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CWILNRPATROL
COASTAL PATROL BASE 2
REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE
L942 - 1943
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NATIONAL HISTORICAX, COMMITTBE
HeadquartersCivitAirFatrol
M*i**li Air Force $ase, Alabama
AII1. PA:TROICIVIL
Z,
BASE
PATI+OL
C()AS:TAII)EI-A\^7AR.E
BEACH.
REHOBC)-TI{
L943
L942
PREPARED BY:
E. HOPPER, CIP
COLONEL LESTER
14
SEPTEI.{BER 1991
T{ATI ONAL HI STORICAL COUIT{ITTEE
Headquarters CiviI Air PatroI
Maxwell Air Force Baee, Alatraura
1
PREFACE
Tire Civil Air Patrol was founded on l December
v/
1991.
Withi.n six rnonths, the Ci.vi I Air Patro1 f ound itsel f i.tr tlre
f*r'efr'orrt of a critical effort inroivea in the prosecution of
World War II by the United States. Specifically it was deeply
irrv,:Ived in patrol l ing the coastal waters of its native iand in
search of the German Submarines who \^rere sinking AI i led shippirrg
at- an unprecedented rate.
lrr *r'der to accompl ish this rnission the regular mi i itary estab*
lishment reluctantly authorized the CiviI Air Patrr-rl to hegin a
FiJ day e:rper'irnerrt in the use of smal1, privateiy owned aircraf t
as,an instrument of war. Much has been written alrollt thi-q uL,EI'.dfi*n at tii* i1 C+a.:ta1 Patrol Bases which ultiutately were estabiished along the Eastern Seaboard and the shores of the Gulf of
Mei:icc,. It is therefore not the intent of this publication to
cover it further
Rather. its intent is to pay tribute to the valiant members of
Coastal Patrol Base 2 at Rehoboth Beach, Delawal'e who wel': tlir
fir=t to fly the hazardous missions involved in the type of
f iying required. Ai I who served, served we i I and deserve the
highe*t praise, This writirrg is dedicated to al1 of them arrd is
being prepared specif icai Iy for their 1991 reurriott,
LESTER
E. HOPPER
COLONEL
CAF
National Historian
New OrIeans, Louisiana
August
11
1991
AIR MEDAL
OBVERSE
15r
Crvru
LlEu-r.
Ate
Pnrnoc
AcrtvE Durr
194?- t943
REVERSE
111
,6rt/
'84
CIVIL AIR
PATROL
DUCK CLUB EMBLEM
iv
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
TITLE
CHAPTER
PAGE
Ft'ontirpirc:e - Ait' Medal
Frontisptece - Duck tllub
I
Th*
iii
iv
Enibletn
M*cla I
1
For VaIor
-1
.:
Fr:r' Sustaitred 0perations
7
4
Air
l,
l-lrrc:onrnrorr Va i or'
L3
A
The Duck Club
'J -J
Dr-tck
,.{
Civi
1I
Medal Order
CIub Mernbership
List
?5
I Air Patrol Histori.c Aircraf t
zo
tl{ener'a I
9
Aircraft at Coastal Patrol
Ba,:e 3
-
Aircraft at Coastal Patro1
Base 3
-
t-ztrlltr-t cl I
1U
Inclivicit.ta1 Studies
FootrroteB
)a
EU
V
CHAPTER
I
THE MEDAL
LongatraditioninEuropeanarmies,therecognitionofin.
dividuals for special acts had its beginning in the united
states Military with the Badge for Military l'terit'1 orders
creatingtheBadgeforMilitaryMeritwereissuedbythe
ContinentalArmyonAugustT,LTSL'Asimpleheartshaped
pieceofc}oth,itwasawardedtoallranksinvolvedin
actsofunusualgallantry.GeorgeWashingtonwrotewhen
he established this first award' "The road to glory in
patriot army and. free country is open to aII" '
a
Bydefinitionthatded'icated'bandofvolunteercivilian
aviatorswhomadeuptheranksoftheCivilAirPatrol
a patriot
certainly met General Washington's definition of
army.Howthendoyourecognizetheiraccomplishments?
obviously,thesimp}estsolutionistheutilizationofan
existingaward.Thiswasthecourseofactionultimately
takentorecognizeselectedindividualswhoseperformance
exceptionar
of duties in defense of their country made them
candidates fot the award of the Air Medal '
by aLl branches of
The Air Meda1 was established for use
May II L942 '
'
the United States Military establishment on
Executive Order Number
The basis for its estabtishment' was
9I5B of 11 May L942 (Section III, Bulletin 25, War Department, 19 421 , as amended by Executive order 9242-A of
Bulletin 49, War Department,
tg42l, and further amended by the National security Act of
1947.2 The medal is awarded to any member of the Armed
Forces of the united states for qualifying service subsequent to September 8, 1939' This combat or non-combat
award is awarded to individuals who have distinguished themselves by meritorj-ous achievement while participating in
It was conferred in recognition of either
aerial flight.
11 September Lg42 (Section III,
single acts of merit or for sustained operations against
armed enemies of the United States'
The medal itself , which was d.esigned by walker K. Hancock,
is in the form of a 16-poin't. sculptured compass rose of
bronze. The obverse depicts an American eagle volant in
attitude of attack gripping flashes of lightning in its
talons.TheeagleiscenteredinthecomPassrose.The
suspensionringisattachedtothemedalutilizinga
Passing through the suspension'ring is a
fleur-de-lis.
ribbon of medium blue with narrow golden-orange stripes on
each side. The reverse, which was a raised disc, was left
blank for engraving of the recipientrs name. As illustrated
by the frontispiece, awards presented to civil Air Patrol
typical
Members were uniquely engraved in that they bore the
inscription, "Robert M. Smith, lst Lieut" Civil Air Patrol'
Active DutY, 1942-L943".
CHAPTER
2
FOR VALOR
Although the orderl awarding the first Air Medals read for
"Meritorious Servicel the content of that order would cer-
tainly indicate a significant alnount of valor involved in
the first two Air Medals awarded to Cj-vil Air Patrol Personnel. The citation for the award to Edmond I. Edwards,
Civil Air Patrol read the sane as the one for Captain Hugh
R. Sharp, Jr. which is quoted below:
R. sharp, Jy., captain, civil Air Patrol, serving with
Army Air Forces. For meritorious achievement while Participating in an aerial flight,. when caIled uPon by radio
to rescue personnel of a crashed airplane an extremely
hazardous Ianding was made at sea in swells 8 to 10 feet
high. Although the left pontoon was damaged in landing, the
,,Hugh
airplane was kept from capsizing by expert airmanship and
the rescue accomplished, As the sea was too rough for take
off j-t was necessary to taxi the airplane until it could be
towed the rest of the way to port. This difficult mission
of great responsibility required outstanding initiative, resourcefu}ness,andahighdegreeofcourage.Thesuperior
mannerinwhichalldutieswereperformedwillestablish
hightraditionsofservicefortheCivilAirPatrol',.
The valor involved in Captain Sharp's and' Lieutenant
t daring rescue of fellow pil0t Lieutenant Henry
T. cross is best illustrated by Lieutenant cross' explanation of what haPPened:2
Edwards
,,on July 2L, Lg42 at approximately 16:50 while on regular
patrol Mission at position latitude 3806 longitude 7455
in a warner Fairchild NCI9I44 with Lt. charles shelfus as
observer we crashed at sea. on regaining consciousness in
the water I found the ship had sunk and I could not find Lt'
a
Shelfus".J What is not told by Cross, is that he had
suffered several fractured vertebrae and that his rescue
within
.would. in itself result in a heroic ef fort by others.
55 minutes Rehoboth, Delaware Base 2t s sikorsky Amphibian
arrived on the scene. crewed by Base commander, Major Hugh
R. Sharp, Jr. and, Lieutenant Edmond Edwards this venerable
ord aircraft encountered difficulty in its randing in the I
to 10 foot swells. Due to a rough landing, the sikorskyrs
left pontoon was damaged and begin to fiII with water' what
.
followed is best described by Major Sharp'
,'After landing was unable to locate survivor for several
cross
minutes on account of rough sea. Finally sighted Pilot
at several hundred yards distance while he and Amphibian were
the
on crests of waves. Encountered some difficulty in making
downwindturnstoreachthevictim'butthiswasfinally
accomp}ished,andafirstattemptwasmadetotaxitheshipup
tovictim.onthisfirstattempt,however,wemisjudgedthe
strength of the wind and were blown away from the victim before we were able to grasP him. on second try, however, w€
were successful in grabbing ahold of the victim who was un'able to hold on to the rope which was thrown to him because
of his injury. The observer, Lt. F,ldwards, however, lifted
pilot cross from the water and helped him into the ship,
which was no easy task because of the rough water and the
violent pitching of the Amphibian" '4
in water at location searching for observer shelfus
until IB:20. There being no signs of shelfus and with cross
as
in serious condition, it was deemed wise to get to shore
possible- As the sea was too rough for takeoff'
=oon as
At approxiwe started taxiing on westerry course at 18:20.
,,Remained
matelyLsz25portwingfloatsank.observerEdwardswentout
to starboard bomb rack for balance, where tre stayed unat
complainingly until the ship was beached at, chincote"gol
about0l:30the,followingmorning.Thiswasnoeasytask
forobserverEdwardsforhehadstrippedoffalmostallof
hisclothinginordertogivethemtoPilotCross.Atinimmersed in
tervars alr during the night, he was completery
theseaduringwhichwavesflowedoverthestarboardwing
floattowhichthebombrackwasattached,andtosaythe
Ieast,hewasfarfromcomfortablefromcoldaftertheSun
went down" .5
3 planning to tie up to it
"Laid course for coastal buoy No '
forthenight,nothavingsufficientgastotaxitoChincoteague,
the nearest harbor. By tieing to the buoy, our position
could be reported by radio so that fast Coast Guard boat
could rush Cross to shore for medical aid".6
,,on approaching No. 3 buoyr w€ were met by coast Guard picket
boat" .7
,,condition of sea made transfer of cross unwise'.8
"seaplane was taken in tow by picket boat at 19:50 and towed
to Chincoteague, arriving about 23z45" '9
Sharp and Edwards were later awarded cAPrs Blue Merit Emblem
prior to their award of the Air Medal from the hands of
President Roosevelt at a white House ceremony in February of
Ig43. Rooseveltts comments to sharp that this was the first
time that he had awarded this medal was fitting tribute in
itseIf. lo
Asapostscript,CaptainSharpremainedastheCommanding
Officer of Base 2 until its closure on August 3Ir 1943'
Lieutenant Edwards was later commissioned in the united states
Although
Navy where he continued to serve with distinction'
unable to fly due to his injuries, Lieutenant Cross later
transferred to CiviI Air Patrol's Coastal Patrol Base Number
14 at Panama city, FlOrida where he served as its operations
of ficer
CHAPTER
3
FOR SUSTAINED OPERATIONS
SAID Two tired, dirty CAP coastal patrol fliers
Ianded, out of gds, at Ellington Field, Texas, after a sixhour ramble over the GuIf. Between them, the two had
around 1500 hours over the water'
,'NUFE
Across the field they noticed an impressive ceremony was in
progress. Whatts {oing? one of them asked'
They,reawardingtheairmedaltosomeofthefliers,the
mech explained.
What for? came the querY.
The men have completed I00 hours of flight
over the GuIf
on
patrol in their B-25s'
And
Oh, came the somewhat muffled reply from the visitors'
engined
the twa climbed back into their 90 horsepower, single
of escort
Stinson Voyager for another long and weary round
1
duty".*
Tounderstandthepsycho}ogybehindtheaboveincidentitis
.i ahnar
r --^x-1
necessarytoexaminethebackgroundandaccomplishmentsof
Prior to
civil Air Patrolrs wartime coast Patrol OperatiOns '
World War II a Joint Army-Navy Committee on Antisubmarine
Warfare was established in order to fix responsibility for
submarine defense in the Coastal Waters of the United States.
'The Army felt
that in view of their coastal Defense responsibility via its coast Artillery Mission they had the responsibility, and as a consequence desj-red to equip themselves with
suitable aircraft. on the other hand since earlier agreements and directives provided for ove::-water flight operations
to be conducted by the Navy. Although the Navyts position prevailed, neither branch of service was in a position to do much
immediately upon entry into the war. Shipping losses from
the I'Arsenal of Democracy" soared primarily as the result of
'marginally challenged German submarine activity in the coastal
waters of the united states. In the first 6 months of L942
IB0 altied ships were lost, many of which were in sight of
land,.
After several unofficiar frights by dedicated pilots of the
buddingCivilAirPatrolanaPPealwasmadebythemtobe
chief
utilized in this vit,al role. On February L7, L942 the
of the Army Air Forces was authorized to accept the services
,,triaI basis".2 subsequent
of the civi] Air patrol on a
instructions of 9 March Lg42 provided for the establishment
at
of the civil Air Patrol I s first two coastal Patrol Bases
Atlantic city, New Jersey and Rehoboth, Delawar".3' Prior
from Rehoboth
even to these basic instructions, the airmen
madetheirfirstpatrolonMarchs,Lg42withaircrewsfrom
AtlanticCityfollowingshortlyonMarchl0,Lg42.Restricted
initially to these two bases and a 15 mile offshore limit,
the value of the initially intended 30 day trial period became obvious. Within the next 6 months, bY September of
L942, 2L such bases had been established, along the East
Coast and the Coast of the Gulf of Mexico and their range
greatly extended. By september shipping losses dropped off
to 1 in that month and a total of only 7 for the balance of
the war. As a total, these bases flew 86,685 missions for a
total of 244,600 hours.4 To put this in proper perspective
during a typical month, october L942, military aircraft flew
a total of 11,385 hours on this type of activity while the
volunteers of Civil Air Patrol flew 23t6LZ hours'5
A profile of the pilots and others involved in this monumental
und.ertaking is an insurmountable task. It suffices to say that
they ranged in age from the young pilots who lied about their
The
I
ages to the 70 year old seasoned veterans of world war '
servast majority of them were far beyond the normal military
viceage.Fromaneconomicpointofviewrtheyrangedfromthe
from Denver who
Texas millionaires to the bakery truck driver
hitchhiked his way to his first active duty base' Motivation'
purelyandsimplypatriotismofthehighest,order.Itceraward of
tainly wasnrt for the recognition afforded by the
a
medalbyagratefulgovernment.Thisdidn|toccuruntill94B'
Air Patrol's Board Meeting of 16-17
5hnv^t'!'l
for the awa
pending approval frtr the awafd.
