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MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala.
(AFNS) -- The military's
sergeant pilots, enlisted
aviators who served from
1912-1957, were honored during a
monument unveiling and
dedication at Maxwell-Gunter's
Enlisted Heritage Hall on June 9,
2014.
Nearly 14 years in the making,
the monument depicts Corporal
Vernon L. Burge, the Army Signal
Corps' first enlisted pilot, in
recognition of the service and
sacrifices made by nearly 3,000
enlisted men who followed in
Burge's footsteps.
From left: Retired pilots Col.
James "Pat" Pool, Lt. Col. John
Beard, and Lt. Col. Charles Fisk
and family members, stand in
front of the new enlisted pilot
monument at Maxwell-Gunter Air
Force Base, June 9, 2014. The
monument honored the nearly
3,000 enlisted sergeant pilots,
including Pool, Beard and Fisk,
who served in the military from
1912-1957. (U.S. Air Force photo
by Donna Burnett) |
In attendance were three
sergeant pilots; retired Lt.
Col. Charles Fisk, retired Col.
James "Pat" Pool, and retired
Lt. Col. John W. Beard, as well
as the family members of several
other enlisted pilots who were
integral to making the monument
a reality.
Gen. Robin Rand, commander Air
Education and Training Command,
presided over the ceremony,
saluting the pilots for their
service and contributions to the
war effort. Like all who served
in WWII, Rand said these
enlisted pilots made up the
greatest generation. Of the
3,000 sergeant pilots, 11 of
them would go on to achieve the
rank of general officer, 17
would become flying aces and
more than 150 were killed in
action.
"They were men, who during a
time of crisis, did not shrink
from service to our country, and
instead they courageously fought
to defend and aid those around
them," Rand said. "Quite simply,
our enlisted pilots were the
very best our country had to
offer. I am honored to be here
today to memorialize their
service and I am a humbled,
truly humbled, to count myself
among them as a United States
Air Force military pilot."
Craig Wood, whose father Staff
Sgt. Herman C. Wood, later a
retired colonel, was there to
honor his father. Craig, who
also served in the Air Force as
an intelligence officer and
later as a Department of Defense
civilian for 30 years, said his
father came from a difficult
family background. With his
mother ill and father out of the
picture, Col. Wood worked in a
garage all the way through high
school to help take care of his
siblings. Inspired by barn
stormers, the stunt pilots who
performed aeronautical tricks
during the 1920s, Colonel Wood
had always wanted to fly, but
family circumstances made the
dream seem just out of reach.
The military and enlisted pilot
program was an opportunity that
changed everything for Colonel
Wood, who would go on to serve
as a C-17 Globemaster III
bombardier, and later as a
transport pilot.
"He enlisted in 1938 and then,
subsequently, when the offer was
made to be able to fly, it was a
like a dream come true for dad,"
Wood said. "So to me, coming
here and remembering the
significant role he had in this
part of history, is really what
it's all about. I'm looking up
and dad's looking down and he's
pleased. He worked extremely
hard for this, to record this
part of Air Force history."
Organized by the Enlisted
Heritage Hall and the Army Air
Corps Enlisted Pilots
Association, the unveiling
ceremony was a long time coming.
Larry Chivalette, the museum
curator, said the catalyst for
the monument creation was when
retired Brig. Gen. Edwin F.
Wenglar, who championed for way
to honor the enlisted pilots,
passed way in 2011.
"It was his dying wish to get
this done. Then Colonel Wood
took over, and when he contacted
Chief Master Sgt. Fred Graves,
[AF Enlisted Heritage Hall
director] the chief gave him his
word he was going to try to make
it happen."
Two days later Colonel Wood
passed away.
Since the conversation in 2012,
Chivalette said that Graves
worked feverishly to create a
monument that would honor and
recognize all enlisted pilots.
The efforts of the museum staff,
along with the sergeant pilots
and their families, raised more
than $60,000 to make the
monument a reality.
Pool was inspired by an early
chance encounter with Wiley
Post, an America pilot famous
during the early 1930s for being
the first man to fly solo around
the world. Post was also the
personal pilot of wealthy
Oklahoma oil businessman F.C.
Hall, who flew to Chickasa,
Okla., to meet with Pool's
father, a newspaper editor. When
Hall and Pool's father drove off
to town, young Pool was left
with the famous pilot, who took
him for a spin.
"I, of course, I was all for
it," Pool said. "At that time he
was the most famous aviator in
the whole world. So we got on
board, and when we left for
take-off, I got to thinking
about how I could do this for
life."
Pool entered the service Aug.
28, 1941, just in time for Pearl
Harbor, and upon completing
flying school, was sent to India
where he spent the war hauling
critical cargo and solders to
Pacific theater battlefields.
Later, he flew in the famous
Berlin Airlift, carrying
humanitarian aid to the
residents of West Berlin.
Pool, speaking about the
monument, and the decision to
have Burge represent all
enlisted pilots, said it was a
lifetime endeavor culminating in
the statute.
By U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Sarah Loicano
42nd Air Base Wing
Public Affairs
Air Force News Service
Copyright 2014
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