Combat Missions

Herman G. "Hank" Tillman Jr., a retired Air Force colonel and pilot who flew in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and was one of Maryland's most decorated veterans, died Sunday of liver failure at his Chester home. He was 89. He was born in his immigrant grandparents' Anne Arundel County farmhouse, and later moved with his family to a home at Pontiac Avenue and Sixth Street in Brooklyn. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1940, he attended the Johns Hopkins University at night and worked at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s engineering department during the day. "As a kid, he was fascinated with flying.

James R. LaVey, a retired systems equipment engineer who was also a decorated World War II gunner and longtime Boy Scout advocate, died Saturday of pneumonia at his Timonium home. He was 87. "He was a giant among Scout volunteers and was a kind friend to many," said Jack Simons, a longtime friend and Scoutmaster who lives in Cockeysville. "He will be dreadfully missed. " James Robert LaVey, the son of a production manager and a homemaker, was born and raised in Chicago, where he graduated in 1942 from Kelvyn Park High School.

Jimmie Chambers, a World War II flight engineer and gunner who later worked for an investment firm, died in his sleep Wednesday of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the Baltimore VA Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center. He was 87. The son of Greek immigrants, Mr. Chambers grew up during the Great Depression on Pearl Street, now the site of the University of Maryland Medical Center and the Baltimore Veterans Affairs complex. He attended City College and then worked at Bethlehem Steel and the Maryland Drydock Co., helping to build Liberty ships.

Herman G. "Hank" Tillman Jr., a retired Air Force colonel and pilot who flew in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and was one of Maryland's most decorated veterans, died Sunday of liver failure at his Chester home. He was 89. He was born in his immigrant grandparents' Anne Arundel County farmhouse, and later moved with his family to a home at Pontiac Avenue and Sixth Street in Brooklyn. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1940, he attended the Johns Hopkins University at night and worked at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s engineering department during the day. "As a kid, he was fascinated with flying.

Sterling J. Robertson, a B-26 Martin Marauder pilot who survived 67 combat missions over Holland, Belgium and France during World War II, died Tuesday of complications from dementia at a nursing home in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The former longtime Westminster resident was 91. Mr. Robertson was born and raised on his family's farm near Jasontown in Carroll County. After graduating from Westminster High School in 1933, he farmed for several years, then worked in a Westminster grocery store and as a dump truck driver for the John Hyde Quarries.

Charles Robins Hall, a retired military navigator, died Thursday of a brain hemorrhage at Carroll Hospital Center. A resident of Carroll Lutheran Village in Westminster, he was 88. Born in Chicago, he grew up in Newport News, Va., and Salem, Va., and enlisted in the Army in 1935 after graduating from high school. He was a lieutenant when he left the Army in 1939. He attended Amherst College for three years before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942. As a navigator, he flew 40 combat missions in the Pacific during World War II, participated in the Berlin airlift and flew 48 combat missions in the Korean War. He then served with the Air Transport Command at what is now Travis Air Force Base in California and with the Strategic Air Command at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma.

There is no way this nation can properly atone for the shabby and disrespectful way that we treated those World War II heroes known as the Tuskegee Airmen, but at long last we have begun to try. At a ceremony under the Capitol dome last Thursday, Congress took a first step toward righting a wrong by awarding surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen ... the Congressional Gold Medal. During the ceremony, President Bush added his personal sharp salute to the airmen. He told them, "On behalf of the office I hold, and a country that honors you, I salute you for your service to the United States of America."

Albert M. Steinbach, founder of the Caton Auto Clinic and former Army Air Forces pilot who flew combat missions over Germany during World War II, died Monday of heart failure at his Eldersburg home. He was 83. In 1975, Mr. Steinbach established the Caton Auto Clinic on U.S. 40 in Catonsville - an operation that has grown into one of Maryland's largest independently owned car repair businesses. "He dedicated all of his efforts to providing great personal service for all of his customers and will be missed by the many people he helped over the years," said a son, Kenneth J. Steinbach of Finksburg, president of the family business.

Robert Morgan, 85, commander of the Memphis Belle, a B-17 bomber that flew combat missions over Europe during World War II, died Saturday in Asheville, N.C., of complications from injuries he suffered in a fall. A native of Asheville, Mr. Morgan became famous as the pilot of the Memphis Belle, which flew 25 combat missions over Germany and France during World War II. Mr. Morgan co-authored a book about his experiences, The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle, with Ron Powers. The crew completed its 25th bombing mission on May 17, 1943.

It used to be that during war, most of the women in uniform were nurses. But a lot has changed since 1948 when the United States barred women from combat. Today women make up nearly half the work force -- holding jobs that a generation ago were off-limits to them, including key positions in the military.The gulf war ignited a national debate on the role of women in the armed forces. Women participated in the initial surges into Iraq and Kuwait, and 33,000 women served in combat support positions that put them in harm's way. One woman was held as a POW and others were killed in action.

