looking for loved ones
Editor's note: The following are e­mails
from people looking for surviv­ing
loved ones or information on lost
relatives. Some are from Europeans
whose English is not so good so we're
publishing exactly as sent without
editing. Should you be able to help,
please contact the writers personally.
By conducting a Google search for
'555th Signal Air Warning,' I found
your web page. My step-father was
serving with the 555th Signal Battalion
(SAW), Company B during WWII. He
said they were attached to the 8th AF
and later to the 9th AF. He is now
deceased and I am taking my mother to
a reunion of surviving Company B
servicement and their wives. I would
like to find out as much as I can about
the 555th and SAW, to share the
information at the reunion. Can anyone
direct me or provide advice on where I
may find this information?
Sara Clarkson
My name is Ben Harrison, I have a
WWII A2 Bomber jacket with the
insignias of the 9th Army Air Force and
the 526th Fighter Bomber Sq and the
86th Fighter Bomber Group (the latter
two insignias are the same). I am
wondering if you know anyone who
collects and conserves these relics and
who might be interested in acquiring it.
Ben Harrison
United Kingdom
---- - See Letters on pagel 8
""
leadership from page 1
By now, you've heard or read
about the Boeing scandal. Criticism
from Senator McCain forced Secretary
Roche to resign his post last November
and he retired in January. Roche was
the most vocal proponent of the Raptor
program, but McCain challenged he
was "unfit to serve." McCain
criticized Roche and others, like
General Gregory "Speedy" Martin, for
their handling of a plan to lease
modified 767 aircraft from Boeing as
aerial refueling jets.
For some time, the Air Force found
itself under the shadow of probes and
investigations into billions of dollars of
spending, following last year's
conviction of Darleen Druyun, a
former civilian negotiator who
admitted to and was convicted of
steering four contracts to Boeing in
exchange for jobs for her and her
family. The Air Force Times article
stated a Defense Science Board task
force examined Air Force acquisition
authority and whether the service had
in place the necessary checks and
balances. And due to the scandal, the
Air Force found itself under fire from
defense companies complaining they
unfairly lost contracts to Boeing based
on Druyun's admissions in court. On 1
October 2004, she was sentenced to
nine months in federal prison.
According to State Department
records, Druyun worked as the
principal deputy assistant for
acquisition for 10 years, often without
direct oversight, before leaving the Air
Force in November, 2002. She
admitted to pumping up the price of the
767 tankers as a "parting gift" to
Boeing and handing the company more
than $4.5 billion in contracts that
might have gone to other firms had the
competitions been fair. Included in the
contracts was a $4 billion deal to
upgrade the avionics of the C-130
cargo aircraft.
Overseeing hundreds, if not
thousands of contract executions, the
Times articles states Druyan's actions
have prompted Lockheed Martin,
BAE Systems and L-3
Communications to log complaints.
Since then, more defense contractors
may have jumped aboard to the tune
of billions of dollars. To date, the
GAO is investigating and handling the
protests and other investigations are
ongoing. The Defense
Department inspector general has
examined two contracts won by
Boeing and awarded in October,
2003, which Druyan worked on and
the investigation will extend to
anything auditors find "suspicious,"
according to the article.
The Times claims the clash with
McCain has cost the Air Force
leadership the credibility needed to be
effective advocates for Air Force
priorities. Even General Jumper's last
days were weakened. And because the
tanker scandal wrapped up so many
officers and civilians, the Air Force
found itself in a political duck-and­cover
mode.
When the article broke, the Air
Force's revolving door was expected
to usher in a change in chief of staff,
as Jumper was due to change
command later in the year. Two of the
primary candidates to take Jumper's
spot, General Martin and General
Michael Moseley, Jumper's vice Chief
of Staff, were embroiled in McCain's
hunt for answers on the tanker deal.
Now, with time passed, we know
that General Jumper has retired, and in
an exclusive to the 9th Flyer, General
Martin told me he will retire by year's
end. At press time, "Speedy" had hung
up his stars on 1 September. General
Mosley has been appointed to fill
General Jumper's shoes and hopefully,
the flap is over and things may return
to normal. Or will they?
