FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Col Walker Melville "Bud" Mahurin ~ 22 May 2023

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[Kathy in Alaska]

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Col. Bud Mahurin

(Info found here.)

           

Thank you to alfa6 for his suggestion of this hero!  What an incredible story this man had!  He is home now, guarding the streets of heaven.  God rest his soul.

Colonel Walker Melville "Bud" Mahurin (December 5, 1918 - May 11, 2010) was a retired officer of the United States Air Force (USAF). During World War II, while serving in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), he was a notable flying ace.

Bud Mahurin was the first American pilot to become a double ace in the European Theater and the only ace to shoot down enemy planes in both the European and Pacific Theaters and the Korean War. During World War II he was credited with 20.75 aerial victories, making him the sixth-highest American P-47 ace. He was credited with shooting down 3.5 MiG-15s in Korea, giving him a total of 24.25 aircraft destroyed in aerial combat.

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Born in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Mahurin joined the U.S. Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet on September 29, 1941 after several years as an engineering student at Purdue University. Graduating from pilot training on April 29, 1942, he was subsequently assigned to the 63d Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group and deployed to England with the group in January 1943. Based at Halesworth, England, Captain Mahurin became a flight leader in the 63rd FS and began flying missions in May.

On August 17, 1943, he scored his first two aerial victories by shooting down a pair of German Focke-Wulf Fw 190s while escorting B-17 bombers as part of the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission. One of these fighters was flown by Major Wilhelm "Wutz" Galland, Gruppenkommandeur of II/JG 26, and an ace with some 55 claims to his credit. He became an ace on October 4 after shooting down three Messerschmitt Bf110s. On November 26, Mahurin shot down three more Bf-110s to become the first American pilot in the European Theater of Operations to score 10 aerial victories. His primary aircraft, P-47D-5-RE 42-8487, bore the squadron codes UN:M and was nicknamed The Spirit of Atlantic City, N.J.

Mahurin was promoted to major on March 21, 1944, and on March 27, Major Mahurin's P-47 was heavily damaged by a German Dornier Do-217 bomber he helped shoot down, forcing him to bail out. He was picked up by French Resistance forces and, two months later, returned to England. Due to his knowledge of the French Resistance, he was grounded and sent home.

In October, he again went overseas as commander of the 3rd Fighter Squadron, the combat element of the composite 3rd Air Commando Group in the Philippines. While based at Mangaldan, Luzon, in January 1945 he was credited with a kill of a Japanese bomber. Mahurin was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 28, 1945 and became commander of the 3rd Air Commando Group in September 1945.

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In 1950, at the start of the Korean War, Mahurin was serving in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. In July 1951 he became commander of the 1st Fighter Group, training in the North American F-86 Sabre. In December he began a 90-day tour of temporary duty with the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, serving as special assistant to the wing commander, Col. Francis S. Gabreski. Mahurin transferred to the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing on March 18, 1952, to command its 4th Fighter-Interceptor Group. On May 13, 1952, while strafing ground targets, his F-86 was shot down by North Korean ground fire; after crash-landing, breaking his arm in the process, he was captured by enemy forces.

Mahurin spent 16 months in a North Korean prisoner of war (POW) camp. He endured torture that included intense questioning, solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, threats of execution, and brainwashing. While being questioned about false claims of the United States' use of biological warfare, he falsely admitted to dropping canisters of insects over North Korea. He was later released in September 1953, well after the war's end, and promoted to full Colonel. His experience in brainwashing techniques provided the U.S. with invaluable material to develop survival training courses. Nevertheless, he and other returning POWs were condemned by Senator Richard Russell, Jr. and others because of their false confessions.

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In 1956, Mahurin retired from the U.S. Air Force to accept a senior position in the aviation industry. While the Air Force attributes this to his own choice, stating that he was low on the promotion list to permanent colonel and unlikely to make general, a pilot under his command in Korea, Robert Smith, asserts that the Air Force dishonored itself by pressuring Mahurin to resign from the service as a result of political infighting over the confessions, just four years short of becoming eligible for retirement benefits.

Link to an interview with Col. Mahurin here.

More here.

Thank you, sir, for your service and sacrifice!

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! 

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

And now on to the new week!

[Kathy in Alaska]

[luvie]

They tried to do that to my son, but he fought it and won.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, luvie...so glad your son fought back, and WON!!

We thank him for his service to our country.

[luvie]

I salute this hero
With a Corsair barrel roll.
...and yes, I do know that
the Corsair is a Navy plane. LOL!

[Kathy in Alaska]

[luvie]

I was glad too! It was bad enough that they tried to make him retire a bit before 20 years instead of the 30 years that he wanted to put in, because he had a bad seizure at work and that was the end of that. Also can’t fly helicopters anymore. He’s fine, though, and is enjoying retirement. Going back to college for a Masters.

[Kathy in Alaska]

But it’s a cool Navy plane. 😎😎😎

[luvie]

It’s my favorite WWII plane. :)

[Kathy in Alaska]

[linMcHlp]

Col. Walker M. Bud Mahurin was born in Dowagiac, MI, then lived in Ann Arbor until he was adopted by a family from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He studied engineering at Purdue University and became a licensed civilian pilot in 1939.

. . . [He] retired from the Air Force in 1978. Mahurin became a Vice-President of Rockwell International assisting with the Apollo program.

- https://www.airzoo.org/enshrinees

[radu]

Howdy, luvie.

Glad your son beat ‘em.

[luvie]

Hey there, radu!

Me too. They are heartless. But that’s government issue for ya! LOL

[radu]

They sure are and it sure is.

Have you recuperated from yesterday’s long drive?

[Eagles6]

Good for him.😉👌

[luvie]

I’m gradually recuperating. It takes a bit longer these days. LOL! Just so many hours sitting in one place is tiring. ;)

How was the weekend at the museum? Were the crowds bigger? Does it have something special planned for the holiday weekend?

[radu]

LOL! It DOES take a little longer, doesn’t it? But it was all worth it.

It wasn’t a very bus weekend at the museum. Fridays are always on the slow side and Saturday was terrible weather-wise. It rained all day long. We still had a decent turnout then though.

Nothing special planned for next weekend but we’ll be open. I saw a cup of polysilk poppies in the office yesterday so I guess they plan to set them out for folks who’d like to have one. The weather is supposed to be perfect next weekend so I hope for a lot of people to stop by.

All the towns around here have events planned for that Monday and I’m going to do my best to crawl out of bed for the one here. It’s going to be a bit early in the morning.

[luvie]

It darn sure was worth it. I’ll have time to recuperate fully before the next trek.

Glad the turnout was decent. It’s nice that way....you have time to give each visitor the “long version”, maybe?

I guess I’d better head out. I’m ready to crash and burn. But at least it isn’t as early as last night. See ya tomorrow!

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good Monday morning and ((HUGS)) to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

Yesterday at Comanche Lake:

How's everyone doing this morning?