February 1948 announces -^-r.:-^
minutes'givet'estimonytotheconsiderableeffortputforth
Minutes of the civil
Thg
by civil Air Patrol National Headquarters and cAP Veterans
Incorporated. using as a criterj-a 200 hours of over water
flight as compared to the loo hour requirement by the Army,
824 Civil Air patrol Veteran PilotF were finally recognized'
by a series of General orders beginning on 14 April 1948'5
Of this number 822 wete given the initial award of the Air
Medal and sharp and, Edwards were awarded oak Leaf clusters
by virtue of their Previous award'
IO
CHAPTER 4
the Air
The following in an extracted copy from Department-ofbelatedly
which
Fur..i:* L?;ner.a1-Order Nr-urber tZ dated 14 April 1948
award.ed. 45 Air Med.a1s and 2 Oak Leaf Clusters to personnel frunr
Coastal Fatrol Base 2.
ol Executive ordcr 9158' I I Mav l9'12'
By direction cf the President, undt'r the -llrovrsions 9242-A, 1l Septenrbcr 1942 (sec' lll'
OrO^e.r
(sec. 11, Bur, 2b, WD igaii, as amenO.eJ'JV U-.".,it1re
i,f iT?,.rl Ait }Iedal for ttreritorious aclttttverno"t
Bui. ig, !\,D, lg{Z) *,t-Nuiiun^l Securit! e'., perioa" i'dic:rtecl is awardetl to the Iollowinl';-rr:rtrri'rl
while participating i"--ii""*i flight durini ii,eNo. 2. servirrg witlr tlrr' /rrmy Air
u. S, civrlian", Inon1burs ol the- clvil eir'p^tl"i, coirst:rl unit
2.
IrOrC()S:
FirstLir:utenurltArthur.f.\\lrlt.th,(]i\I)Scr.iltlN.l'2.3-l.lli
8 APril 1942 to 20 August l9'1li
FlrstLieu[cnantHenry'-tt'WifJtt']r"CA-lrSerialNo'l-4-732
l4 JulY 1942 to l4 JarruarY l9'i3
3.3-228
!.lrst Lieutenant Lawr;;;; ir' Wtflson, bRl, scriul No.
24 August 1942 to 3l August 19'13
CAI> Ser.ial No' 2-3-188
First Licutenant Carl i' Vittlin' 31 August 1942
13 March 1942 to
3-1-3?28
!,irst Lir:utenant How:ria-'iutpin, 1r., Cef'.Scrial No'
1942
5 M:rrch 19{2 to 9 August
2-3-102
Cip Serial
Flrst Lieutenant |ohn H' Vaugnal' August 1043 No'
11'APrlt 1943 io 31
CAP Serial No' 5-l -19?5
Flrst Lieutenant Wllllani-C' Vuntu' tvlaY 1043
18 March 1942 to 3l
.f,trstLieutenantetberil.-inotptun,iAPSerialNo'2-3-122
4 August l9{3
5 March tSlZ to
Serial'No'
Flrst Lieutenant Henry iegg' !4f August 1943 3-l-896
I APril'19'12- to 31
Scriut No' l-4-1213
second Lteurenant wuriln-o. smith,-cAP 19'13
1943 to 3l August
25 March
3-1-338
First Lleutenant AIex I' Sl-iky' !f !- Seri1t No'
io 13 Decembcr 1942
5 March'19'12
Sertal No' 2-3-{l
Lteutenant Haroid O' Swift' CAP
2 SePteniber l9{2 to ? March 1043
Serial No' 2-3-215
Captain Everett M' SnrrUr' CAP
1943
!'irst
5 Marcn 1942 to 3l August
FtrstLteutenantAUreii'St"""'1r"'Cnt>SerlirlNr"3-l'231
lg42 to 26 JutY 1042
5 March
FirstLieutc,,"ntwittt'"'"-n.s.ott,.CAI)SerialNo.3.3-lt]l
1942 to 3l August 1043
ll APrrl
I'irs!
yq'
wllliurn-S' J"t"o' 9lt1 Serial19-43 l'il-21
ro Novemr:ei iglZ to 31 'lru1;usl
^^.
3'l'221
FiI::t i.,ieui{l:'ra'r" lames ltrgt alrr'- CAP SeIial No'
l!43
9ltrrte 1942 to 3l Arr'{us;t l,
2-il .ljlU
Flrst
.
Serial No' 3-1-397
Lieutenant Thomas Sirnschryrln' -CjP
Lieutr:nant
1,5r.t.r.rl Nrr.
1,
Jl.c.,,ld Lil)ul.'.rlrtrt ltrlill-n,,i,,i-n. Il()c.oi.li, i9'i3
lti
tB JanuarY 1943 to -JutY
Sorial no' 2'-'<'lliJ
Lrir!'t lrieutrrrrrnt John-M" Itolr!nson' CAI) 1943
I APril 1942 to 3l Augur;t
C' Remy' CAP Sr:rial No' 5-1-388ir
l94j to I I /rpril I943
Firi;tLieuten:rntHenryll'l)roct-or'CAI)Seri'tlNo'I-{-'iuc
3 August 1942 to I Junc l3{:j
No' l-4-2
CAP
Flrst Lictttenant CorJon-C' Prince'Augrrsl'it'riul
i'u'13
20
ll Arrgust lg{2 tr'r
No' 3-3-21
First Lieurerrent nenry il-prtipro' cA-P Serial1943
to 3l August
Firl;t
Lieuleriari+' Robert
l6
Novctnbcr
i uu,,'tir'ct t9'li1I
!'lrst
Lirrutenant Rolancl W' O'Day, CAP Scrial No' 2-3-82
13 Fel>ruary 1942 to 31 August l9'lJ
FlrstLierrtenantWilllamB.Nicholson'CAPScrialNo.3.2-302
10 August 1942 to 31 August 1943
FtrstL,ieutcnuntWallerL'Grter,CAP$eri-alNo'2-3'1??
4 MaY 1942 to 3l Augrrst 19'13
Garreti, CAP Serial No' 3-l-8
' F'i,'st I.,ieutena,rt Dc'lmont B' to 30 March 1943
11 APrll 1942
SecotrdLieutcnantwllterA.Fullerton,CAPSeriirlNo.2-3.?9
l5 Novenrlrrrr 1942 to 3l Au1'1ust 1943 2-3-92
First Lieutenant Ralph J' Fldance' C'{P Serial No'
15 March 1942 lo 31 August l9Cli
FlrstLteutenantWalte,s.l'luttikin,C1l>S.erillNo.2-3.33
5 March 1942 to 16 August 1943
!'lrst Lieutenant Sykes R' Ewing' CAP Ser-tal No' 2-3-24
15 APril 1942 to 3l August l9{3
First Lieuterrant Robert A' hlscott' CAP Scr-ial No' 2-3-128
5 Mrtrch 1942 to 2l Octobcr 1942
First Lleutenant Jack B' Escott' CAP Scrial-No' 2-3-166
5 March 1942 to ? August 1942
Flrst Lleutcr:ant sh(3lley s. !1dnlorrds5n, cAP st'rirrl No' 2-l-218?
5 June toqZ to 3l August 10'13
Rubert E' Dulge, CAP Sertal No' 5-l-?10
Mtjor
1 Aprti 1942 to 12 JutY 1942
n*o' ?-3-54?
Second l,leutenattt lrvlrl V' l'elght' CAP Srr-rlul
1943 to 3l August 1943
I APril
No' 2-l-2391
Second Lieutenant Glen P' Cook' CAP Seriul
l9{2 to 3l August 1943
16 SePtember
No' 3-1-50
Second Lieutenant J;hn O' Cogswell' CAP Serlal
31 August 1943
24 March 1943 to
First Lfeutenant John w' Chew';r" CiP Serial No' 3-1-1925
io'aPrtt 1942 to f 1 eugust 1943
-G.
cauuieid, cAP serial No' 3-3-852
second Lleutenant william
l0 August 1942 to 31 August 1943
FirstLieutenantHoiardT'Carter'CAPSerialNo'2-3-95
5 Marctr 1942 to 1 JanuarY 1943
First Lieutellant Harvey P' Cannoir, CAe Serlal No' 2-l-155
16 JanuarY 19'13 to 1? JutY 1043
First Lieutenant Smedley D' Butler' CAP Serial No' 3-l-?03
1 JulY 1.942 to 28 |ulY 1943
Serial No'
l'irst Lieutenunt']oirn R' Andrews' CAPAugust 1943 l-5-180
Z0 Nc'venrber 1942 to 3l
'
Posthumoul; Award
9158' ll May
o[ Executive
. Dy directton of the Presldent, undcr the provisions Order 9242''A'order
1l September 1942
by'Elxecutive.
1g42 (r;ec. Ill, Ilul, Za,-WD, lC.l2), ,".*nronaoa
oI l9'l?, an Alr Medal (First Oak-Leaf
(s:ec. llt, Bul.49, *n, i'elbl, "rri'n^tion"l"S..utity'Act in aerial flight during the periods inrli'
whiielarticipating
It
cluster) f()r.nl€.ritoriuu" ""r|iou"mcnt
catecl is awarderl to the followlug-named u. s. civillans, ntettlbcrs oI u\c Civil Alr
Unit lio. 2, serving wlth the Army Alr Forccs:
First Licutenirnt lldmortcl I. Udwards, CAP Sertal No' 2-3-20
5 Mrrch 1942 to 6 December 1942
R. Sharp, Jr., .CAp Serial No. 2-3 -28
Major Hugh
5 March 1942 to 16 August 194?
1
:.,
CHAPTER 5
UNCOMMON VAIOR
AIl who have flown single engine land based aircraft are weII
acquaintedwit'hthephenomenonofanormallysmoothrunning
engineappearingtobeginrunningroughwhenflownoveropen
water. Add to this the relative unreliability of aircraft
t
in
t
power plants of the late 1930 s and early 1940 s and throw
by less than
maintenance under, many ti:nes, primative conditions
fully trained civilian volunteers' Only now can some small
appreciationbegintodevelopasregardsthethoughtsthatmust
civil Air Patrolrs
have been in mind of the aircrews who flew
and August 3I'
coastal Patrol Operations between March 5, Lg42
Ig43.Toflyundertheseconditionsonaninfreguentbasis
wouldbeinitsetfanactofheroism.Todoitalmostdailyfor
valor on the part of
17 months certainly constitutes unconmon
of their count'ry in
these civilian flyers who rushed to the aid
its tj'me of great need'
missions for a total of 244 '6002
The f act that they f lew 86,6851
of this operation, 903
hours is well document'ed. In the course
and 75 serious inaircraft were .1ost resulting Ln 264 fatalities
is estimated' that 746
juries were sustained. Of the 90 aircraft it
men' These statistics rewere lost at sea involving L4g7 aircrew
of a
men survived the harrowing experience
veal that L23 aircrew
their flight activities
forced landing at sea. Most aII continued
13
In at least the three8 cases of Lieutenants H. A. Coller, L' J'
DiCarIo and R. L. Wagstaff some survived a second time.
of these.survivors' but certainly numbered'
C' L'
arnong the earliest areg: First Lieutenants J' R' Schlager'
L942 while
savage and J. L. Fletcher. In the fj.rst week of June
flying routine patrol from cAP coastal Patrol Base Number 4 at
parksley, Virginia, Pilot schlagerrs personall-y owned Fairchild
at sea'
had, an engine failure due to vapor lock and' was ditched
After two hours of flight the aircraftts left tank was completely
dry and the right tank refused to flow. Thus a hard earned lesson
to fly from
was learned. rn the future, pirots would be required
Probably not the first
alternating tanks rather than from bot'h tanks simultaneously'
were
Another lesson learned. was one of minimLzLng exPosure' Rules
such
shortty issued prohibiting the inclusion of student observers
as Lieutenant Fletcher as aircrew members on actual missions '
half'
Fortunately, al} three were rescued within an hour and a
at approximately 16:50 while on regular Patrol
a warner
Mission at position latitude 3806 longitude 7455 in
,,on July 2I,
Lg42
FairchildNclgl44withLt.CharlesShelfusasobserverwecrashed
ship
at sea. on regaining consciousness in the water I found the
is not told by
had sunk and r could not find Lt. Shelfus"'IO What
thewriter,LieutenantHenryT.Cross,isthathehadsuffered
in itself reseveral fractured vertebt'ae 6nd that his rescue would
Rehoboth,
sult in a heroic effort by others. Within 55 minutes
on the scene' crewed'
Delaware Base 2ts sikorsky Amphibian arrived
Lieutenant Edmond
by Base Commander, Major Hugh R' Sharp' Jr' and
14
Edwards this venerable old aircraft
encountered difficulty
in
its. landing in 8 to IO foot swe}Is. Due to a rough landing,
the Sikorskyrs left pontoon was damaged and begin to fill with
water. What followed is best described by Major SharpI'After landing was unable to locate survivor for several minutes
on account of:.rough sea. FinaIIy sighted Pilot Cross at several
hund,red, yards distance while he and Amphibian .were :on cresti of
waves. Encountered some difficulty in making the downwind turns
to reach the vict,im, but this was finally accomplished, and a first
attempt was made to taxi the ship up to victim. On this first
attempt, however, we misjudged t'he strength of the wind and were
bl6wn away from the victim before we were able to grasP him' On
second try, howeverr wQ were successful in grabbing ahold of the
victim who was unable to hold on to the rope which was thrown to
him because of his injury. The observer, LE Edwards, however,
Iifted pilot Cross from the water and helped him into the ship,
which was no easy task because of.the rough water and the violent
pitching of the AmPhibian". lI
in water at location searching for Observer Shelfus until IB:20. There being no signs of Shelfus and with Cross in
serious condition, it was deemed wise to get to shore as soon as
possible. As the sea was too rough for takeoff, we started taxiing on westerly course at 18:20. At approximately L8225 port wing
float sank. Observer Edwards went out to starboard bomb rack for
"Remained
beached
balance, where he stayed uncomplainingly until the ship was
was no
at chincoteague at about 0I:30 the following morning' This
15
easy task for Observer Edwards for he had. stripped off almost aII
of his clothing in order to give them to Pilot Cross. At intervali
all during the night, he was completely immersed in the sea during
which waves flowed over the starboard wing float to which the bomb
rack was attached, and to say the least, he was far from comfortable
from cold after the sun went down".12
"Laid course for coastal buoy No. 3 planning to tie up to it for
the night, not having sufficient gas to taxi to Chincoteague, the
nearest harbor. By tieing to the buoy, our position could, be reported. by radio so that fast Coast Guard boat could rush Cross to
shore for medical .16".13
,rOn approaching
No. 3 buoyr w€ were met by Coast Guard picket boat".14
t'Cond,ition of sea made transfer of Cross unwise".15
"Seaplane was taken in tow bY picket boat at 19:50 and towed to
Chincoteague, arriving about 23z45,'.I6
valor? Certainly on the part of Lieutenant Cross for exposing himself, but even more so for Major Sharp and Lieutenant
Edwards for their heroic rescue. Sharp and. Edwards were later
Uncommon
awarded CApts BIue Merit Emblem and the Air Medal from the hands
of president Roosevelt at a Whi.te House ceremon], in February of
1943. Rooseveltrs comments to Sharp that this was the first time
17
that he had awarded this medal is fitting tribute in itself.
