France honors WWII pilot from Blountstown
Speaking as one flier to another, French Brigadier Gen. Bruno Caitucoli admired the bravery of World War II fighter pilot Terrell E. Yon and had the opportunity Friday to tell him in person.
In a ceremony at SouthWood Golf Club, Yon received France's Croix de Guerre, that nation's honor for combat bravery during World War II — though it was delivered 67 years after the fact.
Despite all the time that has passed, Caitucoli told Yon that the honor is no doubt still richly deserved, though it took so long to be presented. "Please accept our sincere apologies for this delay, obviously the result of a bureaucratic mishap. Someday it might find its place in the Guinness Book of World Records," Caitucoli quipped.
A retired Blountstown businessman, Yon, 92, flew 118 combat missions over Algeria, Tanzania, Sicily, Italy and the French island of Corsica — Caitucoli's home — as a member of the 52nd Fighter Group. The pilots flew British-built Spitfire IX airplanes, and were nicknamed the "Spittin' Kittens."
"Being a fighter pilot, I know what flying over enemy territory, preparing for air combat and reacting to surface-to-air defense is like. Nonetheless, your war and our present–day military campaigns do not have much in common. You belong to a generation for whom going to combat meant running a constant risk of not coming back and, indeed, thousands of your comrades in arms paid the ultimate price," said Caitucoli, a French defense attache in the U.S.
"It was a long time coming, but it finally got here," Terrell Yon said after the ceremony, his medal pinned to his lapel. He thanked Caitucoli, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and the French Consulate in Miami for their assistance in arranging the presentation.
Reflecting on his combat days, Yon said he was like all the others — looking to defeat the enemy, complete the mission and return home safely. He gave God the credit for his safety throughout all his combat missions.
It was Yon's son Ken who began the research of his father's military career that led to Friday's event. The Yon family found the book "Spitfires and Yellow Tail Mustangs — the 52nd Fighter Group in World War II," written in 2005 by Tom Ivie and Paul Ludwig. The book references pilot Terrell Yon on eight pages
Ken Yon encouraged his father to talk about his service experiences so they could be recorded. That project included a scrapbook that Terrell Yon's mother had kept, and his own collection of military records.
"What I discovered is that was he was very distinguished and had been awarded a lot of medals," Ken Yon said. "But I discovered that he had been presented all these medals except for one. That medal is the Croix de Guerre."
France had selected Yon for that honor in 1944, but he had concluded his tour of duty and returned to the United States before the French government had the opportunity to present him with the medal.
It was one day, Dec. 28, 1943, that stands out. Yon took off in his Spitfire to chase a German Me-210, a heavily armed aircraft that was in the vicinity on reconnaissance and was suspected to be photographing the 52nd's new home base in Corsica.
Once in the air, Yon and his wingman were given the enemy plane's position and began their pursuit. After they spotted the Me-210, Yon realized he would not catch the enemy without gaining speed, so he dropped his Spitfire's belly tank containing extra fuel. His wingman, however, was having engine trouble and was forced to turn back.
Yon pushed his Spitfire to its top speed of 350 mph and caught the Me-210, shooting it down, and avoided anti-aircraft fire from the Italian coast to return safely to Corsica.
"The description of the combat speaks a lot to me, probably more than to the others," Caitucoli said. "But taking off without your wingman for a combat mission is something highly risky and something we avoid normally. We always fly by pairs with the support of one wingman, so that was a very risky mission."
"As a French citizen I would like to express to you my deepest gratitude, and as a soldier, my true admiration for showing the way to younger pilots like me," said Caitucoli, a veteran of Desert Storm and who has flown missions over Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan
Posted:
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/2011 ... lountstown