Charles E. McCreary
CHARLES E. McCREARY, born
Dec. 29, 19?? on a farm about ten miles west
of Chillicothe, Mo. Attended grade school in
"one-room" (in which grades one thru eight
were taught) schools in Sampsel Township
prior to graduating from Chillicothe High
School. Started higher education endeavors
at Rolla School of Mines & Univ. of Mo. Ran
out of finances, as was rather common in the
thirties, and switched to Chillicothe Business
College where he completed a course in
Accounting and Business. Worked at the
Chillicothe State Bank as a Teller and Asst.
Cashier until accepting work with the fiscal
div.of the Dept. of Ordnance in Washington,
D.C., where he attended night classes Strayer
College of Business and George Washington
University. After Pearl Harbor joined the
U.S. Army Air Corps and, after various
assignments, was accepted as an Aviation
Cadet in 1942. Graduated as a Fighter Pilot
from the Southeast Training Command and
completed Operational Training at Sarasota,
Fla. where he was appointed as an Instructor
and was able to check-out in various aircraft,
including the P-40, P-39, P-38, P-51, P-47,
SBD Dauntless, TBF Avenger, SB2C Helldiver, F4U Corsair, etc. Was assigned to
Randolph Field for Instrument Training and
received an Instrument Rating. After return
to Sarasota, departed for the Mediterranean
Theater of Operations where he was assigned
to the "FIRST IN THE BLUE" 57th Group,
66th Fighter Squadron. During the course of
100 + missions, survived the Purple Heart
with a few Clusters and was awarded the Air
Medal with Clusters, the DFC w /Cluster and
the Silver Star. During tour thru Italy, Corsica, and back to Italy was able to check-out in
B-25 and Hand Price's Spitfire. Still feel the
JUG was the most rugged and dependable
Fighter ever built. Started from Italy for duty
in the Far East but, the end of WW II resulted
in a diversion to the States.
Released from active duty after starting
work with California Wire Cloth Corp. in
Dec. 1945. Continued flying thru participation in the Reserve. Worked Cal Wire Cloth
& Colo. Fuel & Iron Corp. till Jan. 1969
when retirement was attempted after serving
as Chief Accountant - promoted to Asst.
Secy., Asst. Treas. and finally Controller.
Attended night classes at Univ. of Calif. to,
after 18 long years, earn that coveted
"sheep-skin" during this period. The stress of
inactivity was "too much" so started to work
again as Controller with Mechanical Equipment Co. in New Orleans, La. Retired from
MECO in 1979 but, according to my wife,
I'm only semi-retarded to date.
Pilot Name
|
Biography Summary
|
John Abbotts
|
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.
|
Asa A. Adair
|
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.
|
Edward B. Addison
|
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.
|
Levon B. Agha-Zarian
|
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.
|
George N. Ahles
|
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.
|
Roy J. Aldritt
|
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.
|
Eugene J. Amaral
|
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.
|
Talmadge L. Ambrose
|
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.
|
John C. Anderson
|
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.
|
William Anderson
|
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.
|
|
|