Obituaries in the News..Col. Francis Gabreski

AP ^ | 2/1/02 | AP

[TomServo]

NEW YORK (AP) - Retired Col. Francis "Gabby" Gabreski, who for many years was known as "America's Greatest Living Ace," died Thursday after suffering a heart attack at his home in Dix Hills, on Long Island. He was 83.

Gabreski, who recorded 37 1/2 kills as a fighter pilot in both World War II and the Korean War, joined the Army Air Corps in 1941. Throughout the war, Gabreski was credited with a record 31 kills in WWII. He added 6 1/2 more kills during the Korean War, his daughter said.

After WWII, Gabreski spent several years in flight testing and in command of fighter units before being assigned as commander of the 51st Fighter Wing. He helped develop tactics for jet fighters and shot down 6 1/2 MiG-15s between July 1951 and April 1952.

After his military career, he worked in the aviation industry and later served as president of the Long Island Rail Road.

Gabreski wrote about his military career in his autobiography, "Gabby, A Fighter Pilot's Life."

A member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame, an airport in Westhampton Beach on eastern Long Island bears his name.

[TomServo]

Randy Cunningham

A very bad dude to mix it up with..all missile Ace, if I remember correctly.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Rest in Peace, Gabby.

[hchutch]

Ahhh, yes. Operation Bolo. Imagine the surprise felt by the MiG pilots...

[CommiesOut]

Don't panic, dude. We can fly even after 250 grams of grain alcohol.

At Maxwell, Gabby almost washed out again, this time for fainting at early morning parade when he badly hung over. He compounded the problem by not immediately explaining his reason for passing out. From the Army's point of view, a pilot who fainted for no apparent reason was an unacceptable risk, while one who fainted because he was hung over was merely a mild disciplinary issue. But before it got to expulsion, Gabreski coughed up the actual reason, and apart from some extra guard duty and other punishments, escaped further repercussions.

Good Man and Patriot. R.I.P.

[Mark17]

The United States had only two aces in Vietnam; Randy Cunningham and Steve Ritchie.

I remember seeing an interview with Ritchie, but was this Cuningham the Navy guy who was a POW, and later a congressman?

[pfflier]

Yep. It was standard to credit partial kills like .5 when two pilots jointly claimed one plane.

[hchutch]

All missile ace. And kill number five was a guy named Colonel Tomb. Tomb had shot down seventeen American planes before Cunningham took him down in an epic dogfight.

Cunningham's still around. Serving in Congress, IIRC.

[yarddog]

I went to Junior College with a girl named Darla Ritchie who was miss teen USA or something like that. Her husband was a pilot at Eglin AFB.

I wonder if she is the wife of Steve Ritchie?

[Jhoffa_]

OH!

Okay, thanks for clearing that up..

[Snickersnee]

Speaking of WW2 aces, I suppose you all saw the indignity visited on Joe Foss a few days back....

[hchutch]

McCain was the POW.

Duke had to punch out, but our SAR guys recovered him.

[Jen]

Does anyone know if Col Robin Olds is still alive? I am pretty sure he was an ace in WW11, Korea and Vietnam.

He was an ace in WWII and Vietnam. He 'flew a desk' during the Korean war.

[Skooz]

I'm sorry, I must have missed that. Please advise.

[Jen]

The United States had only two aces in Vietnam; Randy Cunningham and Steve Ritchie.

Partly correct. They are the only two 'pilot' aces. The F-4 is a two-seater and the Weapons Systems Officers in the backseat are also given credit for kills. I interviewed WSO Chuck DeBellevue, the leading ace of Vietnam (with six kills - Ritchie and Cunningham have five each), for an article I wrote for my base's newspaper. I think there are three WSO aces, but not sure of that number.

[pfflier]

The United States had only two aces in Vietnam; Randy Cunningham and Steve Ritchie.

Not true!!! They were the pilots who achieved ace status. Their rear seaters (W. Driscoll and C. de Bellevue respectively) and another AF GIB named J. Feinstein (no relation) received credit also for the kills. Five aces total.

[Red Jones]

bump

[NormsRevenge]

Respected by His Enemies .. a fine epitath .. God Bless this Patriot and this country

[TomServo]

Tomb had shot down seventeen American planes before Cunningham took him down in an epic dogfight.

I remember now! Saw it on the history channel. Ahhh...great show!

[NormsRevenge]

History Channel rocks !!!
Its hard to fudge old war film .. they have some great stuff

[Denver Ditdat]

I thought a Missing Man formation might be appropriate.

Very much so. Thank you.

So few remain... Joe Foss, if you're reading this, you'll have to live to a hale and hearty 100. At least.

For God and Country, DD