C MPASSP.O. Box 637 • St.Charles, MO 63302 • St. Charles County Smartt Airport

636-250-4515 • Fax 636-250-4515 • www.cafmo.org

COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE

MISSOURI WING

The

MISSOURI WINGEXECUTIVE STAFF

WING LEADER Col. Patrick Kesler 28 Confederate Way St. Charles, MO 63303 636-928-5687 636-250-4515 Wing wingleader@cafmo.orgADJUTANT Col.Bob Moore 6 Hidden Meadow Court St. Charles, MO 63303 636-928-5546 home 314-486-1205 cell moorerw@charter.netEXECUTIVE OFFICER Col. Bob Lawrence 111 W. Essex Ave. Kirkwood, MO 63122 314-494-7539 cell 314-894-3200 x103 workFINANCE Col. Steve Gossett 4 Limerick Lane O'Fallon, MO 63366 636-474-9763 314-306-5021OPERATIONS OFFICER Col.Craig O'Mara 1085 Graywolf Court Fairview Heights, IL 62208 618-632-6113 home 618-558-7211 cell craigo777@juno.comMAINTENANCE OFFICER Col. Pat Fenwick 6 Heather Drive St. Peters, MO 63376 636-441-2856SAFETY OFFICER Col. Chris Herrmann 309 Clearwater Drive Belleville, IL 62220 618-233-4782PIO OFFICER Col. Cecilia Holechek 314-920-5118 infocafmo@gmail.com

Saturday - February 9 - General Meeting - 1:30 pm

JANUARY / FEBRUARY

2013

Feb 9 General Meeting 1:30pmMar 9 B-25 Ground School 9:00amMar 9 General Meeting 1:30pmApr 6 Hot Springs, AR Aerospace Day B-25, TBM, PX LHFEsApr 13 General Meeting 1:30pmApr 17-20 71st Doolittle Raider Reunion Eglin AFB, FL B-25 LHFEs (NC)May 11 General Meeting 1:30pmMay 24-26 Columbia, MO Salute To Veterans B-25, TBMJun 8-9 Cameron, MO Airshow B-25, LHFEs, PX (NC)Jun 8 General Meeting 1:30pmJun 22-23 Davenport, IA Quad Cities Airshow B-25, TBM, PX Jun 28-29 Cape Girardeau, MO B-25, TBM, L-3, LHFEs, PX (NC)Jul 13 General Meeting 1:30pmAug 10 General Meeting 1:30pm Aug 24 Sullivan, MO B-25, L-3 LHFEs, PX (NC)Sep 14 General Meeting 1:30pmSep 20-21 Camdenton, MO Lake Airshow B-25, L-3, LHFEs, PX Sep 21 HANGAR DANCE!Sep 28 Jefferson City, MO Open House B-25, L-3, LHFEs, PX (NC)Oct 12 General Meeting 1:30pmOct 19 Mt. Vernon, IL Little Egypt Fly-In B-25, TBM, L-3, LHFEs, PX (NC)Oct 26 Smartt Field Open House & Pumpkin Drop (NC)Nov 9 General Meeting 1:30pm

UPCOMING EVENTSNOTE: NC = Not Confirmed

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WINTER MAINTENANCE Wing mechanics doing fuel tank calibration checks.

View The Compass in color at cafmo.org

HapHapHapHapHappppppyyyyy

VVVVValentine's Day!

alentine's Day!

alentine's Day!

alentine's Day!

alentine's Day!

WING

LEADER'SREPORT

constraints and that is why we might have the Christmas dinnerafter, rather than before, December 25th.

IMPORTANT: You should have received your 2013 MissouriWing dues envelope by now. Be sure to mail those back or bringthem to the Wing so $teve Gossett and Bob Lawrence can updateyour name with a “Current” on the roster. Thank you for yourcontinued support of our unique organization.

Come on out to the Hangars and shake off that cabin fever.There is always something in which you can get involved. Younever know - you might even learn a new recipe or cross-stitchtechnique…

And remember, you can help Keep ‘Em Flying and have agreat, rewarding time in your life while doing so. It’s alwaysgreat to make new memories – especially when they areassociated with the memories of that Great Generation.

