Posted on 10/07/2008 2:54:10 AM PDT by billorites
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Salute
Rest in peace and with honor Col. Blakeslee.
Salute
EISENHOWER VISITS DEBDEN. (l. to r.)General Eisenhower, C.G., SHAEF Capt. Don Gentile, Col. Don Blakeslee. Award of the Distinguished Flying Cross, April 1944.
In his autobiography, "Tumult In The Clouds," James A. Goodson, the top-scoring ace of the 4th Fighter Group, remembered Don Blakeslee: "While no one questioned his talent in the air, many in the top command had less confidence in his behavior on the ground. He had established his reputation at the time of transfer, by choosing the very night before General Hunter's visit to entertain two female WAAF officers in his barrack room. The General started his tour early the next morning. Warned of the approaching danger, the two WAAFs just had time to cover some of their embarassment and scramble out the barracks window right into the path of the General and his staff. Told that Blakeslee would be demoted and transferred, General Hunter remarked, 'For one, maybe; but for two! He should be promoted!'"
Wish they'd be telling stories like that about me.
...sigh
God Bless!
RIP, Colonel.
LOL! Right out of Catch-22.
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