The first test pilot of the F-100 Super Sabre was George Welch. Born George Lewis Schwartz in May of 1918, his parents changed his name for fear of anti-German-sentiment. Welch grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, the son of a research chemist at Dupont.
After graduation from St. Andrew’s School in 1936, he attended Purdue University for three years, studying mechanical engineering. In 1939 he joined the Army Air Corps, serving in WWII, becoming a Flying Ace and a Medal of Honor nominee. George Welch is one of the few P-40 pilots to engage Japanese forces in air combat during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This is a medical update from SSS Charter member George Buchowski who flew F-100’s with the 48TFW/493TFS, 309TFS and Misty’s followed by 30 years with Delta Airlines. I want to give an update on the results o...
12 July, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
The Summer 2019 edition (Issue 40) of our journal went to our printer on 2 JUL and was delivered to our mailing contractor on 8 JUL. It is now winding its way through the process of getting your copy to you … wherever y...
10 July, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
Another 4th of July is here and many of us remember that Independence is what we fought for, sometimes in the most difficult of circumstances and with great sacrifice. I just spent two wonderful days in Yellowstone Natio...
04 July, 2019 No comment 3 Likes
The 2019 Super Sabre Society reunion was held on 15 thru 19 May in San Antonio Texas. Home base was the Menger hotel which is a beautiful historic hotel in the Alamo Plaza area. This report is not a compilation of remark...
22 May, 2019 No comment 0 LikesSSS member and former POW Jon Reynolds asked us to find “Al Voegelin”. Jon wanted to reach out to Al because he reached out to his parents during his 6 years as a POW. Al V’s name was easily misspelled ...
06 April, 2019 No comment 2 Likes
Photo summary of our F-100 Memorial Rock Dedication Ceremony at Nellis AFB, on Friday, March 15th...
14 March, 2019 No comment 2 Likes
The National Air and Space Museum Wall of Honor representative has agreed to import about 600 of our most complete SSS website Biographies during the next few months. We currently have about 1000 bio's online, and this ...
03 January, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
We have to start this New Year with a huge “Thank You” to Don Shepperd. Several of you have already done so, but I want to add that we owe him a huge debt of gratitude for all he has accomplished while he was president....
03 January, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
Leo Mansuetti is truly one of us, a fighter pilot in heart and soul. He started out as an Aviation Cadet in 1959 as an RO in F-89s and then F-101s. ...
01 January, 2019 No comment 1 Like
Super Sabre Society member Air Force Lt. Col. A. T. Ballard, Jr., 87, of Spartanburg, SC, died Thursday, May 23, 2019. Lt. Col. Ballard was the second son of nine children born to Arthur T. Ballard, Sr. and Carrie DeStaf...
16 July, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
Col. John “Jack” Gilchrist “Headed West” July 7, 2019 SSS Member Jack Gilchrist passed away suddenly on July 7, 2019. He had been admitted to the hospital two weeks earlier for kidney stones. Unfo...
08 July, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
“Misty 101” James A. Nugent “Headed West” May 26, 2019 Col. James (Jim) Andra Nugent (USAF, Ret.), died May 26 at the VA Hospice in Lexington, KY. Jim graduated from Tioga High School in 1958 and went on to a distinguish...
05 July, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
Colonel Douglas R Young of Henderson, NV (USAF, Ret.) “Headed West”, May 21, 2019. Doug was born on January 29, 1938, to Burton H and Marjorie D (Reiniger) Young of Rathdrum, Idaho. He graduated from Washing...
27 June, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
Dean Abbott, 91, headed west on May 7, 2019, just a day before the 74th anniversary of his enlisting to fly in WWII. That war ended before he could get in the action. But he later found combat in the skies of Korea (F-8...
21 June, 2019 No comment 2 Likes
SSS member Lloyd Richard Laycook, COL, USAF (Ret) 88, headed west on May 30, 2019, at Dixie Regional Hospital in Saint George, Utah, from complications of a fall. He was born on July 9, 1930, in Bakersfield, California, ...
30 May, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
Leaving behind a legacy of love for his family and country. Our dad, “Grandpa Don” passed away peacefully with his two daughters Janet and Kirsten by his side. Don is also survived by his jokester son-in-laws Butch ( Jan...
28 May, 2019 No comment 1 Like
Roger Root, 69, of Winner SD headed west on Saturday, May 4th, 2019 at the Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD. Funeral service will be held on Thursday, May 9th, 2019 at 10:00 AM at the Immaculate Conception Catholic C...
04 May, 2019 No comment 3 Likes
Super Sabre Society Charter member George Forster (10/3/1938-4/27/2019) flew the F-100 with the 481TFS; 612TFS; 615TFS; 613TFSHeadedWest. George was awarded the Silver Star in Vietnam. According to Facebook posts, George...
28 April, 2019 No comment 0 Likes
Former POW, Col. USAF (Ret) Murphy Neal Jones services were at Arlington Cemetary, April 26, at 9AM. A flyby was completed by the Tactical Air Command’s 23rd Fighter Wing, Moody AFB, GA (74th FS – 4 A-10’s)....
26 April, 2019 No comment 6 Likes
