Daily Earl Millers - pls don't clutter up

[Guppy35]

Some wartime Devilhawks color shots from the time Earl was CO of C Flight.

From the son of one of his pilots, Keith Vizcarra

Tough bird that Jug

Dan/Slack

[Shane]

September 30

1942:
I flew an AT-6 for 2:30 hours, one hour dual and 1:30 hours
solo.

1943:
I flew a P-39N for 1:30 hours on an Army Co-op mission.  I
don't recall what an Army Co-op mission was, but that's
what it says in my logbook.

1944:
I led a flight of P-47s to bomb a target just north of
Bologna.  We then strafed targets of opportunity.  My
flight time was 2:30 hours.

earl

[Guppy35]

Earl's P39 "Eloise" named for his sister.  

For the bring the P39 to AH crowd, the 350th FG should be your poster child squadron.  They flew the 39 in Europe against the Luftwaffe until August 1944 well beyond the point the most groups were in Jugs or 51s.

One of the storys of the Tuskeegee Airmen was that they got hand me down aircraft when the other groups got frontline stuff.

The 350th got the handme down P39Qs from the Tuskeegee Airmen who were in 51s long before the 350th finally got P47s in September 44.

Dan/Slack

[Shane]

October 1

1942:
I was undergoing advanced pilot training, Class of 42-J, at
Spence Field, Moultree, Georgia.  I flew an AT-6 on a cross
country flight for 2:10 hours, from Spence to Butler and
return.

1943:  
I was with the 345th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group
at Reghaia Airfield, 25 miles east of Algiers in North
Africa.  Our primary mission was air defense, especially
against enemy air attacks against Allied ship convoys.  On
this day I  flew a P-39N on convoy patrol for 1:35 hours.

1944:  
I was with the 345th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group at
Tarquinia Airfield, near Civitavecchia, Italy.  Our mission
was air defense, scramble alert, convoy patrols, CAP over
mine sweepers working along the advancing front line and
anti-recce patrols over the Tyrrhenian Sea.  Tarquinia
Airfield was a "liberated" wheat field that turned into a
sea of mud each time it rained.  On this day I flew a P-47D
for 2:15 hours on a dive bombing and strafing mission north
of Modena, Italy

1st Lt. Shuford M. Alexander (Big Al), 346th Fighter
Squadron, 350th Fighter Group was attacking gun positions
on a flak-suppression mission for B-25s when his P-47D was
hit by AAA.  He tried to bail out, but his parachute got
hung up on the armor plate. He got back into the aircraft
and crash landed.  He was rescued by Partisans and later
captured by the Germans.  On the way to prison, he escaped
and was able to contact the Partisans again.  He crossed the
battle line via an icy pass near Massa on 14th February,
1945 with 1st Lt. Earnest D. Falberg of the 346th Fighter
Squadron.  Falberg was hit by 20mm while strafing near
Milan, Italy on January 12, 1945.  When the P-47's engine
quit because of oil loss, he crash landed five miles
northeast of Vigevano, Italy.  He hid in a manure pile
until contacted by Partisans.  

1946:  
I was with the 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group
stationed at Biggs Field, El Paso, Texas.  On this day I
flew a P-51D on the way to Hamilton Field, California for
an air show.  The flight from Biggs Field to Williams Field,
Arizona took 1:35 hours.

earl

[Guppy35]

Earl  in flight in his 79th FS, 20th FG P51D post war.

Dan/Slack

[Shane]

October 2

1943:  
I flew a P-39N on two convoy patrol missions for 2:20 hours
and a squadron formation flight for 50 minutes.

1944:  
We were unable to get to the target area because of bad
weather, so we jettisoned our bombs in the Tyrrhenian Sea
off the coast of Tarquinia.  My flight time in a P-47D was
1:30 hours.

1946:  
Continuing on our way to participate in the air show at
Hamilton Field, I flew a P-51D from Williams Field to
Hamilton Field in 2:55 hours.

earl

[Guppy35]

Earl leading a flight of P47Ds after his return stateside in the Spring of 45.  They were based out of Selfridge AAF in Michigan

Dan/Slack

[Shane]

October 3

1943:  
I flew a P-39N on a squadron formation flight for 50
minutes.

1944:  
I flew a combat mission for 3:00 hours in a P-47D.  We dive
bombed and strafed targets in the Milan area.

1946:
Our P-51s were on static display all day at Hamilton Field
while we took turns standing by answering questions put to
us by the visitors.

earl

[Guppy35]

Earl and his crewchief next to his postwar 79th FS P51D, 1946

Dan/Slack

[Shane]

October 4

1943:  
I flew a P-39N on a squadron formation flight for 45 minutes.

1944:  
I flew a combat mission for 2:40 hours in a P-47D.  We dive
bombed and strafed targets in the Milan area again.

1946:  
I flew a P-51D from Hamilton Field to Biggs Field for 3:40 hours,
3:15 hours of night flying.  

On the way to Biggs Field, I passed directly over Sky Harbor
Airport at Phoenix and reported my position and flying at  10,000
feet to the flight controller.  Later, something dark loomed up
at me in the darkness.  Instinctively, I pulled back on the stick
into a steep chandelle.  By the hair on my chinny chin chin, I
had narrowly cheated Mt. Graham (10,717') out of a stupid victim.

earl

[Guppy35]

Earl gets the DFC

Dan/Slack
who has lots more photos to go

[Shane]

October 5

1942:  
I flew an AT-6 on two flights - a daytime one for 40 minutes and
a nighttime one for 50 minutes.

1943:  
I had three flights in a P-39N:  A squadron formation flight of
55 minutes, a convoy patrol mission of 1:40 hours and a radar
calibration flight of 1:05 hours.

earl

[Guppy35]

Earl in the cockpit of a P39 on Corsica in 1944

Dan/Slack

[Shane]

October 6

1942:  
I flew an AT-6 for 2:55 hours, one hour of which was formation
flying.

1943:  
I flew a P-39N on convoy patrol for 50 minutes.

1964:
I departed Saigon to Pleiku for my new assignment as Chief, Air
Force Advisory Team.  I rode in a C-123 as a passenger and saw
first hand how we in the hinterlands got our mess staples.  It
was awful hot and humid and the C-123 was loaded with rations for the troops at Pleiku and surrounding camps, including such things as butter, meat, and vegetables - none of it refrigerated.  While waiting for clearance for takeoff, the juices from the vegetables were already seeping out of the back end of the aircraft.

earl

[Guppy35]

One of the A1 Skyraiders that Earl flew while serving as an advisor in Vietnam in 1964 where is got in 125 more combat missions in Skyraiders.

Dan/Slack