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434th Fighter Squadron visits Laughlin
Published October 23, 2009
Prisoner of war camps, aerial dog fights and crashes were all topics of discussion Thursday by a panel of five World War II fighter pilots with the Air Force's 434th Fighter Squadron.
The 434th was activated in October 1943 in California and pilots trained in the P-38 Lightning, according to an Air Force fact sheet.
In May 1944, pilots with the 434th flew their first combat mission. On July 29, then-1st Lt. Arthur Jeffery made the squadron's first kill, taking down a German Me-163 Komet, a rocket-propelled aircraft.
On Thursday, Colonel Jeffrey recalled the event for a captivated 125-member audience.
He described the early morning briefing letting the group know about the new German aircraft, and the B-17 escort mission that led to his first of 14 career kills.
“We were escorting B-17s and they got shot up pretty bad…the one we were escorting back was losing altitude fairly fast and was headed in the wrong direction, which would cause him to miss England entirely and wind up in the North Sea,” recalled Jeffrey. “I pulled up beside them trying to get the copilot's attention…to tell them where they were heading wasn't going to get them home…I never could get their attention.”
During this time, an Me-163 was closing in behind Jeffrey, so he broke off to protect the crippled B-17 from further assault.
Jeffrey said he got in a few quick shots, but the 163 pulled away.
“I kept chasing and this 163 got far enough ahead I guess he thought he could make a pass at me, but I kept my air speed up…and when he turned left, I pulled up and got some pretty good shots in and he (began to) go straight down,” said Jeffrey, who continued the pursuit. “I immediately went straight down after him but in very quick order in a propeller-driven plane you reach a speed at which your propellers are no longer providing power, but providing braking action…the damn airplane was bucking like a bucking bronco.”
Jeffrey said he watched as the 163 continued its descent, surmising the shots he'd gotten on the plane likely killed the pilot rather than disabling the plane.
Another speaker, Col. Albert Tucker, recalled his time in action as very short, and argued with organizers of the event who called the group of five a “Heroes panel”.
“I'm certainly not a hero, I have no heroics to talk about. In fact, I was one of the first pilots to be shot down,” said a humorous Tucker. “I don't want to be accused of having tried to have that honor. I assure you there's no glory in being shot down, it doesn't take any skill and the only thing I can say in my defense is I did volunteer for that.”
After Tucker was shot down, he was captured by the Germans and held at a POW camp until eventually being liberated and flown to Camp Lucky Strike, which he said was nothing more than a large tent city.
Unhappy with the attempts by the military to “prepare” him for reintroduction to the “civilized” world, Tucker escaped.
“I'd just got out of a POW camp and here I was imprisoned again,” joked Tucker.
When Tucker saw a C-47 land with a pilot aboard he knew, he asked for help getting out of the camp.
But, Tucker said the pilot made it very clear that he had to stay and be processed at the camp and that under no circumstances could he leave.
“I deduced that (he) was telling me all this bad news in such a way that I could interpret that what he meant was if he wasn't watching, he wouldn't mind if I got on there,” said Tucker.
So, when the pilot turned his back, Tucker was on the plane and hiding in the tail section bound for his base in England.
“See, I have no heroics to talk about, but I claim to be the only guy I know that escaped from prison camp and on the same day returned to England,” said Tucker.
Also speaking at Thursday's event were Jim Frolking, Elmo Sears and Walter McDaniel, all P-38 and P-51 Mustang pilots during World War II.
Lt. Col. Jimmy Walker, commander of the 434th Fighter Training Squadron, said the group was invited to Laughlin Air Force Base to share their stories, and help inspire up-and--coming pilots.
“We wanted to keep the connection alive,” said Walker. “We emulate these guys…they're our heritage, our squadron.”
Walker said it's the former pilot's ability to recall details from 60-plus years ago that most impressed him.
“I can't remember what happened last week and these guys remember everything in great detail,” said Walker.
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