Marty Fleisher, of Long Valley, NJ, grew up in Newark, NJ, the oldest of eight siblings and enlisted in Feb, 1942, in the AAF as a Mechanic and became a Crew Chief on the B-26. He signed up for flight training in April, 1943, and graduated on Oct 3rd and was commissioned a 2nd Lt. He flew the B-26 to the European Theater over the southern route to Africa and Italy. He flew 65 B-26 combat missions from Italy and SE England including on D-Day. He was discharged as a 1st Lt in June 1945.

On 16 March 1955, the United States Air Force officially ordered the development of an advanced reconnaissance satellite to provide continuous surveillance of ‘preselected areas of the earth’ in order ‘to determine the status of a potential enemy’s war-making capability’. Ever since the Air Force has been involved in reconnaissance from Outer Space. The Discoverer program was really a secret spy satellite program that was presented to the public as experimentation in space research. Its true mission was declassified in 1995.

Also visiting were Cadet Matthew Spielman (left) and Cadet Max Escate (right) from the Arnold Air Society at Rutgers University, Darby Squadron. Thank you for attending our presentation luncheon!

On May 6, 1954, legendary pilot James B. “Earthquake McGoon” McGovern met his fate. An aircraft belonging to Civil Air Transport, a CIA proprietary airline, flown by McGovern was shot down by Communist anti-aircraft fire. McGovern and his flight officer, Wallace “Wally” Buford, were flying supplies to French forces at Dien Bien Phu in northern Indochina. McGovern, Buford, and four others aboard were killed in the crash. They were among the first American fatalities in the conflict in Indochina that would last until 1975.

Pictured: Art Snyder (left) with daughter and grandson Mathew. Toby Terranova (Secretary) right.

In the years before WWI, hydrogen filled German airships were routinely used for safe scheduled civilian air service. Traditional aircraft lacked payload, range and reliability. So it was an easy decision for Germany to enlist airships into the military once war broke out. John Andrews from the New Jersey Astronomical Association will share the story about the men who conducted their battle beneath huge bags of explosive hydrogen.

At the start of World War I many military leaders were convinced that aircraft would be of little value in battle, at most offering limited use in reconnaissance and scouting missions. A mere eleven years after the Wright brothers first flight, aircraft designated as fighters and bombers rolled out from the factories. John Andrews from the New Jersey Astronomical Association will share this story about the men who took the battle to the air in World War I.

Our speaker, Lt. Col. Thomas R. ‘Bob’ Vaucher, was intimately involved with the development of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress during the early years of World War II. It was one of the largest aircraft operational during the war and very advanced for its time. The aircraft’s highly advanced design, challenging requirements, and immense pressure for production, hurried development and caused setbacks. One of the B-29’s final roles was carrying out the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the lead B-29 pilot, Bob led the 525 plane B-29 Show of Force fly-over during the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship Missouri on 2 Sep 1945.

Pictured: Chapter President Bill Fosina (left) and Lt. Col. Thomas R. ‘Bob’ Vaucher.