Certainly it was the first such award to civilians for service
16
forces. These two were not the last in that an
additi-onaI 824 Air Med.1"18 r^/ere awarded to other Coastal Patrolmen by a grateful country in nid 1948. At this time Sharp and
Edward,s were awarded the First Qak-I;eaf Clusterl9 fot their Previously awarded tledal. As a Postscript, although unable to fly
to civil
due to his injuries, Lieutenant cross later transferred
with the
armed,
Air Patrolrs coastal Patrol Base
as its oPeration officer
NUmber 14
at
Panama
city, FIOrid'a
fact that many other survivors of forced landings at sea
continued to expose themselves to further risk is weII supported
by the two crashes involving Lieutenant Louis J' DiCarlo stationed
The
IsIe, Louisiana. on september L7, Lg4220
crashes'
Lieutenant Dicarl0 suffered the first of his two hazardous
FlyingtheduskpatrolonthatdatePilotDiCarloandobservedFrank
Rearwin
serwich detected oil coming from the firewall of their
at, Base 9 on Grand
Cloudster.Again,}etsturntoacontemporaryaccountofthe
of the day'
incident so that we may better understand the happenings
,,several minutes after Dicarlo had been separated from sut'ton' he
immediately headed
noticed oil coming through the firewall' He
serwich grabbed the
the ship toward the nearest point on land, while
several times' and gave their approximate
as DiCarIo tried
position. The oi} pressure started to sink slowly
pressure dropped
to climb the ship. He reached lo0o feet when the
but never got
serwich continued to try to reach the base,
to zero.
mike, yelled
"MAYDAY"
at,RoGER,,onhisreport.Afewsecondslaterpartsstartedtofly
pieces' DiCarIo
the cowling and then the engine flew to
from under
t7
glided down toward the water, levelled off, then brought the nose
up and made a tail first landing on the waves. They struck with
a terrj-fic impact and the glass jug which held the silver marker
slick fluid broke at once, sPlattering the pilot' and observer wit'h
bright siiver paint. At the sEutre time the antenna wire whipped
around the front of the ship, and caught around Dicarlors neck'
momentarily strangling him. serwich quickly pulled out his hunting knife and severed the wire. In the 35 seconds between the
time that the ship hit the water and the time that it sunk beneath
the waves, both men fought their way out of the ship and" inflated
their Mae wests, dragging along the canvas motor hood which had
been laying in the back of the plane. They each clenched opposiLe
from being
enils of this canvas between their teet'h, which kept them
guided the
separated. as they swam clear of the wreckage. DiCarlo
he knew
pair on the outside of the muddy lrlississippi water, because
the current would carry them out to sea. Through the dark' swelling
the two men swam, tying their Mae wests together so as not to
waters
become separate6".2I
at the base, Joe sat thinking of the two men that he was now
38 years
certain were down somewhere in the GuIf; Louis DiCarIo'
years o1d'
old, a thin, almost sickly looking mani Frank serwich, 3-l
these
a 6 footer who weighed only 150 lbs. Pretty slim chance that
land'; Joe
two could last a night in the water or make their way to
at
felt an overpowering urge to do something, but there was nothing
,rBack
all that he could do".22
,,DiCarlo and Serwich were in the water two hours now' still
18
moving
toward land and steering clear of the Mississippi current' Both
and
men were weakening, but continued to lie on their Mae wests
As
paddle with their hands toward shore in the complete darkness'
exwore on serwich, the weaker of"the two, became nearly
time
keep him
haust,ed, and Dicarlo had to puII and shove him along to
ready to
from giving up right, there. Just about when DiCarlo was
the seawall and with what was more guts than
give up, they sighted
exhausted'
strength they hoist,ed themselves onto land and Iay there
As they 1ay
They had, been swimming for four and one-hali houis'
their shouts'
on the seawalL, several small bOats passed, not hearing
small Coast
Finally they were able to attract the attention of a
up and down the seawal'I'
Guard boat, which flashed its searchlights
hit' two bright
A3 the searchlight swung uP and down, it suddenly
black night' The
silver objects that shone like Greek gods in the
twomenwerestil}coveredbythemarkerfluid,whichtheycan
seawa1l u '23
for saving them from cold and exposure on the
thank
by the coast Guard and taken to Burwood'
they were placed
where because they had lost aII identification'
base soon verified'
technical arrest. A telephone caII to the
,,The two men were picked up
under
whotheywere,andthatsamephonecallwasreceivedamidstgreat
jubilat'ion by the members of the base ' '24
ThusgoesthestoryofDiCarlolsfirst.'dunkingl'.Althoughnot
quiteasdramatic,DiCarlo'sactionsduringhissecondonecertainlydemonstratesthathehadalloftheingredientsofatrue
experiencing radio trouble
hero. Early on December 18, Lg4225 after
by observed Michael
in Fairchild NC29OI3 Pilot DiCarIo accomPanied
19
it necessary to return to Grand Isle for repairs'
and
subsequent to the necessary repairs to their radio Dicarlo
off'
Heim encountered a rough engine while att'empting to take
to be safe
They returned to the hangar where the engine was found'
for flight. so for the third tirne on that fateful day Dicarlo
L.
Heim found
taxiedfordeparture.Thistj:nehemadeit,butnotforlong.
At about 2OO feet, al.ready over the GuIf, the Fairchildrs engine
stopped'completely.Unabletomakeitbacktoland,DiCarl.o
air*
skirrfulry effbcted another water ditching. upon impact the
craft flipped over trapping both he and Heim. Freeing hirnself
refrom his seat belt he noticed that' Heim was having difficulty
the removal"
Ieasing his seat belt" Only after assisting Heim in
the
of,his seat belt did, DiCarlo leave the aircraft and swim to
surface and safetY.
as the dif,ference
cool thinking has long been accepted alnong pilots
disaster' cool
between survival and death at the tirne of impending
actiononthepartofWileyR.Reynoldscertainlywasevidenton
afternoon Pilot
July 11, rg43.r5 O. that date at about two in the
Reynold,sandhisobserver,LieutenantR.J.Cohn,wereonroutine
I
patrol from Base 3 in stinson NC39496. Reynolds first Person
description of the disaster is as follows:
power at about 1500 ft'
"Engine started missing and losing
Dropped
sma}l craf t bea couPle of smoke f lares i,o get wind direction. Saw
us to drop our
Iow and circled near. Occupants of craft signaled
to the water I
100 Ib. demoLition bomb safe ' As I got close
20
pulled on fuII f1aps, shut off ignition and hauled back on controIs. Ocean was ca]m. Plane nosed over, then settled back to
float about 8 minutes before sinking in I50 ft. of.water. Landing craft picked, us up in about ! minutes, My observer, who did
not know how to swim, kept cool, inflated his one man raft and
held on to plane wing and raft. I opened door on left side and
swam around to my observer. All this time my cousin, Harry Bassett
and AIex Thomson was circling in a comPanion plane calling base but
r
."1
could not be heard at Lantana due to local thunderstorms.
arrived in Fort Pierce about an hour Laler".27
We
Worthy of note is the last crash at sea of a Civil Air Patrol Aircraft engaged in Coastal Patrol operations. Just thirty days short
of the termination of coastal patrol operations on August 31, 1943'
28
an aircrew took a dunking. Late in the afternoon of Juty 3I, l-943
with Lieutenant W. L. Grier, Jr. as pilot, and Flight Officer W. A.
Fullerton, Jr. as observer the last of cAPrs 74 crashes at sea
occurred. Fortunately, Grier and Fullerton were rescued by a small
navy craft within an hour and, a half. Both were returned unhurt to
Cape May.
2t
(::HAPTER
6
I
THE DUCK CLUB
in European armies the recognition of individuals for special acts had its beginning in the United States
Military with The Badge for Military Merit.l 'orders creating
the Badge for Military Merit were issued by the continentaL
Army on August '1, L782. A simple heart shaped piece of cloth,
it was awarded, to all ranks involved in acts of.unusual gallantry'
Long a tradition
George ltashington wrote when he established this first award'
free country is open to
"The road. to glory in a patriot army and
all,'. Certainly, it is then fitting that the form taken some 160
years later to recognize civil Air Patrolrs patriots would be a
simple cloth device.
of recognition was badly needed to help the sagging
Axis
morale of the civilian airmen so valiantly fighting the
by March of
submarine fleet in our coastal Waters. Already,
in 163
1943, some sLZ aircraft had been lost at sea resulting
some form
fatalities and a74 aircrew men surviving the harrowing experience of a crash on water. It was at that time that Lieutenant
presented to
Colonel L. A. (Jack) Vilas conceived the award to be
paralleled
all who survived, Designated the "Duck club" the idea
theArmyAirCorpsfamedCaterpillarClub.Thenameoftheactual
history' but
designer of the award has been lost in the Pages of
ithasbeencommon}ythoughtthatColonelVilaswasthedesigner.
22
Utitizing the prevailing BIue Civil Air Patrol Disc as a background, the emblem portrays a red duck sitting on the water which
is represented by a series of blue wavy lines. civil Air Patrol
Bulletin, Volume II, Number 15.of April gt 1943 specifies that i1:
is to be worn below the flap of the Left pocket of the shirt' or
blouse. Subsequently, CN Ru1es5 sPecified both the 2\ inch
diameter cloth badge and a 1 inch metallic version. The metallic
version was produced in bLue and red enamel over sterling silver
by Bastian Brothers of Rochester, New York
Indications are that the distribution of the award was catrefully
cont,rolled by Headquarters civil Air Patrol using a handwritten
And typed Iistlng.6 They were generally forwarded to individuats
in care of their respective Base Commanders' In Some cases' they
were transmitted direct to individuaLs who !'rere no longer on
active duty. Quoted below is the content of the typieal military
style letter which transmitted the emblem'
il l. It is recorded at National Headquarters that in the service
of the Civil Air Patrol you vrere in an airplane which had a forced
landing on water while on an active duty mission".T
airplane is
" 2. Just as everyone who has ever bailed out of an
one of the fellowshiP of the Caterpillar Club, it is our thought
that every member who shared your experience sha}l be a member
of the Duck CIub".8
fraternitY, I
" 3. In token of Your membershiP in this select
)a
inclose herewith an emblem which you are
the left pocket of your uniform, half an
With it goes my congratulations that you
talk about it and' the hope thet' you wiII
the Patrol is Proud of You"'9
entitled to wear on
inch below the fIaP.
are still with us to
wear it to show that
Because
of cost consid,erations and the wartime scarcity of
silver,
members
surviving more than one crash received only
one award.
,|l.TherecordsatNationalHeadquartersnowindicatethat
while on active duty mission for civil Air Pat'rol - Coastal
Patro},YoUwereforceddownatseaandthishasmadeyoua
you another
two-time member of the Duck cIub. we canrt send
on becoming a
emblem, but we can and do send our greetings
select
member
of this fraternityrr'19
t' 2. This time r w€ are twice as glad that you are with us to
swap another Patrol yarnt' .1r
Air Patrolrs
In both cases, the Ie':ter was signed by Civil
'Lieutenant Colonel Earle L' Johnson'
National Commander,
24
CHAPTER 7
DUCK CLUB MEMBERSHIP LIST
The fol Iowing named individuals became members of the Duck
as a consequence of their emergency larrdirrg at sea rrlr th*
indicated
Fil'rt Lieutenarrt Henr'y T. Cross, CAP
First Lieutenant John W. Chew, JI'., CAP
Fir'-qt. Lieutenant Howard T. Carter, CAP
First Lieutenant Harvey P. Cannon, CAP
Eec:ond Lieuterrant Rot,ert Lee Wagstaff , CAP
First Lieutenant Walter L. Grier, Jr.
Secorrd Lieutenant Walter A. Fullerton. Jr.
25
Ciub
datrr
10 AugusL 1942
28 Deceuil:*r'
L!{l
28 December L942
6
Mar'r-:h
lt{:r
13 May L943
July
3L JuIy
3L
1943
1943
CHAPTER 8
{::IVIL AIR PATROL HISTORIC AIRCRAFT -
GENERAL
In connection with the overal l Historical Program withirr r-:ivi I
Air Pat.r'+L the National Historical'Committee is sponsorinq a
program to identify and Iocate aircraft havirrg rigrrifit:arrt hiatorical vaIue. At the present tirne the proqram is concentrating
on aircraft which were utilized by CiviI Air Patrol during War'lcl
War II.
Usirrg cc,ntemporary documentation, supplemented by personai knowledge, aircraft are selected for possible inclusion in the p}'tl-
gram. Primarily by the use of Federal Aviation Administration
Records, the current owner of the aircraft is iderrtifi*d artil
contacted. Once the Committee has assured itself that the aircraft is worthy of program recognition, the owner is contacted in
r'*lTarrl to his wantirrg to have his aircraft recogrnized.
The program includes the marking
of the aircraft with a L L/?,
3 1/Z inch plaque which reads as follows:
THIS HISTORIC AIRCRATT
WAS FLOWN BY THE
CIVIL AIR PATROL
ON ACTIVE DIJTY DIJH]NG
WORLD WAR
26
II
by
provision are also made to provide the owner with a Certificate
rrf Ap-rpleciation f or his preservation ef f orts. Thus f ar l'535
aircraft have been identified as having been used hy the C:ivi1
rrNCrr
Air. F,atr.ol dr-rr'ing Wor'Id War' II. Fortunately when the use of
was changed. to '|,N" as the pref ix to atl civil air'cr'aft r.*gintratic,rrE Of tyE,e ac:cepted. aircraf t, the actuai number was not
changed. Thus NC L68L7 merely became N 16817, Thie ha= rraciE it
t,o.?3ir-rle tt> do detailed research has been ccmpleted on L233 of
them.
tlf t.l:*,s* r'e,:ear'ched, the regfistration number has been reassigned
to another type of aircraft in 657 irrstances and ix tir-lt ii':tecl
f,:t''. arr aclclitional 104 aircraft. This says that a totai of 761
(49.6 percent) of the aircraft under study no lorrgey e:tirt',
,5tati*tic: I.elating to the remaining 774 aircraft are tabled
below:
302
R*sear'ch Pending
No Response
to letters to Iisted
lal
JJ
.JWfiei''i
FAA Records
ia in
J.
indicates that a sale
37
t,I'fi'Jl"EB.?
t/
Aircraf t being
r'*I-rt-ti I
t l:Y LtLtI'l'Ent
47
CrWneI-
Aircraft identified which qualify
for markingr in accordance with the
above procedure
57
of aircraft remaining after
the passage of over 50 years wouid be 622 or approxirnately 40.5
A reasonable projection
of the
nurnber
percent.
28
CHAPTER 9
AIRCRAFT AT COASTAL PATROL BASE
2-
GENERAL
six of the 1535 aircraft which were used by the Civil
F'atr',rl dr-rr'irrg WErI'Id War' II were ueed at Coastal Patrol Base 2
its auxi I iary Iocations.
Twenty
Tahr-tlaterl below
AIRCRAFT
NUMBER
OWNER
Air'-
and
is the disposition of each of these aircraft:
WHILE AT CP BASE
?
DISPOSITION
to
NC L46L4
Edmondson, Sheliey
Marking nraLer'ial
7 /23/85
NC t5344
Sanschargrin, T. J.
Nurnber
NC 16145
DuPont & Weyrnouth
Letter to current
NC L68L7
Wilder, M. M.
NC 16826
Edmondson,
NC 1.6829
Nicholson, W. B.,Jr/
Number reassigned bY FAA
NC 16903
Sparr, LeRoy A.
Being rebuiit by current
owner, 3/tO/86
NC 19164
Graham, Robert L.
