Remembering the Past:
More specifically family history. In this case this is about my relatives, who I know as Uncle Tommy. At the time he was Lieutenant Thomas H. Temple. With family items you heard bits and fragments of stories so you never get the whole image. Well here I was able to find out more due to a long thought lost article about my Great uncle helping out a fellow pilot in 1952 Iceland.
He was with the 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Team that were flying RF-80s. I have only found one other reference to this event that is described briefly.
On approach to Keflavik, Col.Maynard T. Swartz suffered the bends at 32,000 feet, when a nitrogen bubble lodged in his brain. Fortunately, he was led down by his wingman and was talked down by colleagues on the ground.
The only thing I was able to find out about the 117th was it is now part of the Alabama National Air Guard with some photos of their RF-4 Phantoms during Desert Storm. The person that he saved was on a C-53 on D-Day according to this link.
I do not know if my Great Uncle was awarded the DFC or not though. I wonder if anyone has heard of anything about this event?
Update : October 2nd 2015
I got a reply from Col Swartz’s son and I wanted to added it here.
Sporkmaster,
Warren, I just ran across your RFI on this site while searching Google for this very same incident! I might be able to fill in a couple of gaps in your story, as Lt Col Maynard T. Swartz was my dad. As most veterans of his era, he didn’t discuss his military record much, but he did talk about this incident with me and had an original copy of your Dec ’52 Fight Safety Magazine. He spoke highly of your Great Uncle and, believe it or not, almost named me “Tom” after him!
My dad’s bends were caused by a slow pressurization leak in his RF-80 cockpit, and he essentially went blind. Bailout was not an option as the sea survival rate was only a few minutes off Keflavik, so Lt Temple stayed glued to him and skillfully talked him all the way down to short final, where mobile control took over to touchdown. Your Great Uncle was written up for a DFC, but for some reason or another, the USAF powers didn’t award it to him, which my dad was upset about. Cleary, his actions were heroic. My dad left the Reserves in ’53 and returned to Omaha, NE, where he was in the commercial printing business until he passed in ’95, while I was stationed in London. Incidentally, per your comment, he was actually one of the first C-47s over Normandy, in the early morning hours of D-Day, as he dropped Pathfinders for the invasion… where he also realized that he had eaten and swallowed an entire cigar he had in his mouth during the sortie!
So, thanks to your Great Uncle saving my dad’s life, I just happened to have been born in ’54, graduated from Annapolis in ’78, produced a couple of daughters and retired from the Navy as a CDR/P-3C pilot in 2003. Since then, I’ve been employed as a defense contractor down in Tampa at HQ, USCENTCOM.
From my family to yours, a special thanks will always be given for the skill and professionalism of Lt Thomas H. Temple!
Best regards,
JerryJerry C. Swartz, CDR, USN (Ret)
Tampa, FL
And I found a photo of my Great Uncle Tommy when he was flying this type of aircraft.
Category: Air Force, War Stories, We Remember
The online register of DFC recipients doesn’t have him listed.
Sporkmaster, it sounds like your great uncle was a hell of a man. I thank him for his service to our country. He is someone for all of us to be proud of.
The online register doesn’t list all recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross. listing is dependent on a researcher going through the personnel records or the recipient providing the source documents.