![]() ![]() Allen of the 35th PRS was transferred to the 16th Combat Camera Unit in China and was on a psychological operations mission dropping leaflets over enemy-held territory when the C-47 transport aircraft he was aboard came under enemy fire. Some of the personnel associated with these units who continued on in service to the nation in other flying units met their fate in peace and in war. See “The Oregon Air National Guard Memorial Park,” here. These four fighter pilots and 14 others killed in post-WWII flying accidents from 1948 to 2007 are remembered on the tablet at the Memorial Park on Portland ANG Base. Kominoth were lost in an F-94B take-off mishap. ![]() Parks transitioned into the jet age, but on June 25, 1956, he and radar observer 2nd Lt. White was killed in an F-51 Mustang flying accident. Parks, completed their 100-mission tours of combat in that war and returned safely to Portland. ![]() Two of the 123rd Fighter Squadron’s pilots who were called to active duty in the Korean War, Capt. They are remembered in “Memorial Day 2021 – Remembering a Rough Transition” here. Price, were killed in 1951 flying accidents. Of these 70 losses in World War II, 11 men are still unaccounted for, Missing in Action, five in Europe, three in the Mediterranean Sea (bodies deemed unrecoverable) and three in Asia.ĭuring the Korean War, when the 123rd Fighter Squadron was ordered on active duty at Portland as part of the Air Defense Command during the larger Cold War standoff, three F-51 Mustang pilots of the squadron, Capt. Williams kept control of his fatally damaged A-20J long enough for the two other crew members to bail out safely. He subsequently flew the A-20 Havoc attack bomber in Europe with the 410th Bomb Group and had flown around 25 missions before he was killed in action in Germany on April 13, 1945. Williams volunteered for flight training and became a pilot. See “A Somber Thursday, 20 April 1944,” here.Ĭharter member 1st Lt. The ship was hit in a German air attack while in the Mediterranean Sea on Apand disintegrated in a catastrophic explosion which killed all 580 aboard. Mayer, were with the 32nd Photo Recon Squadron enroute to Italy on the transport ship SS Paul Hamilton. Of the 14, four were original charter members of Oregon’s 123rd Observation Squadron when it was first activated on April 18, 1941, and were lost in service with other air units they were subsequently transferred to. Ballou (AP-157), returning the 35th PRS home in 1945. Price, an F-5E Photo Lightning pilot who died of diphtheria on Octoaboard the troopship USS General C. Binder crashed just after takeoff for a coastal patrol from the Moon Island Airport near Hoquiam, Washington. Clark, killed on Februwhen the O-49 Vigilant he was flying with observer Lt. The 123rd Fighter Squadron, as the 123rd Observation Squadron in 1941, and then redesignated as the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron in 1943, lost 14 men in the war in service in the United States and overseas in the China-Burma-India Theater and the war’s immediate aftermath. These personnel were killed in combat missions, non-combat flights in-theater, and in ground operations in the European Theater of Operations. The 142nd Wing, as the 371st Fighter Group in WWII, lost 56 men during the war and the immediate post-war occupation period in Europe. But there is a thread of continuity in the lineage between them, and it’s important to remember all those who fell in service while assigned to the units when they had these various designations. The post-war unit redesignations of the 371st Fighter Group to the 142nd Fighter Group (later Wing), and the 35th Photo Recon Squadron to the 123rd Fighter Squadron, can make it difficult to see connections. We also remember the fallen of the 123rd Fighter Squadron when it began in 1941 as the 123rd Observation Squadron and then when it was redesignated as the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron in World War II. local time on Memorial Day to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.įor other pertinent ideas for how to commemorate this day, consider “Memorial Day Traditions: 10 Powerful Traditions to Show Pride” here.įor the 142nd Wing of the Oregon Air National Guard, on Memorial Day we remember those who died while serving from the unit’s earliest days, when it was designated as the 371st Fighter Group in World War II. All Americans are encouraged to pause for a minute of silence or to listen to Taps at 3 p.m. We should note also that there is a National Moment of Remembrance on Memorial Day. Simply put, Memorial Day is to remember those members of the Armed Forces who died in service to the country. Who to remember on Memorial Day? In our busy lives some people either forget or never learned the differences between Memorial Day, Armed Forces Day and Veterans Day. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |