FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Donald Blakeslee ~ April 27, 2015

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Col. Donald Blakeslee

Story from this website...and this one.
More here.

           

New York Times, October 3, 2008

By Dennis Hevesi

Col. Donald Blakeslee, one of the most decorated fighter pilots of World War II and the commander of the first American fighter squadrons to reach Berlin as the Allies ground down the German Luftwaffe, died Sept. 3 at his home in Miami. He was 90.

The cause was heart failure, said his daughter and only immediate survivor, Dawn Blakeslee. Ms. Blakeslee said she did not announce her father’s death last month because of his reluctance to talk about his achievements.

As commander of the Fourth Fighter Group of the Eighth Fighter Command, Colonel Blakeslee led three squadrons of 16 single-seat, single-engine P-51 Mustangs, each equipped with six machine guns mounted in the wings and sighted so that the bullet streams could converge on the Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulf fighters that were trying to down Allied bombers.

By war’s end, the Fourth Fighter Group was credited with destroying 1,020 German aircraft, 550 shot out of the air and 470 hit while on the ground. That total surpassed the 992 German planes taken out by the 56th Fighter Group, led by another fighter ace, Col. Hubert Zemke.

Walter J. Boyne, a former director of the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, said on Tuesday that Colonel Blakeslee was one of the cadre of commanders who “blunted the edge of the Luftwaffe” and “went on to lead the progressive destruction of the German air force.”

In his four years in the European theater, Colonel Blakeslee flew nearly 500 missions and had about 1,000 combat hours to his credit, believed to be more missions and hours “than any other American fighter pilot of World War II,” said Barrett Tillman, a former executive secretary of the American Fighter Aces Association.

On March 6, 1944, Colonel Blakeslee’s fighter group became the first to fly above the fleet of Boeing B-17s and Consolidated B-24s as they each dropped up to 4,000 pounds of bombs on Berlin. As German fighters tried to intercept the bombers, Colonel Blakeslee’s planes swooped down.

Of the aerial combat, the colonel later told reporters: “There’s nothing unusual in the missions. They all follow the same pattern. Either you get on Jerry’s tail or he gets on yours. That’s all.”

“We got low enough to see Berlin only once,” he said. “We were down to around 10,000 feet and we could see that blocks and blocks of Berlin had been bombed absolutely flat.”

On April 8, 1944, the Fourth Fighter Group set a record for the European theater, shooting down 31 planes in one day. Then, in late June, Colonel Blakeslee led his fighters on one of their most arduous missions, escorting shuttle-bombers to Russia.

“When the war had progressed to a certain point where American bombers had the range to over-fly German-held territory,” Mr. Boyne said, “the idea was to land them in the Soviet Union, then return and bomb on the way back. You double the utilization of your bombers.”

“This required, particularly on the part of the fighters,” Mr. Boyne continued, “great endurance and navigation abilities. It strained the plane and strained the pilot.”

In a ceremony in England on March 6, 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe, awarded the Distinguished Service Cross to Colonel Blakeslee. Beside the colonel was Capt. Don Gentile, a member of his flight group, who was receiving the same decoration, for destroying 30 German planes.

In all, according to Mr. Tillman of the fighter aces association, Colonel Blakeslee received two Distinguished Service Crosses, seven Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Silver Stars, six Air Medals and the British Distinguished Flying Cross. A decade later, for his Korean War service, he received the Legion of Merit, another Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals.

Donald James Mathew Blakeslee was born on Sept. 11, 1917, in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. As a child, he became fascinated with planes while watching the Cleveland National Air Races. In the mid-1930s, he and a friend bought a Piper Cub. In 1940, after his friend crashed the plane, Mr. Blakeslee went to Canada to join the Royal Canadian Air Force.

After pilot training, he was sent to Britain, where he flew combat missions for the Royal Air Force, mostly with American Eagle squadrons composed of American volunteers. In September 1942, he was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces and assigned to the Fourth Fighter Group. He became group commander in January 1944. That year, the colonel married Leola Fryer; she died in 2003. He retired from the Air Force in 1965.

Colonel Blakeslee was a taciturn man with a no-nonsense presence that commanded respect from his fighters. A New York Times article described how, on Sept. 11, 1944, he was “ill at ease” in front of photographers and reporters while being interviewed about his exploits.

