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My former boss, The Honorable Jerome G. Cooper.
I imagine most aviators have an aviation-related Bucket-List. While stationed at the Pentagon in the summer of 1992, I checked off an item on my Bucket-List. At the time, I was serving as the Senior Military Assistant to one of the four Assistant Secretaries of the Air Force. My boss was the late Jerome G. Cooper, a retired Marine Major General (a 2-star) who was the first African-American to lead Marines in combat when he commanded an M-50 Ontos unit in Vietnam. When he was my immediate boss, he was a Congressionally-Confirmed Presidential Appointee (thus the title of ‘The Honorable Mr. Cooper’), he was in a civilian position equivalent in rank to a 4-star general. Later, he served as the US ambassador to Jamaica.
One morning, Mr. Cooper called me into his office. This was a regular occurrence as he would often task me with something to attend to in preparation for an upcoming event on his calendar, e.g., ‘prepping’ him to testify before Congress.
The cover of General Davis’s autobiography.
On this particular morning, he asked if I had ever heard of Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. I replied that I had read his autobiography, “Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American” and that I knew he was the commander of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. I added that, after an impressive career, he retired in 1970 as a Lieutenant General (a three-star), and he was living nearby in Arlington, VA. [Note: In 1998, he was promoted to the rank of General (a four-star) with President Clinton pinning on his 4-star insignia.]
The boss then asked if I knew about the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Fly-Ins in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I replied that I did; I also began wondering where this conversation was going.
He then explained that his boss, the Secretary of the Air Force, had asked him to escort General Davis to Oshkosh where they were going to salute the Tuskegee Airmen during their upcoming Fly-In. He then tasked me put the trip together, adding that I would be going along…(Fist PUMP!!! – I’m going to check off an item on my Bucket-List!).
So, with my marching orders in hand, I began making phone calls. I started with the 89th Wing at Andrews AFB (ADW) to set up a C-21 (a Learjet 35A) to fly us to Oshkosh.
Air Force C-21
I then called the EAA point-of-contact Mr. Cooper had given me. I provided him our travel plans along with the names of those who would be traveling; he assured me that our accommodations would be awaiting us.
Over the next several days, I contacted General Davis to inform him of our schedule, the travel arrangements, and coordinated when we would pick him up on our departure date.
Everything quickly fell into place and the great day arrived. A staff car picked up Mr. Cooper (and me!) at the River entrance to the Pentagon and, shortly thereafter, we picked up General Davis at his condominium.
The River Entrance to the Pentagon.
We then headed to Andrews AFB where a C-21 was waiting for us on the ramp outside the VIP Lounge. We quickly boarded and were on our way. During our flight, I was captivated by General Davis as he recounted some of his experiences in WWII.
As we approached Oshkosh, I wanted to observe our arrival as we entered the ‘world’s busiest airspace’. So, I asked the PIC if I could watch, and he told me to kneel behind the center console in the cockpit. As he followed the directions from the air traffic controllers, I helped get us ‘shoehorned’ into the traffic by spotting some traffic, and we landed safely. WHEW!!
After parking, we were met by a group of EAA officials and the Governor of Virginia, Douglas Wilder. I don’t know why he was there, other than he was a veteran and hero of the Korean War; he was awarded the Bronze Star for his heroism during the Battle of Pork Chop Hill. We were taken to a tent where we were served lunch and I got to sit at a table with three Tuskegee Airmen. Being pilots, we swapped stories and asked each other about the aircraft we had each flown. They had all flown P-51s and I told them I would give ANYTHING to fly one! When I told them I had flown A-10s and F-16s, they too said they would give ANYTHING to fly one! So, I guess we were even.
After lunch, our hosts put General Davis and Mr. Cooper in a 4-place ATV to escort them around the show. Meanwhile, Governor Wilder got a flight in a P-51. I don’t know why they didn’t give General Davis a flight; although it may have been because of his age; he was 80 years old. They must have felt sorry for me as they gave me the keys to another golf-cart and said I was free to roam about at will. I wasn’t disappointed!
Naturally, I gravitated to the ‘warbirds’ and, with my flight suit on, it was easy to strike up conversations with the pilots and groundcrew surrounding the warbirds on display. I soon discovered an A-1, which, other than the A-10, is my favorite warbird. The pilot allowed me to crawl all over it and shared what it was like to fly this great airplane.
That evening, there was an outdoor screening of a video about the Tuskegee Airmen and then General Davis spoke to the audience and answered their questions. Later, we gathered at the EAA Museum for a reception. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres were provided, which made for a most enjoyable way to wander through an air museum.
Still wearing my flight suit as I walked about, I happened upon a large-scale model (with maybe an 18-inch wingspan) of a P-47 set in a WWII diorama. I instantly recognized it as Francis Stanley ‘Gabby’ Gabreski’s P-47 from when he commanded the 61st Fighter Squadron (the ‘Top Dawgs’). Gabby was the leading ace in the European Theater during WWII and is credited with destroying 34½ aircraft in aerial combat (28 in WWII and 6½ in Korea); that feat made him one of only seven US combat pilots to become an ace in two wars.
Gabby’s P-47.
I was fortunate to have also commanded the 61st Squadron from 1987-1989 at MacDill AFB (MCF) where we flew the F-16. There was a picture (below) of Gabby in the 61st Squadron showing him in his P-47 with markings for each of the 28 confirmed victories he achieved in aerial combat with the Luftwaffe.
The 61st ‘Top Dawgs’ squadron patch.
