Sorry to hear about your father. He and I shared an appreciation for those beautiful planes and we may even have bumped shoulders at one time or another.
You are correct for the time period of 1952-1954. I was stationed at Cherry Point during that time period; laid hands on the planes that your father thought enough of to capture their memory in photos; and spent many hours in the hanger that is shown in the background of some of those photos.
Was you father, by chance, in Marine Training Group Twenty (MTG-20)? If so, I may have photos of him and the men he served with.
In 1953 the Army and Navy publishing company created a photographic 'yearbook' of the duties and personell of MTG-20...and I have a copy.
The squadrons in the group were:
Headquarters Squadron
Maintenance Squadron
Marine Attack Training Squadron
Marine Fighter Training Squadron
Marine All Weather Fighter Training Squadron
Marine Instrument Training Squadron
If your father served in any one of those outifts then he may appear in my 'yearbook'. If so, I could copy that squadrons pages and email it to you.
The Marines called that 'Texan' an SNJ and the planes identified as the Tigercat and the C46 (Marines called them R5C Skytrains) are correct.
Once a Marine Always a Marine
Semper Fi on your fathers memory
"It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."
Sorry to hear about your father. He and I shared an appreciation for those beautiful planes and we may even have bumped shoulders at one time or another.
You are correct for the time period of 1952-1954. I was stationed at Cherry Point during that time period; laid hands on the planes that your father thought enough of to capture their memory in photos; and spent many hours in the hanger that is shown in the background of some of those photos.
Was you father, by chance, in Marine Training Group Twenty (MTG-20)? If so, I may have photos of him and the men he served with.
In 1953 the Army and Navy publishing company created a photographic 'yearbook' of the duties and personell of MTG-20...and I have a copy.
The squadrons in the group were:
Headquarters Squadron
Maintenance Squadron
Marine Attack Training Squadron
Marine Fighter Training Squadron
Marine All Weather Fighter Training Squadron
Marine Instrument Training Squadron
If your father served in any one of those outifts then he may appear in my 'yearbook'. If so, I could copy that squadrons pages and email it to you.
The Marines called that 'Texan' an SNJ and the planes identified as the Tigercat and the C46 (Marines called them R5C Skytrains) are correct.
Once a Marine Always a Marine
Semper Fi on your fathers memory
Dad was in the 5th Air Wing in a medium helicopter squadron. Dad was an MP and spent a lot of his time riding with NC Highway Patrol. You might see if the last name Plemmons shows up in your stuff. Since you were at MCAS Cherry Point during that timeframe, you might recall an incident that made a big impression on my dad. From the time I was a kid until he was within weeks of dying, no trip down memory lane was complete without a mention of this: Dad says an aviator (Dad always swore the pilot was Navy...)was flying a corsair in poor visibility conditions and flew the aircraft straight into the side of a muddy hill. The side of the hill was almost vertical. Dad said the mud was so soft that the front of the aircraft stuck in the mud and the plane was impaled up to the canopy - ..."just stuck in that mud like a dart", he always said. The aviator was uninjured, somebody tossed him a rope and he slid down the rope to flat ground below and got a ride back to the base. Does that ring any bells?
Best friends dad flew F8's for the Corps in the late 50's and early 60's.
Thanks. He's in a better place now. Glad I could share the photos, thankful that they are still being enjoyed coming up on two years since the original post.
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