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Robert C. Hansen
ROBERT C. HANSEN, born July
28, 1924 in Chicago, Illinois. After graduation from Crane Tech High School, he
enlisted as an Aviation Cadet. Training was
in the Southeast Training Command and he
graduated with 43-I from Napier Field in
Dothan, Alabama. The first posting was to
Richmond, Virginia where he checked out
in the P-47. After checkout, he was assigned
to Dover AAB where he became a P-47
instructor.
In June, 1944, he was sent to the Southwest Pacific, Fifth Air Force and joined the
69th Fighter Squadron of the 58th Group
in Saidor, New Guinea. The group moved
through the Pacific to Noemfor, Dutch East
Indies; Mindoro, Lingayan, Clark and Porac
in the Philippines and finally to Okinawa
where at the end of the war they were flying
missions against Japan.
Hansen flew 96 missions, most of them
fighter sweeps and ground support for infantry in the Philippines. The flights against
Japan were usually dive bombing, although
there were a few escort missions. On one of
these, right at the end of the war, on August
8, 1945, above the Inland Sea north of
Kyushu, Hansen finally saw a Jap plane in
the air as two Zeke 52's came up to intercept
the B-24's. As Hansen said later "I had to
race the rest of the squadron to them" as he
and his wing men, Terry Rasmussen, picked
them off easily.
After the war, Hansen moved to Los
Angeles and attended UCLA, majoring in
Marketing in the College of Business Administration. After graduation in 1949, he had
buying and merchandising responsibilities
with several west coast retail operations,
including Montgomery Ward, Builders
Emporium and Daylin Drug. In 1969 he
moved to Phoenix, Arizona and joined Valley Distributing, then a 12 store chain, as
Vice President. In 1980 he retired from the
firm - now with 250 stores.
During the winter months, Bob and his
wife Beth live in Litchfield Park, Arizona
outside Phoenix, near Luke Air Force Base,
where they enjoy playing golf and watching
F-4's and F-15's do things that an old Jug
pilot can't believe. Their summers are spent
in the cool White Mountains of Arizona,
near Pinetop, where they enjoy their golf
and fishing.
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Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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John Abbotts
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P-47 transition followed at Pocatello, Idaho and Greenville, Texas after which he was assigned to the 56th Fighter Group in England. When the news of his arrival reached Berlin, Hitler retired to his bunker with his cyanide capsule and revolver. Eva found the news equally depressing.
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Asa A. Adair
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He returned to the States in August of 1944 after participating in the invasion "D" Day. He flew P-63's, P-51's, F-80's, T-33's, F-84's, T-38's, P-47's in numerous assignments during the following twenty years in in, Japan, U.S.A. and Europe before retiring after twenty-six years of Active Duty.
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Edward B. Addison
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The 507th Fighter Group, equipped with P-47N's, won the Presidential Unit Citation for destroying 32 Japanese aircraft in the air on one mission to Seoul, Korea. The average flying time for raids to Korea and Japan would be 7 to 9 hours flying time. In a total of 31 months, the 507th not only provided top cover for B-29's, but also
dive-bombed, napalm-bombed and flew low-level on strafing missions.
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Levon B. Agha-Zarian
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It is rumored that he, took his primary training on a flying rug. He flew Spits, briefly, in England, but as the, war moved to the East, he was sent to India as a Sgt. Pilot and first saw action from Ceylon, flying the Curtiss P.36, the Brewster Buffalo, and the Hurricane. At this point he might have opted for the rug! This was at the time of the fall of Singapore and the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse.
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George N. Ahles
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Posted to A-20 light bomber squadron Barksdale Field, Louisiana. . Group moved to Hunter Air Base Savannah, Georgia. Qualified for Pilot training November 1940. Entered Aviation Cadets January 1942. Presented wings November 1942 class of 42-J. Married Mary Louise while in Advanced Pilot Training at Craig AFB, Selma, Alabama, September 1942.
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Roy J. Aldritt
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Shortly after the group moved to France he ran into some unseen flak and was forced to make a nylon descent behind the lines; some evasion and a lot of luck had him back with his unit
in 24 hours.
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Eugene J. Amaral
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After graduation from Stonington High School he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in December 1942 and was called to active duty in March, 1943. He received his wings and commission at Spence Field, Georgia as a member of the Class of 43-C.
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Talmadge L. Ambrose
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Flew 84 missions thru VE Day, was downed by 22mm ground fire over Siefried Line. He destroyed 11 enemy aircraft, 9 known confirmed in air and on
ground, including 4 FW 190-D's in one afternoon over Hanover, Germany, April 8, 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,
Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, 17 man, Oak Leaf Clusters, Good Conduct Medal, Pacific Theatre and European Theatre Meda1s with 5 Battle
Stars and Unit Citation Medal.
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John C. Anderson
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After P-47 transition he was assigned to the 406th Fighter Group, 512th Fighter Squadron. (E.T
.0.) He flew 56 missions through January, 1945 destroying supply routes, bridges, and railroads; he also flew close support missions with the ground forces, with attacks on tanks, artillery and enemy positions.
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William Anderson
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It was not always flak,two ME-109's beat the hell out of me one day. The central controller called me and said "Basher-Red Leader do you have contact Bandits," I replied, "I sure do, I'll bring them over the field in 3 minutes, they're chasing me home." Got all the usual medals including two Belgium and two French but one I'm most proud of is the Silver Star -it is the greatest.
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