Honoring Gene Autry "Cowboy Entertainer" For His Services During WWII .

🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Gene Autry: Cowboy, Entertainer and Proud World War II Veteran

"When World War II broke out, Gene Autry was determined to join the armed forces and do his part. On July 26, 1942, during a live broadcast of his radio show Melody Ranch and at the Pentagon's request, he was inducted into the Army Air Forces as a Technical Sergeant.

Already a private pilot, Gene set out to earn his wings as a Flight Officer. After basic training at the Santa Ana Air Force Base, and serving at Luke Field, Thunderbird Field, and Phoenix Airport, he was eventually accepted for flight training at Love Field in Dallas."

"A week after Gene was sworn into the military, the Gene Autry Melody Ranch radio show became the Sergeant Gene Autry radio show on August 2, 1942. The program was part of Gene’s regular duties in the Army Air Forces and still had his music, comedy, and action in a dramatic story but now with a military theme.

The songs were patriotic, the comedy based on military life as a soldier, and the stories were dramatization "based upon an actual incident recorded in the files of the United States Army Air Forces, and characters were portrayed by a cast of professional actors."

Many shows were broadcast from Luke Field in Arizona with an audience of soldiers stationed there. The Sergeant Gene Autry radio show ended on August 1, 1943 when Gene was given new orders." (The Official Gene Autry website)

On June 21, 1944 Gene earned his service pilot wings and was promoted to Flight Officer. He was assigned to the 91st Ferrying Squadron of the 555th Army Air Base Unit, Air Transport Command at Love Field. He served with this unit from July 1942 to October 1945.

According to his biography: "During that time Gene performed duties as a pilot on cargo type aircraft including AT-6s, 7s and 11s, C-104s and C-109s. The C-109's were used to haul fuel in the China Burma India Theatre of Operations.

Flight Officer Autry made one trip to the CBI theatre via the Azores, North Africa and the Middle East. Enroute to the Azores the plane he was co-piloting had to reverse course to avoid a typhoon, flying five hours back to Newfoundland, where it landed at Gander Bay with one engine out and low on fuel. Fog rolled in and the crew was grounded for two weeks. But they completed their mission."

"At the end of the war, Gene transferred to Special Services at which point he took a USO troupe to the South Pacific. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1946. During the war, Gene was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

In 1955 Gene Autry received a letter from Headquarters, Continental Air Defense Command: George F. Smith, Major General, USAF, Chief of Staff. The letter closed; "The United States Air Force is proud to have Gene Autry as a former member of this organization." No one was prouder than Gene himself." (The Official Gene Autry website)

"Autry is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is the only person to be awarded stars in all five categories on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for film, television, music, radio, and live performance." (Los Angeles Times)

Flight Officer Gene Autry passed away on October 2, 1998 at the age of 91. He lies in rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles California. Lest We Forget.

Comments

THE TERRIBLE STORY OF THE LAST COMMANDER OF ONE GERMAN PANTHER TANK.

On this day in 1945, Americans capture the city of Cologne, Germany. The town had already been shattered by years of aerial raids. Now, as World War II was coming to an end, Germans began to flee before the oncoming American tanks. Yet the commander of one German Panther tank refused to go. Instead, he made a last stand in front of Cologne Cathedral, one of the few buildings to remain mostly intact. The Panther tanks were heavier and tougher than the American Sherman tanks. Indeed, that Panther soon knocked out a pair of M4 Sherman tanks, killing or wounding several of our soldiers. But Americans had another, newer tank: the Pershing. One crew was nearby and swung into action. Its commanding officer hoped to attack the Panther from a side street before the Germans knew what was coming. The move was nearly fatal. Inside the German tank, the crew sensed that something wasn’t right. The tank’s turret was turned so that its muzzle was aimed at the side street. Just then, the Pershing came ...

The Heroic Story Of Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Honoring Him For His Extraordinary Actions During WWII.

The Heroic Story Of Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Honoring Him For His Extraordinary Actions During WWII. U.S. Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel Jay Zeamer, Jr. of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on June 16, 1943, over Buka area, Solomon Islands. In October 1939, Zeamer applied for the Army Air Corps flight training program and was accepted in December. His entrance to the program was deferred until after graduating from M.I.T. in June 1940 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, specializing in Structural Engineering. Zeamer began elementary flight school training as a flying cadet in the Chicago School of Aeronautics, Glenview, Illinois, where his leadership skills earned him the position of Captain of Cadets of Class 41-B. In March 1941, he received his wings and a commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps after graduating from basic and advanced flight school at Maxwell Field, Alabama. On June 16...

THE PAINFUL EXECUTION OF EDITH CAVELL FOR HELP THE ENEMIES EXCAPE SHE IS A BRITISH WAR HEROINE WWII.