Respectfully submitted,Col. Pat Kesler, Wing Leader

XO REPORTAnd the New Year Has Begun…

Over the last few years I have watched what I call the offseason phenomenon… The last show of the year ends and theplanes are corralled into the hangars. Members from every‘department’ take a deep breath and ready themselves for thepaper pushing season. The hangar see’s less member traffic butbecomes more noisy as the aircraft go under the wrench fortheir annuals. Mechanics start taking this off and replacing thatall in a frantic pace to get ready for the following April when theactivities once again begin. Other departments work on theiryearend HQ reports, closing books, filling out form after form,trying to build up marketing opportunities and ways to make afew more dollars…

Then after a somewhat quite December things start to springback to life. The annual Missouri Wing membership renewals goout and each member happily fills out that $50.00 check’s. A fewmembers get ready to head to Midland, TX for the annual HQmeetings. The PX has its repairs going all while vendors startcalling and wanting to know what we are going to order and sellthis in the upcoming year. The website has to be updated with anew calendar for all the Airshows, LHFE and special events thatare lining up.

The phenomenon is that in late October you are almost donewith the season and think now we can relax a bit. Realty is thatthe wing only goes quite for a few weeks around the holidaysand then back at it. Then February and March hit and itsrush,rush,rush to get everything done and ready… and then herewe go again… Time to share the Aircrafts, the history and makea few dollars so we can do it in 2014,2020 and on… In shortcome out to the Wing, we need you. By the way at the time ofprinting this, we have 54% of the members’ dues already in.Thank You.

Col. Bob Lawrence

A belated, but sincere Happy New Year to everyone! I trustyou all are staying warm and dry and looking forward to anotherexciting year filled with air shows, events, meetings and get-togethers at the Missouri Wing. It will be difficult to match thenumber of activities and aircraft events in which we participatedlast year – but we are surely going to try! A lot of our membershave been very active over the past two months prepping for2013 getting a good jump on being ready for both the flying seasonand local Wing activities. The Holidays and cold weather havenot slowed this well-oiled machine one iota and it looks like avery exciting year in the making!

The mechanics are tireless and are well ahead of last year’stimeline in regards to the aircraft annual inspections and requiredmaintenance. They will soon have SHOW ME up on the jacksdoing brake maintenance and gear swings. The TBM is comingalong great and Dutch is having fun with his merry band of“swabbies” (Naval-oriented term). Of course these mechanical-type guys take “breaks” every now and then and have been knownto discuss non-mechanical items occasionally. My ears have beenprivileged to monitor some of these discussions and the widescope of items explored is amazing. Everything from how to spiceup a bowl of chili to what cross-stitch technique is easiest on thefingers. Yep, there is a wealth of knowledge inside those hangardoors and it is available for free. I also know that they are verygood at recipes and keeping the troops fed. Everything fromhomemade stew and chili to brats and sloppy joes can be seen,smelled and consumed on Thursdays. The camaraderie is reallyblossoming and it is rare to see such a closely knit, friendly groupof volunteers. They work hard, enjoy the times, and are a joy towatch… We are planning on aircraft maintenance flights and pilotrecurrency checks by the end of March this year, so it won’t belong before we hear those big radials roaring.

Once again, Col. Matt Conrad has been very busy coordinatingfor the upcoming airshow season. It looks like another full schedulethis year. Like last year, we are trying to have as many “localarea” events as possible in order to generate awareness andincrease our visibility. The 71st Doolittle Raider Reunion isscheduled for the third week of April and we plan on having SHOWME participate again this year. It will be held at Eglin AFB near Ft.Walton Beach, FL where the Raiders did their initial short fieldtakeoff training. Our first scheduled aircraft event so far is HotSprings, AR during the first weekend in April. Matt is also workingon shows and events in Cameron, Camdenton, Jefferson City,Columbia, Cape Girardeau, and Sullivan, Missouri as well as MountVernon, IL and Davenport, IA. Most of these events have notbeen confirmed, but that is normal so early in the season. Forthis reason, it will be a while before the sign-up list is availableand we will be very careful listing any air show or event on theCOMPASS or website calendars until we are pretty muchguaranteed it will occur. A Busch Stadium fly-by or two and otheryearly airshows are possibilities and we are looking forward to aSpirit of St. Louis Airport show during the 2014 flying season(with the Blue Angels).

The January 5th Christmas Dinner (Come on now - it wasrescheduled from December 8th and, besides, it was the 11th dayof Christmas) was a complete success thanks to Lou Tacchi’splanning. Approximately 60 members and loved ones attended. Iwas privileged to distribute both CAF Headquarters and WingLeader’s awards. We are already looking into doing another dinnerin December or next January. The January date actually appearedto be more open to attendance because of the Holiday Season

Earl BurkhardtRobert CarmackFrank DoerrJohn EllisJohn CoffeyBill CoffeyPaul GardnerJim HatcherBen HilderbrandLen KratzerDavid LeeBob LewisHubert LooneyMike McEntee

Mark PruittGlenn RacineBob RutledgeChris SantschiPete SherwinKristine SherwinLarry ThompsonDave CeglinskiRich CeglinskiDutch MeyerpeterJim LammertEd MichelsenShane RodenMike Marino

Pat KeslerMark StatlerDan SchmiedGordon GlodoSteve GossettDon HusterJoe MianoJoe WurtzBuddy WelshWanda WeaverBill WehmeierRon Wright jBarb OrtonJack HardinJames BoboRobert Sander

Paid Members as of Jan. 17

B-25 annual in progress.