Letter to current
NC 19L77
Mahon, Roy
Markingr
S.
Aircraft
FAA
owner
Marked by MD Wing,
8/ LO/87
Number not I isted
Records
S.
in
FAA
owner,
L/28/86
t2/1.t/85
material to
PA Wing,
Number reassigned bY FAA
Froctor,
Letter to current
H. Harui son
owner,
8/L/9L
Number reassigned bY FAA
NC 20633
N(:: 33035
reassigned bY
returned by P.O., 8/L4/9L
NC T94L4
I.IC 30639
NY Win11,
FAA Records
Rerny, Foher't C.
in progresr
1A
indicates eale
NC 26265
Lungrer, HarrY
NC 269
Klass,
Y
NC 27744
NC
28532
Letter to current
returned by P.0.,
W.
8/L4/91
Letter.e tO Cltr.t.efrt i,WlliI.r
Lt/23/85, 8/t/91
RaYmond S.
DuPont, Octavia
owner
Letter to curuerrt
N.
ownel
,
8/L/9L
Number reassigned bY FAA
Sharp, H. RodneY, Sr.
Marking materiai
8/24/85
N(l 28644
to
NE Wing,
NC 28690
Charter Air Service
Letters to current'
NC 2960
Mi I
ice DuPont
Sharp, H. RodneY, 5r.
Number reassigned bY FAA
NC 32?
Y
1s,
2/L7/88, 8/t/9L
AI
Nurnber not
Records
listecl in
FAA
reassigned Lry FAA
Number'
NL: 'Jt1773
Fish Products Co.
ltavis, Henry, Jr.
NC 4121
Walker, Stephen
Nttmber reaf,Eign*d
NC BO3 W
Sharp, Hugh
Y
r
Number reassigned bY FAA
NC 32242
NC 324
ownel
Number reassigrned bY FAA
A.
R,, Jr.
1-,Y FAA
Number reassigned bY FAA
Out of the 26 aircraft from Base 2 which wer'e 1'6s66rq:h*d the
registration number has been reassigned to another type of aircraf t in LZ instances and is not I isted f or one additir-rfiflI c'tt*,
This Eays that a total of 13 (50.0) percent) of the aircraft
und.er stud.y no ionger exist. This closely paral lels the ovel'alI
study.
lltati,:tic relating to the remaining 13 aircraft are tabled below:
No Re,Bponse
to letters to Iisted
rllfliEl'E
30
FAA Records
ir in
ind.icates tirat a sale
Fr"6g1'6st
Aircraft being rebuilt by current
{rUftEl-
Aircraft identified which quaiify
fc,r' ntar'king in accordance with the
above procedure
4
31
CHAPTER
1O
AIR(JRAFT AT COASTAL PATROL BASE
2 _ INDIVIDUAL
STUDIES
The following pages of this chapter are copies of the irrdividual
r,er-:ul.d* f or each aircraf t which was uti i ized at
Coastal Patrol
Base 2. They are maintained' as a portion of the cornprlft3v'icedtlata
bar* vihi,-:h include all aircraft known to be used by the Civil
Air Patroi during Worid War II '
Tahlecl L,elow ar'e the deflnitions of the various fields of each
record:
FIELD
1
3
3
4
5
6
7
B
9
10
11
LZ
13
14
15
1E
L7
LB
19
TITLE
DEFINITION
RECDNR Record
Nurnber
ACFT Aircraft Number
PHOTONRS Numbers of Photographs in PHOTO.DBF
CASE Case Number
SPONSOR Case SPonsor
EEFER Reference for Aircraft Identification
AMFG Aircraft Manufacturer
M0DEL Aircraft Model
EMFG Engine Manufacturer
EMODEL Engine Model Number
Engine Horsepower
HP
CAP Active Duty Assigrnment
ADl
Historic Owner's Name
HO
HOADD Historic Owner's Street Address
HOADD2 Historic owner's City, State & Zip Code
I)I-HF Disposition of Aircraft/Program Status
Current Owner'g Name
CO
C:I)AI)D Current Owner's Street Address
COADD2 Current Owner'3 City, State & Zip Code
3t-1 WINGMARK Date Aircraft Marked by Wingr
The single most significant aircraft which has ,3ut'vived th*,:t
t,ast 5L) yeal'E i= c:over'ecl by the d.ata sheet for NC 16817. Thie
(::AF
air^ct-af t wliich was owned by First Lieuterrarrt Herrry H. Wild*t',
vrnE lat*r. pu1.(-:ha=Erl by Lier-tterrant. ColorreI C{eorge Weiss, LISAF
a)
(E*t) of
Fr-,r't Wa-qhingtc,n, Maryland. Colonel Weiss =ulrsequent
this historic aircraft to the Urriteci Etatra Air
Mnseum in Dayton, Ohio.
d.onated.
ly
F*rcE
It is currently being prepared for exhibit by painting it with
its originai coiors of red with an ivory stripe. It will I-,t
rrrar.ked with contemporary Civii Air Patrol Insiqnia, including the
famous Base 2 Henlopen Hen. It wilI also be equipped with c(rl'itemporary ordnance which includes a bomb, bomb sight and bomb
slrackle which were originai ly used at Civii Air PatroI Coaxtal
Patrol Base 9 on Grand IsIe, Louisiana.
Current plans cal I f or this aircraf t to be placed olt pernranent
display in connection with the Civil Air Patrol's 50th Anniver
sary celebration on L December
1991.
Other' aircraft currently in f iying condition are; NC 1,46L4,
19177 and NC 28644.
33
NC
lecord
No.
1E(::t)l,lE
\CFT
1
,J+
NC L461.4
THOTONRt]
]ASE
:IPONSOR
24
Myers
lEFER
'3119/ 1943
\MFG
e 4/7/ 1943 rrA, Lists
Waco
ZKCS
\MODEL
:,lYlr (J
TMODEL
IF,
AD1.
ri0
:{OADD
NOADD2
DISP
COADDl
i]OADD2
i{INGMARK
Jacobs
755-A2-300
30 (l
CP Base 02
Edmondson, Shel iey
Se
Ikirk,
NY
Markirrg material to NY Wing, 7/23185
Norqard, A. J. "AI"
RD I Amsterdam Road
BaI lston Spa, NY
34
.li Cltrt'i-1 i'.1*,
J
;lE(::DNR
15rl
\CFT
NC L5344
l_
rHOTT]NRS
]A5E
]F,(JI'IEUH.
0
iIEFEE
6/L/ 1943 Supplement Lo 4/7/ 1943
\MFG
Fairchi Id
\MODEL
iMFG
lMODEL
War-ner''
11.'
24
1+I
AD]-
CP Base 02
lOADD
IOADD2
DISP
Phi i ade 1 phia, PA
Number reassigned bY FAA
ln
Sanscharqrin, T. J.
2847 North Broad St.
-1,'
,JOADDl
.:OADI)I
,./INGMARK
35
rrArr
List
i*Cc-r1'd
I'lO
:'I
,
{ECDNR
l_490
\CFT
NC L6145
-:A5E
]PONSOR
Myers
THOTONRS
1
136
{EFEE
5/24/1943 SuppIement to 4/7 / 1943 'rA, List
\MFG
5t i nson
\MODEL
lMFG
]MODEL
{P
\D1
1U
IOADD
{OADD3
JISP
lo
]OADD].
]OADD2
,{ING},IARK
0
CP Base 02
DuPont & Weymouth
Rehoboth,
DE
Letter to current
owner
Grabenstein, Marian
830 AI len Street
Fai is Church, VA 22040
returned by P.0., 8/L4/9t
t4.
36
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\CFT
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r.98
NC 16817
EGWL. 0096,
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0097
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2/L9/ 1943 & 4/7 / 1943 ,Arr Lists
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Wilder, M. M.
Alexandria, VA
Aircraft Marked by
Weiss, George
315 Kerby Parkway
Ft. Washington, MD
8/L0/87
MD
Wing, 8/LO/87
37
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S.
5.
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Number
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38
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No,
6
\CFT
204
NC 16839
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Baru, Louis A,/
Battai 1e, Rosemary
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Sparr, LeRoy A.
lo
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Being rebuiit by current owner, 3/L0/86
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.JISP
lo
650 Harbour Drive
Harbour Heights, FL 33983
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Graham, Robert L.
Letter to current owner, t/28/86
Solinski, F. J. Co.
2585 25th Street
Cuyahoga FaiIs, OH
r/INGMARK
41,
;leCt:1-d l,iu,
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23
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Mahon, Roy/
Sharp, Hugh
R.
Marking materiaI to PA Wingl, 12/TL/85
Foulke, David S.
805 Pennlyn Pike
Sprinq House, PA
,^IINGMARK
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Proctor, H. Harrison
Letter to current
owner,
Hesterrnan, Clifford A.
22W572 Elmwood Drive
GIen EIlyn, IL 60137
8/L/9t
^IINGMARK
44
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Lunqer, Harry
W.
Letter to current owner returned by P.O., 8/14/9L
Foster, DonaId L.
556 Rockcliff, Apt 6
Mar't i nsburg , WV ?5401
t,,
47
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itt
Remy, Robert
IOADD
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indicates sale in progress
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,./INGMARK
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txrur'cl l'lt:,
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14
296
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Lungrer, Harry
W.
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DI:IP
CO
COADDl
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Letter to current owner returned by P. O. , 8/14/9L
Foster, Donaid L.
556 Rockcliff, Apt 6
Mar't i nsburg , WV ?5401
!f INGMARK
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Klass, Raymond S.
5517 Lydia Street
Kansas City, MO
Letter to current
Martin, Al ice
owner, LL/23/85, 8/L/9L
392 Perdue Road
Venice, FL 33595
WINGMARi{
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80
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Oz
DuPont, Octavia
Granogue, DE
N.
Letter to current owner, A/L/9L
Severance, Francis M. Jr.
HC 60, Post Office Box 5040
East Livermore, ME 04228
49
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Marking materiai to NE Wi.ng, 8/24/85
Robertson, Vincent R
972L Mi 1 itary Ave.
Omaha, NE 68L34
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Letter to current owner, 2/I7/88, 8/L/9L
Wegner, Edward C.
10 Stafford Street
Plymouth, WI 53073
5!
i*c:t:r'cl Nu '
.J r-r
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lmington,
DE
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Wi
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iECDNR
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Y
THOTONRS
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Fish Products
Co,
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Lewes,
DISP
Number redssigned bY FAA
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llo
DE
COADDl
r_trlADD2
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No,
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Nurnber reassigrned
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ri 4/7 /
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q--r
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W.esp
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OZ
Hugrh
R.
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DE
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by FAA
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,^/INGMARK
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59
FOOTNOTES
CHAPTER
I
Kerrigan, Evans B' America+ War Medals
I
and Decorations, The Viking Press'
York,
New
L952
the
Direction paragraph of Department of
Air Force 194B General Order Series'
Orders Numbers L2-L7
CHAPTER
I
2
General Order Number l' War Department'
JanuarY 4, 1943
CAP' Civil Air
Hopper, Lester E', CoIoneI'
one,
Patrol Historical Monograph Number
Committee'
Duck CIub, National Historical
Headquarters, CAP' I9B4
LetterfromLt.HenryT.CrosstoMajor
I0 L942 recomEarle Johnson dated October '
Jr' and Lt'
mending Major Hugh R' Sharp'
bravery
Edwards for citation for
Edmond
l.g42 by Major
Statement dated JuIy 2L'
Hugh
R' Sharp, Jr' relating to incident'
ParagraPh
5
60
FOOTNOTES (CONTID)
CHAPTER
3
(CONTID)
guarters lst Air Support'
Command
dated
B l4arch L942
Civil Air Patrol
Operatj-ons Report,
National Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol
dated 3 SePtember 1943
Charts contained in Colonel Whitsonrs
Record, Albert F. Simpson Historical
Research Center, MaxwelI AFB, Alabama,
File
Number WG-25-SU-RE
'
L94L-L943
General Orders, Department of the Air
Force as follows:
Date
Number
April
15 April
16 April
19 April
20 April
L4
L2
13
14
15
16
61
194B
1948
1948
1948
1948
FOOTNOTES (CONT'D)
CHAPTER
2
(CONT'D)
ParagraPh
5
ibid,
6
ibid, ParagraPh 7
7
Lbid, ParagraPh I
I
ibid, ParagraPh
9
ibid, ParagraPh t0
' 10
6
9
OraI History Interview of CoIoneI Hugh R'
Sharp,JE.conductedinWilmington'Delaware
on October L7, 1983
CHAPTER
t
3
Neprud, Robert E', Civil Air Patrol IIis-
toricalMonoqraphNumberThree,Propwash,
National Historical Committee, Headquarters,
cAP,
2
1983
Letter, General Headquarters' U' S'
Army'
subjectEmploymentofCivilAirPatrolfor
CoastalPatroldatedFebruaryLT'1942
3
Letter of Instructions
62
Number
I'
Head-
FooTNoTES (coNTiD)
CHAPTER 5
Civil Air Patrol.operat,ions Report, National
Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol' dated 3
I
September 1943
ibid
ibid
ibid
ibid
statj-stical analysis of CAP Operations
data in
Reports, Accident Reports and related
the CAP National Archives
Based on
ibid
ibid
Patrol
Contemporary History of CAP Coastal
Number
10
4 by Major I' W' Burnham II'
CAP
Earle
Letter from Lt' Henry T' Cross to Major
63
FOOTNOTES (CONTTD)
(-:HAPTER
5
(CONTTD)
Johnson dated October I0, L942 recommending
Major Hugh R. Sharp, Jt. and Lt''
Edmond'
Edwards for citation for braverY
II
Statement dated JuIy 2L, L942, by Major Hugh
R. Sharp, Jx; relating {:o incident' Paragraph
5
L2
ibid, ParagraPh
6
I3
ibid,
ParagraPh
7
L4
ibid, ParagraPh
8
15
ibid,
9
I6
ibid, ParagraPh
L7
OraI History Interview of Colonel Hugh R' Sharp'
Jr. conducted in Wilmington' Delaware on October
L7,
18
ParagraPh
10
1983
CivilAirPatro}NationalHistoricalCommittee
RolI"
Monograph Series, Number 2' "Air Medal
Ert
FOOTNOTES (CONTID)
CHAPTEE
5
(coNr 'D)
IgParagraph3,GeneralOrderNumberL2'Department of the Air Force, L4 APril 1948
20
"Joe
Sub Huntert'
a contemPorary History of
Base g bY Stuart !1. SPeiser
2L
ibid, Page L4, ParagraPh
3
22
ibid,
Page 15, ParagraPh
1
23
ibid, Page 15, ParagraPh
2
24
ibid, Page 15, ParagraPh
3
25
26
civil Air Patrol Accident Board report
6, dated MaY 22, 1943
1983 personal correspondence
Reynolds
of
Number
with mr' Wiley R'
Palm Beach, Florida
27
ibid
28
operationsReportT/3L/43of25thAntisubmarine
Wing
USAAF
65
FOOTNOTES (CONTTD)
CHAF,TEE 6
I
-8, American lrlar Medals and
Decorat,ions, The Viking Press, New York L964
Kerrigan,
Evans
Analysis of Civil Air Patrol Operations
Re-
ports on Coastal Patrol Activitles
ibid
ibid
CAP
Rules, 62 Insignia, Paragraph 7 dated
October
1943
List of Duck CIub
National Archives
Members contained
in
Letter, Headquarters Civil Air Patrol,
october
28
CAP
22
1943
ibid
ibid
10
Draft of letter to Duck club
in CAP National Archives
ftt?
Members contained
FOOTNOTBS (CONT'D)
.JHAPTER
11
6
(CONT'D)
ibid
67
COASTAL PATROL BASE 2
REHOBOTH BEACH, DELAWARE
L942 - 1943
(,,
(
\\
w
NATIONAL HISTORICAX, COMMITTBE
HeadquartersCivitAirFatrol
M*i**li Air Force $ase, Alabama
AII1. PA:TROICIVIL
Z,
BASE
PATI+OL
C()AS:TAII)EI-A\^7AR.E
BEACH.
REHOBC)-TI{
L943
L942
PREPARED BY:
E. HOPPER, CIP
COLONEL LESTER
14
SEPTEI.{BER 1991
T{ATI ONAL HI STORICAL COUIT{ITTEE
Headquarters CiviI Air PatroI
Maxwell Air Force Baee, Alatraura
1
PREFACE
Tire Civil Air Patrol was founded on l December
v/
1991.
Withi.n six rnonths, the Ci.vi I Air Patro1 f ound itsel f i.tr tlre
f*r'efr'orrt of a critical effort inroivea in the prosecution of
World War II by the United States. Specifically it was deeply
irrv,:Ived in patrol l ing the coastal waters of its native iand in
search of the German Submarines who \^rere sinking AI i led shippirrg
at- an unprecedented rate.
lrr *r'der to accompl ish this rnission the regular mi i itary estab*
lishment reluctantly authorized the CiviI Air Patrr-rl to hegin a
FiJ day e:rper'irnerrt in the use of smal1, privateiy owned aircraf t
as,an instrument of war. Much has been written alrollt thi-q uL,EI'.dfi*n at tii* i1 C+a.:ta1 Patrol Bases which ultiutately were estabiished along the Eastern Seaboard and the shores of the Gulf of
Mei:icc,. It is therefore not the intent of this publication to
cover it further
Rather. its intent is to pay tribute to the valiant members of
Coastal Patrol Base 2 at Rehoboth Beach, Delawal'e who wel': tlir
fir=t to fly the hazardous missions involved in the type of
f iying required. Ai I who served, served we i I and deserve the
highe*t praise, This writirrg is dedicated to al1 of them arrd is
being prepared specif icai Iy for their 1991 reurriott,
LESTER
E. HOPPER
COLONEL
CAF
National Historian
New OrIeans, Louisiana
August
11
1991
AIR MEDAL
OBVERSE
15r
Crvru
LlEu-r.
Ate
Pnrnoc
AcrtvE Durr
194?- t943
REVERSE
111
,6rt/
'84
CIVIL AIR
PATROL
DUCK CLUB EMBLEM
iv
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
TITLE
CHAPTER
PAGE
Ft'ontirpirc:e - Ait' Medal
Frontisptece - Duck tllub
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For VaIor
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Fr:r' Sustaitred 0perations
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Medal Order
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I Air Patrol Histori.c Aircraf t
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tl{ener'a I
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Aircraft at Coastal Patrol
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Aircraft at Coastal Patro1
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Inclivicit.ta1 Studies
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EU
V
CHAPTER
I
THE MEDAL
LongatraditioninEuropeanarmies,therecognitionofin.
dividuals for special acts had its beginning in the united
states Military with the Badge for Military l'terit'1 orders
creatingtheBadgeforMilitaryMeritwereissuedbythe
ContinentalArmyonAugustT,LTSL'Asimpleheartshaped
pieceofc}oth,itwasawardedtoallranksinvolvedin
actsofunusualgallantry.GeorgeWashingtonwrotewhen
he established this first award' "The road to glory in
patriot army and. free country is open to aII" '
a
Bydefinitionthatded'icated'bandofvolunteercivilian
aviatorswhomadeuptheranksoftheCivilAirPatrol
a patriot
certainly met General Washington's definition of
army.Howthendoyourecognizetheiraccomplishments?
obviously,thesimp}estsolutionistheutilizationofan
existingaward.Thiswasthecourseofactionultimately
takentorecognizeselectedindividualswhoseperformance
exceptionar
of duties in defense of their country made them
candidates fot the award of the Air Medal '
by aLl branches of
The Air Meda1 was established for use
May II L942 '
'
the United States Military establishment on
Executive Order Number
The basis for its estabtishment' was
9I5B of 11 May L942 (Section III, Bulletin 25, War Department, 19 421 , as amended by Executive order 9242-A of
Bulletin 49, War Department,
tg42l, and further amended by the National security Act of
1947.2 The medal is awarded to any member of the Armed
Forces of the united states for qualifying service subsequent to September 8, 1939' This combat or non-combat
award is awarded to individuals who have distinguished themselves by meritorj-ous achievement while participating in
It was conferred in recognition of either
aerial flight.
11 September Lg42 (Section III,
single acts of merit or for sustained operations against
armed enemies of the United States'
The medal itself , which was d.esigned by walker K. Hancock,
is in the form of a 16-poin't. sculptured compass rose of
bronze. The obverse depicts an American eagle volant in
attitude of attack gripping flashes of lightning in its
talons.TheeagleiscenteredinthecomPassrose.The
suspensionringisattachedtothemedalutilizinga
Passing through the suspension'ring is a
fleur-de-lis.
ribbon of medium blue with narrow golden-orange stripes on
each side. The reverse, which was a raised disc, was left
blank for engraving of the recipientrs name. As illustrated
by the frontispiece, awards presented to civil Air Patrol
typical
Members were uniquely engraved in that they bore the
inscription, "Robert M. Smith, lst Lieut" Civil Air Patrol'
Active DutY, 1942-L943".
CHAPTER
2
FOR VALOR
Although the orderl awarding the first Air Medals read for
"Meritorious Servicel the content of that order would cer-
tainly indicate a significant alnount of valor involved in
the first two Air Medals awarded to Cj-vil Air Patrol Personnel. The citation for the award to Edmond I. Edwards,
Civil Air Patrol read the sane as the one for Captain Hugh
R. Sharp, Jr. which is quoted below:
R. sharp, Jy., captain, civil Air Patrol, serving with
Army Air Forces. For meritorious achievement while Participating in an aerial flight,. when caIled uPon by radio
to rescue personnel of a crashed airplane an extremely
hazardous Ianding was made at sea in swells 8 to 10 feet
high. Although the left pontoon was damaged in landing, the
,,Hugh
airplane was kept from capsizing by expert airmanship and
the rescue accomplished, As the sea was too rough for take
off j-t was necessary to taxi the airplane until it could be
towed the rest of the way to port. This difficult mission
of great responsibility required outstanding initiative, resourcefu}ness,andahighdegreeofcourage.Thesuperior
mannerinwhichalldutieswereperformedwillestablish
hightraditionsofservicefortheCivilAirPatrol',.
The valor involved in Captain Sharp's and' Lieutenant
t daring rescue of fellow pil0t Lieutenant Henry
T. cross is best illustrated by Lieutenant cross' explanation of what haPPened:2
Edwards
,,on July 2L, Lg42 at approximately 16:50 while on regular
patrol Mission at position latitude 3806 longitude 7455
in a warner Fairchild NCI9I44 with Lt. charles shelfus as
observer we crashed at sea. on regaining consciousness in
the water I found the ship had sunk and I could not find Lt'
a
Shelfus".J What is not told by Cross, is that he had
suffered several fractured vertebrae and that his rescue
within
.would. in itself result in a heroic ef fort by others.
55 minutes Rehoboth, Delaware Base 2t s sikorsky Amphibian
arrived on the scene. crewed by Base commander, Major Hugh
R. Sharp, Jr. and, Lieutenant Edmond Edwards this venerable
ord aircraft encountered difficulty in its randing in the I
to 10 foot swells. Due to a rough landing, the sikorskyrs
left pontoon was damaged and begin to fiII with water' what
.
followed is best described by Major Sharp'
,'After landing was unable to locate survivor for several
cross
minutes on account of rough sea. Finally sighted Pilot
at several hundred yards distance while he and Amphibian were
the
on crests of waves. Encountered some difficulty in making
downwindturnstoreachthevictim'butthiswasfinally
accomp}ished,andafirstattemptwasmadetotaxitheshipup
tovictim.onthisfirstattempt,however,wemisjudgedthe
strength of the wind and were blown away from the victim before we were able to grasP him. on second try, however, w€
were successful in grabbing ahold of the victim who was un'able to hold on to the rope which was thrown to him because
of his injury. The observer, Lt. F,ldwards, however, lifted
pilot cross from the water and helped him into the ship,
which was no easy task because of the rough water and the
violent pitching of the Amphibian" '4
in water at location searching for observer shelfus
until IB:20. There being no signs of shelfus and with cross
as
in serious condition, it was deemed wise to get to shore
possible- As the sea was too rough for takeoff'
=oon as
At approxiwe started taxiing on westerry course at 18:20.
,,Remained
matelyLsz25portwingfloatsank.observerEdwardswentout
to starboard bomb rack for balance, where tre stayed unat
complainingly until the ship was beached at, chincote"gol
about0l:30the,followingmorning.Thiswasnoeasytask
forobserverEdwardsforhehadstrippedoffalmostallof
hisclothinginordertogivethemtoPilotCross.Atinimmersed in
tervars alr during the night, he was completery
theseaduringwhichwavesflowedoverthestarboardwing
floattowhichthebombrackwasattached,andtosaythe
Ieast,hewasfarfromcomfortablefromcoldaftertheSun
went down" .5
3 planning to tie up to it
"Laid course for coastal buoy No '
forthenight,nothavingsufficientgastotaxitoChincoteague,
the nearest harbor. By tieing to the buoy, our position
could be reported by radio so that fast Coast Guard boat
could rush Cross to shore for medical aid".6
,,on approaching No. 3 buoyr w€ were met by coast Guard picket
boat" .7
,,condition of sea made transfer of cross unwise'.8
"seaplane was taken in tow by picket boat at 19:50 and towed
to Chincoteague, arriving about 23z45" '9
Sharp and Edwards were later awarded cAPrs Blue Merit Emblem
prior to their award of the Air Medal from the hands of
President Roosevelt at a white House ceremony in February of
Ig43. Rooseveltts comments to sharp that this was the first
time that he had awarded this medal was fitting tribute in
itseIf. lo
Asapostscript,CaptainSharpremainedastheCommanding
Officer of Base 2 until its closure on August 3Ir 1943'
Lieutenant Edwards was later commissioned in the united states
Although
Navy where he continued to serve with distinction'
unable to fly due to his injuries, Lieutenant Cross later
transferred to CiviI Air Patrol's Coastal Patrol Base Number
14 at Panama city, FlOrida where he served as its operations
of ficer
CHAPTER
3
FOR SUSTAINED OPERATIONS
SAID Two tired, dirty CAP coastal patrol fliers
Ianded, out of gds, at Ellington Field, Texas, after a sixhour ramble over the GuIf. Between them, the two had
around 1500 hours over the water'
,'NUFE
Across the field they noticed an impressive ceremony was in
progress. Whatts {oing? one of them asked'
They,reawardingtheairmedaltosomeofthefliers,the
mech explained.
What for? came the querY.
The men have completed I00 hours of flight
over the GuIf
on
patrol in their B-25s'
And
Oh, came the somewhat muffled reply from the visitors'
engined
the twa climbed back into their 90 horsepower, single
of escort
Stinson Voyager for another long and weary round
1
duty".*
Tounderstandthepsycho}ogybehindtheaboveincidentitis
.i ahnar
r --^x-1
necessarytoexaminethebackgroundandaccomplishmentsof
Prior to
civil Air Patrolrs wartime coast Patrol OperatiOns '
World War II a Joint Army-Navy Committee on Antisubmarine
Warfare was established in order to fix responsibility for
submarine defense in the Coastal Waters of the United States.
'The Army felt
that in view of their coastal Defense responsibility via its coast Artillery Mission they had the responsibility, and as a consequence desj-red to equip themselves with
suitable aircraft. on the other hand since earlier agreements and directives provided for ove::-water flight operations
to be conducted by the Navy. Although the Navyts position prevailed, neither branch of service was in a position to do much
immediately upon entry into the war. Shipping losses from
the I'Arsenal of Democracy" soared primarily as the result of
'marginally challenged German submarine activity in the coastal
waters of the united states. In the first 6 months of L942
IB0 altied ships were lost, many of which were in sight of
land,.
After several unofficiar frights by dedicated pilots of the
buddingCivilAirPatrolanaPPealwasmadebythemtobe
chief
utilized in this vit,al role. On February L7, L942 the
of the Army Air Forces was authorized to accept the services
,,triaI basis".2 subsequent
of the civi] Air patrol on a
instructions of 9 March Lg42 provided for the establishment
at
of the civil Air Patrol I s first two coastal Patrol Bases
Atlantic city, New Jersey and Rehoboth, Delawar".3' Prior
from Rehoboth
even to these basic instructions, the airmen
madetheirfirstpatrolonMarchs,Lg42withaircrewsfrom
AtlanticCityfollowingshortlyonMarchl0,Lg42.Restricted
initially to these two bases and a 15 mile offshore limit,
the value of the initially intended 30 day trial period became obvious. Within the next 6 months, bY September of
L942, 2L such bases had been established, along the East
Coast and the Coast of the Gulf of Mexico and their range
greatly extended. By september shipping losses dropped off
to 1 in that month and a total of only 7 for the balance of
the war. As a total, these bases flew 86,685 missions for a
total of 244,600 hours.4 To put this in proper perspective
during a typical month, october L942, military aircraft flew
a total of 11,385 hours on this type of activity while the
volunteers of Civil Air Patrol flew 23t6LZ hours'5
A profile of the pilots and others involved in this monumental
und.ertaking is an insurmountable task. It suffices to say that
they ranged in age from the young pilots who lied about their
The
I
ages to the 70 year old seasoned veterans of world war '
servast majority of them were far beyond the normal military
viceage.Fromaneconomicpointofviewrtheyrangedfromthe
from Denver who
Texas millionaires to the bakery truck driver
hitchhiked his way to his first active duty base' Motivation'
purelyandsimplypatriotismofthehighest,order.Itceraward of
tainly wasnrt for the recognition afforded by the
a
medalbyagratefulgovernment.Thisdidn|toccuruntill94B'
Air Patrol's Board Meeting of 16-17
5hnv^t'!'l
for the awa
pending approval frtr the awafd.
