World War II flying ace from Rancho Palos Verdes dies
Pilot's wingman called him a "tiger" and "a great man to emulate."
By Nick Green
Daily Breeze
One of the top U.S. fighter pilots during World War II, Col. Herschel "Herky" Green of Rancho Palos Verdes, who was credited with destroying 18 enemy aircraft, died Wednesday at Torrance Memorial Medical Center of cancer. He was 86.
He was the leading ace of the 15th Air Force until headquarters decided he'd flown enough missions and grounded him, said Art Fiedler of Oxnard, Green's wingman.
"He was a tiger," Fiedler said. "He was a great man to emulate."
Green was a fighter pilot in Europe and Africa from 1943-1944, flying three different aircraft and winning numerous military decorations including the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and two Distinguished Flying Crosses.
It didn't take long for the young airman from Hickory, Ky., to show his combat skills.
Green shot down his first airplane on his initial combat mission in May 1943 off the Italian coast, despite sustaining heavy damage to his own aircraft in a melee with enemy fighters. He was promoted to captain a few days later.
In his 1996 memoir, Herky! The memoirs of a Checkertail Ace, Green recalled leading 60 P-47s on an "extremely hazardous" mission in January 1944 that entailed flying 300 miles up the Adriatic Sea at an altitude no higher than 50 feet above the waves to avoid detection.
During an attack on German bombers, Green single-handedly destroyed six aircraft and his squadron was credited with an unprecedented 37 kills. The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation and Green earned his DSC medal.
Later that year, Green became convinced that after a half-dozen close calls during aerial combat he wasn't going to be killed in the war. Despite realizing the irrationality of that revelation, it nevertheless unleashed his skill as a fighter pilot to the fullest.
"Many times after that, I would tear into large gaggles of Luftwaffe fighters with just a wingman, and my only thought was how many we could get before they got away," he wrote. "I know that sounds crazy. Maybe it was."
Green was grounded later that year after flying 100 combat missions, amassing 402 combat hours in the air and destroying a total of 18 aircraft, plus 10 on the ground.
"He felt fortunate that he came out of it," said his wife of 60 years, Jeanne Green, whom he married on June 16, 1946 in Paducah, Ky. "He really felt humbled that people were interested (in his war exploits)."
Green retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1964 and joined the international sales division of Culver City-based Hughes Aircraft Co. Green retired in 1982.
He and his wife lived in the Miraleste neighborhood of Rancho Palos Verdes for 42 years, raising two daughters.
He was born in Hickory, Ky., on July 3, 1920.
At age 5, Green took his first flight on a World War I-era open cockpit biplane that made an emergency landing next to his rural schoolhouse. From then on, he was hooked on flying.
While studying at Nashville's Vanderbilt University in 1940, Green enrolled in the U.S. Government Civilian Pilot Training Program.
The following year, with the American entry into the war imminent and having clocked more than 200 hours in the air, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
In addition to his wife, survivors include daughters, Anita Green of Gualala, Calif., and Debra Green of Winchester, Va.
Visitation is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at Green Hills Memorial Park, 27501 Western Ave., Rancho Palos Verdes.
Funeral services are set for 1 p.m. Tuesday at Green Hills' mortuary chapel, with interment to follow.
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