The clash with McCain has cost
the Air Force leadership the credibility
needed to be effective advocates for
Air Force priorities. And it's a shame
it all happened.
I personally know General
Martin. I had the opportunity to meet
THE NINTH AIR FoRcE AssocIATION, FALL 2005
him during a one-on-one interview a
couple of years ago and was
reacquainted with him this summer
during a party hosted by Eglin AFB 's
base commander, Major General and
Mrs. Robert "Chet-Bob" Chedister at
their home. (What is it about these
flyers and their ludicrous nicknames? I
don't get it!) Anyway, I told "Speedy"
Martin how much I had hoped he'd
receive the appointment. Why not?
He's one of the most personable people
I've run across. Friendly. Genuine. One
hell of a guy who always has a smile
on his face. He became embroiled in
the scandal simply through association.
He worked under Druyun and although
I'm not privy to his actions or inactions
over the deal, in my opinion he'd have
been the ideal man to bring back the
credibility the Air Force lost over the
scam.
Although he seemed a bit saddened
by mentioning the news to me, he
agreed, "God has something better in
store for me at this time in my life and
I'm anxious to find out what it is."
Meantime, during the convention
banquet in D.C., I had the pleasure of
asking General Jumper about his
thoughts on 1) the hunt for his
successor and 2) what his
recommendations were to return lost
credibility to the Air Force's leadership
as a whole.
"We are now seeing confirmations
come through," he said in May, "and
while some in the Senate say she
(Druyun) couldn't do this by herself
and that other people had to be helping,
I can guarantee that any of the people I
work with day in and day out, wouldn't
put up with that for a minute if they
knew what was going on.
"Regardng civilians, it's going to
be tougher. These civilians come out of
high paying jobs and they divest
themselves from very profitable stocks
to come and work for the government.
As we've seen, when you work for the
government, you get dragged through
--See Leadership page 18
17
H.,
1.
Letters from page i 6
Looking for old friends of 1st Lt.
Lester E. Barton, died March 18, 1945.
He was a B-26 Marauder pilot. Let me
know if anyone knew him.
Thank you
Judy Holland
Hi:
My father, Dean M. Lauderback,
was a member of the 9th Air Force,
86th Air Depot Group, 22nd Depot
Repair Sq, during WWII. I think he
might be interested in your organiza­tion.
Is there a charge for membership.
Do you have any other veterans of his
particular unit in your roster? And, for
my benefit, is there any way of finding
out the particular history of that unit,
such as where and when they were
the cactus, so it's easy for them to
say 'no, I'll stick with my high paying
job and pass up the abuse,'" he
added.
So where does this leave us? in an
article appearing in the online site
Defence Talk, Jumpers successor,
Gen. T. Michael Moseley commented
on the future of the Air Force and the
leadership we'll need to keep it at the
top of all the services combined. He
said for this goal to be achieved, there
are a number of challenges that must
first be met: focus on fighting the war
on terrorism, continue to develop
Airmen and recaptialize and modernize
the inventory.
He added that since we've been
fighting terrorism for a number of
years now, an air of complacency
should be avoided at all costs.
"Let me be clear: We cannot now,
nor ever, lose sight of the fact that the
mission of the United States Air Force
is to fly and to fight," General Moseley
said in the article. "We fly and we
fight ... that's what we do.
"We clearly have the best people
18
stationed, etc.?
Any info will be appreciated and
thanks,
Ken Lauderback
Help in search informations on P-
47 serial 42-76460 (371th FG. 405th
FS.) pilot Lieutenant Robert A
Mezzeti, killed in action the 2 August,
1944 near of Rennes (Brittany) France.
The Lieutenant R.A. Mezzeti to be
in niission with the Lieutenant William
McCormick Jr.