Edith Cavell - a British war heroine. Edith Louisa Cavell was born on the 4th of December 1865 at Swardeston, near Norwich, the daughter of a local vicar. Edith trained as a nurse and would become the matron of The Berkendael Medical Institute in Belgium in 1907. She was also active in nurse training there. The first World War broke out in 1914 and at the time Edith was on holiday, visiting her mother in Norfolk. Her family begged her to stay in England but she returned to her job in Brussels. The city would fall to the Germans on the 20th of August 1914. Edith was allowed to remain at her post when the hospital was taken over by The Red Cross. Edith began rescuing and treating injured British and French soldiers and getting them across the border into neutral Holland from where they could return to Britain. She also assisted Belgian civilians. These activities constituted a crime under German Military Law. Paragraph 58 of the German ...

The Terrible Death Of Captain Ben Salomon The Dentist Of WWII Who Kill 100 Japanese Soldier In His tent.

The Terrible Death Of Captain Ben Salomon The Dentist Of WWII Who Kill 100 Japanese Soldier In His tent. Captain Ben Salomon was a dentist who wound up on Saipan in the middle of one of the largest mass-banzai charges of the entire Pacific War. Before it was over, he killed over 100 Japanese soldiers in defense of his aid station. In 2002, 58 years later, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “...serving at Saipan, on July 7, 1944, as the Surgeon for the 2nd Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. The battalion was attacked by an overwhelming force estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese soldiers. It was one of the largest attacks attempted in the Pacific Theater during World War II. The enemy soon penetrated the battalions’ perimeter and inflicted overwhelming casualties. In the first minutes of the attack, approximately 30 wounded soldiers walked, crawled, or were carried into Captain Salomon’s aid station....

THE EXECUTION OF COLONEL HO NGOC CAN BY THE COMMUNIST FIRING SQUAD.

"ARVN Colonel HO NGOC CAN (1940-1975) Ho Ngoc Can was admitted in the ARVN Junior Military Academy when he was 14 years old. After graduation, he served 4 years as an instructor sergeant in the same academy. In 1961, he attended the Officer Candidates Class at the Dong De NCO Academy and was the distinguished graduate of the class in 1962. After commissioned, Can served the Ranger Corps as a platoon leader. He was promoted to captain in 1965, to major in 1968, to lieutenant colonel in 1971, and to full colonel in 1974. He was successfully commanding the 1/33 Battalion (21st Infantry Division), the 15th Regiment (9th Inf. Div.). In 1974, Can was appointed province chief of Chuong Thien Province, Vietnam south area. On April 30, 1975, he refused to surrender to the enemy. Along with his troops, Can was fighting with all his might, holding the provincial headquarters until 11:00 PM on May 1, when his forces were out of ammunition. In the last minu...

The stràngest marriage in the world was in the 80s, the Swiss Corina Hoffman, on a visit to Kenya 🇰🇪

The stràngest marriage in the world was in the 80s, the Swiss Corina Hoffman, on a visit to Kenya 🇰🇪 In 1986, Hofmann and her boyfriend Marco made a trip to Kenya. There, she met a Samburu warrior named Lketinga Leparmorijo and instantly found him irresistible. She left Marco, went back to Switzerland to sell her possessions, and, in 1987, returned to Kenya, determined to find Lketinga, which she eventually did. The couple moved in together, married, and had a daughter. Hofmann moved into her mother-in-law's manyatta (compound) and learned to live as a Samburu woman, fetching wood and water. She opened a small shop in the village, to sell basic goods. Hofmann suffered several hardships, including diseases (mainly malaria) and marital problems. Increasingly paranoid jealousy from her husband, possibly a side effect of his addiction to the d.rug khat (miraa), severely damaged her relationship, and in 1990 she decided to return to Switzerland for good, t...

THE TERRIBLE STORY OF BRIG.GEN. CHARLES MCGEE, THE GIANT MILITARY AVIATION , A TUSKEGEE AIRMEN.

On Jan. 16, we lost a giant of military aviation when Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, passed away at the age of 102. In World War II, McGee flew 137 combat missions in the P-51 Mustangs with his unit, the 301st Fighter Squadron, more commonly known as the Red Tails. During the Korean War, McGee flew another 100 combat missions and in Vietnam, he flew an additional 172 combat missions in McDonnell RF-4s. In a 30-year active service career, McGee achieved a three-war fighter mission total of 409 combat missions, one of the highest by any fighter pilot, ending his military career with 6,308 flying hours. We salute the life and service of this American hero. 🇺🇸 Related Post We are saddened to share that we have lost another hero with the passing of Dan McBride. Dan McBride was a Sergeant who served in F Company, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment during WWII. He parachuted into Normandy, parachuted into Operation Market Gard...

Search This Blog