WWII AIRCRAFT FACTSBelow is a summary of the effort required in WWII. It focuses

on the American side of things, but the British, Germans andJapanese expended comparable energy and experienced similarcosts. Just one example for the Luftwaffe; about 1/3 of the Bf109sbuilt were lost in non-combat crashes. After Midway, the Japaneseexperience level declined markedly, with the loss of so manyhigher-time naval pilots.

Most Americans who were not adults during WWII have nounderstanding of the magnitude of it. This listing of some of theaircraft facts gives a bit of insight to it.

276,000 aircraft manufactured in the US . 43,000 planeslost overseas, including 23,000 in combat. 14,000 lost in thecontinental U.S.

The US civilian population maintained a dedicated effort forfour years, many working long hours seven days per week andoften also volunteering for other work. WWII was the largesthuman effort in history.

Statistics from Flight Journal magazine.THE PRICE OF VICTORY (cost of an aircraft in WWII dollars)B-17 $204,370 P-40 $44,892 B-24 $215,516P-47 $85,578 B-25 $142,194 P-51 $51,572B-26 $192,426 C-47 $88,574 B-29 $605,360PT-17 $15,052 P-38 $97,147 AT-6 $22,952

THANK YOU!!FOR A SAFEAIR SHOW YEAR

I don’t believe that when people do good things they areoften thanked for their efforts. This is especially true in therealm of safety. We are harped upon to be safe doing this andthat, reminded constantly be vigilant and exercise good riskmanagement. But that is where safety usually stops.

Some might think that since you didn’t get hurt, that shouldbe thanks in and of itself. Other might say the fact that you didn’tget blamed for breaking something ought to cover it as well. Iam not of that mind. Credit should be given where credit is due.So, let me say thank you to each and every member who made2012 a very safe year for the Missouri Wing.

I have heard of no serious or even minor injuries. I haveheard of no accidents causing damage to the aircraft or ourequipment. So again, thank YOU very much for the individualefforts you put forth. Our safety record is a direct reflection ofthe time you take to conduct our maintenance and flight operationsproperly. It is a result of every one taking time to ensure ourwingmen know what they are doing and the safe way to do it.This is your success!!

With that said, I wish each and every one of you a very SAFE2013!!

Col. Chris Herrmann

SHOW-ME NAME TAGS FOR SALEI have worked with a company to develop a Show-Me cloth

name tag. The company provided these samples which I scannedinto a picture. The name tag is on an OD Green backgroundwith an orange border, wings and information. At their ownexpense, the company developed the CAF Colonel wingsespecially for us; pictured on Angella’s name tag. They alreadyhave on file most US Military Specialist badges such as thecommand pilot wings depicted on mine.

The tag comes Velcro-backed for easy attachment to flightsuits and flight jackets. The tag can have one or two informationlines. The cost for the name tags is:

1 tag with 2 logos (wings/girl) and two lines of info - $152 identical tags with 2 logos (wings/girl) and two lines of

info - $20.I’ll be posting order forms at the Wing or you can e-mail me

your order at B-25Pilot@msn.com.Col. Chris Herrmann

WWII GRUMMAN PILOT INTERVIEWToday I am talking to Mr. James L. Buckley, Jr., who is a

resident at the Cedars Rertirement Center in Chesterfield,Missouri. During WWII, Mr. Buckley was a Naval Aviator in theSouth Pacific. He flew the TBM Grumman Avenger.

Jim tell us about your Naval career..."I enrolled in the Navy V-5 program in 1943 and was

comissioned an Ensign in October, 1944. I was sent to theUniversity of Georgia for preflight, then on to Pensacola, Florida,where I received my wings. Then I went to advanced training inthe TBM Grumman Avenger in Opa-Locka, Florida.

I requested overseas duty and was assigned to the CASU(Carrier Aircraft Service Unit) on Guam, where I checked outMothball Aircraft for 10 hours flying time to certify them forcombat. We flew Douglas SBD Dive Bombers, Curtiss SB2CHelldivers, Grumman TBM Torpedo Bombers, Grumman F6FHellcat and F4F Wildcat Fighters.

