Bruce Ward Carr

Date of Birth: January 28, 1924
Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Union Springs, NY
Headed West Date: April 25, 1998

“On November 2nd 1944, Carr took off on a mission and was shot down by flak while strafing ground targets over Czechoslovakia. He bailed out and landed near a Luftwaffe field with the intent of surrendering to the Luftwaffe troops, but it was becoming dark just as he got there. From the trees he watched as two mechanics fueled up an FW 190, and hatched a daring plan to escape by stealing that plane.

Near dawn he snuck out and jumped in the cockpit. Through experimentation, Carr was able to start the plane, and with Luftwaffe personnel already coming out to see what was going on he gunned it across a corner of the field on a path that had him pass between two hangars before he was airborne.

Managing to make it back to his home field in France, Carr was unable to lower the landing gear and was forced to make a belly up landing. Upon landing, he was presumed to be a hostile German pilot by the armed personnel at the airfield, until he was recognised by his group commander George R. Bickel.”

After the war, Carr was assigned to the Acrojets as an F-80 Shooting Star pilot at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. The Acrojets, which preceded the Thunderbirds, were the United States Air Force’s first jet-powered aerobatic demonstration team.

Major Carr later flew the F-86 Sabre in 57 combat missions with the 336th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron while stationed at Kimpo (K-14) Air Base in South Korea during the Korean War. He then served as the commanding officer of the 336th at Misawa Air Base in Japan, from January 1955 to August 1956.

On November 3, 1968, Carr was promoted to colonel and deployed to South Vietnam later that month. He was assigned to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Tuy Hoa Air Base. He flew the F-100 Super Sabre in 286 combat missions during the war, which mostly consisted of flying close air support bombing and strafing missions. Carr was awarded the Legion of Merit and three Distinguished Flying Crosses during his deployment, before he rotated back to the United States in November 1969.”(1)

Source(1) Wikipedia