February 1948 announces -^-r.:-^
minutes'givet'estimonytotheconsiderableeffortputforth
Minutes of the civil
Thg
by civil Air Patrol National Headquarters and cAP Veterans
Incorporated. using as a criterj-a 200 hours of over water
flight as compared to the loo hour requirement by the Army,
824 Civil Air patrol Veteran PilotF were finally recognized'
by a series of General orders beginning on 14 April 1948'5
Of this number 822 wete given the initial award of the Air
Medal and sharp and, Edwards were awarded oak Leaf clusters
by virtue of their Previous award'
IO
CHAPTER 4
the Air
The following in an extracted copy from Department-ofbelatedly
which
Fur..i:* L?;ner.a1-Order Nr-urber tZ dated 14 April 1948
award.ed. 45 Air Med.a1s and 2 Oak Leaf Clusters to personnel frunr
Coastal Fatrol Base 2.
ol Executive ordcr 9158' I I Mav l9'12'
By direction cf the President, undt'r the -llrovrsions 9242-A, 1l Septenrbcr 1942 (sec' lll'
OrO^e.r
(sec. 11, Bur, 2b, WD igaii, as amenO.eJ'JV U-.".,it1re
i,f iT?,.rl Ait }Iedal for ttreritorious aclttttverno"t
Bui. ig, !\,D, lg{Z) *,t-Nuiiun^l Securit! e'., perioa" i'dic:rtecl is awardetl to the Iollowinl';-rr:rtrri'rl
while participating i"--ii""*i flight durini ii,eNo. 2. servirrg witlr tlrr' /rrmy Air
u. S, civrlian", Inon1burs ol the- clvil eir'p^tl"i, coirst:rl unit
2.
IrOrC()S:
FirstLir:utenurltArthur.f.\\lrlt.th,(]i\I)Scr.iltlN.l'2.3-l.lli
8 APril 1942 to 20 August l9'1li
FlrstLieu[cnantHenry'-tt'WifJtt']r"CA-lrSerialNo'l-4-732
l4 JulY 1942 to l4 JarruarY l9'i3
3.3-228
!.lrst Lieutenant Lawr;;;; ir' Wtflson, bRl, scriul No.
24 August 1942 to 3l August 19'13
CAI> Ser.ial No' 2-3-188
First Licutenant Carl i' Vittlin' 31 August 1942
13 March 1942 to
3-1-3?28
!,irst Lir:utenant How:ria-'iutpin, 1r., Cef'.Scrial No'
1942
5 M:rrch 19{2 to 9 August
2-3-102
Cip Serial
Flrst Lieutenant |ohn H' Vaugnal' August 1043 No'
11'APrlt 1943 io 31
CAP Serial No' 5-l -19?5
Flrst Lieutenant Wllllani-C' Vuntu' tvlaY 1043
18 March 1942 to 3l
.f,trstLieutenantetberil.-inotptun,iAPSerialNo'2-3-122
4 August l9{3
5 March tSlZ to
Serial'No'
Flrst Lieutenant Henry iegg' !4f August 1943 3-l-896
I APril'19'12- to 31
Scriut No' l-4-1213
second Lteurenant wuriln-o. smith,-cAP 19'13
1943 to 3l August
25 March
3-1-338
First Lleutenant AIex I' Sl-iky' !f !- Seri1t No'
io 13 Decembcr 1942
5 March'19'12
Sertal No' 2-3-{l
Lteutenant Haroid O' Swift' CAP
2 SePteniber l9{2 to ? March 1043
Serial No' 2-3-215
Captain Everett M' SnrrUr' CAP
1943
!'irst
5 Marcn 1942 to 3l August
FtrstLteutenantAUreii'St"""'1r"'Cnt>SerlirlNr"3-l'231
lg42 to 26 JutY 1042
5 March
FirstLieutc,,"ntwittt'"'"-n.s.ott,.CAI)SerialNo.3.3-lt]l
1942 to 3l August 1043
ll APrrl
I'irs!
yq'
wllliurn-S' J"t"o' 9lt1 Serial19-43 l'il-21
ro Novemr:ei iglZ to 31 'lru1;usl
^^.
3'l'221
FiI::t i.,ieui{l:'ra'r" lames ltrgt alrr'- CAP SeIial No'
l!43
9ltrrte 1942 to 3l Arr'{us;t l,
2-il .ljlU
Flrst
.
Serial No' 3-1-397
Lieutenant Thomas Sirnschryrln' -CjP
Lieutr:nant
1,5r.t.r.rl Nrr.
1,
Jl.c.,,ld Lil)ul.'.rlrtrt ltrlill-n,,i,,i-n. Il()c.oi.li, i9'i3
lti
tB JanuarY 1943 to -JutY
Sorial no' 2'-'<'lliJ
Lrir!'t lrieutrrrrrnt John-M" Itolr!nson' CAI) 1943
I APril 1942 to 3l Augur;t
C' Remy' CAP Sr:rial No' 5-1-388ir
l94j to I I /rpril I943
Firi;tLieuten:rntHenryll'l)roct-or'CAI)Seri'tlNo'I-{-'iuc
3 August 1942 to I Junc l3{:j
No' l-4-2
CAP
Flrst Lictttenant CorJon-C' Prince'Augrrsl'it'riul
i'u'13
20
ll Arrgust lg{2 tr'r
No' 3-3-21
First Lieurerrent nenry il-prtipro' cA-P Serial1943
to 3l August
Firl;t
Lieuleriari+' Robert
l6
Novctnbcr
i uu,,'tir'ct t9'li1I
!'lrst
Lirrutenant Rolancl W' O'Day, CAP Scrial No' 2-3-82
13 Fel>ruary 1942 to 31 August l9'lJ
FlrstLierrtenantWilllamB.Nicholson'CAPScrialNo.3.2-302
10 August 1942 to 31 August 1943
FtrstL,ieutcnuntWallerL'Grter,CAP$eri-alNo'2-3'1??
4 MaY 1942 to 3l Augrrst 19'13
Garreti, CAP Serial No' 3-l-8
' F'i,'st I.,ieutena,rt Dc'lmont B' to 30 March 1943
11 APrll 1942
SecotrdLieutcnantwllterA.Fullerton,CAPSeriirlNo.2-3.?9
l5 Novenrlrrrr 1942 to 3l Au1'1ust 1943 2-3-92
First Lieutenant Ralph J' Fldance' C'{P Serial No'
15 March 1942 lo 31 August l9Cli
FlrstLteutenantWalte,s.l'luttikin,C1l>S.erillNo.2-3.33
5 March 1942 to 16 August 1943
!'lrst Lieutenant Sykes R' Ewing' CAP Ser-tal No' 2-3-24
15 APril 1942 to 3l August l9{3
First Lieuterrant Robert A' hlscott' CAP Scr-ial No' 2-3-128
5 Mrtrch 1942 to 2l Octobcr 1942
First Lleutenant Jack B' Escott' CAP Scrial-No' 2-3-166
5 March 1942 to ? August 1942
Flrst Lleutcr:ant sh(3lley s. !1dnlorrds5n, cAP st'rirrl No' 2-l-218?
5 June toqZ to 3l August 10'13
Rubert E' Dulge, CAP Sertal No' 5-l-?10
Mtjor
1 Aprti 1942 to 12 JutY 1942
n*o' ?-3-54?
Second l,leutenattt lrvlrl V' l'elght' CAP Srr-rlul
1943 to 3l August 1943
I APril
No' 2-l-2391
Second Lieutenant Glen P' Cook' CAP Seriul
l9{2 to 3l August 1943
16 SePtember
No' 3-1-50
Second Lieutenant J;hn O' Cogswell' CAP Serlal
31 August 1943
24 March 1943 to
First Lfeutenant John w' Chew';r" CiP Serial No' 3-1-1925
io'aPrtt 1942 to f 1 eugust 1943
-G.
cauuieid, cAP serial No' 3-3-852
second Lleutenant william
l0 August 1942 to 31 August 1943
FirstLieutenantHoiardT'Carter'CAPSerialNo'2-3-95
5 Marctr 1942 to 1 JanuarY 1943
First Lieutellant Harvey P' Cannoir, CAe Serlal No' 2-l-155
16 JanuarY 19'13 to 1? JutY 1043
First Lieutenant Smedley D' Butler' CAP Serial No' 3-l-?03
1 JulY 1.942 to 28 |ulY 1943
Serial No'
l'irst Lieutenunt']oirn R' Andrews' CAPAugust 1943 l-5-180
Z0 Nc'venrber 1942 to 3l
'
Posthumoul; Award
9158' ll May
o[ Executive
. Dy directton of the Presldent, undcr the provisions Order 9242''A'order
1l September 1942
by'Elxecutive.
1g42 (r;ec. Ill, Ilul, Za,-WD, lC.l2), ,".*nronaoa
oI l9'l?, an Alr Medal (First Oak-Leaf
(s:ec. llt, Bul.49, *n, i'elbl, "rri'n^tion"l"S..utity'Act in aerial flight during the periods inrli'
whiielarticipating
It
cluster) f()r.nl€.ritoriuu" ""r|iou"mcnt
catecl is awarderl to the followlug-named u. s. civillans, ntettlbcrs oI u\c Civil Alr
Unit lio. 2, serving wlth the Army Alr Forccs:
First Licutenirnt lldmortcl I. Udwards, CAP Sertal No' 2-3-20
5 Mrrch 1942 to 6 December 1942
R. Sharp, Jr., .CAp Serial No. 2-3 -28
Major Hugh
5 March 1942 to 16 August 194?
1
:.,
CHAPTER 5
UNCOMMON VAIOR
AIl who have flown single engine land based aircraft are weII
acquaintedwit'hthephenomenonofanormallysmoothrunning
engineappearingtobeginrunningroughwhenflownoveropen
water. Add to this the relative unreliability of aircraft
t
in
t
power plants of the late 1930 s and early 1940 s and throw
by less than
maintenance under, many ti:nes, primative conditions
fully trained civilian volunteers' Only now can some small
appreciationbegintodevelopasregardsthethoughtsthatmust
civil Air Patrolrs
have been in mind of the aircrews who flew
and August 3I'
coastal Patrol Operations between March 5, Lg42
Ig43.Toflyundertheseconditionsonaninfreguentbasis
wouldbeinitsetfanactofheroism.Todoitalmostdailyfor
valor on the part of
17 months certainly constitutes unconmon
of their count'ry in
these civilian flyers who rushed to the aid
its tj'me of great need'
missions for a total of 244 '6002
The f act that they f lew 86,6851
of this operation, 903
hours is well document'ed. In the course
and 75 serious inaircraft were .1ost resulting Ln 264 fatalities
is estimated' that 746
juries were sustained. Of the 90 aircraft it
men' These statistics rewere lost at sea involving L4g7 aircrew
of a
men survived the harrowing experience
veal that L23 aircrew
their flight activities
forced landing at sea. Most aII continued
13
In at least the three8 cases of Lieutenants H. A. Coller, L' J'
DiCarIo and R. L. Wagstaff some survived a second time.
of these.survivors' but certainly numbered'
C' L'
arnong the earliest areg: First Lieutenants J' R' Schlager'
L942 while
savage and J. L. Fletcher. In the fj.rst week of June
flying routine patrol from cAP coastal Patrol Base Number 4 at
parksley, Virginia, Pilot schlagerrs personall-y owned Fairchild
at sea'
had, an engine failure due to vapor lock and' was ditched
After two hours of flight the aircraftts left tank was completely
dry and the right tank refused to flow. Thus a hard earned lesson
to fly from
was learned. rn the future, pirots would be required
Probably not the first
alternating tanks rather than from bot'h tanks simultaneously'
were
Another lesson learned. was one of minimLzLng exPosure' Rules
such
shortty issued prohibiting the inclusion of student observers
as Lieutenant Fletcher as aircrew members on actual missions '
half'
Fortunately, al} three were rescued within an hour and a
at approximately 16:50 while on regular Patrol
a warner
Mission at position latitude 3806 longitude 7455 in
,,on July 2I,
Lg42
FairchildNclgl44withLt.CharlesShelfusasobserverwecrashed
ship
at sea. on regaining consciousness in the water I found the
is not told by
had sunk and r could not find Lt. Shelfus"'IO What
thewriter,LieutenantHenryT.Cross,isthathehadsuffered
in itself reseveral fractured vertebt'ae 6nd that his rescue would
Rehoboth,
sult in a heroic effort by others. Within 55 minutes
on the scene' crewed'
Delaware Base 2ts sikorsky Amphibian arrived
Lieutenant Edmond
by Base Commander, Major Hugh R' Sharp' Jr' and
14
Edwards this venerable old aircraft
encountered difficulty
in
its. landing in 8 to IO foot swe}Is. Due to a rough landing,
the Sikorskyrs left pontoon was damaged and begin to fill with
water. What followed is best described by Major SharpI'After landing was unable to locate survivor for several minutes
on account of:.rough sea. FinaIIy sighted Pilot Cross at several
hund,red, yards distance while he and Amphibian .were :on cresti of
waves. Encountered some difficulty in making the downwind turns
to reach the vict,im, but this was finally accomplished, and a first
attempt was made to taxi the ship up to victim. On this first
attempt, however, we misjudged t'he strength of the wind and were
bl6wn away from the victim before we were able to grasP him' On
second try, howeverr wQ were successful in grabbing ahold of the
victim who was unable to hold on to the rope which was thrown to
him because of his injury. The observer, LE Edwards, however,
Iifted pilot Cross from the water and helped him into the ship,
which was no easy task because of.the rough water and the violent
pitching of the AmPhibian". lI
in water at location searching for Observer Shelfus until IB:20. There being no signs of Shelfus and with Cross in
serious condition, it was deemed wise to get to shore as soon as
possible. As the sea was too rough for takeoff, we started taxiing on westerly course at 18:20. At approximately L8225 port wing
float sank. Observer Edwards went out to starboard bomb rack for
"Remained
beached
balance, where he stayed uncomplainingly until the ship was
was no
at chincoteague at about 0I:30 the following morning' This
15
easy task for Observer Edwards for he had. stripped off almost aII
of his clothing in order to give them to Pilot Cross. At intervali
all during the night, he was completely immersed in the sea during
which waves flowed over the starboard wing float to which the bomb
rack was attached, and to say the least, he was far from comfortable
from cold after the sun went down".12
"Laid course for coastal buoy No. 3 planning to tie up to it for
the night, not having sufficient gas to taxi to Chincoteague, the
nearest harbor. By tieing to the buoy, our position could, be reported. by radio so that fast Coast Guard boat could rush Cross to
shore for medical .16".13
,rOn approaching
No. 3 buoyr w€ were met by Coast Guard picket boat".14
t'Cond,ition of sea made transfer of Cross unwise".15
"Seaplane was taken in tow bY picket boat at 19:50 and towed to
Chincoteague, arriving about 23z45,'.I6
valor? Certainly on the part of Lieutenant Cross for exposing himself, but even more so for Major Sharp and Lieutenant
Edwards for their heroic rescue. Sharp and. Edwards were later
Uncommon
awarded CApts BIue Merit Emblem and the Air Medal from the hands
of president Roosevelt at a Whi.te House ceremon], in February of
1943. Rooseveltrs comments to Sharp that this was the first time
17
that he had awarded this medal is fitting tribute in itself.
