Hugh Earl McCall
HUGH EARL McCALL, born September 10, 1919 in Beaumont, Texas. Graduated from Carbon High School, Texas,
1937. His Military Career began on July 9,
1940 enlisting in the Army Air Corps at
Kelly Field, Texas as a radio repairman, Pvt.
With boyhood dreams of flying and a high
school education he began primary training
at Hancock's College of Aeronautics as an
aviation student, Santa Maria, California.
Completed basic training at Leemore Field,
California and graduated from advanced flying school at Luke Field, Arizona, class of
42-H as a S/Sgt. pilot. His Operational
training was completed at Dale Mabry Field,
Florida in1942; he then departed the United
States in route to the pilot pool, Stone,
England. In January 1943, he was assigned
to the 347th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group as a Flight Officer flying P-39
Airacobras until being re-equipped with P-47
Thunderbolts early in 1944.
From January 1943 to V.E day, he served
with the 347th in North Africa, Sardinia,
Corsica, Italy and Southern France flying
fighter sweeps, dive bombing, attacking and
destroying enemy supply lines, factories,
ammunition depots, tanks, artillery, locomotives, bridges and enemy occupied towns.
Other missions included bomber escort high
altitude patrols and strafing occupied enemy
positions. He flew 137 missions before being
downed on the 138th on a strafing mission
across the banks of the Po River, Italy. At
zero altitude his P-47 was hit with 20mm and
40mm anti-aircraft fire. With his P-47 flaming he climbed to 1500 feet and bailed out
and was immediately captured at gun point
by the Germans on September 24,1944. He
was imprisoned at Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany until being liberated by the Russians in
April, 1945. As captain, he was awarded the
distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart,
and Air Medal with 6 clusters.
His military career continued, flying
P-47's, B-25's, B-17's, C-45's and C-47's,
among other various aircraft available
through base operations while serving in
Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Japan,
Korea, Turkey, Germany, including a 4 year
tour at the Pentagon. Since 1940, he logged
over 3,500 hours of flying before retiring as
a Colonel, United States Air Force at Kelly
Field in August 1965. He also served an
additional 14 years in civilian capacity with
the United States Air Force Electronic Security Command (formerly Security Service)
retiring on July 18, 1980.
He married Gertrude Nelson on July 4,
1944 and has 3 children, Wayne, Kenneth,
and Donald.
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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