Frank O'Driscoll Hunter | |
|---|---|
 Major General Frank O'Driscoll Hunter duringWorld War II | |
| Nickname | Monk |
| Born | (1894-12-08)December 8, 1894 |
| Died | June 25, 1982(1982-06-25) (aged 87) |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Branch |  United States Army Air Service.svg) United States Army Air Corps United States Army Air Force |
| Years of service | 1917–1919, 1920–1946 |
| Rank |  Major General |
| Unit | 103rd Aero Squadron 1st Pursuit Group |
| Commands | 94th Aero Squadron 95th Pursuit Squadron 17th Pursuit Group 79th Pursuit Squadron 23rd Composite Group VIII Fighter Command First Air Force |
| Battles / wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross (5) Army Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross Purple Heart |
Frank O'Driscoll Hunter (December 8, 1894[1] – June 25, 1982) was aWorld War Iflying ace, being credited by theUnited States Army Air Service with downing nine enemy aircraft. Hunter became an advocate offighter aircraft strategy and tactics. InWorld War II he served as commanding general of theVIII Fighter Command and, later, theFirst Air Force.
Hunter was born inSavannah, Georgia on December 8, 1894. He was educated atHotchkiss School,Connecticut, and inLausanne, Switzerland. He enlisted in the Aviation Section, Signal Reserve, as a flying cadet on May 18, 1917.[citation needed]
Hunter went to France in September 1917 and received further training at the 3rd Aviation Instruction Center at Issoudun, France. Assigned to the103rd Aero Squadron in May 1918, on his first combat patrol Hunter downed two German planes and landed safely despite being wounded. By the end of the war he had nine German planes to his credit, earning him recognition as an ace.[2] Hunter was the last pilot remaining with the squadron before its return to the United States, transferring out on January 24, 1919.[citation needed]
Hunter was awarded theDistinguished Service Cross with four oak leaf clusters, more than any person other thanEddie Rickenbacker who received six oak leaf clusters to the DSC.[3] His achievements in aerial combat earned him the French Croix de Guerre with palm. He left the Army for a short time after the war, but returned with a commission in the RegularArmy Air Service in 1920.[citation needed]
When Hunter entered the Regular Army in 1920 he attended Field Artillery School and Air Service Observation School atFort Sill,Oklahoma. He graduated in September 1921 and transferred toEllington Field,Texas, for duty with the1st Pursuit Group. In July 1922, he went toSelfridge Field,Michigan, as commanding officer of the94th Squadron, and in October 1922, entered the Air Service Tactical School atLangley Field,Virginia, returning to his command of the 94th Squadron when he graduated in June 1923. In July 1925 he became Operations Officer of Selfridge Field.[citation needed]
Hunter transferred to Camp Anthony Wayne,Pennsylvania., in September 1926 as a pilot with the Composite Air Corps Squadron, and returned toSelfridge Field in December 1926. He next served inWashington, D.C., in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps, and in December 1930 went toRockwell Field,California, as commanding officer of the95th Pursuit Squadron. He assumed command of the17th Pursuit Group there in October 1931.[citation needed]
In November 1933 Hunter was assigned as executive officer of the1st Pursuit Wing atMarch Field,California, and in February 1934 became chief of operations, Western Zone Air Mail Operations, with headquarters at March Field. In May 1934 he returned to his duties as executive officer of the 1st Pursuit Wing. He was ordered toAlbrook Field,Panama Canal Zone, in July 1934, as adjutant and operations officer of the19th Composite Wing. In December 1934 he became operations and training officer and intelligence officer at Albrook Field.[citation needed]
Hunter transferred toBarksdale Field,Louisiana, in November 1936 as commanding officer of the79th Pursuit Squadron, and in July 1937 became operations officer for the 3rd Wing there. He then went toMaxwell Field,Alabama, in July 1939 as commanding officer of the23rd Composite Group.[citation needed]
In May 1940 the citizens ofSavannah, Georgia., named the Savannah Municipal Airport the Hunter Municipal Airfield, later Savannah Army Air Base,Hunter Air Force Base, then Hunter Army Air Field in his honor.[4] In July 1940 he was attached to the Office of the Military Attaché inLondon, England, as a Military Observer. He returned to the United States in December 1940 and was stationed atOrlando Army Air Base, Fla., as commanding officer of the23rd Composite Group. In February 1942, he was assigned to HeadquartersArmy Air Forces,Washington, D.C., and in May 1942 joined theEighth Air Force atBolling Field, Washington, D.C. That same month he accompanied that organization to theEuropean Theater of Operations, with headquarters in London, as commanding general,VIII Fighter Command. In this position he affected the first trans-Atlantic flight of AAF planes without the loss of life or equipment. He also directed the firstP-47 fighter-bomber sweeps over the continent.[citation needed]
