The Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame last week inducted retired
Maj. Gen. Richard Bodycombe, Lt. Col. John Slattery, Maj. Louis J. Sebille, and 1st Lt. Aleda Lutz. Bodycombe, who retired as the chief of the Air Force Reserve, flew the B-24 during World War II and was recalled for the Berlin Airlift. Slattery,
who died in 2008, was a marine infantryman in World War II and Korea; switching to USAF and helicopters, he flew more than 100 rescue missions in Vietnam. Sebille, who flew the B-26 in WWII and F-51 during the Korean War, received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his support to ground forces at Pusan, where he flew his F-51 into enemy forces. Lutz was one of the most experienced flight nurses in WWII, flying 814 combat hours before being killed in a C-47 crash. (Also read Hall of Fame
release;
Free Press report; on Lutz, Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
biography; on Sebille,
Air Force Magazine's April 1990
Valor: Epitaph for a Valiant Airman)
Retired CMSgt. Walter H. Richardson, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen of World War II fame, was recognized for his service with the group during a ceremony earlier this month in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Congress in 2006 awarded the World War II-era Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal (actual presentation in March 2007). Back on March 25, Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) honored Richardson in remarks on the House floor, saying: "Walt has spent his life dedicated to his country, his community, and his family." Miller noted Richardson's training at Tuskegee Army Airfield "in a variety of disciplines" and 30 years of service "through many of our nation's wars and conflicts" that ended with his retirement at the highest enlisted rank. (Also see Northwest Florida Daily News report)
