Pacifica Military History Free Sample Chapters.pmd

108 Pacifica Military History
like quite a while before I was in a position to fire. This 109 pilot was
aggressive. He tried to lose me with various maneuvers and tactics,
descending all the time. However, I was determined not to let this one
fight another day. It was crazy up there at the time, but I got into position
for a good deflection shot. When I was close enough I gave him a short
burst, and he blew up and entered a crazy spin. As I pulled up in a tight
turn to clear my tail and look for other enemy aircraft, I saw my 109 hit
the ground. When he hit, he was still spinning.
Next, I spotted six more 109s break for the deck. I rolled after them,
but I had only 110 gallons of gas left, so I broke off the attack, climbed
to 15,000 feet, and began my long and lonely flight back to Fowlmere.
It had been a long day. The mission was seven hours and forty
minutes, but adding the time for the fog-delayed takeoff, I was strapped
into that Mustang for more than nine hours. My muscles and my mind
were sorely challenged. I thought of a lot of different things that day,
but most of all I was proud to be part of the 503d Fighter Squadron and
thankful for the wisdom of Major Aitken for not being lured by the
decoys, and for his dedication to protecting the bomber crews by
following orders and not chasing across the skies for personal glory.
We did our best that day, but it was not good enough. Twelve B-17s
went down in flames before other American fighters finally arrived to
protect them on the flight home. I do not think I had the courage to be a
bomber pilot over Germany. I had—and still have—the utmost respect
for the valor and dedication of those brave crews.
The 503d Fighter Squadron shot down fifteen German fighters in
that action, and we damaged many others. The 339th Fighter Group
was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its achievements on
September 10 and 11, 1944, and I was awarded the Silver Star for
“Gallantry in Action.”
*
Frank Gerard was awarded four confirmed victories for the twelveminute
September 11 fight over Annaburg; he was a five-kill ace, and
only a month past his twentieth birthday. He went on to down two Bf-
109s, and damage a third, near Magdeburg on March 2, 1945; and
shortly after being promoted to the rank of captain, he scored his eighth