“It’s more fun facing a squadron of Jerries,” he said.

After retiring, Blakeslee lived in Miami, Florida. Blakeslee married Leola Fryer (died in 2005) in 1944 and had one daughter.  Blakeslee died on September 3, 2008 at his home due to heart failure.

On Friday 18 September 2009, Colonel Don Blakeslee and his wife's ashes were interred at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremony took place at 1100 and was open to the public. The 4th Fighter Wing did a flyover at the ceremony.

Thank you sir, for your service and sacrifice for our country!

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission!

[ConorMacNessa]

REQUEST PERMISSION
TO COME ABOARD



CHARLESTOWN, Mass. (Jan. 14, 2008) The first major snowfall of the New Year blankets the USS Constitution. Despite the weather "Old Ironsides," remained open for free public tours. At 210 years-old, USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, manned by 67 active-duty United States Sailors and visited by nearly half a million visitors annually. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Eric Brown (Released)

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS AND OUR BELOVED NATION!!!





Boston, Oct. 21, 2009 - Boatswains Mate 2nd Class Philip Gagnon pipes as USS Constitution performs an underway demonstration in honor of the three-masted wooden frigate's 212th birthday. (U.S. Navy photo by Airman Mark Alexander/Released).
(Click for Bosun’s Whistle)



USS Constitution's 1812 Marine Guard fire vintage Springfield flintlock muskets during the ship's underway. "Old Ironsides" was underway for the "Constitution Day Cruise," which is conducted to thank the family and supporters of Constitution. U.S. Navy photo by Airman Nick Lyman (Released)

OUR TROOPS ROCK!!!!!!!

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

((((HUGS))))

[DuncanWaring]

... the fleet of Boeing B-17s and Consolidated B-24s as they each dropped up to 4,000 pounds of bombs on Berlin.

I'm fairly certain that should have been "4,000 tons.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[SandRat]

in

[Kathy in Alaska]

Permission Granted!

[SandRat]

[SkyDancer]

~ Good Evening! ~

(Actually it should say WW1 not WW2

~

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, Kathy and Star!

***HUGS***



Thanks very much – coming aboard! Rendering Hand Salutes to our National Colors and to the Officer of the Deck!

And thanks very much to you and Star for tonight’s Hall of Heroes thread! Col. Donald Blakeslee, USAF is most worthy of admission to our Hall of Heroes!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, DuncanWaring...I suspect you are right, that it should be tons rather than pounds. I guess the New York Times, October 3, 2008, article by Dennis Hevesi missed it.

I checked to make sure we didn’t mis-write it in case we needed to fix it. Thanks for catching it.

[ConorMacNessa]

Welcome To All Who Enter This Canteen, To Our Serving Military, To Our Veterans, To All Military Families, To Our FRiends and To Our Allies!



Missing Man Setting

"The Empty Chair"

By Captain Carroll "Lex" Lefon, USN (RET), on December 21st, 2004

"In the wardroom onboard the aircraft carrier from which I recently debarked was a small, round table, with single chair. No one ever sat there, and the reasons, both for the table being there, and for the fact that the chair was always empty, will tell the reader a little bit about who we are as a culture. The wardroom, of course, is where the officers will dine; morning, noon and evening. It is not only a place to eat – it is also a kind of oasis from the sometimes dreary, often difficult exigencies of the service. A place of social discourse, of momentary relief from the burdens of the day. The only things explicitly forbidden by inviolable tradition in the wardroom are the wearing of a cover or sword by an officer not actually on watch, or conversation which touches upon politics or religion. But aboard ships which observe the custom, another implicit taboo concerns the empty chair: No matter how crowded the room, no matter who is waiting to be seated, that chair is never moved, never taken.

The table is by the main entrance to the wardroom. You will see it when you enter, and you will see it when you leave. It draws your eyes because it is meant to. And because it draws your eyes it draws your thoughts. And though it will be there every day for as long as you are at sea, you will look at it every time and your eyes will momentarily grow distant as you think for a moment. As you quietly give thanks.

AS YOU REMEMBER.

The small, round table is covered with a gold linen tablecloth. A single place setting rests there, of fine bone china. A wineglass stands upon the table, inverted, empty. On the dinner plate is a pinch of salt. On the bread plate is a slice of lemon. Besides the plate lies a bible. There is a small vase with a single red rose upon the table. Around the vase is wound a yellow ribbon. There is the empty chair.

