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This Day in History – June 10, 1969 – The X-15 gets a place in history

10 June 1969: The U.S. Air Force donated the first North American Aviation X-15, serial number 56-6670, to the Smithsonian Institution for display at the National Air and Space Museum. The first of three X-15A hypersonic research rocketplanes built by North American for the Air Force and the National Advisory Committee (NACA, the predecessor of NASA), 56-6670 made the first glide flight and

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Watry, Charles A.

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  • Watry, Charles A.

Charles Andrew Watry

Preferred Name: Chuck
Date of Birth: December 7, 1923
Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Boise, ID
Headed West Date: February 27, 2017
Biography
Pilot Information
Headed West
Album
Books

Charles “Chuck” Watry served in the Army Air Corps/USAF from 1944 to 1974. He was actively flying during his entire 30-year career and retired as a Colonel. He flew F-100’s for three years with the 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in the UK from 1957-1960.

His military life started when he entered the US Army Air Corps in 1943, and he went on to a long career as a combat pilot, retiring in 1974. In his career, he flew transports in Europe in World War II, attack bombers in the Korean War, and then transitioned to two decades flying fighter jets, with several tours of duty in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He served several years at the Pentagon, and also at Tactical Air Command Headquarters at Langley AFB, Virginia.

After retiring from the Air Force in 1974, Charles embarked on the second career he had always wanted journalism and writing. He founded and published the Pacific Flyer, a monthly general aviation newspaper in Southern California. He also began writing a series of self-published histories of his times in the Air Force and created several novels and screenplays. He helped other World War II veterans write and publish their personal stories, and contributed to numerous scholarly histories of flying during the war.

He was an active member of the Old Bold Pilots and the Daedalians and enjoyed socializing with these other pilots. He was a lifelong “doer” who sought out new experiences, especially in flying and competitive events such as sports car and sailboat racing, and he was active in local yacht clubs throughout his life.

Units Assigned

  • 1943 Entered US Army Air Corps
  • Flew transports in Europe in World War II
  • Flew attack bombers in the Korean War
  • 1957-1960 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (F-100)
  • Pentagon
  • Tactical Air Command Headquarters at Langley AFB, Virginia.
  • 1974 Retired USAF

Awards & Decorations

Flight Info

Transports
Attack bombers
F-100

Military & Civilian Education

Military Education:

  • 1966-1967 Graduate Studies, US Army War College

Civilian Education:

  • 1942 Herbert Hoover High Schoo, Glendale, CA
  • Glendale Junior College
  • 1949 BA/English, University of Southern California

SSS member Charles A. Watry, (Col USAF, Ret), “Headed West” on February 27, 2017.

Chuck was actively flying during his entire 30-year career in the USAF and retired as a Colonel. He flew F-100’s for three years with the 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in the UK from 1957-1960.

Charles Andrew Watry, (93) born December 9, 1923, in Boise, Idaho, died peacefully at home in Fairfield, California, on Monday, February 27, 2017. Charles was the eldest son of Peter Joseph Watry of Port Washington, Wisconsin and Sarah Elizabeth Watry (nee Howey) of Beardstown, Illinois.

Charles grew up in Glendale, graduating from Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale in 1942. He attended Glendale Junior College after high school, and Charles and Jackie were married in 1948 in Glendale. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Southern California in 1949, and he did graduate-level studies at the US Army War College in 1966-67.

His military life started when he entered the US Army Air Corps in 1943, and he went on to a long career as a combat pilot, retiring in 1974 as a Colonel. In his career, he flew transports in Europe in World War II, attack bombers in the Korean War, and then transitioned to two decades flying fighter jets, with several tours of duty in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He served several years at the Pentagon, and also at Tactical Air Command Headquarters at Langley AFB, Virginia.

After retiring from the Air Force in 1974, Charles embarked on the second career he had always wanted journalism and writing. He founded and published the Pacific Flyer, a monthly general aviation newspaper in Southern California. He also began writing a series of self-published histories of his times in the Air Force and created several novels and screenplays. He helped other World War II veterans write and publish their personal stories, and contributed to numerous scholarly histories of flying during the war.

He was an active member of the Old Bold Pilots and the Daedalians and enjoyed socializing with these other pilots. He was a lifelong “doer” who sought out new experiences, especially in flying and competitive events such as sports car and sailboat racing, and he was active in local yacht clubs throughout his life. In retirement, this love of boating led him to volunteer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary in Oceanside, CA.

His other great love was swing jazz music, stemming from his teen years when he played drums in local bands in Los Angeles. Also in his retirement, he broadened this interest by taking up the saxophone, trumpet, and trombone. He organized several local community jazz bands in Carlsbad, CA, and enjoyed playing and socializing with his band members.

He is survived by his two younger brothers, David Howey Watry of San Diego and Peter Johannes Watry of Chula Vista, his sons Duncan James Watry (Ellen Greenberg) of Piedmont and Andrew Duff Watry (Margaret Baumgartner) of Berkeley. He is also survived by his four grandchildren Laura, Luke, Hannah, and Emma Watry, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by Jacqueline Louise Watry (nee Duff), his wife of 43 years. A funeral service was held in the Wee-Kirk-of-the-Heather Chapel at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA.

Watry, Charles
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Wall of Honor Location

Aerial Gunners: The Unknown Aces of World War II by Charles A. Watry

Reviews by Thriftbooks.com users…

My hat is off to the men who flew in the heavy bombers of WWII. This book captures their stories, many by first-hand recount. These were young men in their late teens and early twenties, who flew into enemy territory, again and again, mission after mission, while the enemy tried to shoot them out of the sky with fighters, rockets, and AAA. Fighter pilots got all the glory. Now hear the story of the enlisted men who shot back and scored.”

“The fact that I’ve never seen another book on this subject alone qualifies it for five stars. The subject is gunners in American bombers during World War II. Many of them have interesting stories to tell, and they’re here in this book…”

Washout! The Aviation Cadet Story by Charles A. Watry, foreword by Frank K. “Pete” Everest ; illustrations by Bob Stevens

The story of the aviation cadet in the Army Air Forces during WWII. No other description available.

 

 

 

 

 

Boneyard Queen by Charles A. Watry

Stan Barnes is a rejected fighter pilot who falls in love with the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. He manages to transfer to a bomber group, where he locates a derelict B-17 in the aircraft boneyard. He assembles a misfit crew, and they put together a patchwork bomber and take it into combat in the early days of WWII in New Guinea. The bomber and crew become the scourge of the Japanese, attacking key targets and dueling with a heavily armed Japanese fleet. A novel of tribute to the ingenuity and inventiveness of the fighting men in the Southwest Pacific, and a story of fierce aerial combat in the struggle against an enemy over the steaming jungles and soaring peaks of New Guinea.

 

Scratch One Zeke by Charles A. Autry

Military Fiction

 

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