Certainly it was the first such award to civilians for service
16
forces. These two were not the last in that an
additi-onaI 824 Air Med.1"18 r^/ere awarded to other Coastal Patrolmen by a grateful country in nid 1948. At this time Sharp and
Edward,s were awarded the First Qak-I;eaf Clusterl9 fot their Previously awarded tledal. As a Postscript, although unable to fly
to civil
due to his injuries, Lieutenant cross later transferred
with the
armed,
Air Patrolrs coastal Patrol Base
as its oPeration officer
NUmber 14
at
Panama
city, FIOrid'a
fact that many other survivors of forced landings at sea
continued to expose themselves to further risk is weII supported
by the two crashes involving Lieutenant Louis J' DiCarlo stationed
The
IsIe, Louisiana. on september L7, Lg4220
crashes'
Lieutenant Dicarl0 suffered the first of his two hazardous
FlyingtheduskpatrolonthatdatePilotDiCarloandobservedFrank
Rearwin
serwich detected oil coming from the firewall of their
at, Base 9 on Grand
Cloudster.Again,}etsturntoacontemporaryaccountofthe
of the day'
incident so that we may better understand the happenings
,,several minutes after Dicarlo had been separated from sut'ton' he
immediately headed
noticed oil coming through the firewall' He
serwich grabbed the
the ship toward the nearest point on land, while
several times' and gave their approximate
as DiCarIo tried
position. The oi} pressure started to sink slowly
pressure dropped
to climb the ship. He reached lo0o feet when the
but never got
serwich continued to try to reach the base,
to zero.
mike, yelled
"MAYDAY"
at,RoGER,,onhisreport.Afewsecondslaterpartsstartedtofly
pieces' DiCarIo
the cowling and then the engine flew to
from under
t7
glided down toward the water, levelled off, then brought the nose
up and made a tail first landing on the waves. They struck with
a terrj-fic impact and the glass jug which held the silver marker
slick fluid broke at once, sPlattering the pilot' and observer wit'h
bright siiver paint. At the sEutre time the antenna wire whipped
around the front of the ship, and caught around Dicarlors neck'
momentarily strangling him. serwich quickly pulled out his hunting knife and severed the wire. In the 35 seconds between the
time that the ship hit the water and the time that it sunk beneath
the waves, both men fought their way out of the ship and" inflated
their Mae wests, dragging along the canvas motor hood which had
been laying in the back of the plane. They each clenched opposiLe
from being
enils of this canvas between their teet'h, which kept them
guided the
separated. as they swam clear of the wreckage. DiCarlo
he knew
pair on the outside of the muddy lrlississippi water, because
the current would carry them out to sea. Through the dark' swelling
the two men swam, tying their Mae wests together so as not to
waters
become separate6".2I
at the base, Joe sat thinking of the two men that he was now
38 years
certain were down somewhere in the GuIf; Louis DiCarIo'
years o1d'
old, a thin, almost sickly looking mani Frank serwich, 3-l
these
a 6 footer who weighed only 150 lbs. Pretty slim chance that
land'; Joe
two could last a night in the water or make their way to
at
felt an overpowering urge to do something, but there was nothing
,rBack
all that he could do".22
,,DiCarlo and Serwich were in the water two hours now' still
18
moving
toward land and steering clear of the Mississippi current' Both
and
men were weakening, but continued to lie on their Mae wests
As
paddle with their hands toward shore in the complete darkness'
exwore on serwich, the weaker of"the two, became nearly
time
keep him
haust,ed, and Dicarlo had to puII and shove him along to
ready to
from giving up right, there. Just about when DiCarlo was
the seawall and with what was more guts than
give up, they sighted
exhausted'
strength they hoist,ed themselves onto land and Iay there
As they 1ay
They had, been swimming for four and one-hali houis'
their shouts'
on the seawalL, several small bOats passed, not hearing
small Coast
Finally they were able to attract the attention of a
up and down the seawal'I'
Guard boat, which flashed its searchlights
hit' two bright
A3 the searchlight swung uP and down, it suddenly
black night' The
silver objects that shone like Greek gods in the
twomenwerestil}coveredbythemarkerfluid,whichtheycan
seawa1l u '23
for saving them from cold and exposure on the
thank
by the coast Guard and taken to Burwood'
they were placed
where because they had lost aII identification'
base soon verified'
technical arrest. A telephone caII to the
,,The two men were picked up
under
whotheywere,andthatsamephonecallwasreceivedamidstgreat
jubilat'ion by the members of the base ' '24
ThusgoesthestoryofDiCarlolsfirst.'dunkingl'.Althoughnot
quiteasdramatic,DiCarlo'sactionsduringhissecondonecertainlydemonstratesthathehadalloftheingredientsofatrue
experiencing radio trouble
hero. Early on December 18, Lg4225 after
by observed Michael
in Fairchild NC29OI3 Pilot DiCarIo accomPanied
19
it necessary to return to Grand Isle for repairs'
and
subsequent to the necessary repairs to their radio Dicarlo
off'
Heim encountered a rough engine while att'empting to take
to be safe
They returned to the hangar where the engine was found'
for flight. so for the third tirne on that fateful day Dicarlo
L.
Heim found
taxiedfordeparture.Thistj:nehemadeit,butnotforlong.
At about 2OO feet, al.ready over the GuIf, the Fairchildrs engine
stopped'completely.Unabletomakeitbacktoland,DiCarl.o
air*
skirrfulry effbcted another water ditching. upon impact the
craft flipped over trapping both he and Heim. Freeing hirnself
refrom his seat belt he noticed that' Heim was having difficulty
the removal"
Ieasing his seat belt" Only after assisting Heim in
the
of,his seat belt did, DiCarlo leave the aircraft and swim to
surface and safetY.
as the dif,ference
cool thinking has long been accepted alnong pilots
disaster' cool
between survival and death at the tirne of impending
actiononthepartofWileyR.Reynoldscertainlywasevidenton
afternoon Pilot
July 11, rg43.r5 O. that date at about two in the
Reynold,sandhisobserver,LieutenantR.J.Cohn,wereonroutine
I
patrol from Base 3 in stinson NC39496. Reynolds first Person
description of the disaster is as follows:
power at about 1500 ft'
"Engine started missing and losing
Dropped
sma}l craf t bea couPle of smoke f lares i,o get wind direction. Saw
us to drop our
Iow and circled near. Occupants of craft signaled
to the water I
100 Ib. demoLition bomb safe ' As I got close
20
pulled on fuII f1aps, shut off ignition and hauled back on controIs. Ocean was ca]m. Plane nosed over, then settled back to
float about 8 minutes before sinking in I50 ft. of.water. Landing craft picked, us up in about ! minutes, My observer, who did
not know how to swim, kept cool, inflated his one man raft and
held on to plane wing and raft. I opened door on left side and
swam around to my observer. All this time my cousin, Harry Bassett
and AIex Thomson was circling in a comPanion plane calling base but
r
."1
could not be heard at Lantana due to local thunderstorms.
arrived in Fort Pierce about an hour Laler".27
We
Worthy of note is the last crash at sea of a Civil Air Patrol Aircraft engaged in Coastal Patrol operations. Just thirty days short
of the termination of coastal patrol operations on August 31, 1943'
28
an aircrew took a dunking. Late in the afternoon of Juty 3I, l-943
with Lieutenant W. L. Grier, Jr. as pilot, and Flight Officer W. A.
Fullerton, Jr. as observer the last of cAPrs 74 crashes at sea
occurred. Fortunately, Grier and Fullerton were rescued by a small
navy craft within an hour and, a half. Both were returned unhurt to
Cape May.
2t
(::HAPTER
6
I
THE DUCK CLUB
in European armies the recognition of individuals for special acts had its beginning in the United States
Military with The Badge for Military Merit.l 'orders creating
the Badge for Military Merit were issued by the continentaL
Army on August '1, L782. A simple heart shaped piece of cloth,
it was awarded, to all ranks involved in acts of.unusual gallantry'
Long a tradition
George ltashington wrote when he established this first award'
free country is open to
"The road. to glory in a patriot army and
all,'. Certainly, it is then fitting that the form taken some 160
years later to recognize civil Air Patrolrs patriots would be a
simple cloth device.
of recognition was badly needed to help the sagging
Axis
morale of the civilian airmen so valiantly fighting the
by March of
submarine fleet in our coastal Waters. Already,
in 163
1943, some sLZ aircraft had been lost at sea resulting
some form
fatalities and a74 aircrew men surviving the harrowing experience of a crash on water. It was at that time that Lieutenant
presented to
Colonel L. A. (Jack) Vilas conceived the award to be
paralleled
all who survived, Designated the "Duck club" the idea
theArmyAirCorpsfamedCaterpillarClub.Thenameoftheactual
history' but
designer of the award has been lost in the Pages of
ithasbeencommon}ythoughtthatColonelVilaswasthedesigner.
22
Utitizing the prevailing BIue Civil Air Patrol Disc as a background, the emblem portrays a red duck sitting on the water which
is represented by a series of blue wavy lines. civil Air Patrol
Bulletin, Volume II, Number 15.of April gt 1943 specifies that i1:
is to be worn below the flap of the Left pocket of the shirt' or
blouse. Subsequently, CN Ru1es5 sPecified both the 2\ inch
diameter cloth badge and a 1 inch metallic version. The metallic
version was produced in bLue and red enamel over sterling silver
by Bastian Brothers of Rochester, New York
Indications are that the distribution of the award was catrefully
cont,rolled by Headquarters civil Air Patrol using a handwritten
And typed Iistlng.6 They were generally forwarded to individuats
in care of their respective Base Commanders' In Some cases' they
were transmitted direct to individuaLs who !'rere no longer on
active duty. Quoted below is the content of the typieal military
style letter which transmitted the emblem'
il l. It is recorded at National Headquarters that in the service
of the Civil Air Patrol you vrere in an airplane which had a forced
landing on water while on an active duty mission".T
airplane is
" 2. Just as everyone who has ever bailed out of an
one of the fellowshiP of the Caterpillar Club, it is our thought
that every member who shared your experience sha}l be a member
of the Duck CIub".8
fraternitY, I
" 3. In token of Your membershiP in this select
)a
inclose herewith an emblem which you are
the left pocket of your uniform, half an
With it goes my congratulations that you
talk about it and' the hope thet' you wiII
the Patrol is Proud of You"'9
entitled to wear on
inch below the fIaP.
are still with us to
wear it to show that
Because
of cost consid,erations and the wartime scarcity of
silver,
members
surviving more than one crash received only
one award.
,|l.TherecordsatNationalHeadquartersnowindicatethat
while on active duty mission for civil Air Pat'rol - Coastal
Patro},YoUwereforceddownatseaandthishasmadeyoua
you another
two-time member of the Duck cIub. we canrt send
on becoming a
emblem, but we can and do send our greetings
select
member
of this fraternityrr'19
t' 2. This time r w€ are twice as glad that you are with us to
swap another Patrol yarnt' .1r
Air Patrolrs
In both cases, the Ie':ter was signed by Civil
'Lieutenant Colonel Earle L' Johnson'
National Commander,
24
CHAPTER 7
DUCK CLUB MEMBERSHIP LIST
The fol Iowing named individuals became members of the Duck
as a consequence of their emergency larrdirrg at sea rrlr th*
indicated
Fil'rt Lieutenarrt Henr'y T. Cross, CAP
First Lieutenant John W. Chew, JI'., CAP
Fir'-qt. Lieutenant Howard T. Carter, CAP
First Lieutenant Harvey P. Cannon, CAP
Eec:ond Lieuterrant Rot,ert Lee Wagstaff , CAP
First Lieutenant Walter L. Grier, Jr.
Secorrd Lieutenant Walter A. Fullerton. Jr.
25
Ciub
datrr
10 AugusL 1942
28 Deceuil:*r'
L!{l
28 December L942
6
Mar'r-:h
lt{:r
13 May L943
July
3L JuIy
3L
1943
1943
CHAPTER 8
{::IVIL AIR PATROL HISTORIC AIRCRAFT -
GENERAL
In connection with the overal l Historical Program withirr r-:ivi I
Air Pat.r'+L the National Historical'Committee is sponsorinq a
program to identify and Iocate aircraft havirrg rigrrifit:arrt hiatorical vaIue. At the present tirne the proqram is concentrating
on aircraft which were utilized by CiviI Air Patrol during War'lcl
War II.
Usirrg cc,ntemporary documentation, supplemented by personai knowledge, aircraft are selected for possible inclusion in the p}'tl-
gram. Primarily by the use of Federal Aviation Administration
Records, the current owner of the aircraft is iderrtifi*d artil
contacted. Once the Committee has assured itself that the aircraft is worthy of program recognition, the owner is contacted in
r'*lTarrl to his wantirrg to have his aircraft recogrnized.
The program includes the marking
of the aircraft with a L L/?,
3 1/Z inch plaque which reads as follows:
THIS HISTORIC AIRCRATT
WAS FLOWN BY THE
CIVIL AIR PATROL
ON ACTIVE DIJTY DIJH]NG
WORLD WAR
26
II
by
provision are also made to provide the owner with a Certificate
rrf Ap-rpleciation f or his preservation ef f orts. Thus f ar l'535
aircraft have been identified as having been used hy the C:ivi1
rrNCrr
Air. F,atr.ol dr-rr'ing Wor'Id War' II. Fortunately when the use of
was changed. to '|,N" as the pref ix to atl civil air'cr'aft r.*gintratic,rrE Of tyE,e ac:cepted. aircraf t, the actuai number was not
changed. Thus NC L68L7 merely became N 16817, Thie ha= rraciE it
t,o.?3ir-rle tt> do detailed research has been ccmpleted on L233 of
them.
tlf t.l:*,s* r'e,:ear'ched, the regfistration number has been reassigned
to another type of aircraft in 657 irrstances and ix tir-lt ii':tecl
f,:t''. arr aclclitional 104 aircraft. This says that a totai of 761
(49.6 percent) of the aircraft under study no lorrgey e:tirt',
,5tati*tic: I.elating to the remaining 774 aircraft are tabled
below:
302
R*sear'ch Pending
No Response
to letters to Iisted
lal
JJ
.JWfiei''i
FAA Records
ia in
J.
indicates that a sale
37
t,I'fi'Jl"EB.?
t/
Aircraf t being
r'*I-rt-ti I
t l:Y LtLtI'l'Ent
47
CrWneI-
Aircraft identified which qualify
for markingr in accordance with the
above procedure
57
of aircraft remaining after
the passage of over 50 years wouid be 622 or approxirnately 40.5
A reasonable projection
of the
nurnber
percent.
28
CHAPTER 9
AIRCRAFT AT COASTAL PATROL BASE
2-
GENERAL
six of the 1535 aircraft which were used by the Civil
F'atr',rl dr-rr'irrg WErI'Id War' II were ueed at Coastal Patrol Base 2
its auxi I iary Iocations.
Twenty
Tahr-tlaterl below
AIRCRAFT
NUMBER
OWNER
Air'-
and
is the disposition of each of these aircraft:
WHILE AT CP BASE
?
DISPOSITION
to
NC L46L4
Edmondson, Sheliey
Marking nraLer'ial
7 /23/85
NC t5344
Sanschargrin, T. J.
Nurnber
NC 16145
DuPont & Weyrnouth
Letter to current
NC L68L7
Wilder, M. M.
