Modern War Heroes » fighter pilot

The Missing Man Formation

admin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:43:46 +0000

Missing man formation over the USS Arizona memorial in Hawaii.

The “Missing Man” formation is a touching memorial to those lost in the airforce. It is a rare thing for those not in the military to witness. It is performed by the pilots flying in formation, just as if the lost man were still there.

It is believed that the tradition started in Britain at the funeral of Manfred von Richthofen, or the “Red Baron”. While that is just common belief, it is known for certain that its genesis orginates during World War I.

For more information of the Missing Man formation, visit aiipowmia.com to learn more.

Frank Luke – American Aviator

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:56:54 +0000

Some men just seemed destined to be great, and when it comes to wartime greatness, I have to admit, it sure seems like a little crazy is necessary. American aviator Frank Luke flew during World War I and has an incredible record to show for it. Sadly though, Frank didn’t make it out of enemy territory during a mission when he was shot down.

Known as the “Balloon Buster”, Frank managed to shoot down many enemy observation balloons. This was a dangerous business, since the balloons, being only balloons, were heavily guarded. Large squadrons, military vehicles, and a healthy number of anti-aircraft weapons surrounded the fragile balloons, and it was his job to get through them.

Really, he was lucky to do this feat once, but Frank Luke managed to down 18 balloons and enemy aircraft in only 18 days.

During one mission (to be his last), Frank was shot down over enemy territory. During that mission he managed to take down 3 balloons and 2 German planes. He was alive when he landed and so he also took 11 German soldiers, wounding others, with him during his last stand.

What an amazing soldier Frank Luke was. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. For more about him, click here.

Fighter Pilot Returns The Favor To His Native Saviors

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:25:46 +0000

This is pretty cool. A WWII American fighter pilot crashed in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, and after a harrowing 31 days lost in the jungle, the native people found him and cared for him until he could be sent home. Years later, and after that the rest of his life, the pilot did what he could to repay the community for their courageous generosity.

Gimundo – During World War II, American fighter pilot Fred “Hargy” Hargesheimer was attacked by a Japanese pilot while flying on a mission over Papua New Guinea. As the sound of enemy fire echoed through the sky, he felt bullets pound against his small plane. When the plane’s left engine erupted into flames, he strapped on his flimsy parachute and jumped.

If he’d stayed on board, he was sure to die in the plane crash. Though he might survive the parachute jump, he would be stranded in the jungle alone. Either way, it was almost certain that he’d never make it home alive.

Against all odds, he survived – but that near-fatal accident transformed Hargesheimer’s life in a way that he never could have imagined.

“I’m so grateful for getting shot out of the sky,” he told The Associated Press, 64 years later.

When the pilot jumped from his falling plane, he landed in the depths of a Pacific island rainforest. He had no possessions except a small survival kit that included a compass, a machete, extra ammo, and 2 chocolate bars. He had no idea where he was, and was sure that if he was discovered, he would be killed.

For 31 days, he pushed his way through the thick jungle trees, drinking rainwater and subsisting on snails after his chocolate supply ran out. He had just about given up on ever making his way out of the rainforest when suddenly, he heard the voices of native islanders coming from the nearby river.

Hargesheimer stayed hidden, assuming that they’d attack him if they found him. But when they discovered him, they handed him a note written in English by an Australian officer, saying that they had aided other soldiers and could be trusted.

The villagers took the starving soldier to their village, Ea Ea, and gave him his own hut. They fed him boiled pig, took him fishing, taught him their language, and nursed him back to health when he became sick with malaria. Most importantly, they kept him hidden when Japanese soldiers passed through the area –a decision that could have cost them their own lives.

“If they’d seen my boot prints, I think they would have tortured everyone in the village until they produced me,” he told The AP.

Eight months after the plane crash, Hargesheimer finally returned to the United States, courtesy of a submarine pick-up arranged by Australian soldiers. He married, became a father, and got a sales job in Minnesota. But he never stopped thinking about the people of Ea Ea, and the kindness they had showed him. He vowed to return to Papua New Guinea one day to repay them for saving his life.

In 1963, he finally made it back, taking a ship to the island where he’d spent so much time. The villagers lined up on the beach to greet him, singing a rendition of “God Save the Queen” in his honor.

It didn’t seem like enough to simply thank them for helping him during his time of need. So when he learned that the village needed a school, he decided to do everything he could to build it: Over the next three years, he reached out to everyone he knew for donations, and returned with $15,000 to build the village’s first elementary school. When it opened its doors, it had 74 students. Today, there are more than 400.

That wasn’t Hargesheimer’s last connection with the people of Ea Ea –in 1970, after their own children had left the home, he and his wife decided to move to the island and join the community there. They spent four years in the village, where they taught students and helped to build a second school. Though they had to cope without the comforts they’d been used to in America, those four years were the best of their lives, according to Hargesheimer’s wife, who died in 1985.

Hargesheimer, now 91, recently returned to Ea Ea for what will be his last visit. His fighter plane had just been discovered in the depths of the jungle, and he had been invited to view the wreckage of that fateful crash –in his mind, the best thing that ever happened to him.

Hargesheimer has a hero’s reputation in Ea Ea, where he is known by the formal title, “Masta Preddi.” But he believes that no matter how hard he has worked to repay the hospitality the villagers showed him all those years ago, it will never be enough.

“These people were responsible for saving my life,” he told the AP. “How could I ever repay it?”