Thank you in advance,
Jean-Paul Favrnis
Good morning,
I came across your web pages and
I'm looking for infonnation. My dad
served in Europe with the 791 st
leadership from page i 7
in the world," he said. "If we are
going to ask our Airmen to defend this
nation, then we owe it to them to give
them the best opportunities for career
development ... and give them the best
possible standard of living and the best
possible training," he added.
The general said the Air Force
must continue to make the training
more realistic and find the right mix of
joint, coalition and composite force
training. For the Air Force to train and
fight, it has to have the proper
equipment to ensure mission success.
"Old equipment is not a new
problem," General Moseley said. "We
are operating the oldest inventory of
aircraft in our history.
The average age of the fleet has
gone from 8 1/2 years old in 1967 to
an average of 23 1/2 years old today,
he said. General Moseley commented
on the way ahead for the Air Force and
the four points that will drive its
future.
"The future total force must be not
only adaptable to today's fight, but
THE NINTH AIR FORCE AssocIATION, FALL 2005
Artillery, AA. He said they were
attached to the 9th Air Force. He said
he didn't understand the connection.
Would anyone have any insight
into this?
Thanks,
Jim Naumec
Dear Sir,
I came across your association
webpage in search of information about
my father's service during WWII.
Perhaps you can help me locate some
info about his career. He was stationed
in Madison, WI (1943) before being
sent overseas. He was a sergeant in the
9th Army Air Force and told me that he
was training troops in England before
D-Day. He was burned during a
training exercise and hospitalized for a
short time. He was in the sixth wave to
See Letters page 19
also tomorrow's fight and equally
adaptable to unlmown applications.
"It must be seamless among the
active duty, Guard and Reserve
components.
- It must operate in a joint
environment; not only in what is
purchased, but also in the way we
fight, talk and think.
- It must be affordable.
"To meet these challenges
though, we must continue to look for
better ways to operationally exploit
the air and space domain," the general
said.
"The pioneers have given us a
proud combat heritage, a heritage that
speaks to us today," he said. 'Their
work, their ideas, and their courage
propel us toward an unlimited horizon
of opportunity which is the birthright
of your Air Force.
"So when someone asks you
what the Air Force will be doing in the
future, tell them this: We will do what
we have always done," he said. "We
will stand on the shoulders of giants.
We will take care of each other and
every member of this great fighting
force. We will innovate. And ... we
will fly ... we will fight ... and we
will win."
Bubbles from page 2
aged during the chamber flight. This
made sense until I remembered decid­ing
not to leave my watch and felt my
wrist. This gave me a clue that all was
not well.
I called to the chamber operator
and told him I was losing my eyesight.
He immediately put me in their ambu­lance
and took me to the hospital I
could see well enough to walk but
when the hospital nurse asked me to
identify my boots, I was unable to do
so. Our Flight Surgeon joined the team
of hospital doctors to determine my
condition. I was in no pain but I could
not even see the lights shown in my
eyes during examinations. Also, I had
lost the use of my hands and arms. The
School off Aviation Medicine at Brooks
AFB, TX was consulted and was
familiar with this condition but could
offer little help.
The nitrogen in the blood stream
had converted into a gaseous state
during my chamber flight and the
bubbles traveled in the blood stream
until reaching a restriction. This
condition is frequently found with
divers who suffer the 'bends.' The
bubbles, however, had reached the
central nervous system and had lodged
in the area of my brain that affected the
optic nerve. This condition is extremely
critical and usually fatal. Breathing
pure oxygen was the only known
treatment. The nitrogen bubbles needed
to dissipate and return to fluid state
without moving to another critical
location in the brain or heart. Experts
monitored my condition throughout the
night. I realized with all of the medical
attention given to me that my condition
was critical and recovery questionable.