It was upon Brigadier General Hunter's recommendation that theEagle Squadrons (which had American pilots in the service of the United Kingdom) were transferred from theRoyal Air Force to become the4th Fighter Group in September 1942.[citation needed]
In May 1943, Hunter was relieved of his command for his failure to obey a directive issued by his superior, GeneralIra C. Eaker mandating use of wing tanks on P-47 fighters.[5] He returned to the United States in August 1943[citation needed] and was named commanding general of theFirst Air Force, where he was charged with training replacement air crews. His tenure in this command was marred by his involvement in maintainingracial segregation in the U. S. Army, thus provoking theFreeman Field Mutiny of theTuskegee Airmen.[6]
In 1944 theEarl of Halifax, then Britain's ambassador to the U.S., presented to General Hunter, in the name of theKing of England, theCBE, "Commander of the military division of the most excellent order of the British Empire." Just a year earlier the general had been awarded theLegion of Merit for "exceptional services" in planning and executing the movement of air echelons of theTwelfth Air Force fromGreat Britain toNorth Africa. His other awards include theDistinguished Flying Cross andPurple Heart.[citation needed]
Among the units under Hunter's command was the all Negro477th Bombardment Group stationed at Freeman Field in Seymour, Indiana. Hunter was commanding general when 104 African-American were subjected to military court martial for trying to integrate the base's officer club in early 1945. Hunter earned the reputation of being a rabid racist. This information is omitted from Hunter's biography because the U.S. Army Air Forces' strict segregation policy.[7]
In October 1945 he was assigned to a detachment of patients at Air Force Regional Hospital, Miami District, and later was admitted toWalter Reed General Hospital.[citation needed]
He was rated a command pilot, combat observer and technical observer. Throughout his lengthy flying career, he survived three bail outs, one of which was from an altitude of 500 feet over a frozen lake, and two broken backs, both of which kept him in the hospital for a year. He became known as one of the Army's top stunt, test and racing pilots.[citation needed]
General Hunter retired from the Army Air Forces on March 31, 1946, and returned to his home state of Georgia. He died on 25 June 1982 inSavannah, Georgia.[citation needed]
TheGeorgia Historical Society houses and makes available for research a collection of General Hunter's papers. The collection, comprising news clippings, photographs, commendations and awards, and personal and military correspondence, documents the life and military career of Frank O'Driscoll Hunter from 1917 to 1982.[8] In 1989 Hunter was inducted into theGeorgia Aviation Hall of Fame.[9]
Included among his 10 awards for valor and service, in addition to receiving five awards of the Distinguished Service Cross, Hunter was decorated with theArmy Distinguished Service Medal and theSilver Star. He was also awarded aLegion of Merit,Distinguished Flying Cross andPurple Heart.
 | US Army Air Forces Command Pilot Badge |
He was also rated aCombat Observer andTechnical Observer.
Lieutenant Frank Hunter of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service in World War I received five Distinguished Service Cross citations:
On 23 October 1918, International News Service staff & war correspondent Newton C. Parke wrote an article that described one of the missions that Hunter flew over France:
Lieut. Frank O. Hunter of Savannah, Ga., scored his eighth unofficial air victory northwest of Verdun this morning. In the combat Percy D. Dine of New York City and Wm. H. Ponder of Lone Wolf, Okla., each shot down an enemy plane, the latter elevating himself to the position of an ace by his exploit. Reed Chambers of Memphis, Tenn., another new ace, was unofficially credited with shooting down two boches yesterday and Eddie Rickenbacker got another. Eleven American planes were engaging at one time yesterday against 30 machines. Lieut. Benson of the American air service single handed wandered thirty miles behind the enemy lines in the darkness and turned his machine gun upon an enemy troop train meanwhile dropping bombs.[12]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the United States Air Force
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
_Ribbon.png)
