FLYING HIGH Three wars, a lot to tell, but ‘just another day at work’

To meet 89-year-old George Ernest Caldwell today is to meet a man of great knowledge and experience in the world and one who said he just did his job, no matter where he was or which war he was serving in. Yes, which war. Caldwell served in three major wars.

A native of Crawford, Texas, but a four decades-long resident of Daleville, now living with his wife Hildegard in Dothan, served 16 years as a city councilman in the “City of Possibilities.” Like so many in the area, the Caldwells were brought to the Wiregrass via Fort Rucker.

First serving in the United States Navy, then the Air Force and finally the Army, he was only 18 when he began his career in the armed services in 1945. Having always dreamed of being an aviator, oddly enough, he entered the Navy first and was stationed at Iroquois Point, Hawaii, near Pearl Harbor, in the final days of World War II. In fact, the war ended three weeks after Caldwell’s arrival in Honolulu when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.

“When the war ended, you should have seen the fireworks. I have never seen anything like it before or since,” said Caldwell as he recalled the celebratory atmosphere at the time. “Anti-aircraft guns were fired over the island of Oahu, up to a point like a teepee of fireworks, that went on for hours at night. It was really, really something.”

After time as a seaman guard at Pearl Harbor, he was discharged for “convenience” from the Navy the following year in October 1946 so he could “return home to help take care of my mother.” Caldwell’s father had passed away “in a butane truck explosion when I was 16.”

The following year, as a civilian, Caldwell earned his wings after completing a private training course in Oklahoma before moving to Brownsville, Texas with his mother to farm.

In 1948, Caldwell decided to join the Navy again, but he did so well on testing that he decided to try the Air Force instead. He did well, was accepted and was assigned to the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery as a statistical draftsman “drawing blueprints of circuitry.” However, his flight dreams began to take shape after he applied for flight school that same year. He officially became a part of Class 1949C at Randolph Air Force base in San Antonio in November 1948 and became the first of that class of 343 to solo on the North American AT-6 Texan fixed-wing.

After primary flight school, Caldwell attended advanced training in Louisiana where he learned to fly the B-25J, the same plane used to drop the atom bombs at the end of WWII. By this time he was a second lieutenant.

From this time through 1950, Caldwell was assigned to March Air Force Base, Calif. as a rescue pilot in an Air Rescue Squadron. He participated in countless land and air rescue missions throughout southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. He flew numerous types of fixed wing aircraft and the Sikorsky H-5 rotorcraft during this time.

Caldwell was sent to Taegu, Korea in 1951 and eventually assigned to an island in the Hahn River, near Seoul, for the purpose of picking up flight crews that had been downed in North Korea. As a secondary mission, Caldwell and others were to evacuate the wounded from the front lines to Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals, also known as MASH units. Caldwell also flew United Nations Peace Conference delegates to and from daily meetings.

It was during his time in Korea that Caldwell also received the Air Medal for Valor after rescuing a pilot whose F-4U Corsair fighter plane had been shot down over enemy territory.

According to a news release, dated Sept. 5, 1951, Maj. Robert J. Shelley was hit by enemy fire over North Korea, yet flew some 50 miles toward friendly forces when he was forced to crash land. Caldwell, a first lieutenant at the time, and crewmember Cpl. John Lathrop flew among enemy fire to rescue Shelley from a rice patty.

According to an account of the incident in family memorabilia, “George flew his helicopter to the given coordinate and found neither aircraft nor pilot. He made a ‘no joy’ call, which in pilot lingo means ‘I don’t see him, and was redirected to new coordinates where he found the downed aircraft and pilot.

“After flying over enemy territory for 30 minutes in the 60-mile per hour H-5, and after locating the downed aircraft, George descended the helicopter as fast as possible. He brought the helicopter to a low hover directly over the F-51 wing, upon which, the pilot, Maj. Shelly, USMC, was standing. Maj. Shelly entered the helicopter with the assistance of Cpl. Lathrop…With a maximum performance climb out back to 5,000 feet and on direct flight to K-16 at Seoul, George completed the rescue of Maj. Shelly.

Caldwell said conducting rescues behind enemy lines “was scary” but he was actually never truly afraid and that in dangerous situations “you just go into automatic training mode.” He said he was just doing his job. In all, Caldwell completed 50 evacuations of wounded servicemen during Korea. He left Korea in 1952 and, of note, he flew the first CH-47 Chinook into the country of Korea in 1969, during his second tour there.

Following his service in Korea, Caldwell became a jet pilot at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. He flew multiple photo missions of military experiments, such as rocket launches. He also routinely observed the original atom bomb testing site.

In August 1953, Caldwell left the Air Force for personal reasons and returned to Brownsville to farm and crop dust. However, that did not end his service to the country.

In October 1955, Caldwell entered the warrant officer program of the Army at Fort Rucker. After training, he served at multiple posts, including Fort Drum, N. Y. where he was charged with designing and developing a spray rig for the Piasecki H-21 Workhorse/Shawnee helicopter.

Eventually, Caldwell was sent to Germany, where he met his wife in 1959. She obtained an immigration VISA to the United States and they were married April 30, 1960. Hilde Caldwell said she was a 30 year-old export agent for a brewery when she first met her future husband at a party.

“I looked at George and said I was going to marry that man,” she said with a smile. “I knew, just like that!”

After their first meeting, it would be some time before they met once again, set up on a blind date. They were both surprised to see each other again and the rest is history, still in love 56 years later.

Eventually, the young military couple, along with their two children, were stationed in Alaska and endured the horror and devastation of the 1964 9.2 magnitude Great Alaska Earthquake and Tsunami. “It was horrible,” said Hilde Caldwell as she shudders with the memory. Both are grateful for surviving the massive disaster that killed hundreds and caused billions in property damage.

After Alaska, Caldwell was reassigned to Fort Rucker and in July 1966 he was sent to Vietnam where he flew the CH-47 Chinook. It was during Vietnam that he was awarded 25 air medals. He also was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice, once for action on March 29, 1967 and another for action on April 19, 1967. Both involved flying in enemy territory to rescue and recover troops while under hostile fire. He was also awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service from Oct. 20, 1967 to Jan. 18, 1969 for his Vietnam service time.

After Vietnam, Caldwell once again returned to Fort Rucker where he became a Master Army Aviator and continued to teach as an instructor pilot in the Army until retirement in February 1970.

Caldwell worked with government contractors as an instructor for Army aviators until 1989 when he retired from civilian service. At that time, he had logged 20,000-plus flight hours on more than 50 different fixed-wing and rotary aircraft in a span of more than 40 years. He still flies fixed-wing once a month.