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P47 Pilots Biographies, Last Name Starting With "C"
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Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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Leonard Andrew Charpentier, MD
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He flew P-40's and P-51's as an
instructor until June, 1944 when he was
ordered to the Mediterranean Theatre with
the 85th, then the 86th, Fighter Squadrons
of the 79th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force.
Here he began his love affair with the JUG.
Charpentier flew 29 missions, over northern Italy,and southern France, against bridges, railroads, artillery, supply routes and
enemy armour as well as escort missions with
B-25's and B-26's. On August 29. 1944.
while strafing an armoured column near
Valence. France. Charpentier was shot down
by ground fire.
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Henry Chick
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The 39th was assigned P-51D's in April,
1945 and Chick's last mission in a P-47 was
April 2nd, covering a B-25 strike on Takao,
Formosa, from Mangalden, Luzon. The move
to P-51 's was not without mixed feelings. The
time spent in the Jug resulted in a great
confidence in the airplane, and a loyalty not
easy to transfer to the "tin-whistle."
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L. W. Chick, Jr.
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I was a
16-year-old kid looking out the window of my
Thomas Jefferson High School Civics Class in
San Antonio, Texas. A string of P-l's were
having a rat race, performing loops, slow
rolls, and in general, beating up the sky. They
were from Kelly Field. This was when I
decided that I would rather be a fighter Pilot
than President.
.......I was often asked how I expected to walk out
if I were shot down wearing cowboy boots
which I wore on all missions. My answer was
always, "I plan on flying home." If you kept
your eyes open you could do it if you were
flying a Jug.
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Richard Harlan Chilcott
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Take home pay as an apprentice
carpenter didn't cover other airplane
expenses, so tried crop-dusting in 1947 to fly
and eat. Better than nothing, but took off
quick for active duty during Korean war in
1951. Caught in the aircraft controller trap
for 18 months and then back to crop-dusting.
As of this writing, still churning up the air in
the San Joaquin Valley.
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Kenneth O. Chilstrom
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The Jug with its Pratt & Whitney R2800 engine was a favorite among all of us for its reliability and
ruggedness. This in spite of two engine fail-
ures with one dead stick landing into Wright
Field. A highlight of my Jug flying was a
chance at setting a transcontinental record in
the P-4 7N on June 7, 1945. Major Johnston
and myself took from Mines Field (L.A.
Airport) with a flight plan of 5 hours, 15
minutes to New York. Unfortunately the
combination of bad weather, no communications,
and a serious oil leak forced our landing
at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, instead of
New York.
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Roy Christian
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He served with the 377th Fighter Squadron, 362nd Fighter Group.
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Charles E. Christie
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After completing 56 missions and 250 hours
of combat time, all dive bombing and strafing missions, prior to V.E Day, he volunteered to go to the Pacific with a stop
enroute to transition into the P-47N in La
Junta, Colo. While transitioning into the P-47N, V.J Day arrived before he was assigned to the Pacific Theater.
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Leland U. (Lee) Clough
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He enlisted as an Aviation Cadet and received his
wings at Altus, Oklahoma in the class of 44-C.
He served a total of 21 years of active duty
and accumulated a total of more than
10,000:00 Pilot Hours. Having flown
approximately three dozen types and models
of aircraft.
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James C. Coe Jr
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was sent to site A-16 at
Saint Marie du Mont, France shortly after
the Allied invasion at Normandy. Missions
flown were in ground support of the spearheading Army units. Key targets were:
Tanks, rail facilities, flak units, air fields, in
short, "anything that moved." "Vitamin's"
aircraft sustained flak damage on eleven of
the various missions he flew over Europe. On
one occasion he took a hit from the Panzer
Lear Division east of the Remagen Bridge-head which caused him to have to belly land,after managing to maneuver his Jug to the
west side of the Rhine, in a small field used by
spotter aircraft.
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Burton W. Cole
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On the 4th of July "Tommy" received
heavy ground fire which ruptured an oil line
forcing him to land on an unfinished strip near Ste Mere Eglise, France. Army engineers were building this strip at the time; they
gave "Tommy" lunch, helped him patch up
the oil line, then "Tommy" flew back to his
home strip at Christchurch, England
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