Wherever Alvin T. Jones has lived throughout his adult life, he has reserved wall space for his Navy memorabilia. He displays his three Air Medals and his Distinguished Flying Cross, his honorable discharge, dated 1945, and a wedding photo of a young uniformed sailor and his bride. Another photo shows Jones in the center of the 10-member crew of a B-24 bomber. At 89, he recalls the name and assignment of each man posing in 1944 in front of that plane. Most notably, he recalls his pilot, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the smiling young man holding a puppy in the picture.

Donald Myron "Donny" Cohen, a World War II P-51 fighter pilot who flew on the last combat mission over Germany and later became a chemical engineer at Aberdeen Proving Ground, died Nov. 5 at his Fallston home from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 86. In the early hours of May 8, 1945, Mr. Cohen was sitting in the cockpit of the Lady Ellen, the P-51 fighter that he named after his wife, and waiting to take off from Ansbach Airfield, a captured former Luftwaffe base in northern Bavaria.

Johns Charles Macgill Jr., a decorated World War II bomber pilot who flew 30 combat missions and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, died of heart failure Oct. 22 at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg, Va. He was 88. The son and grandson of physicians, Mr. Macgill was born in Baltimore and raised at "Eureka," the old Macgill family home on Frederick Road in Catonsville. Mr. Macgill was interested in flying since he was a child. "Coming from a long line of doctors, it became embedded into Charlie's mind what his future would be. However, at the age of 9, he saw an airplane, and as happened so often in the early days of flight, he became enamored with flight," wrote Robin Smith, historian for the 486th Bomb Group Association, in a profile.

Jimmie Chambers, a World War II flight engineer and gunner who later worked for an investment firm, died in his sleep Wednesday of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the Baltimore VA Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center. He was 87. The son of Greek immigrants, Mr. Chambers grew up during the Great Depression on Pearl Street, now the site of the University of Maryland Medical Center and the Baltimore Veterans Affairs complex. He attended City College and then worked at Bethlehem Steel and the Maryland Drydock Co., helping to build Liberty ships.

Sterling J. Robertson, a B-26 Martin Marauder pilot who survived 67 combat missions over Holland, Belgium and France during World War II, died Tuesday of complications from dementia at a nursing home in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The former longtime Westminster resident was 91. Mr. Robertson was born and raised on his family's farm near Jasontown in Carroll County. After graduating from Westminster High School in 1933, he farmed for several years, then worked in a Westminster grocery store and as a dump truck driver for the John Hyde Quarries.

There is no way this nation can properly atone for the shabby and disrespectful way that we treated those World War II heroes known as the Tuskegee Airmen, but at long last we have begun to try. At a ceremony under the Capitol dome last Thursday, Congress took a first step toward righting a wrong by awarding surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen ... the Congressional Gold Medal. During the ceremony, President Bush added his personal sharp salute to the airmen. He told them, "On behalf of the office I hold, and a country that honors you, I salute you for your service to the United States of America."

WASHINGTON -- With a nod to the active role played by servicewomen in the Persian Gulf war, the Senate voted yesterday to throw out a 43-year-old law banning Air Force and Navy women from flying combat missions.Lawmakers also voted to allow the defense secretary to test women in other combat roles.The pilots' statute was overturned on a voice vote as the Senate followed in the footsteps of the House, which has already approved a similar provision.If signed into law by the president, their action would give the Air Force and Navy authority to make their own rules on female pilots.

They're nearly 50 years older. They've gained a few pounds lost a few steps and a lot of hair. But the crews' memories are still green: bombing runs under heavy anti-aircraft fire, beating back Nazi fighter attacks, bringing planes back with an engine on fire and even being shot down.After a shaky start, the B-26 Martin Marauder became World War II's first "hot" bomber. And even though "Carolyn," the only Marauder still flying, didn't make it to the reunion, hundreds of the men who built, maintained and flew the planes were in Baltimore yesterday to pledge loyalty to its memory.

Charles Robins Hall, a retired military navigator, died Thursday of a brain hemorrhage at Carroll Hospital Center. A resident of Carroll Lutheran Village in Westminster, he was 88. Born in Chicago, he grew up in Newport News, Va., and Salem, Va., and enlisted in the Army in 1935 after graduating from high school. He was a lieutenant when he left the Army in 1939. He attended Amherst College for three years before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942. As a navigator, he flew 40 combat missions in the Pacific during World War II, participated in the Berlin airlift and flew 48 combat missions in the Korean War. He then served with the Air Transport Command at what is now Travis Air Force Base in California and with the Strategic Air Command at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma.