Joe Foss, WWII Hero and Former South Dakota Governor, Dies at 87

AP ^ | 1-1-2003

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

Ping

[PoorMuttly]

I am very sorry to hear about this. He was a very noble and patriotic man.

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

Bump for an American Hero.

[1rudeboy]

I'm not sure, but I think this is the guy who shot-down the wingman of Germany's top ace, while at the same time the German ace was shooting-down Mr. Foss' wingman. After Mr. Foss himself was later shot down over France, the German ace "bent" the rules in order to throw Mr. Foss a dinner-party at the German squadron HQ.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He will be missed.

[Cagey]

More from his bio. Quite an American, Joe Foss was.

Joseph Jacob Foss was born on April 17, 1915, in Sioux Falls, S.D., to a farm family near South Dakota’s largest city. Farm life was hard in the ’20s and ’30s and it was there young Foss learned the value of hard work and developed his skills as an outdoorsman.

At age 16, Foss, already entranced with aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, fell in love with airplanes after he and his father took a ride with a famed South Dakota aviator, Clyde Ice.

Two years later, Foss’s father died and the young man was stretched thin, trying to farm, hold down odd jobs and go to college. Economics won out, and the next year he dropped out of school. He farmed and did odd jobs until his younger brother was able to take over the farm.

He went back to school – Sioux Falls College and the University of South Dakota – and managed to eke out enough extra cash to take flying lessons. He joined the National Guard to hone his aviation skills and joined the Marines his senior year.

At age 26, he earned his wings, but was deemed too old to be a fighter pilot. But he was determined, eventually working his way into a carrier group. His first combat assignment was Guadalcanal.

His aerial marksmanship with the "Cactus Air Force" during that long and bloody combat for Henderson Field earned him international fame.

Foss’s war was over for a while after he shot down his 26^th enemy plane. He returned to the home front to promote the war effort. After being presented the Medal of Honor, Foss returned to the Pacific in 1944 to work in search and destroy missions. Malaria forced him to leave the Pacific in late 1944. In 1945, he left the military.

Foss worked at odd jobs and started an aviation business and bought a car dealership with a friend. He helped develop the South Dakota Air

National Guard and ran for State Legislature and won. He was a member of the South Dakota House from 1949-1950 and 1953-1954. His next move was to run for governor of South Dakota. In 1955, the GOP moderate began the first of two two-year terms. The highlight of his administration was the creation of a state agency to promote business growth and economic development.

After serving as governor, Foss spent a short time working for Raven Industries before becoming the first Commissioner of the upstart American Football League. He helped build the league to respectability, leaving in 1966, just a few months before the historic agreement that led to the merger of AFL and NFL and the creation of the Super Bowl.

His next adventure, as host for the ABC network television program "The American Sportsman," took him all over the world for hunting and fishing excursions. Three years later, he started his own weekly syndicated series: "The Outdoorsman: Joe Foss."

In 1972, he began a six-year stint as Director of Public Affairs for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. From 1988 to 1990, Foss was in the spotlight again as president of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

[Cagey]

I believe all his combat flying was in the Pacific Theater.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the ping, 4.1O dana super trac pak

Joe Foss

Joe Foss (standing second from left) and pilots of VMF-121 at Henderson Field in February 1943. By that time, Captain Foss was in command of the squadron and had earned the Medal of Honor. (National Archives)

[clintonh8r]

Semper fi and farewell to a true patriot.

[tenthirteen]

The passing of these great Americans of WW II, especially Gov. FOSS, is indeed a sad thing. Suffice it to say that our generation applauds his service, sacrifice and patriotism. Would that we be so worthy of it.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

I'm not sure

I am sure. Foss was a United States Marine pilot fighting the Japs in the South Pacific over Guadalcanal.

RIP Devil Dog

[JennysCool]

Everyone best remember that Joe Foss made the news last year when he was singled out in an airport line, searched, and his Medal of Honor confiscated while the airport security people worked to determine if it was dangerous. It got some press, but it should have been a national outrage.

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

Good bio http://www.acepilots.com/usmc_foss.html

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

Thanks for the reminder.

[1rudeboy]

My bad. Now I will spend the rest of the evening wondering who I was thinking of, and whether he was an American in the first place.

[donozark]

Mr. Foss was still serving on Board of NRA. He was to stand for re-election this spring. Very personable man as well as a true American hero...he shall be missed.

[Cagey]

I had totally forgotten that story. They must have been profiling that day. /sarcasm.

Yes, that should have been a national outrage.

[4.1O dana super trac pak]

There was a British POW pilot so respected by the Germans that they allowed the RAF to drop an artificial limb for him over the POW camp.

[JennysCool]

War Medal Frustrates Foss Air Trip
by Brian Witte
Associated Press

'They're so nuts about this,' ex-governor says of security

Joe Foss, a former South Dakota governor and war hero, said he was hampered while going through airline security last week - after his Medal of Honor, a commemorative penknife and a dummy bullet on his key chain triggered tight scrutiny.

He said he was "sizzling" by the time he was finally allowed on the plane.

"They gave me a hassle all the way," the 86-year-old said in a telephone interview. "It was just like I was trying to carry some oddball piece of metal or something that would do something."

Foss said he has had a pacemaker for 20 years and had to be patted down because he couldn't walk through a metal detector. He said the medal attracted the security crew's attention after his jacket was sent through an X-ray machine.

Foss, who flew out of Phoenix on his way to a National Rifle Association meeting in Arlington, Va., said he eventually was allowed to bring the medal on the plane, but he had to check the penknife and the bullet, which has a hole in it and is harmless.

"They acted like I shouldn't be carrying it," Foss, 86, said, referring to the Medal of Honor. "And they didn't know what it was. It was just a piece of metal to them."

Foss, a former Marine Corps pilot who was awarded the medal by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943 after Foss shot down 26 enemy planes during World War II, said he brought it to show at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He plans to speak there next week.

Notable and ordinary passengers alike have been getting much greater scrutiny at airports since the terrorism attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Congressman John Dingell is one of the latest examples. Dingell, who has a steel hip joint, knee brace and surgically implanted ankle pins, was asked to drop his pants at Washington's Reagan National Airport.

Foss flew on America West. Patty Nowack, a spokeswoman for the airline, said the security precautions are part of Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

But Foss said he thought the inspections are going too far in the wrong direction.

The former pilot said he thinks his one-way, first-class ticket and western attire made him seem suspicious to the security crew.

At the time, he was wearing a 10-gallon hat and large cowboy boots made out of ostrich.

To get on the plane, he had to take the boots off on three separate occasions.

"Evidently, they were looking for me over at the gate because when I came to the gate, they told me to stand in a certain area and wait till we boarded," Foss said.

Despite the thorough searching, Foss said he did not feel any safer on the plane.

"They're so nuts about this thing now," he said. "That whole program needs to go back, call themselves aside and start from square one. It's nutty. Why should you have to go through such a hassle?"

Foss was elected governor of South Dakota in 1954 and 1956. He once lead the NRA and the American Football League. He now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.