As I was admiring this diorama, I noted a gentleman who appeared to be about the same age as the Tuskegee Airmen with whom I had shared lunch. However, he was not a Tuskegee Airman. I noticed that he kept staring at my flight suit with the 61st Fighter Squadron patch on the right shoulder. When he saw me looking at him, he asked, “Why are you wearing that ‘Top Dawgs’ patch?”
I told him I had commanded the ‘Top Dawgs’ a few years prior. I then asked him, “How do you know this is a ‘Top Dawgs’ patch?”
He answered, “I was assigned to the 61st Squadron in England as a P-47 crew chief during WWII.”
I replied, “Thank you for your service and for being a crew chief. I hold crew chiefs in the highest regard as they always gave me an airplane that brought me home.”
That started a conversation about flying, fighting, and returning home to be greeted by a crew chief who was happy to see both ‘his’ airplane and its pilot return.
After a bit, this gentleman asked, “Do you know who Gabby Gabreski is?” I answered, “Of course I do, all ‘Top Dawgs’ know who Gabby is!” That’s when he dropped a bomb on me when he simply stated, “I was Gabby’s crew chief!”
To say the least, I was blown away! I then spent some time with someone who had played a big part in the history of military aviation – he provided Gabby a plane that brought him home!
But, as Paul Harvey used to say, “…and now for the rest of the story!”. On his last mission, Gabby didn’t return this P-47 to his crew chief! On July 20, 1944, he had reached the 300-hour combat time limit for Eighth Air Force fighter pilots and was awaiting a transport aircraft to return him to the United States; he was going to participate in a stateside bond drive. However, he found that a bomber escort mission was scheduled for that morning, and, instead of boarding his flight home, he requested to “fly just one more.” Late in the mission, Gabby observed some Heinkel He 111s parked on an enemy airfield and dove down to attack them.
A Heinkel He 111.
On a strafing pass, his tracers went over a parked bomber, so he ‘bunted’ (i.e., lowered the nose of his Thunderbolt to adjust), but his propeller clipped the runway, bending its tips. The damage caused his engine to vibrate violently and he was forced to crash land in a farmer’s field. Gabby ran into some nearby woods and eluded capture for five days. After being captured, he was sent to Stalag Luft I and, when Russian forces overran that POW camp on April 30, 1945, he was liberated.
Luftwaffe captors standing on the wing of Gabby’s crashed P-47 – note the bent prop!
When I went to bed that evening, I went to sleep with thoughts of flying on Gabby’s wing in my own P-47! The next morning, we boarded our C-21 for the return flight to DC and, as we flew home, my mind was still reeling from this very special trip to an EAA Fly-In. I had checked off one of my Bucket-List items with some bonus ‘checkmarks’ I had never imagined!
- Friday Photo: A-4 from a TA-4 - January 10, 2025
- Checking off a bucket list item - December 4, 2024
- Sounds you NEVER want to hear - October 21, 2024
I have this memory of an old friend telling me he was interviewed by Gabreski when he was leaving the Air Force for Pan Am – Joe Amos. Joe said Gabreski said he had stayed too long and wished he had bailed for the commercials.
In case you wondered, the picture of Gabby in the cockpit of his P-47 was left out of the article. Here is a link that will take you to that picture. Enjoy! https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a8/cc/25/a8cc25774015e5d7363a3387333df8c9.jpg
Mike, When I retired at age 43, the airlines weren’t hiring and I really didn’t want to fly a jet full of people from Point A to Point B and then to Point C, etc. I loved flying fighters and pointing the nose of my airplane ‘in anger’, which I believe no commercial carrier would want me to do. So, I hung up my wings and turned to other ventures. I have many good friends that I flew with who went commercial after their fighter days and never looked back. That wouldn’t have worked for me.
Great stories and connections!
Dale, thanks so much for sharing another awesome story! They all are so interesting I wondered if your second career after USAF was writing!?
Merry Christmas.
Thanks Mike and Duane. I only started writing these articles for Air Facts and have never thought about writing anything more than them!
Prop tip touch on a low pass, to a good idea. This idiot airman was seconded from the RAF to the RCAF for initial pilot training. Towards the end of the Harvard (T6) course we had been warned that the next low flying case that was caught would be out. Naturally I thought I was much to smart for that, wrong. On a weekend solo detail I made a low pass at our reef field, Grand Bend on Lake Huron, believing the control tower was unmanned at weekends, Wrong, it wasn’t. More wrong was my height on a very low pass, the prop tip touched. the runway, the P&W Wasp sounded less than healthy as I returned to Centralia. Report followed like smoke from a fire, and I was sent back to the RAF first Class on the Queen of Canada liner. After a penalty posting to a recruit camp as a flight commander, restored to flying on the Provost and then jets on the Vampire and two operational tours on the splendid Hunter in Germany during the height of the Cold War and ground attack/ fighter recce in a warmer war in Arabia. Did I remember the Harvard incident? Not entirely, leading a 4 ship from the mountains of the Yemen over 5 miles of sand leading to the Indian Ocean as we wnt feet wet my No2 in low lever battle formation called “Easy her up Mac” Idiot leader “Why?” No2 sound mn, “You’re pulling a wake!” The Hunter at 420kts wasn’t cleared for seagoing, so I eased up. We learned from that and buried those who didn’t.
The old saying still holds true, “You can only tie the low-flying record!”
An old friend told of his flying in an RF-4 in Vietnam and he too created a wake on a low pass!
Dead right Dale!
Always great to hear stories form ‘Boots’ …..Thanks for the articles
and many years of friendship. Merry Christmas … Hi to the Nail Buds
See ya around someday.