After the war, I attended the University of Oklahoma andserved in a Naval Reserve Unit. Upon graduation, I ws employedby the Exxon Corporation where I worked for 17 years, mostly intheir division in Venezuela. Then I went to work for the KellwoodCorporation in St. Louis. My eldest son is a graduate of the AirForce Academy and was a B-52 pilot."

The following Saturday Lt. Buckley, his care-giver, Valerieand myself, drove to Smartt Field and toured the facility, themuseum, the B-25 Hangar, and looked at the Grumman Avenger,which he had not seen for 50 years. Jim talked about flying withall the guys and was presented with a Grumman Avenger capand just had a wonderful time. Bob Lewis

TBM annual in progress.

END OF THE YEAR AWARDS - 2012The Jan 5th Wing Christmas dinner was a huge success. After the dinner, we had a short meeting and concluded the evening

by presenting awards to many of our members. Here is a list of those awards.CAF National Awards:Pat Fenwick - Distinguished Maintenance AwardBob Moore - Distinguished Service AwardBuddy Welsh - Individual Maintenance AwardDan Schmied - Individual Maintenance AwardBob & Bev Cushman - Silver Magnolia Blossom AwardMatt Conrad - Silver Magnolia Blossom AwardBob Lawrence - Silver Magnolia Blossom Award

CAF-Missouri Wing Awards:

Pat Fenwick and Pat Kesler

Dan Schmied and Pat Fenwick

Bev & Bob Cushmanwith Pat Kesler

Pat Kesler presenting Bob Larwence his award.

Dan Bauer and Pat Kesler

Hubert Looney and Pat KeslerHubert Looney – the “Colonel Available” Award - for

always being there to help anyone that needs assistance.

Matt Conrad and Bob Lawrence

Dan Bauer – the “Quiet & Caring Colonel” Award - forperforming the greatest amount of aircraft maintenance whileemitting the fewest words and supplying the troops with never-ending, low calorie desserts and goodies.

$teve Gossett – the “Office Security” Award - for guardingthe office area while spending the greatest number of hoursdoing Official Wing “Stuff”.

Steve Gossett and Pat Kesler John Coffey and Pat KeslerJohn & Connie Coffey – the “The Wind Talkers” Award -

for their ability to assemble the jumbled/misspelled words,articles, and pictures from all of the media-illiterate Wing Staffand Members into the decrypted, decipherable, highly-intelligent,informative and professional publication known as the COMPASS.

Tim MohrTim Mohr – the “Colonel Fix It and Make It Better” Award

- for being the Master of all things associated with heat, oil,concrete, fire suppression and safety.

Craig O’Mara – the “Colonel Perry Mason” Award for thejudicious and professional handling of a Missouri Wing FlightEvaluation Board.

Dutch Meyerpeter and Pat KeslerDutch Meyerpeter – the “Colonel Avenger” Award for

ramrodding the upgraded maintenance on our Blue Beauty.

Lou Tacchi and Pat KeslerLou Tacchi – the “Colonel Coordinator” Award - for his

unique ability to coordinate all B-25 maintenance tasks from topto bottom. TBM winter maintenance

L-3 GETS NEW TAIL WHEEL

Hubert Looney & Bob Cushman preparing for taxiing testing.

Hubert Looney taxiing testing tail wheel. (Say that 4 times fast.)

Hubert Looney taxiing L-3.

New tail wheel big success.

MAINTENANCE ON SHOW ME

Jim Lammert and Dan Schmied on nose jack.

Pat Fenwick and Buddy Welch working the wing jack.Fenwick coordinating the lifting of the aircraft for the gear

swings.

Lou Tacchi and Dan Bauer working the wing jack.

GENERAL MEETING MINUTES 8:00 PM January 5, 2013 @ Lombardos· CALL TO ORDER· PLEDGE OF ALLIGIENCE· ROLL CALL OF STAFF: WL __ ADJ __ EXEC __ OPS __MAINT __ FIN __ SAFE __ PIO __· RECOGNIZE VISITORS AND GUESTS· MINUTES OF LAST MEETING – in COMPASS· INFIRMED MEMBERS – Passing of Col. Anderson “Pete”Casey on Dec 24th

