E-Book Overview
Until now, no book has covered all of Cold War air combat in the words of the men who waged it. In I Always Wanted to Fly, retired United States Air Force Colonel Wolfgang W. E. Samuel has gathered first-person memories from heroes of the cockpits and airstrips. Battling in dogfights when jets were novelties, saving lives in grueling airlifts, or flying dangerous reconnaissance missions deep into Soviet and Chinese airspace, these flyers waged America's longest and most secretively conducted air war. Many of the pilots Samuel interviewed invoke the same sentiment when asked why they risked their lives in the air--"I always wanted to fly." While young, they were inspired by barnstormers, by World War I fighter legends, by the legendary Charles Lindbergh, and often just by seeing airplanes flying overhead. With the advent of World War II, many of these dreamers found themselves in cockpits soon after high school. Of those who survived World War II, many chose to continue following their dream, flying the Berlin Airlift, stopping the North Korean army during the "forgotten war" in Korea, and fighting in the Vietnam War. Told in personal narratives and reminiscences, I Always Wanted to Fly renders views from pilots' seats and flight decks during every air combat flashpoint from 1945--1968. Drawn from long exposure to the immense stress of warfare, the stories these warriors share are both heroic and historic. The author, a veteran of many secret reconnaissance missions, evokes individuals and scenes with authority and grace. He provides clear, concise historical context for each airman's memories. In I Always Wanted to Fly he has produced both a thrilling and inspirational acknowledgment of personal heroism and a valuable addition to our documentation of the Cold War. Wolfgang W. E. Samuel, the author of German Boy: A Refugee's Story (University Press of Mississippi) and a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC in 1960, served in the U.S. Air Force until his retirement as a colonel in 1985. Ken Hechler is the author of The Bridge at Remagen.
E-Book Content
I Always Wanted to Fly
I Always
Wanted to Fly America’s Cold War Airmen
Colonel Wolfgang W. E. Samuel With a foreword by Ken Hechler University Press of Mississippi Jackson
www.upress.state.ms.us Copyright 䉷 2001 by Wolfgang W. E. Samuel All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Painting on pages ii and iii by George Back. A 1965 MiG-17 attack on an RB-47H reconnaissance aircraft off the east coast of North Korea. 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 4 3 2 1 ⬁ 䡬 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Samuel, Wolfgang W. E. I always wanted to fly : America’s Cold War airmen / Wolfgang W. E. Samuel. p. cm. ISBN 1-57806-399-X (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Air pilots, Military—United States—Biography. 2. Cold War. 3. United States Air Force—Officers—Biography. I. Title. UG626.S26 2001 358.4⬘0092—dc21 [B] 2001026039 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
To the flyers who gave their lives during the Cold War from 1945 to 1991 in the service of their country. In memory of the friends I served with who did not return from their last flights.
Contents
Foreword xi Preface and Acknowledgments xv Part 1: The Berlin Airlift, 1948 1 1. Men of the Airlift 12 Colonel Howard S. ‘‘Sam’’ Myers Jr. First Lieutenant Leonard W. Sweet First Lieutenant Marshall M. Balfe Colonel Harold R. Austin Lieutenant Colonel Edward Gorski Lieutenant Colonel Joseph F. Laufer Colonel Robert S. Hamill
2. The Bomber Boys 56 Colonel Joseph J. Gyulavics
3. ‘‘Ramp Rats’’: The Men Who Kept Them Flying Master Sergeant Thomas W. Etherson Part 2: Korea, 1950
87
4. The F-51 Mustangs from Dogpatch 95 Colonel Charles E. Schreffler
vii
72
Contents 5. Night Interdict