Laughlin holds WWII fighter pilot reunion

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Blake Mize
  • $7th Flying Training Wing public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Several members of the highly-decorated 434th Fighter Squadron, including a double ace, visited Laughlin and its Airmen recently as part of their annual squadron reunion. 

Among other events, the former fighter pilots conducted a veterans' panel at Anderson Hall on Oct. 22 to share stories with Laughlin Airmen and their families from their time served during WWII. 

Retired Colonel Arthur Jeffery, who recorded 14 kills during his tenure as an Air Force fighter pilot, which gives him the distinction of being a double ace, told the story of his first victory. 

He described receiving a brief in the early morning hours before a B-17 escort mission about a new German aircraft, the Me-163 Komet , that they were instructed to look out for. During the mission, the B-17 Col. Jeffery was escorting was badly damaged by gunfire and was quickly losing altitude. As he pulled alongside the aircraft to warn the pilots, an Me-163 closed fast on the future ace's plane. He broke away from the B-17 to protect it from further damage and got a few quick shots at the Komet before it began to pull away from him. 

"I kept chasing and this 163 got far enough ahead that I guess he thought he could make a pass at me," said Col. Jeffery. "I kept my air speed up and when he turned left, I pulled up and got some pretty good shots in. He went straight down and I immediately went down after him." 

The Komet continued its descent and Col. Jeffery inferred that the shots he fired had killed the pilot instead of damaging the plane, so he broke away.
Other tales were told as the audience, made up almost entirely of pilots and student pilots, gave the panel its complete attention. 

Retired Colonel Albert Tucker told the story of when he was captured and taken to a prisoner of war camp. Upon his release, he was taken to Camp Lucky Strike, France that Col. Tucker described as nothing more than a tent city. He expressed his extreme displeasure with having to stay there. 

"I'd just gotten out of a POW camp and here I was imprisoned again," said Col. Tucker jokingly. 

Soon after his arrival, Col. Tucker saw a pilot he recognized who was about to fly out of Camp Lucky Strike. He told the pilot his situation and asked if he could catch a ride out of the camp. The pilot attempted to appease Col. Tucker by talking to the leadership of the camp to convince them to let Col. Tucker leave with him. He was unsuccessful. The pilot informed Col. Tucker of this, but was not completely convincing. 

"I deduced that he was telling me all this bad news in such a way that I could interpret what he meant was if he wasn't watching, he wouldn't mind if I got on there," said Col. Tucker. 

So, Col. Tucker hid in the tail section of the plane and escaped from the undesirable camp. 

"I have no heroics to talk about," he said. "But I claim to be the only guy I know that escaped from prison camp and on the same day returned to England." 

Other very intriguing stories were told and conversations had during the 90-minute panel. 

The 434th members also attended a retreat ceremony that acknowledged the graduation of Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 10-01 and many other events throughout the weekend.