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Walter F. Pratt
WALTER F.PRATT, born July 6,
1922 in Springfield, Massachusetts, entered
Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet in 1942 and
graduated class of 43J at Craig Field, Selma,
Alabama. Served as Fighter Pilot with the 1st
Air Commando Group, C.B.I. flying P-40's,
P-51 's and P-47's. Flew 81 missions and 291
combat hours through June 1945 strafing,
dive-bombing and escorting bombers. He was
awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air
Medal with 12 Clusters, Commendation Medal and numerous other decorations throughout his career.
He remained in the service and retired in
October 1967 as a Lt. Colonel after serving
over twenty-five years. During that period he
flew over 37 different types of military
aircraft, mostly fighters from the P-40
through the F-106 and is a member of the
MACH 2 Club (pilots who have flown twice
the speed of sound) and the Society of Air
Safety Investigators No. 165.
As a USAF officer he specialized in the
safety career field and served ten years at
Squadron, Wing, Division and Air Force level
as Chief of Safety for Flight/Missile/Nuclear and Ground Safety. He served as
Investigator or Advisor to over one hundred
major / minor aircraft accidents involving
over 125 million dollars in lost equipment
and aircrew personnel. He was responsible
for the training, supervision and accident
prevention programming of thirty separate
flying units, including Air National Guard
Units. He is a Command Pilot with over
10,000 hours of flying time in conventional,
jet fighter aircraft and executive jet aircraft.
Upon retiring from the air Force in 1967
he was employed as a Captain on Lear Jets for
Executive Jet Aviation, Columbus, Ohio,
until 1971 when he retired to Hollywood,
Florida, for leisure living.
He is a Life Member of the P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots Association. He married Dorothy in 1943 and they have two children, Patricia
and Michael.
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Pilot Name
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Biography Summary
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Asa A. Adair
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He returned to the States in August of 1944 after participating in the invasion "D" Day. He flew P-63's, P-51's, F-80's, T-33's, F-84's, T-38's, P-47's in numerous assignments during the following twenty years in in, Japan, U.S.A. and Europe before retiring after twenty-six years of Active Duty.
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John C. Anderson
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After P-47 transition he was assigned to the 406th Fighter Group, 512th Fighter Squadron. (E.T
.0.) He flew 56 missions through January, 1945 destroying supply routes, bridges, and railroads; he also flew close support missions with the ground forces, with attacks on tanks, artillery and enemy positions.
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W.B. 'Tex' Badger
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Eight and Ninth Air Force in WWII. B-l7's, P-51's and P-47's. Fifth Air Force in Korea, F80's and F86's. WWII and Korea, Flew 156 missions. Tactical units served in with the USAAF and USAF were: 305th BG , 368th Fighter Group, 4th Fighter Group, 49th Fighter Group, 12th Fighter Wing, 506th Fighter Wing.
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Robert T. (Bob) Bagby
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He trained in P47's at Cross City and Dale Mabry Fields, Florida and then joined the 341st FS Black Jack Squadron), 348th FG of the 5th AF in Brisbane, Australia in June 1943. Bob flew 78 combat missions in New Guinea (Port Moresby, Finchafen, Sador, Wakde and Biak) primarily as wingman to squadron CO's John Campbell and John Moore. Also privileged to fly wing to Neil Kirby on several occasions.
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Frank Baker
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After brief stops at Stone and Atcham, England he joined the 313th Fighter Squadron of the 50th Fighter Group in France. He flew 90 missions through V.E. Day. Most of the missions were close support attacks on various ground targets with a few B-26 escort missions thrown in. All of the missions took place in eastern France and southern Germany. He was awarded the Air Medal with 11 oak leaf clusters.
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John M. Balason
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To relieve the boredom, Balason went down on the deck and blew up a locomotive
he had observed at altitude. A few seconds after making his strafing pass he received a hit in his left wing tank and a fire started immediately in the cockpit. The paralyzing effect of the intense heat made climbing out of the cockpit impossible.
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Albert W. Barlow, Jr.
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He flew 69 escort and ground support missions. Destroyed one E/A (ME-I09). Was shot down on Sept. 8, 1944, and evaded enemy ground forces for 8 days. Was picked up by an American Recon. Unit behind the German lines. Was hospitalized until Feb. 1948, when he was medically retired with the rank of Capt. Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters, and Purple Heart.
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William T. Beckler
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In July, 1944 Beckler exchanged his P-40 for a P-47N Thunderbolt. Missions in the Jug covered Northern Italy and Southern France. These included escorting medium bombers. The Bombers, based in Southern Italy, would be escorted to France by Thunderbolts based on Corsica. Shortly before target the Jugs would pull ahead of the bombers and bomb the enemy gun positions.
Beckler's activities while participation in three major campaigns earned him the DFC, two Air Medals and two Presidential citations.
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Herbert R. Benson
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After training in P-47 Thunderbolts at bases in North Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware, he was
assigned to the European Theatre of operations and joined the 48th Fighter Group
493rd Fighter Squadron at St. Trond, Belgium. After flying 44 combat missions, he was awarded the Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf clusters.
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Marvin C. Bigelow
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Training in the Southeast Training Command with the class of 44C, he graduated and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant single engine pilot at Marianna, Florida with the class of
44D. After checking out in the P-40 at Marianna, he transitioned in the P-47 in the Northeast Defense Command and after gunnery at Dover, Delaware was shipped on the Queen Mary to England.
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