World War II's "Most Admired"

World War II's Most Admired

Photo: (March 1998: Williams Gateway Airport, Mesa, Arizona) Left to Right: General Joe Foss, Vic Cleary, Joe Forster, and Jack Purdy.

Very rarely do I stray far from 610 WTVN talk radio in the mornings and afternoons during my drives to and from work, but this morning, I was caught in a jam on the Columbus outerbelt. A massive fender bender locked up 270 this morning around 845 am, just in time to catch me in the act, returning from a quick morning meeting with our fine marketing agency. For a change of paste, I flipped to 1460 the FAN for some sports news. It's football season, and I love listening to local chatter on the Buckeyes.

Instead of getting "Buckeye" locker news, the Mike and Mike show was on, but they quickly caught my attention with an interesting topic. Mike (I am not sure which one), asked the other Mike his opinion who the most admired one or two figures in pro sports are, that are still living today? In other words, if you were sitting at a restaurant, and you worked in the sports entertainment business, who would HAVE to walk in and sit down at the restaurant for you to be humbled by their presence?

All in all, it was an excellent question and they provided their own opinions and why. Mike (I can't remember which Mike), said in baseball, it would have to be Hank Aaron. The other Mike said Cal Ripkin, but added the fans may agree more with him more so than the players. In basketball, one picked Bill Russell, the other picked Dr. J, because Michael Jordan regularly refers to Dr. J as the "real" legend. In hockey, Gordie Howe and Gretzgy (did I spell it wrong?). And for some reason, in football, they both agreed Anthony Munoz (which I couldn't quite figure out), Coach Shula and Coach Ditka. Good choices overall.

This conversation made me think back to March of 1998 when I was producing the Cox Communications Air & Motor Spectcular in Mesa, Arizona. Each year, during our air show, we would invite a number of Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and Army pilots to fly their fighter jets, cargo planes, bombers, refuelers, and helicopters into our show, to provide "static" aircraft displays for the tens of thousands of people who purchased tickets to view up close and personal. In some cases, the pilots and crew would even allow spectators (taxpayers and true owners of the aircraft) to sit in their seats, flip the switches, grab the stick, and try the aircraft "on for size."

To keep these young men and women in-uniform entertained, we would oftentimes invite them into our VIP Chalet for drinks and food, and to relax while watching the air show from an unobstructed patio. To enhance their entertainment, I would personally invite a few World War II era fighter aces, who wintered, or lived fulltime in the Phoenix, Arizona market, to attend the event and sit with us in the chalet, enjoy the show, and talk to the young, active pilots, to share "war" stories, per say. It was somewhat a selfish gesture on my part, because I loved talking to these guys as well, but I found, year after year, they were staunch supporters of the show because they loved reliving their pasts and sharing words of encouragement with the young fighter pilots flying the new jets, who admired their service 50 years ago. There was definitely a level of mutual respect between the old warriors and the new warriors, and it was quite an experience to be a "fly on the wall" and listen to their conversations.

I was easily star struck by any of the old WWII aces who agreed to come to my show and fortunately for me, I call many of them my friends... Colonel Jerry Collinsworth (and his lovely wife Fran), Jack and Liz Purdy, Joe Forster, etc. However, once, during the show, I truly realized how star struck the aces themselves were of one in particular among their ranks. In March of 1998, Jack Purdy and Joe Forster from the 475th Fighter Group attended the show and told me they had convinced another well known ace to also attend the event. Both men were P-38 Lightning aces during the war and had miraculously impressive flying records. Jack Purdy shot down 7 Japanese aircraft, was the first man to survive a water crash in a P-39 Air Cobra, and lived a second crash in a P-38 outside Manila. He lived a long, successful life and became a self made millionaire and small business owner in Dayton, Ohio before retiring fulltime in Scottsdale. Joe Forster was even more successful from the P-38 cockpit. Joe shot down 15 Japanese aircraft (a triple Ace by definition) and still today holds the record for the longest flight in a P-38 on one engine, when he lost power in one of his engines over a remote section of the South Pacific and was forced to fly the aircraft for hours and hours back to his island base, which he did safely. As you can imagine, most of the squadron's maintenance men's jaws dropped when they heard the story.

Anyway... back to "my" story. We stood around for a half hour and talked, had some laughs, and I introduced them to a few current pilots who were in attendance, and deep conversation began to take place. However, at a moment's notice Jack Purdy snapped to attention in a fit of nervousness when his invited guest (and wife) arrived the chalet. It was Brigadier General Joe Foss. Joe was responsible for shooting down 28 Japanese aircraft VERY early in the war, when the Japanese were at full strength and had superior aircraft. This accomplishment earned him a trip home, a cover of LIFE magazine, and a PR tour of the country, even though he would have preferred to have kept fighting. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during the war, later served as the Governor of South Dakota, the Commissioner of the American Football League in the late 1950's, and was a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association including the television host of the show American Rifleman. Joe was impressive, no doubt. He was a true American. Even though Jack Purdy and Joe Forster were by definition true men among men, - they even knew Joe Foss was something special. The energy radiated from the crowd when Joe was present. His confidence was evident and the young pilots (especially the Marines who were taught his legendary stories) flocked to be by his side. I can confidentally say that Joe Foss falls into the category of World War II's Most Admired. I have never seen such a moving display of admiration for one man - from his peers who themselves are unbelivably admirable. That was definitely a rare occurence in my life and I will never forget it, for as long as I live.