We will remember because over the course of our careers, we will have had the opportunity to enjoy many a formal evening of dinner and dancing in the fine company of those with whom we have the honor to serve, and their lovely ladies. And as the night wears on, our faces will in time become flushed with pleasure of each other’s company, with the exertions on the dance floor, with the effects of our libations. But while the feast is still at its best, order will be called to the room – we will be asked to raise our glasses to the empty table, and we will be asked to remember:

The table is round to show our everlasting concern for those who are missing. The single setting reminds us that every one of them went to their fates alone, that every life was unique.

The tablecloth is gold symbolizing the purity of their motives when they answered the call to duty.

The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones who kept the faith.

The yellow ribbon around the vase symbolizes our continued determination to remember them.

The slice of lemon reminds us of the bitterness of their fate.
The salt symbolizes the tears shed by those who loved them.
The bible represents the faith that sustained them.
The glass is inverted — they cannot share in the toast.
The chair is empty — they are not here. They are missing.

And we will remember, and we will raise our glasses to those who went before us, and who gave all that they had for us. And a part of the flush in our faces will pale as we remember that nothing worth having ever came without a cost. We will remember that many of our brothers and sisters have paid that cost in blood. We will remember that the reckoning is not over.

We many of us will settle with our families into our holiday season, our Christmas season for those who celebrate it, content in our fortune and prosperity. We will meet old friends with smiles and laughter. We will meet our members of our family with hugs. We will eat well, and exchange gifts and raise our glasses to the year passed in gratitude, and to the year to come with hope. We will sleep the sleep of the protected, secure in our homes, secure in our homeland.

But for many families, there will be an empty chair at the table this year. A place that is not filled.

WE SHOULD REMEMBER."

Many Thanks To Alfa6 For Finding Capt. Lefon's Chronicle Of "The Empty Chair."

"Träumerei"
Robert Schumann
(Click)

Never Forget The Brave Men And Women Who
Gave Their Lives To Secure Our Freedom!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

In first....Mac grabs the gold!!

[DuncanWaring]

Recall that the OKC Murrah building was hit by a ton or two of ANFO, a relatively low-grade explosive.

In this particular attack on Berlin, it was hit by 4000 tons of high-grade explosive.

And that was only one of many attacks on Berlin.

To say nothing of the Russian artillery.

[dfwgator]

Yeah, well Berlin was still in a lot better shape than Warsaw was in 1945.

[Kathy in Alaska]

And in second....ML snags the silver!!

[left that other site]

On the ball tonight!
:-)

[DuncanWaring]

It’s been observed “When People of Color “do rage”, cities burn. When White people “do rage”, continents burn”.

[Kathy in Alaska]

And rounding out the top three....DuncanWaring bags the bronze!!

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

Love And Light

April 27, 2015

The land which you cross over to possess is a land . . . for which the Lord your God cares. —Deuteronomy. 11:11-12

Friends are starting to plan their summer vegetable gardens. Some get an early start by planting seeds indoors where they can control the conditions and provide the best environment for sprouting. After the danger of frost has passed, they will transplant the seedlings outdoors. Once the garden is planted, the work of weeding, feeding, watering, and guarding against rodents and insects begins. Producing food is a lot of work.

Moses reminded the Israelites of this before they entered the promised land. While living in Egypt, they had to do the hard work of irrigating crops by hand (Deut. 11:10), but in the place where God was taking them He promised to ease their work by sending spring and autumn rains: “I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains” (v.14 niv). The only condition was that they “faithfully obey the commands” He gave them—“to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (v.13 niv). The Lord was taking His people to a place where their obedience and His blessing would make them a light to those around them.

God wants the same for us and from us: He wants our love to be displayed in our obedience so that we might be His light to people around us. The love and obedience we have to offer, though, is far less than He deserves. But He is our provider, blessing us and enabling us to be a light that the world will notice.

Loving God doesn’t make life effortless, but having His strength makes it easier.

INSIGHT: The word deuteronomy means “second law.” This word describes the content of the book and its purpose. After the law was first given to Moses on Mount Sinai, the Israelites rebelled and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Now, 40 years later, they were about to enter the land of promise, and the laws given at Sinai were repeated in order to prepare them to be a people of God in their new home.