Louis Edward Curdes
Louis Edward "Lou" Curdes (November 2, 1919 – February 5, 1995) was an American flying ace of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II who held the unusual distinctions of scoring an official and intentional air-to-air kill against another American aircraft as well as shooting down at least one aircraft from each of the major Axis powers.Curdes grew up having an interest in aviation and would later drop out of college to join the military to become a pilot on December 6, 1941, the day before the Attack on Pearl Harbor.He then escaped captivity twice and was recaptured twice and after his prison guards abandoned their posts, he spent about nine months in the enemy-held central Apennine Mountains.Curdes was one of only three American pilots to shoot down aircraft belonging to the German, Italian and Japanese air forces.In total, Curdes shot down seven German Messerschmitt Bf 109s, an Italian Macchi C.202 fighter, a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-46 reconnaissance aircraft and an American Douglas C-47 Skytrain.Curdes then joined the new United States Air Force and served on bases around the country and world until he retired after 22 years of service.Curdes played basketball and ran track in high school, but his coach caught him smoking so he was cut from the teams.Curdes only occasionally followed the ongoing wars in Europe and Asia, but still had a strong dislike of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.He then joined the Army Reserve on March 12, 1942, and later became a 2nd Lieutenant, graduating from Flying School on December 3, 1942, at Luke Field, Arizona at the age of 23 and was posted to the Mediterranean theater.[1][2] Curdes joined the 329th Fighter Group in Glendale, California and then spent a month at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.[1][3] During another escort mission on June 24, he shot down an Italian Macchi C.202 over Golfo Aranci in northern Sardinia[1][6] and then damaged a German Bf 109 on July 30 over Pratica di Mare, Italy.[2] He was forced to land wheels up on a beach about 10 miles south of Salerno due to combat damage to his aircraft and a shortage of fuel.The group of about twenty officers took food, rifles (likely Carcano M1891s) and ammunition and over the next eight months, travelled south through the central Apennine Mountains, making their way toward the Allied advance.[6] On August 30, 1944, Major John "Gil" Bright was shot down over nearby Montalto di Castro and held prisoner until the Armistice.They also raided Japanese facilities along the coast of China and the island of Taiwan, providing escort duties to Allied ships, dropping supplies from the air, delivering mail, and evacuating the wounded.[1] On February 7, 1945, Curdes flew a P-51 about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Taiwan, where he shot down a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-46-II reconnaissance aircraft.Scalley and La Croix located a small Japanese airfield and attacked it and also called for reinforcement, Curdes and Schmidtke headed south to join them.As the squadron circled, Curdes could see that his companion had survived, and remained in the area to guide a rescue plane and protect the downed pilot.While covering La Croix, Curdes noticed a larger twin-engined plane preparing to land at the Batan airfield from the east.He flew to investigate and found the aircraft to be a Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport with markings of the "Jungle Skippers", the 39th Airlift Squadron of the 317th Troop Carrier Group.Before dawn the next morning, Curdes and his wingman led the PBY-5A Catalina that picked up the downed C-47 pilot and 11 crew members, including two nurses, all of whom had survived the incident.A reporter for Air Force magazine later interviewed Curdes about the incident who said: "Seven 109's and one Macchi in North Africa, one Jap, and one Yank in the Pacific-and to top it, I have to go out and shoot down the girlfriend.[3][11] Curdes later flew the P-38 Lightning again with the 49th Fighter Group at Gabu Airfield in Laoag, Philippines, from where he attacked Japanese positions in northern Luzon and Okinawa until the end of the war.They shackled the briefcase to his wrist, gave him a gun and put him on a special flight through Manila, Guam, Hawaii, San Francisco to Washington D.C. where he was escorted into Henry H. Arnold's office.[2] After World War II, Curdes met Svetlana Valeria Shostakovich Brownell in Los Angeles, California on a blind date and they later married in Allen County, Indiana, on April 13, 1946.[3][6][4] Adventure novelist and underwater explorer, Clive Cussler used the incident of Curdes shooting down a friendly plane as inspiration for some of the character history of Dirk Pitt.
Allies Axis neutral
PhilippinesFort Wayne, IndianaLindenwood CemeteryUnited StatesUnited States Army Air ForcesUnited States Air ForceLieutenant ColonelService number329th Fighter Group82nd Fighter Group95th Fighter Squadron4th Fighter Squadron3rd Air Commando GroupTwelfth Air ForceFifteenth Air ForceWorld War IINorth African CampaignItalian CampaignPhilippines CampaignBattle of LuzonDistinguished Flying CrossPurple Heartflying aceAxis powersAttack on Pearl HarborMediterranean theaterPrisoner of warApennine MountainsPacific theaterAir MedalsPrisoner of War MedalLockheed P-38 LightningNorth American P-51 MustangGermanItalianJapaneseLevi R. ChaseMesserschmitt Bf 109sMacchi C.202Mitsubishi Ki-46Douglas C-47 SkytrainDouglas C-54 SkymastersBerlin AirliftIndiana Air National GuardFort WayneIndianaNorth Side High SchoolArt SmithSmith FieldClevelandGeorgiaWorld War ICurtiss JN JennyUSS AkronUSS MaconPurdue UniversityAdolf HitlerBenito MussoliniFlying CadetSanta Ana, CaliforniaOntario, CaliforniaLancaster, CaliforniaBasic Combat TrainingLuke Field, ArizonaStearman PT-13North American T-6 TexanVultee BT-13 ValiantCurtiss P-36 HawkArmy ReserveGlendale, CaliforniaNaval Air Station North IslandSan DiegoEdwards Air Force BaseCape BonTunisiaJagdgeschwader 27Marston MatB-25 Mitchell bombersVillacidroSardiniaGolfo AranciPratica di MareBeneventoSalernoRed crossOberleutnantFranz SchießM1911A1 pistolSan Valentino, SoranoArmisticePOW campCarcano M1891sItalian resistanceMissing in actionMontalto di CastroBattle of Monte CassinoEighth ArmyBud MahurinGeneva ConventionsEuropean theatreP-51 MustangAsiatic-Pacific TheaterMangaldan Airfieldisland of BatanShowa/Nakajima L2DDouglas DC-339th Airlift Squadron317th Troop Carrier GroupPima Air & Space MuseumPBY-5A CatalinaLingayenGeneral George KenneyAir Medal49th Fighter GroupGabu AirfieldGeneral MacArthurManilaWashington, D.C.HawaiiSan FranciscoHenry H. ArnoldDouglas C-54 SkymasterTempelhof AirportHarbinManchuriaDmitri Shostakovich