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On March 30, 1942 ... just 110 days following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese
forces were advancing throughout the South Pacific, taking new territory almost
at will. But on that day a depression-era Chicago youngster with the name Edward
F. Hodges signed on to fulfill his dream of becoming a pilot with the US
Army Air Corps. After flying aerial combat in three vicious wars... twenty-eight
years and three months later, the man who first learned military discipline
with the CCC ... Civilian Conservation Corps in Missouri in the late 1930s,
left active US Air Force duty at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, on June
30, 1970 as Lieutenant Colonel Edward F. Hodges, USAF, Ret.
The years between had provided enough excitement to last ten normal men a lifetime.
After graduating from Single engine Pilot training with Aviation Cadet class 43-C at Luke Field, AZ, in March, 1943, Hodges went on to further hone his flying skills in the big Republic P-47s, in which he was to later fly long Pacific over-water combat missions against mainland Japan from the little island of Ie Shima. Surviving aerial combat in World War II, he returned briefly to the United States after the war, only to again be reassigned to the Pacific, joining the 67th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, at Clark Field, Philippine Islands, in early 1948.
It was at Clark Field in September, 1948, that this reporter first met 1st Lieut. Ed Hodges when he, too, became a pilot assigned to the 67th Squadron, then Commanded by Major Louis J. Sebille, who later was awarded the first AF Medal of Honor of the Korean War.ÿ During the ensuing eighteen months, until we both received travel orders to return to the US in July, 1950, I got to know Ed Hodges as a friend and as a respected, talented P-51 Mustang fighter pilot. But even more notable, perhaps, were Hodges many accomplishments in his secondary duties ... as 67th Squadron Supply Officer.
At the time of his initial assignment to the 67th, Ed had down-played the fact that he'd had previous experience in Supply, hoping to finally enjoy an assignment devoted to his real `first love' ... flying. But his dream was not to be. There in the Philippines, at the most remote extremity of the far-distant tail end of the Supply chain ... the lack of prior Supply support had had dire results on the unit's operational readiness. Basic mechanic's hand tools were in such short supply that the crew chiefs were finding it necessary to trade worn screwdrivers and wrenches back and forth, because there were not enough available to issue each mechanic a set of his own basic tools.
When tapped by Major Sebille to take over 67th Ftr. Sqdn. Supply, Ed Hodges called a meeting of all flight-line mechanics, inspected their frugal tool kits, and was aghast at what he found. He immediately commandeered a truck and driver and headed for Manila in search of a solution. He returned the following day with the heavily loaded truck, and box after box of the needed tools, still wrapped in cosmoline preservative... enough to equip every 67th mechanic with his own complete set, and a few for spares. The exact source of the tools was never reported ... and it was rumored that Major Sebille had to quash a pending Courts Martial charge against Lt. Hodges, but from that day forward, the enlisted crews of the 67th Fighter Squadron swore that their Lieutenant Hodges could `walk on water; he could perform miracles, and he always reciprocated their feelings ... he knew that those men could mimic Merlin in their Mustang repairs.
It wasn't until the start of the Korean War, in late June 1950, that Ed Hodges was finally able to
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| Lt. Ed Hodges with Major Lou Sebille in 1949 |
Ed was finally `back in the saddle again', doing what he liked best ... proving his many talents as a Mustang fighter pilot... first as Assistant Flight Commander then, when severe combat losses abruptly changed the command structure, became one of the 67th's most experienced Flight Commanders. Hodges, by then promoted to Captain, continued to lead scores of dangerous ground attack missions, picking up many bullet holes from ground fire, but never losing a wing man ... until early October 1950 ... three days after our mutual friend, Lt. Don Bolt, had been lost to enemy ground fire near the North Korean capitol city of Pyongyang.
Ed had taken his flight deep into North Korea that morning; his formation had included Element Leader Captain Danny Leake (later killed in a similar incident) and a newly arrived 2nd Lt. Mario DiSylvestro, who was flying his first combat mission. Hodges' wing man had to abort with a rough engine at take-off. After successfully destroying several camouflaged enemy trucks North of Pyongyang, Hodges had felt the definite `thunk, thunk' of bullets striking his aircraft, and had pulled off the target on a westerly heading to enlist the support of an Air Rescue SA-16 amphibian, in case it should be needed. However, all gauges appeared normal, and after having Dan Leake fly close formation to look for damage, but who could find no sign of the bullet holes Hodges had felt earlier. Thinking the damage not serious, Hodges resumed his flight's attack on the ground targets until their ammunition was expended and it was time to head South toward friendly territory. Then, as Hodges later told it:
"I was on my way home, flying at 7000 feet to clear the mountains, smoking a cigarette and beginning to write up my mission report when Danny Leake called and said `Push up your throttle, Ed, you're falling back.' I didn't even look up -- `just pushed the throttle forward to what I thought was four or five inches of mercury and kept writing. Danny's second call was more urgent `Push your throttle forward Ed, your air speed is falling off'. That brought my head up with a snap, and sure enough, the gauges were all unwinding. The old girl had just quit flying!...."
Ed Hodges was still far North of the `fluid front lines', somewhere over the mountains beyond Panmunjom, when his engine finally quit. He immediately dropped his external fuel tanks and made preparations to belly-in: tightening his seat belt and shoulder harness, and `popping' (ejecting) his canopy. After stretching his glide, to barely make it over one last ridge, he decided that the rough terrain was inappropriate for a safe belly landing, and decided he'd better `bail out'. He then dove down the side of the hill to pick up air speed, pulled up to a near stall and, at about 700 feet, leaped over the right-hand side of the cockpit.
As he later described it: "...I pulled up until I could feel it stall, and jumped over the wrong side at 700 feet. Bear in mind that this was mountainous terrain, so I knew I was too damned low. When I went out I found myself staring the vertical stabilizer right between the eyes and thought `Well, this is it!' but the slipstream rolled me over and, combined with the plane `snapping' to the left, I was spanked right off the right elevator... hard enough to rip the dinghy off my backpack parachute. When I saw it floating around overhead I thought `Oh Shit, it ripped off the `chute', but I still had a ripcord, so I pulled it."
"I hit the rice paddy on the first back-swing. I saw three Koreans cowering with their hands raised, protecting themselves, as my head snapped down when the chute opened. Before I got out of my harness, I had my .45 automatic out, looking for them. They were gone, I think the airplane must have fallen on them. Danny and DiSylvestro didn't see anyone near me, so that pretty well confirmed it."
Ed got out of his chute harness and ran up the hill. Meanwhile, Leake had radioed for help, then dropped low to ensure that Hodges had gotten down safely; DiSylvestro remained high to maintain radio contact with potential rescuers. In about two hours, two Marine F-4U Corsairs showed up to relieve Leake and DiSylvestro, since they were by then severely short of fuel themselves. In another hour two more Corsairs flew over, escorting what Hodges described as "... the first helicopter he'd ever seen, and the most beautiful sight in the whole wide world." He ran down the hill, picked up his helmet and ripcord, then stood in the middle of his outstretched parachute canopy to be sure they could see him.
"It landed right beside me, took me aboard, and we got the hell out of there. After we were safely airborne, I leaned forward and hit this poor Marine pilot right between the shoulder blades with my fist. He just looked back, grinned, and squeezed my hand."
Leake and DiSylvestro were waiting to bear-hug Hodges when he climbed off the helicopter. He searched for forty years in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the Marine helicopter pilots who had saved his life ... he wanted to "give them the greatest, most memorable party of their entire lives..."
Hodges' lower back had been injured when he was so unceremoniously spanked by the Mustang's errant tail assembly, and in early November 1950, before a `Combat Tour' was established by FEAF Headquarters, Ed Hodges was transferred back to the 44th Fighter Squadron at Clark Field after having survived sixty-seven low attack missions in the Korean War.
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| Ed Hodges & Bud Biteman, Pusan, Oct 1950 |
Upon return to the Philippines, Capt. Hodges immediately set about trying to make telephone contact with his wife Phyrne, half way `round the world in Galesburg, Ill. After finally reaching her, he learned that she was in the hospital, giving premature birth to a new son, Robert Lou, who succumbed after just four days. Hodges was immediately sent on Compassionate Leave to the `States to be with his ailing wife, with orders ultimately assigning him to the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw AFB, SC. However, because the 20th FBW was embarking almost immediately for Europe, his orders were changed, making him one of the earliest Korean-combat Instructor Pilots at Nellis AFB, NV... providing first-hand combat... and survivability training... to scores of novice F-86 Sabre pilots.
By July 1952, the Air Force was finally expanding its training facilities to accommodate the hundreds of new pilots required by the ongoing Korean War. Captain Hodges was tapped as part of a cadre to open the F-84 base at Pinecastle, FL, later renamed `McCoy AFB. As additional duty, he was tasked to write the training curricula, which he did so well that his talents were confiscated by Crew Training AF Hq at Randolph AFB, TX where, as a new Major, he was named Training Aids Officer for all Combat Crew training. (An assignment described later to me as: "Barf...!") After a series of schools, including Air Command & Staff School in `56, Major Hodges was sent to the 21st Fighter Bomber Wing, Chambley, France, where he become Operations Officer for the 531st Fighter Squadron.
Unfortunately, personal tragedy in the form of severe mental health problems of his wife, which ultimately led to their divorce, in 1960, caused his early return to the `States to care for his four children.ÿ He was permanently assigned as the F-100 Standardization & Evaluation Officer of the 1708th Ferrying Wing, Kelly AFB, TX, which mission later became the responsibility of Tactical Air Command's 4440th Aircraft Delivery Group.ÿ Ed recalled with unique satisfaction, his aerial delivery... via mid-air refueling... of a F-100 fighter to his old Korean War ...and `favorite', 67th Fighter Squadron at Kadena, Okinawa in 1959. In 1960 he led a ferry flight of six F-80 jets to Forteleza, Brazil, for delivery to the Brazilian Air Force. (His description of that flight was one of his several aviation articles later published in Military Magazine.)
