Herschel "Herky" Green

From The Air Combat Wiki

He served with the 317th FS, 325th Fighter Group, 15th AF. Top ace of the "Checkertail Clan" with 18 air victories, (3 in P-40s, 10 in P-47s, 5 in P-51s), plus 10 destroyed on the ground. Total Combat Sorties: 100.

Born July 3, 1920 at Mayfield, Kentucky. Education: Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, enrolled in Civilian Flight Training Program in 1940.

Appointed Flying Cadet, September 1941. Commissioned 2nd Lt., 1942 at Foster Field, Texas. Initially assigned to 57th FG, at Boston/Bradley Field where he trained in P-40s, learning to overcome torque of the powerful engine. Sept. 1942: transferred to 317th FS, 325th Fighter Group HQ, at Hargrove, Rhode Island. January 1943: moved with the 325th FG to Langley Field, Virginia to train for aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings with the P-40E Warhawk. Disembarked for North Africa from the USS Ranger, January 8, 1943. Arrived at Cazes Aerodrome at Casablanca on Jan. 19, 1943. All P-40Fs launched safely and without incident. In late January, the Group was operating out of Tafaroui (Algiers); Green helped deliver P-40s to the 33rd FG in Tunisia, returning in a C-47. From February through May 1943 the 325th was at the Tafaroui base, without much to do. In May, with the securing of Africa, the "Checkertails" moved to Montesqui, to support operations against Pantelleria (an island stronghold off Sicily).

Green started out with the number "13" assigned to his P-40F. In his first "scrap" with enemy fighters on May 19, 1943, Green found himself involved in a horrible melee with many, superior Bf-109s. He took many hits, and was convinced he was going to die. Somehow, he scored his first victory in a head-on pass versus a Bf-109 that put nearly as many holes in his own aircraft. Green's unlucky "#13" was ultimately declared unrepairable and hauled away as junk and he switched to lucky "#11." A few days after his return, he learned of his promotion to Captain, which had nearly been a posthumous honor.

He was escorting B-26s to Sicily on June 28th when he downed two Bf-109s, the first after such a steep dive that he blacked out and another pilot had to confirm that the e/a splashed into the Mediterranean. During July, Green was on TDY, training for staff responsibilities at Twelfth Air Force HQ.

In his biography, Green related some non-combat stories at this point. The ground crews were very creative, using flattened Spam cans to patch bullet holes in the P-40s, and devising stills to extract the alcohol from the readily available local vin ordinaire. They dubbed the lethal output of these stills, "Pop Skull." Observing that the drop tanks always had some leftover fuel in them, the 325th rigged up some fuses for the tanks, and then endeavored to drop them over enemy positions. Then there was the pilot who secured an old-fashioned round cast-iron, stovetop and sat on when flying, to protect the 'family jewels.' A herd of water buffalo, reputedly owned by the Bey of Tunis, grazed in the area of the Group airfield. Such livestock was off-limits to the members of the 325th, unless they constituted a hazard. They were able to coax one animal close enough to the actual airstrip to meet this criterion, whereupon they shot it, roasted it, and enjoyed a fine repast.

On August 17, 1943, the Allies captured Sicily, leaving no targets for the 325th except for some Italian forces on Sardinia, against which the Group began bombing missions with their P-40s. Knowing that the Italians on Sardinia were nearly at the end of their resources, and imagining headlines like "FIGHTER GROUP CAPTURES ENEMY ARMY," the 325th dropped surrender demands to the Italian commander on Sardinia. (He apparently resisted these, and eventually surrendered to regular Allied ground armies.)

In early September, Capt. Green flew in a B-25 on a supply trip to Cairo, returning with souvenir fezzes, 60 gallons of whiskey, 300 pounds of peanuts, and one hitchhiker. In the middle of the month, the Checkertails converted to P-47s, and were re-organized into the newly constituted Fifteenth Air Force. In December, they moved to a new base at Foggia, Italy, a very busy airbase, with British and American bombers operating almost round the clock. Living in tents during the cold, wet, harsh winter of 1943-44 was miserable. On New Year's Day, the strong winds and rain almost knocked down Herky's tent, He just managed to right the main center pole with a jeep. January was marked by daily bombing escort missions.

