Pacifica Military History Free Sample Chapters.pmd

58 Pacifica Military History
Note: The following article is excerpted from the book ACES
AGAINST GERMANY: The American Aces Speak by Eric Hammel.
The book is currently available in a $27.50 trade paperback edition
published by Pacifica Military History. It is also available in ebook
editions.
THE BIG B
by Eric Hammel
Copyright 1992 © by Eric Hammel.
Major TOM HAYES, USAAF
364th Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group
Berlin, March 6, 1944
*
Portland, Oregon’s Thomas Lloyd Hayes, Jr., dreamed of flight
through-out his youth, but he saw no means for making his dreams real
until 1937, when he was a high-school senior. Early that year, a Soviet
airplane on a much-heralded flight from Moscow to San Francisco was
forced to end its journey in Portland’s neighbor, Vancouver, Wash-ington.
Young Tom Hayes was one of the first civilians to greet the Russian
aircrew. Emboldened by his brush with reflected glory, Hayes attempted
to enlist in the U.S. Navy flight program as soon as he graduated from
high school that June. He was turned away on account of his age and
advised to earn a college degree in order to qualify. Hayes dutifully
matriculated at Oregon State University, but all he really cared about
was qualifying for Navy flight school. However, in May 1940—the month
Germany invaded the Low Countries—Hayes attended an Army Air
Corps air show in Corvallis, Oregon. When he learned at the show that
he needed only two years of college to qualify, he signed up on the spot.
Within a month, Cadet Hayes was attending Primary flight training
at Glendale, California, and he graduated with Class 41-A at Kelly
Field, Texas, on February 7, 1941. Lieutenant Hayes was assigned to
the 35th Pursuit Group. In November 1941, the group was ordered to