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Charles W. Cassidy
CHARLES W. CASSIDY,born in New Brunswick, New Jersey,
On November 27, 1918. As a high school student at
New Brunswick High, he played three varsity
sports: football, baseball, and basketball.
After graduation he played semi-pro baseball
and football for local teams. A lifelong resident
of New Brunswick, he resides there still.
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor he
was employed by the Wright Aeronautical
Corporation in Paterson, New Jersey, helping
to make the famous Whirlwind engine.
He enlisted in the Air Force in Newark, New
Jersey, in September, 1942, and was sworn
in and put on the waiting list to be called. In January, 1943, he received his call to active duty and was sent to Atlantic City, New
Jersey, for a short time. After spending some
time at Butler University in Indianapolis,
Indiana, he was sent to Texas for flight
training. His primary school was at Coleman,
Texas; his basic at Greenville, Texas, and he
got his wings from Foster Field in Victoria,
Texas, in the Class of 44C. After crossing the
Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth, he wound
up being assigned to the 367th Fighter
Squadron, 358th Fighter Group in the Ninth
Air Force then stationed in Mourmelon,
France. Later the group moved to Toul,
France, and finished up the war flying from
a strip near Mannheim, Germany. He flew
113 missions, mostly close support and
armed reconnaissance with a very few escort
missions included. About half way through
his last mission his squadron received a radio
message to return to base because the war was
over. Of course some hot-shot had to ask
"who won?" His group won a unit citation
and he holds the Air Medal with 15 Oak Leaf
Clusters.
Separated from active duty in November,
1945, at Newark, New Jersey, he then spent
12 years in the Security Department of
General Motors' Delco plant in New Brunswick
and then went into the retail sporting
goods business for 20 years. He presently is
employed by Johnson & Johnson in their
New Brunswick headquarters in the Administrative
Services Department.
Married to Anne Lovanyak on November
28, 1941, he has two children, Judy and
Charles, Jr.
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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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