My condition had improved
slightly by noon the next day. My wife
had been flown in from Bangor to
assist in my recovery. I couldn't
recognize her but I could distinguish
the light areas in the walls that had
windows and doors. Also, I began
See Bubbles on page 20
letters from page 18
land at Normandy, and was later doing
reconnaissance. He was definitely in
Reims, as I have photos he sent of the
cathedral, and later, in Stuttgart,
'setting up war governments." I have
tried to get his record from the Army
records center but they tell me they
were most likely destroyed in the fire
there in 1973. I live in Rockville, MD,
about a half hour from D.C. and have a
son in the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry (the
Old Guard) Fife and Drum Corps,
based at Fort Meyer. Any direction you
can give me in locating his records
would be very much appreciated. His
name was Sgt. Ely Fainstein, enlisted
some time in 1942 and was discharged
around December, 1945. He died in
1989. Thank you for your time,
Barbara F. Bell
Greetings,
We own a C-47 serial# 43-16369.
We know it was in the 9th AF in
Europe by August of 44. We would like
to find you what TCG and TCS it was
with. Any help would be great.
Robert Rice
t
Hello,
I would very much appreciate it if
anyone can give me information about
9th AF units based in Andover, En­gland,
1944. My 91 year old father-in­law
was with the Royal Air Force, but
was seconded to the U.S. forces for
several months in 44, during the
preparation build up to D-Day. His
memory unfortunately is very poor
these days, but he seems to remember
P-38s based there. He keeps telling me
about him being flown over to France,
where he was dropped off with the
object of locating a suitable landing
site for glider borne troops to be landed
around D-Day, but is very vague about
those days. I have secured copies of his
RAF service records, and they confirm
he was at Andover at that time, but say
THENINTilAlR FORCE ASSOCIATION, FALL 2005
nothing else.
Any help will be most welcome,
Derek Thomas
To whom it may concern,
Your website is well done and a
tribute to those who served our country
in the 9th Army Air Force during
WWII. Do you have a historian for
your association who might be able to
provide information?
I'm trying to locate information
about my wife's father, Michael Karas,
now deceased, who served in the US
Army 2150th Engineers Aviation
Firefighter Platoon. He was a sergeant
and served from May 43 through Oct.
45. H was involved in the campaigns of
Normandy, Rhineland, Northern France
and Central Europe. His training took
place at Camp Lake Ponchartrain, LA
and photos indicate a shoulder patch
for the Army Air Force. On a photo of
him overseas, he is sitting on a jeep
that has a Spade followed by a 9 then
2159EAFFP. Can you help guide me as
to how I might find out more informa­tion.
It appears his unit was assigned to
a 9AAF unit. With many thanks,
David Graham
t
Sir:
My father was a member of the
2487 QM Truck Co. with the 9th AF in
the ETO. I would like to find all the
information about when the unit was
formed and when it was deactivated
after the war. I would also like to know
where they were stationed while in
England and then when they went over
to France and Belgium along with the
area of Germany that was occupied by
this group. Can you also tell me what
squadron they were attached to? Dad
used to say that he drove a C-2 wrecker
and would bring in wrecked airplanes.
His name was Richard E. ABERER,
service# 37-404-915. Thank you,
Eugene C. Aberer
19
the BX items, said that he wanted to
resign and send the supplies to some­one
else. Fem Mann told him that she
could store the items if he wanted to
ship them to her. No action has been
taken. Perry Lusby said that if Frank
would keep the items until the August
2006 Convention in Dayton, that Perry
could display them at the Convention
and try to sell everything.Then we
could purchase new, up to date items
for sale. Fem will contact Frank for
update.
Membership Directory-The 9th AFA
current directory was printed in 2000.
Fem will ask Paul O'Dell and/or Mary
McCarthy to get an estimate of cost of
printing a new Directory.
Membership Application-Fern will
ask Ray Lowman to follow up on
updating and printing the Application.
Marvin said that we have a supply of
stationary blanks. He will talk to Ray
Lowman about printing some for new
officers.
Meeting adjourned for the day at 1600.
Meeting reconvened at 9:00 am,
Tuesday, September 13, 2005.
12. Memorials and Museums, contin­ued.
Lloyd said that we need more
exposure. Possible places for displays
are The D-Day Museum in New
Orleans, the new Air Force Memorial
in Washington DC, Chanute AFB in
Rantoul, IL, Dover, DE.