COMMITTEE REPORTS:Compass – John CoffeyGasoline Sales – Jim Lammert/$teve GossettWeb Site – Bob LawrenceMuseum – Jack Seeman/Joe Wurtz/John EskewPX – Bob LawrenceRecruiting & Membership – Bob Lawrence - New Members?Air Shows – Matt ConradLHFE – Bob MooreHangar Dance – Pat KeslerOLD BUSINESS· Covered 2012 events and airshowsNEW BUSINESS· UPCOMING AIRSHOWS & EVENTS – Matt Conrad· AWARD PRESENTATIONS… Wing LeaderMeeting Adjourned @ 9pm

MEDAL OF HONORWWI AVIATION

baloons). Cap.t Rickenbacker was a member of the 94th AeroSquadron, the famous “Hat in the Ring” squadron named becauseof their insignia. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by PresidentHerbert Hoover on 6 Nov 1930 for actions on 25 Sept 1918. Hiscitation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyondthe call of duty in action against the enemy near Billy, France,September 25, 1918. While on a voluntary patrol over the lines,Lieutenant Rickenbacker attacked 7 enemy planes (5 type Fokker,protecting 2 type Halberstadt). Disregarding the odds againsthim, he dived on them and shot down 1 of the Fokkers out ofcontrol. He then attacked 1 of the Halberstadts and sent it downalso.”

Col Tim Mohr

Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker isprobably one of the most recognizedMedal of Honor recipients next to AudieMurphy. He was the “Ace of Aces” ofthe nations WWI aviators with 26confirmed victories (22 aircraft and 4

COL. ANDERSON "PETE" CASEY

GONE WEST

Recently the Wing lost one of our most avid supporters, Col.“Pete” Casey. Towards the end of 2010 I spent some timeinterviewing Pete for a series of 3 articles published in TheCompass in 2011 that described some of his exploits during WWIIin the Philippines. Pete was quite generous with his time andwas happy to show me his personal memorabilia (newspaperarticles, discharge papers, personal letters, etc.) that supportedhis stories. His memory was quite keen and his ability to “goback” to those difficult days with a gleam in his eyes was quiteastounding. His story of being ambushed one night while onpatrol sticks out. Pete and his squad were ambushed and facedvery strong machinegun fire at close range. Pete and his squadreturned fire and retreated to the shelter of a couple of burnedout vehicles. Just as fast as the ambush started it was over.Upon returning to the scene the next day and seeing all the junglethat was mowed down by the gunfire, Pete was amazed that heand his squad had survived. “Rick, our Guardian Angels werewith us that night” Pete said “There is no way we should havesurvived that ambush.”

I last saw Pete at the Wing late last year. He was tinkeringwith a chainsaw engine in the B-25 Hangar like he loved to do. Ialways made it a point to talk with Pete. He always greeted mewith a “Hey Buddy” and a smile on his face. Pete was anaccomplished aviator spending many hours flying in and out oflocal airports in his younger years. When I told him I was workingon my tail wheel endorsement last year, Pete said he hoped thatwe would fly together one day so he could show me how to“stick” those power-on landings.

Pete was a member of “The Greatest Generation” duringWWII. He was proud of his country and proud of his service tohis country. He was a diminutive man with a keen mind and ahuge heart. He hardly missed a Wing Meeting and was proud tolead the meeting attendees with “The Pledge of Allegiance” whenasked. Col. Chris Herrmann, one of the pallbearers at Pete’sfuneral, said Pete’s internment ceremony at Jefferson BarracksNational Cemetery was one of the most beautiful he had everwitnessed. Snow falling on hallowed ground a long way fromthe steamy jungles of the Philippines. Fly High My Friend !!!

Col. Rick Rea

Col. Don Huster working on the staff car's fuel tank. Brrrr!

Pete loved the Wing's L-Bird.

COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCEMISSOURI WING

P.O. Box 637St. Charles, MO 63302-0637

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2013

Compass Deadline: March Newsletter - Need info by February 23 April Newsletter - Need info by March 25

FebruaryBirthdays!

CAF

JanuaryBirthdays!

Joe Baruzzini (2) • John Henke (2) • Dave Ceglinski (2) • Phil Bamberger (7)Dick Hendrix (12) • Anastasia Kemp (13) • Joe Bodziony (14) • Dick Arnold (14)

Tom Wagoner (15) • Mike Koenig (15)John Hawkins • Carol McSweeney (24) • Bill Lippincott (27) • Harold Moss (27)

Dale Heining (2) • Logan Doyle (4) • John Allen (7)Mike McEntee (23) • Bill Wehmeier (23) • Frank Vitello (25)

TBM tail wheel being checked and packed by Ken Stricker andKen Supranowich.

B-25 fuel calibration check. Joe and Dan on a cold JanuarySaturday. They said it was refreshing! Ahhhhhh....