Then, as if to prove that the Air Force was still full of surprises, Major Hodges was assigned a four year tour as Air Force Liaison Officer to the State of Vermont Civil Air Patrol (CAP). He claimed that he had enjoyed the disentanglement from the daily tensions of the Cold War Air Force, but admitted that the shocking experience of seeing his final approach airspeeds drop below 100 knots in little Cessnas and Pipers was `unnerving after so many years of jockeying the AF's hottest jet fighters all over the world.
Hodges was `awakened' from his Vermont CAP assignment when, in 1964 he was assigned to 17th Air Force Hqtrs. at Ramstein AFB, Germany. But instead of getting back into fighters, as he'd hoped, he spent his entire 3 year tour `in the hole' ... as Deputy Director of Command Post Operations. They built such a fine, plush `cave' that USAFE Hqtrs took it over for their own Command Post, evicting 17th AF to the `poor folk's hole' at Sembach, Germany. It was there, too, after logging 4997 exciting flying hours during 24 years as an Air Force pilot, that the AF decided that the 47 year old Command Pilot should henceforth `fly' only LSDs ... Large Steel Desks - for the remainder of his career. Ed was sorely disappointed with the `bureaucratic budget decision', and noted that his final official AF flight included "cracking a 100 foot ceiling and half mile visibility to grease his T-33 jet onto the runway at Ramstein."
The administrative grounding became the `last straw' for Hodges and, when his European tour neared completion he concluded that he'd stepped on too many high-ranking toes over the years, and was never going to be promoted to full Colonel, so he decided it was time to retire. But after putting in his papers, he found that the Officer Assignments people had one more surprise for him ... another `isolated tour' at his old stomping grounds ... Taegu, South Korea! But a high-ranking friend in Seoul managed to have his orders changed at the last minute, sending him instead to Suwon ... where he was to command a flying squadron of Republic of Korea F-86s.
However, the `fertilizer fractured the fan' when AF Personnel heard about the Korean switch, and instead sent him further South ... to Tan-Son-Nhut air base, South Viet Nam, to command the ALCE (Airlift Control Element), loading, arming, refueling, and mission schedules for C-130, C-123s and other cargo haulers operating to and from the battle zones. While there he experienced the Tet Offensive ... right there in `Safe Saigon', enemy mortar shells dropped all around his office complex, and he spent many nervous hours huddled in the bunkers. He was, after all, a `flyboy ... `he wasn't used to that foxhole crap'!
"The nights were the worst" he wrote, "They were continually rocketing us at night.ÿ One night they hit the chapel across from my BOQ, and the next night they clobbered the BX right behind us. We'd keep C-130 gunships circling out there in the dark, and when they saw the flash of a mortar going off, they'd fire their Vulcan cannons ... those things sounded like one great `ripping fart' and made a solid stream of tracers all the way to the ground. I spent one whole night huddled under my bunk in a hot Flak Jacket, thinking how nice it would be to be cruising at 40,000 feet in a nice safe fighter's cockpit!"
When his `Nam tour finally ended in November 1969, Hodges was reassigned to Eglin AFB, FL, as Deputy to Chief Plans and Programs for Special Operations Forces Headquarters, where he was finally able to process his Request for Retirement, `got `sand in his shoes' and `found a home' on North Florida's Emerald Coast.
When this reporter innocently suggested, in a 1993 letter to Hodges, that the old Clark Field - Korean War 18th Gang get together for a first-ever Reunion in 1994, he jumped on it with both feet running. He and Pat, his `new' wife of 33 years were instrumental in establishing our non-profit Association (Ed's membership number is `95-002-67', second only to that of the founder). Both of the Hodges' again contributed major efforts to the 2nd bi-annual `Gathering' at Las Vegas in 1996, and became deeply involved in planning for the third 18FWA Meet, to be held near their Shalimar, FL home, at Fort Walton Beach in October 1998.
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But his many tough years of globe-circling, eating, smoking and drinking from the primitive cesspools of the wartime Orient, finally took their toll on Ed Hodges' physical condition. A small spot on his lung was discovered and surgically removed, only to later reveal that the cancerous damage had spread. The ancient warrior of the air tried very, very hard to hold his `bird' together long enough to meet with his old compatriots from Korean War days one more time ... but his final approach airspeed just wasn't enough to carry him up to the runway.
Lt. Colonel Edward F. Hodges, beloved husband of Pat for 35 years, dedicated combat fighter pilot, patriotic defender of his country's freedom, and long-time dear friend of this reporter, passed away quietly at his Shalimar home on 4 February, 1998.
The world had lost yet another of it's true Unsung Heroes ...
... One time, over a quiet drink, while lamenting and toasting the recent passing of a mutual fighter pilot friend, Ed Hodges told me that .. "someone had to plot the course and be the `Pathfinder to Pilot's Valhalla'.." and our friend had been chosen to lead the way.
(`Right on! `First one into the air gets to be the leader. We're clearing your tail, Ed... )
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