John Twitchell            

  Don Creason              

   Mary Wiley                

    Joe Smith                   

Darren Martin            

John Matjasko            

Paul Alexander          

John Twitchell            

LeRoy Gover, USAF, Retired

Leroy Gover

 Col. LeRoy Gover, USAF, Retired, a World War II war hero and longtime Menlo Park, California resident, died in Menlo Park on November 5, 1997, he was 83. 

He was born on May 6, 1914 in Loveland, Colorado, and moved to San Carlos, California in the early 1920s with his family. From a very young age, he was obsessed with flying. He spent hours watching the planes leave from San Francisco Airport. At the age of 16 he earned his pilot's license and then cleaned and fueled planes in trade for additional flying instruction. After graduating from Sequoia High School, he eventually began giving sightseeing flights around the Bay Area and did crop dusting around Bakersfield, California.

When World War II started in Europe, he was determined to become a fighter pilot. Since he lacked the necessary two years of college to enter the U.S. Army Air Corps, he instead joined the Royal Air Force, through the Clayton Knight Committee in May 1941. He was initially assigned to No. 66 Squadron of RAF Fighter Command and subsequently to one of the famed American Eagle Squadrons No. 133 Squadron flying Spitfires.

In 1942 he transferred to the U.S. Army Air Force as a member of the 336th Fighter Squadron of the Fourth Fighter Group, which became the highest scoring unit on the Western Front during World War II. He flew combat until February 1944, when he was sent home on mandatory leave. He destroyed at least three German fighters and damaged nine others in air-to-air combat. He was awarded the silver star for heroism, three Flying Crosses and eight Air Medals. He received a hero's welcome when he returned to San Carlos, California. When the war was over, he retired for a short period of time, but he couldn't leave the military for too long and reentered in 1947.

In January 1948 he became the regular USAF instructor for the North Carolina Air National Guard, Morris Field, Charlotte, North Carolina, flying P-47D Thunderbolts.  Some of his assignments with the NCANG included simulating combat flying sequences for the Warner Brothers movie "Fighter Squadron" and he was responsible for flying all the solo flights seen in the film.  He also led the flight formation that flew over President Truman's inaugural parade in 1949

Photo taken near the old NCANG water tower at Morris Field in Charlotte, NC

Second from left is Leroy Gover. The picture was taken during filming of the movie "FIGHTER SQUADRON"

He retired from the U. S. Air Force in 1962 as a Colonel. Following his retirement he did charter work flying fishermen to Mexico in the winter and to Canada in the summer. He retired in 1980 but kept flying, amassing over 28,000 hours of flying time. In 1995, the story of his adventures was published. He is survived by two sisters, Juanita McNulty of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Betty Adams of McKinleyville, California.

The above article was submitted by Cliff Pressley in recognizing persons associated with North Carolina Aviation.

 James (Jimmie) Harold Doolittle grew up in Alaska and then moved to Los Angles when he was 15. A constant theme in his younger days was risk taking and fisticuffs. He eventually became hooked on airplanes. In 1917, he enlisted in the Aviation Section of the U.S. Signal Corps (which eventually became the Army Air Corps during WWII, then the U. S. Air Force in 1947) where he learned to fly. His flying skills were so good he was held back as an instructor and never made it to Europe for WWI. The authors write that he was the master of the calculated risk - a mindset that was to serve him well in his flying career. It appears that although he was a skilled flyer, there was some luck in his life as he walked away from crashes that from the books I have read killed many other flyers. The early chapters of the book are a treat to read as they cover his early years, which are very full with many amazing events-his command of the Twelfth Air Force in Africa and Italy until the famed Doolittle Raid on Japan. The raid is covered in detail, but it is his years as General of the Eighth Air Force in Europe from D-Day on that I found very interesting. I was surprised to read that he was good friends with George Patton and that he was disliked by Eisenhower in the early years. One thing that got Doolittle in trouble with his commanders was his risking his life by flying all the airplanes of the Army Air Corps and to go on missions with his crews. I was surprised to read that he flew a P-38 (which was picked due to its distinct shape that was hoped so that hopefully it wouldn't be fired on by Allied Troops) for several hours over the D-Day landing in Normandy. The authors write that he was the only general who witnessed the whole landing operations first hand.

Along with Doolittle's life the authors wove into his narrative the story of his wife Josephine (Joe) Daniels Doolittle who appeared to be quite a person in her own right and the perfect match to Jimmie. The names of the people he came into contact with throughout his flying career is a who's who of aviation history. His accomplishments include: winner of the Schneider Trophy, the Bendix Trophy Race, and the Thompson Trophy Race, first to cross the continent in under 24 hours, first to complete a "blind flight" and first to execute an outside loop, and to break several landplane speed records of the time. During his career he was awarded the Medal of Honor, Sliver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, etc. But throughout it all he never seemed too affected by the all successes and appeared to be a man one would like to get to know.

The book Doolittle by Thomas & Jablonski can be found in the Members Loan Section at the Dolph Overton Aviation Library of the Carolinas Aviation Museum and is book number 27.838.