NC 16826
Edmondson,
NC 1.6829
Nicholson, W. B.,Jr/
Number reassigned bY FAA
NC 16903
Sparr, LeRoy A.
Being rebuiit by current
owner, 3/tO/86
NC 19164
Graham, Robert L.
Letter to current
NC 19L77
Mahon, Roy
Markingr
S.
Aircraft
FAA
owner
Marked by MD Wing,
8/ LO/87
Number not I isted
Records
S.
in
FAA
owner,
L/28/86
t2/1.t/85
material to
PA Wing,
Number reassigned bY FAA
Froctor,
Letter to current
H. Harui son
owner,
8/L/9L
Number reassigned bY FAA
NC 20633
N(:: 33035
reassigned bY
returned by P.O., 8/L4/9L
NC T94L4
I.IC 30639
NY Win11,
FAA Records
Rerny, Foher't C.
in progresr
1A
indicates eale
NC 26265
Lungrer, HarrY
NC 269
Klass,
Y
NC 27744
NC
28532
Letter to current
returned by P.0.,
W.
8/L4/91
Letter.e tO Cltr.t.efrt i,WlliI.r
Lt/23/85, 8/t/91
RaYmond S.
DuPont, Octavia
owner
Letter to curuerrt
N.
ownel
,
8/L/9L
Number reassigned bY FAA
Sharp, H. RodneY, Sr.
Marking materiai
8/24/85
N(l 28644
to
NE Wing,
NC 28690
Charter Air Service
Letters to current'
NC 2960
Mi I
ice DuPont
Sharp, H. RodneY, 5r.
Number reassigned bY FAA
NC 32?
Y
1s,
2/L7/88, 8/t/9L
AI
Nurnber not
Records
listecl in
FAA
reassigned Lry FAA
Number'
NL: 'Jt1773
Fish Products Co.
ltavis, Henry, Jr.
NC 4121
Walker, Stephen
Nttmber reaf,Eign*d
NC BO3 W
Sharp, Hugh
Y
r
Number reassigned bY FAA
NC 32242
NC 324
ownel
Number reassigrned bY FAA
A.
R,, Jr.
1-,Y FAA
Number reassigned bY FAA
Out of the 26 aircraft from Base 2 which wer'e 1'6s66rq:h*d the
registration number has been reassigned to another type of aircraf t in LZ instances and is not I isted f or one additir-rfiflI c'tt*,
This Eays that a total of 13 (50.0) percent) of the aircraft
und.er stud.y no ionger exist. This closely paral lels the ovel'alI
study.
lltati,:tic relating to the remaining 13 aircraft are tabled below:
No Re,Bponse
to letters to Iisted
rllfliEl'E
30
FAA Records
ir in
ind.icates tirat a sale
Fr"6g1'6st
Aircraft being rebuilt by current
{rUftEl-
Aircraft identified which quaiify
fc,r' ntar'king in accordance with the
above procedure
4
31
CHAPTER
1O
AIR(JRAFT AT COASTAL PATROL BASE
2 _ INDIVIDUAL
STUDIES
The following pages of this chapter are copies of the irrdividual
r,er-:ul.d* f or each aircraf t which was uti i ized at
Coastal Patrol
Base 2. They are maintained' as a portion of the cornprlft3v'icedtlata
bar* vihi,-:h include all aircraft known to be used by the Civil
Air Patroi during Worid War II '
Tahlecl L,elow ar'e the deflnitions of the various fields of each
record:
FIELD
1
3
3
4
5
6
7
B
9
10
11
LZ
13
14
15
1E
L7
LB
19
TITLE
DEFINITION
RECDNR Record
Nurnber
ACFT Aircraft Number
PHOTONRS Numbers of Photographs in PHOTO.DBF
CASE Case Number
SPONSOR Case SPonsor
EEFER Reference for Aircraft Identification
AMFG Aircraft Manufacturer
M0DEL Aircraft Model
EMFG Engine Manufacturer
EMODEL Engine Model Number
Engine Horsepower
HP
CAP Active Duty Assigrnment
ADl
Historic Owner's Name
HO
HOADD Historic Owner's Street Address
HOADD2 Historic owner's City, State & Zip Code
I)I-HF Disposition of Aircraft/Program Status
Current Owner'g Name
CO
C:I)AI)D Current Owner's Street Address
COADD2 Current Owner'3 City, State & Zip Code
3t-1 WINGMARK Date Aircraft Marked by Wingr
The single most significant aircraft which has ,3ut'vived th*,:t
t,ast 5L) yeal'E i= c:over'ecl by the d.ata sheet for NC 16817. Thie
(::AF
air^ct-af t wliich was owned by First Lieuterrarrt Herrry H. Wild*t',
vrnE lat*r. pu1.(-:ha=Erl by Lier-tterrant. ColorreI C{eorge Weiss, LISAF
a)
(E*t) of
Fr-,r't Wa-qhingtc,n, Maryland. Colonel Weiss =ulrsequent
this historic aircraft to the Urriteci Etatra Air
Mnseum in Dayton, Ohio.
d.onated.
ly
F*rcE
It is currently being prepared for exhibit by painting it with
its originai coiors of red with an ivory stripe. It will I-,t
rrrar.ked with contemporary Civii Air Patrol Insiqnia, including the
famous Base 2 Henlopen Hen. It wilI also be equipped with c(rl'itemporary ordnance which includes a bomb, bomb sight and bomb
slrackle which were originai ly used at Civii Air PatroI Coaxtal
Patrol Base 9 on Grand IsIe, Louisiana.
Current plans cal I f or this aircraf t to be placed olt pernranent
display in connection with the Civil Air Patrol's 50th Anniver
sary celebration on L December
1991.
Other' aircraft currently in f iying condition are; NC 1,46L4,
19177 and NC 28644.
33
NC
lecord
No.
1E(::t)l,lE
\CFT
1
,J+
NC L461.4
THOTONRt]
]ASE
:IPONSOR
24
Myers
lEFER
'3119/ 1943
\MFG
e 4/7/ 1943 rrA, Lists
Waco
ZKCS
\MODEL
:,lYlr (J
TMODEL
IF,
AD1.
ri0
:{OADD
NOADD2
DISP
COADDl
i]OADD2
i{INGMARK
Jacobs
755-A2-300
30 (l
CP Base 02
Edmondson, Shel iey
Se
Ikirk,
NY
Markirrg material to NY Wing, 7/23185
Norqard, A. J. "AI"
RD I Amsterdam Road
BaI lston Spa, NY
34
.li Cltrt'i-1 i'.1*,
J
;lE(::DNR
15rl
\CFT
NC L5344
l_
rHOTT]NRS
]A5E
]F,(JI'IEUH.
0
iIEFEE
6/L/ 1943 Supplement Lo 4/7/ 1943
\MFG
Fairchi Id
\MODEL
iMFG
lMODEL
War-ner''
11.'
24
1+I
AD]-
CP Base 02
lOADD
IOADD2
DISP
Phi i ade 1 phia, PA
Number reassigned bY FAA
ln
Sanscharqrin, T. J.
2847 North Broad St.
-1,'
,JOADDl
.:OADI)I
,./INGMARK
35
rrArr
List
i*Cc-r1'd
I'lO
:'I
,
{ECDNR
l_490
\CFT
NC L6145
-:A5E
]PONSOR
Myers
THOTONRS
1
136
{EFEE
5/24/1943 SuppIement to 4/7 / 1943 'rA, List
\MFG
5t i nson
\MODEL
lMFG
]MODEL
{P
\D1
1U
IOADD
{OADD3
JISP
lo
]OADD].
]OADD2
,{ING},IARK
0
CP Base 02
DuPont & Weymouth
Rehoboth,
DE
Letter to current
owner
Grabenstein, Marian
830 AI len Street
Fai is Church, VA 22040
returned by P.0., 8/L4/9t
t4.
36
-tecor'cl N,:.
TECDNR
\CFT
]HOTONRS
-,ADfJ
]PONgOR
4
r.98
NC 16817
EGWL. 0096,
EGWL.
0097
4:'t
Myers
lEFER
2/L9/ 1943 & 4/7 / 1943 ,Arr Lists
\MFG
Fairchi Id
AMODEL
EMFG
24-C8F
Ranger
iMOT)EL
]P
AT)1
i{o
TiOADD
i]OADD2
DISP
CO
.OADD1
COADD2
,{INGMARK
0
CP Base 0?
Wilder, M. M.
Alexandria, VA
Aircraft Marked by
Weiss, George
315 Kerby Parkway
Ft. Washington, MD
8/L0/87
MD
Wing, 8/LO/87
37
1ri:r-it'il biii,
;lECDNR
\CFT
THOTONRS
-ta.fEl
-.,tLl!
]PONSOR
iEFER
\MFG
\MODEL
]MFG
iMODEL
{F,
\D1
l0
jl
202
NC L6826
tt
2/19/ 1943 e. 4/7 /1943 'rArr Lists
Fairchi Id
24_CBF
Ranger'
15(:1
CP Base 02
Edmondson,
S.
5.
:{OADD
IOADDS
JISP
lo
Number
not I isted irr FAA Records
]OADD1
.]OADD3
^/INGMARK
38
iecord
No,
6
\CFT
204
NC 16839
]ASE
0
{ECDNR
THOTONRS
JPONSOR
1EFER
2/L9/1943 rrA'r List
\MFG
Fairclri
qMODEL
ilr'G
1d
24-C8F
Rangrer
EMODEL
]P
AD1
-Ir]
:lOADD
:iOADD2
DISP
io
150
CP Base
Oz
Nichrrlson, W. B,,Jr/
Baru, Louis A,/
Battai 1e, Rosemary
Number reassigned by
FAA
:OADD1
.]OADD2
/.IINGMARK
--,
$--r-*-..:,t
:19
t+cor'd
I,l+,
2L4
NC 16902
lECDNR
\CFT
THOTONRS
66
-"ASE
Myers
JPONSOR
lEFER
2/L9/1943 & 4/7/1943 I'Arr Lists
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5517 Lydia Street
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HC 60, Post Office Box 5040
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FOOTNOTES
CHAPTER
I
Kerrigan, Evans B' America+ War Medals
I
and Decorations, The Viking Press'
York,
New
L952
the
Direction paragraph of Department of
Air Force 194B General Order Series'
Orders Numbers L2-L7
CHAPTER
I
2
General Order Number l' War Department'
JanuarY 4, 1943
CAP' Civil Air
Hopper, Lester E', CoIoneI'
one,
Patrol Historical Monograph Number
Committee'
Duck CIub, National Historical
Headquarters, CAP' I9B4
LetterfromLt.HenryT.CrosstoMajor
I0 L942 recomEarle Johnson dated October '
Jr' and Lt'
mending Major Hugh R' Sharp'
bravery
Edwards for citation for
Edmond
l.g42 by Major
Statement dated JuIy 2L'
Hugh
R' Sharp, Jr' relating to incident'
ParagraPh
5
60
FOOTNOTES (CONTID)
CHAPTER
3
(CONTID)
guarters lst Air Support'
Command
dated
B l4arch L942
Civil Air Patrol
Operatj-ons Report,
National Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol
dated 3 SePtember 1943
Charts contained in Colonel Whitsonrs
Record, Albert F. Simpson Historical
Research Center, MaxwelI AFB, Alabama,
File
Number WG-25-SU-RE
'
L94L-L943
General Orders, Department of the Air
Force as follows:
Date
Number
April
15 April
16 April
19 April
20 April
L4
L2
13
14
15
16
61
194B
1948
1948
1948
1948
FOOTNOTES (CONT'D)
CHAPTER
2
(CONT'D)
ParagraPh
5
ibid,
6
ibid, ParagraPh 7
7
Lbid, ParagraPh I
I
ibid, ParagraPh
9
ibid, ParagraPh t0
' 10
6
9
OraI History Interview of CoIoneI Hugh R'
Sharp,JE.conductedinWilmington'Delaware
on October L7, 1983
CHAPTER
t
3
Neprud, Robert E', Civil Air Patrol IIis-
toricalMonoqraphNumberThree,Propwash,
National Historical Committee, Headquarters,
cAP,
2
1983
Letter, General Headquarters' U' S'
Army'
subjectEmploymentofCivilAirPatrolfor
CoastalPatroldatedFebruaryLT'1942
3
Letter of Instructions
62
Number
I'
Head-
FooTNoTES (coNTiD)
CHAPTER 5
Civil Air Patrol.operat,ions Report, National
Headquarters, Civil Air Patrol' dated 3
I
September 1943
ibid
ibid
ibid
ibid
statj-stical analysis of CAP Operations
data in
Reports, Accident Reports and related
the CAP National Archives
Based on
ibid
ibid
Patrol
Contemporary History of CAP Coastal
Number
10
4 by Major I' W' Burnham II'
CAP
Earle
Letter from Lt' Henry T' Cross to Major
63
FOOTNOTES (CONTTD)
(-:HAPTER
5
(CONTTD)
Johnson dated October I0, L942 recommending
Major Hugh R. Sharp, Jt. and Lt''
Edmond'
Edwards for citation for braverY
II
Statement dated JuIy 2L, L942, by Major Hugh
R. Sharp, Jx; relating {:o incident' Paragraph
5
L2
ibid, ParagraPh
6
I3
ibid,
ParagraPh
7
L4
ibid, ParagraPh
8
15
ibid,
9
I6
ibid, ParagraPh
L7
OraI History Interview of Colonel Hugh R' Sharp'
Jr. conducted in Wilmington' Delaware on October
L7,
18
ParagraPh
10
1983
CivilAirPatro}NationalHistoricalCommittee
RolI"
Monograph Series, Number 2' "Air Medal
Ert
FOOTNOTES (CONTID)
CHAPTEE
5
(coNr 'D)
IgParagraph3,GeneralOrderNumberL2'Department of the Air Force, L4 APril 1948
20
"Joe
Sub Huntert'
a contemPorary History of
Base g bY Stuart !1. SPeiser
2L
ibid, Page L4, ParagraPh
3
22
ibid,
Page 15, ParagraPh
1
23
ibid, Page 15, ParagraPh
2
24
ibid, Page 15, ParagraPh
3
25
26
civil Air Patrol Accident Board report
6, dated MaY 22, 1943
1983 personal correspondence
Reynolds
of
Number
with mr' Wiley R'
Palm Beach, Florida
27
ibid
28
operationsReportT/3L/43of25thAntisubmarine
Wing
USAAF
65
FOOTNOTES (CONTTD)
CHAF,TEE 6
I
-8, American lrlar Medals and
Decorat,ions, The Viking Press, New York L964
Kerrigan,
Evans
Analysis of Civil Air Patrol Operations
Re-
ports on Coastal Patrol Activitles
ibid
ibid
CAP
Rules, 62 Insignia, Paragraph 7 dated
October
1943
List of Duck CIub
National Archives
Members contained
in
Letter, Headquarters Civil Air Patrol,
october
28
CAP
22
1943
ibid
ibid
10
Draft of letter to Duck club
in CAP National Archives
ftt?
Members contained
FOOTNOTBS (CONT'D)
.JHAPTER
11
6
(CONT'D)
ibid
67