Colonel Fred Huppertz
Mercy Flight Southeast pilot Fred Huppertz had been flying missions
since September 2003. Huppertz heard about our organization from,
then Board Chairman, Larry Bishop.
He served in many capacities in a career in the U.S. Air Force that
began in 1953. Among many of this aviator's achievements is the
honor of being the youngest Air Force officer in history to serve as a commander in the USAF B-52 fleet. His honors include the
Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit,
not to mention 23 other Air Force commendations. Huppertz has been honored with the prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot
Award. In this instance, the FAA award was given to Huppertz in
recognition of 50 consecutive years of aviation safety.
His plane of choice while flying with MFSE was a V-tail Bonanza.
Based out of LZU (Georgia), Huppertz has flown many different
kind of missions but among his favorites were compassion missions.
Fred related the tale of a past mission: A family was dealing with
dying parents "clear across the country," he said, and they needed to
get there in order to take care of them. Describing a tale of both hope
and grief, "The mom was just such a nice lady and thankful. Somehow
she got a hold of my address and sent me a very nice letter. It made
me feel good about what we were doing. Her mother had died after
she arrived, but at least we made sure she was there for her."
Fred celebrated his 80th birthday this year and has officially retired
from MFSE. We are very grateful to Fred for his many years of
volunteering with MFSE. Thank You Fred Huppertz!!