Six Kills over Udine

Late in the month, Col. Robert Basler, 325th C.O., came up with a new mission plan, capitalizing on the knowledge that the Germans usually scrambled to hit American bombers about 15 minutes before they reached their targets. On January 30th a typical bomber mission to Villaorba/Udine was organized, including the normal fighter escort. But the 325th, flying low over the Adriatic, would arrive about 15 minutes ahead of the bombers, in hopes of catching the Germans as they were taking off & assembling. (This would be Herky's 40th mission.) The pilots flew at wavetop level, kicking up spray with their props, an exacting, exhausting 300-mile flight.

They arrived over the target at 11:45 AM, having climbed to 20,000-foot altitude. They caught a string of Ju-52 transports lined up for landing. The pilots of the 325th went down the string and shot them down. When came Herky around for a second pass, they were all gone! A huge dogfight ensued with Bf-109s and other e/a. He got on the tail of an Italian Ma-202 and shot it down, and later got a Do-217 bomber, which blew up spectacularly, probably due to mines it was carrying. During this mission, Capt. Green was credited with 6 enemy aircraft: 4 Ju-52 transports, the Ma-202, and the Do-217. Green was flying Capt. Buzz Hearns' P-47 instead of his assigned Jug that was in for maintenance. He was unaware that Hearns' plane was loaded with 800 rounds per gun versus the usual Group practice of 400 rounds. Capt. Green broke off any further engagement when he began to see tracer fire from his guns which was a Group signal for "down to 50 rounds per gun" or his tally for the mission may have been even higher. Green and his flight were credited with 15 aircraft destroyed. The 325th FG total was 38 destroyed and 6 damaged for the Jan. 30, 1944 mission, for which it received a Distinguished Unit Citation.

In February, the Group moved to Lesina, a low-lying, swampy area, and Green contracted malaria. He was treated and recuperated for a month in a hospital in Tunis; during this time he was promoted to Major. On March 7, he returned to flying combat missions, and scored three more aerial victories in the month. In April and May, they flew more bomber escort missions, encountering relatively little opposition; "things were getting a little dull".

In early May, they transitioned to P-51 Mustangs, a plane that Herky had briefly flown in training. But he wasn't aware of changes to the plane's handling characteristics due to the addition of an extra fuselage fuel tank. The first time he took up a P-51, he almost killed himself. The plane went into a terminal spin, and he had to bail out. The plane crashed not far from where he safely parachuted down, and actually made a "deep hole" in the ground. He could see blue flames coming up and hear the 50-caliber ammunition cooking off. A short time later, the 325th went on their last P-47 mission. The pilots had liked the Thunderbolt, especially its ruggedness and ability to take damage. One pilot was involved in heavy fighting and had taken a lot of hits. After landing he reported to his crew chief that the P-47's engine was "running a little rough". On opening up the cowling, it turned out that two of the rotary cylinders had been completely shot away! On May 27, 28, 29, the Checkertails ran their first P-51 operations, hitting marshalling yards in France, Italy, and Austria.

One June 2, they flew one of the famous "shuttle" missions to Russia, where they stayed a few days. Herky related some humorous and touching stories in his autobiography. The guards at the airfield rightly considered their assignment to be a choice plum, as the alternative was front-line combat against the Wehrmacht. One guard had strict orders (all orders in Russia were strict) to guard a well. An old, bedraggled woman came up to get some water from the well, and he told her to stay away. For whatever reason, she went up to the well anyway, and he shot her dead. Herky observed "The Russians seemed to be fighting a different war than we were." Shortly, the Americans returned to their bases in Western Europe.

On June 13, Herky got a new wingman, Art Fiedler, and on this first mission of Art's, Herky shot down another Ma-202. On June 23, the 325th flew an escort mission to Ploesti, and Green hit a Bf-109 and damaged an FW-190.

Herky scored three more times; the last being an FW-190 on August 23. Later, as Lt. Col., he was assigned to Staff at Fifteenth Air Force HQ. At the time Green left combat flying for HQ XV, he was the leading ace in the MTO.

Decorations: Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross with OLC, Air Medal with 25 OLC, Purple Heart, French Croix de Guerre with Palm. Remained in service post-war logging 4,000+ flying hours until retirement as a Colonel on April 1, 1964. Employed by the Hughes Aircraft Corporation until retirement in 1982.