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Karl M. Kloeppel
KARL M. KLOEPPEL, JR., born in
New York City on August 5th, 1923.Accompanied by his Dad they both had their first
airplane ride at Holmes Airport, Queens in
1928 after the Gates Flying Circus moved
over from Teterboro. Still at a very impressionable age he vowed he would become an
airplane pilot from that moment on. He
started flying lessons in 1937, legally soloed
on 1 November 1939 and was employed at a
large CPT Flight School and Seaplane Base
during 1941. In April 1941, shortly out of
High School, Karl married a childhood
sweetheart Lorraine Murphy. Less than a
year later he was sworn in the Army Air Corps
after applying as an Aviation Cadet. Graduating with Class 43-E he went through P-47
transition early in June, which in keeping
with a tradition of getting an early start made
him a married, 2nd Lt. Fighter Pilot, father
of a 9 month old baby girl before his 20th
birthday.
On July 12th, 1943 he was assigned to
the 387th FS of the 365th Group being
organized at the OTU at Richmond AAB.
The Group trained together, flew First Air
Force alerts and went through Philadelphia
Fighter Wing Gunnery School at Millville,
NJ before finally going overseas December
14, 1943. They were one of the early
Groups in the newly re-formed 9th AF in
England. He was Assistant Ops Officer of the
387th for several months before being reassigned to the States early in 1945. When he
returned home in March 1945 he had flown
93 missions held the DFC, Air Medal with
15 BOLC, ETO ribbon with 4 Battle Stars,
and a Presidential Unit Citation.
Released from active duty in August 1945,
he returned to civilian aviation as a flight
instructor, charter pilot, pilot for a number
of non-skeds and finally joined Eastern Air
Lines in July 1949. Currently a Lockheed
L-1011 Captain, with over 30,000 hours he
has never flown an airplane he loved more
than the 'jug'. 'It took care of us.'
Grandparents, he and Lorraine are looking to their
40th Anniversary. .
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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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