Original story by Kathryn Hawkins

After 18 years, pilot’s remains come home

admin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:14:19 +0000

Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher was the first person to be killed in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, but his body was never found. He shot down over the desert west of Baghdad while flying a F/A-18 Hornet. The wreckage was recovered, and searches for his body proved fruitless. For years his status in the war flip-flopped – sometimes he would be listed as MIA but other times he might be listed as captured. But now it looks like after all these years, he will finally be able to rest back home.

The Los Angeles Times has this story on our lost hero:

Reporting from San Diego — The remains of a Navy pilot shot down at the onset of the Persian Gulf War — the first U.S. combat casualty of the 1991 conflict — have been recovered by Marines in western Iraq and identified by military specialists.

The findings, based on dental records, appear to finally bring to an end the mystery of just what happened to Navy Capt. Michael Scott Speicher.

Then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney had announced that Speicher was the first U.S. serviceman to die in the war, but the military’s inability to locate his body resulted in unceasing speculation and controversy. Over the years, Speicher’s official status was changed from “missing in action” to “missing in action/body not recovered” to “missing in action/captured.”

Successive presidents, secretaries of Defense and secretaries of the Navy wrestled with the mystery and a paucity of information. Some politicians in Washington expressed exasperation with the military and CIA.

At one point, rumors circulated that the father of two was alive and being held prisoner by Saddam Hussein.

The uncertainty led some of Speicher’s friends as well as several powerful politicians to assert that the military had broken its promise to never leave a fallen comrade behind.

Finally, nearly 15 years after the wreckage of Speicher’s plane was found in the desert west of Baghdad, Marines got a tip leading them last week to the remains, which had apparently been buried by Bedouin tribesmen.

The remains were flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where they were identified on Saturday as those of Speicher by specialists at the military mortuary. Read on…

Marine Aviator Remembered

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:24:15 +0000

Fighter pilot who fought in three wars died this past June at the age of 89. Our pilots certainly are extraordinary people!

Retired Marine Corps Col. Kenneth L. Reusser, 89, a highly decorated aviator who was shot down in three wars, died June 20. He lived in the Portland, Ore., suburb of Milwaukie.Col. Reusser flew 253 combat missions in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He was shot down in all three, five times in all.

His 59 medals included two Navy Crosses, four Purple Hearts, and two Legions of Merit.

In 1945, while based in Okinawa, he stripped down his F4U-4 Corsair fighter and intercepted a Japanese observation plane at high altitude. When his guns froze, he flew his fighter into the observation plane, hacking off its tail with his propeller.

In 1950, he led an attack on a North Korean tank-repair facility at Inchon, then destroyed an oil tanker, almost blowing himself out of the sky.

In Vietnam, he flew helicopters and was leading a rescue mission when his Huey was shot down. He needed skin grafts over 35 percent of his badly burned body. (source)

Angel In The Sky

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:18:27 +0000

Being a hero means a person does what they think is right, regardless of possible consequences. In wartime, doing the right thing becomes even harder. Often a person’s life is endangered if they were to step up to the proverbial plate. Or maybe they risk punishment at the hands of their superiors is they were to disobey an order – even if that order is wrong to carry out. German fighter pilot Franz Stigler was one of these people. When ordered to shoot down a heavily damaged, and disoriented, B-17 Flying Fortress, Franz found he didn’t have the heart to pull the trigger. Instead he helped young Charlie Brown, only 21 years old, get his bearings and escorted him until they were over the North Sea. Because of his merciful actions, Brown was able to get his damaged plane and injured crew safely back home.

Now you know the bare facts of this incredible story, click here to read the entire account.

UK’s Blue Plaque Awarded to WWII Fighter Pilot

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:50:49 +0000

Sir Douglas Bader was a pilot who fought against all odds. In a tragic aircraft accident in 1931 Bader lost both of his legs. He was unable to fly for some time, but when World War II broke out, he insisted on flying. He became a flying ace – shooting down 23 enemy aircraft. Bader was eventually captured by German Forces and put into a war camp. He ended up attempting so many escapes that the Germans had to confiscate his artificial limbs in order to prevent any more attempts. This was one man who didn’t let his disability stop him from living life.

Sir Douglas Bader dies in 1982 at the age of 72. This year the Blue Plaque was awarded in his memory.

“He overcame his disability and even now when you see disabled people coming back from war, doing the marathon, doing some extraordinary activities, I feel pretty sure that somewhere in their backgrounds the name Douglas Bader is something where there’s a referral point – he did it and we wish to continue that.”

This man is a real inspiration. Most people would call him handicapped, but despite not having his legs, Bader was able to accomplish so much.

A Real Ace

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:49:30 +0000

William “Bill” A. Shomo was truly an amazing pilot who flew for the United States Air Force during World War I. While flying an armed photo reconnaissance in his P-51 Mustang, he and his wing mate spotted 13 enemy planes. Despite being incredibly outnumbered, they immediately executed an Immelman turn and engaged the planes in combat. Within only 6 minutes of fighting, Shomo had shot down 7 of the 13 planes – making him an “ace in one day”. Most fighter pilots never reached Ace status in their entire careers. This remarkable feat was resulted in Shomo being awarded the Medal of Honor.

Talk about being an incredibly skilled pilot. Overall, Shomo flew over 200 missions in the war. Click here to read more details regarding his epic flight.