Troop Carrier Group gains today from yesterday’s hazards

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The 317th Airlift Group commander presentd more than 20 World War II Jungle Skippers with the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign and Bronze Star Medals in St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 5 to for actions they performed in 1944. 

Colonel Kevin Jackson said the opportunity to spend time with the men who sacrificed so much - some, even their lives - for this country was a top priority for him. 

"The heritage they pass on to (us) is, without question, the most invaluable part of this kind of event," Colonel Jackson said. Although the award recipients and their families thanked him multiple times for coming to speak and update them on current-day operations, he said the pleasure was entirely his. 

Olen Loux, a C-476 crew chief with more than 1,500 flying hours, said he was grateful to receive the medal. The dangers he and the other crew members faced in the South Pacific were unimaginable to most civilians. 

"Anything that can happen to you in an airplane happened to me," Mr. Loux said. "I've been shot at, I have had both engines quit on me, I've run out of gas, landed behind enemy lines, listed missing in action three times and one time I was listed as killed in action." 

The 84-year-old retired staff sergeant said he's proud to have served the way he did, as were the other World War II veterans who were able to attend the ceremony. Many of them even lined up in front of Colonel Jackson at the end of the ceremony, ready to re-enlist, they said. 

Also among the crew in attendance was Gerald Matarazzo, Jr., the man who designed the unit patch for the 317th TCG - the same patch the 317th AG wears today. Emblazoned still are the words, "I gain by hazard." 

"Most people today don't have any idea what these guys did for us and how willing they are to keep serving," Dyess' own C-130 unit commander said. "They sacrificed so much to defend our freedom ... and they were happy to do it. Back then, it was a big deal to be able to afford a cake for a unit function, but they didn't complain. They were even buying war bonds to fund the war." 

Not only was their morale up, they also flew extremely dangerous missions without the help of modern-day technology, Colonel Jackson said. Eighteen-year-old Loux enlisted in 1942, when the aircraft systems were much simpler, and "these guys still got the job done," he said. 

The group's annual reunions are times they all look forward to, attendees said. Many of the men who flew those missions couldn't be at the ceremony this month to receive their awards. 

"The only reason that I am sitting here today is that the good Lord had his hand on me," Mr. Loux said. "There is no other way I could have gotten out of it."