Vito said he would check with the
Air Force Memorial and see what other
groups have done there and also the
Dover, DE, museum, which is prima-
--- Bubbles from page 19
limited use of my hands and arms. My
eyesight improved rapidly throughout the
day and I was released from the hospital
on 4 July. We returned to Bangor with the
understanding that I was to return to
Westover AFB in 30 days for another
chamber flight and vigorous testing of my
eyesight. I wasn't thrilled but I was
determined to pass the tests and return to
flight status.
The second chamber flight was
20
Secretary from page 13
rily an Airborne museum.
Lloyd will investigate putting a
plaque at Wright-Patterson AFB
Museum in Dayton. Stan Davis will
send names of contacts to Lloyd.
Marvin will follow up with information
on the display at Chanute. Lloyd will
contact the D-Day museum and get
information about putting a plaque
there. Stan said that there is a P-47 on
display at the Museum (The Air Zoo)
in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Mike Horgan said that the P-47
Thunderbolt Pilots Association had its
final Reunion last May, but there are
nearly 400 members of that organiza­tion
still living. We should invite those
people, and members of other 9th Air
Force groups, including the Marauder
Society, Aviation Engineers, Flight
Nurses, to join with us at our 2006
Convention in Dayton, Ohio, and future
conventions. Lloyd will work with Stan
Stepnitz, Vito Pedone, Perry Lusby and
Woody Sproul to draft a letter to mail
to those 9th AF members.
9:30 a.m.-Gen. Blair Hansen joined
us for a briefing. He thanked us for
doing what we do and for inviting him
to meet with us. Stan asked Gen.
Hansen for his ideas about how to
encourage the young airmen to become
members of the 9thAFA. One sugges­tion
was to contact Kathy Jones and
Mr. Leper in the 9th AF Historian
office at Shaw, plus the Director of
Staff. They are very good writers and
trying to connect the present day
airmen with the past history. He
uneventful. The previous chamber crew
had been replaced. New procedures had
been implemented. The communication
system had been improved with modern
two-way audio. The level-off procedure
at 25,000 feet was deleted from the flight
which in past procedures had negated the
effort to reduce the possibility of liquid
nitrogen changing into gas. It was a little
scary but otherwise a pleasant experi­ence.
My eye exam was extremely
THE NINTH AIR FoRCE Assoc1ATJON, FALL 2005
believes that the young airmen are
looking for the feeling of belonging and
being a part of this vital Air Force.
Many of them are staying in t~e Air
Force because of that feeling of being a
part of the valiant effort and the
connection to their heritage.
After describing some of the things
going on in Iraq, and the chain of
Command, Gen Hansen was asked
"Can we win?" He said he believed
that absolutely we can win. There is a
price tag, which is one the American
people will have to pay, and it will take
a long time to do it. The basic things of
civil society are just crawling; security,
clean water, power infrastructure, the
ability to keep electricity on for both
industry and people at home is a huge
effort. Those things take time. These
folks in Iraq are eager to be doing
business and are doing it right now.
Downsizing of the military has had
a huge impact on our abilities. The Air
Force has been cut approximately 40
per cent since Desert Storm but our
tasking has gone up about 400 per cent.
The result is that we have to figure out
smarter, better ways to do things.
The Ninth Air Force Historian
office is in the process of scanning and
preserving its data, papers and photos,
onto an Electronic Archival system that
will catalog and preserve it for the
future. Hopefully a system can be
worked out with Akron University
Archives to share this information."
There being no further business, the
meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
thorough. A special test was designed for
my eyes and I thought it'd be a miracle if
I passed. I did and was returned to flight
status and completed 41 years of service
where I remained until retirement.
Subsequent chamber flights were
stressful but uneventful. I didn't look
forward to the annual chamber rides and
really appreciated when they changed to
regs to every three years rather than
annually. To this day, I still feel helpless
each time I step into a chamber.
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