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Royce Whitman Preist
Preist, Royce Whitman (Deacon)
Colonel
Born: April 9, 1922 Parsons, Kansas
WWII FIGHTER ACE!
Deacon Priest left home in 1938 before graduating from high school and joined the Army as an aviation mechanic, then was top graduate in Glider school when the program shut down. The Glider Training CO sent him to flight training where he was commissioned as a second Lieutenant at Craig Field in November, 1943. He achieved his wings on the same day he was notified he had passed the US Military Academy Entrance exam and offered an appointment to West Point. Priest refused and became a fighter pilot which was the reason he joined the Army in the first place.
Priest joined the 354th FS/355th FG on June 3, 1944 and flew his first mission 8 days later. On August 18, 1944, the day he was promoted to 1st Lt., his squadron commander Bert Marshall was shot down over a marshalling yard near Soissons and Priest landed nearby to pull off the first USAAF ‘Piggy Back’ rescue of a fellow fighter pilot - for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross.
Priest started his scoring on September 11, shooting down a 109 while flying Brown’s wing who shot down 3. Deacon Priest flew on the last Shuttle Mission to Russia, Italy and back September 18-22 and scored 4 more victories between September 27 and November 26, 1944. Promoted to Captain on November 27 and returned to the US on December 14, 1944.
He returned to school and graduated with a Masters Degree in Political Science in 1951.
Following World War II Priest made a career of the USAF, promoted to Major in 1951, Lt. Colonel in 1957 and Colonel in 1964
Final score was 5 in the air, none on the ground
Awards: DSC, DFC (2), AM (10)
Aircraft assigned: P-51D 44-13763 WR-E Weepin Deacon, P-51D 44-15652 Weepin Deacon II
Written by Bill Marshall,
author "Angels, Bulldogs and Dragons - History of the 355FG in WWII"
Contributed by Bill Marshall, October, 2006. Unverified.
The text is copyright Bill Marshall 2006. All Rights Reserved. You may not copy or reproduce this biography without the express written consent of Bill Marshall.
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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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