John C. Meyer

John C. Meyer was born on April 3rd, 1919 in Brooklyn. He joined

the Army Air Force in November, 1939, with the intention of becoming a pilot. He got his wings and the rank of 2nd Lieutenant

in July, 1940 and for a short time, fulfilled instructional duties at

Randolph Field in Texas, and at Gunter Field in Alabama. Before

the United States entered the war, he was assigned to the 33rd

Pursuit Squadron, with which he flew the P-40, and was tasked,

among other things, with convoy support around Iceland. In September, 1942, John C. Meyer was reassigned to the newly formed

352nd Fighter Group and was given command of her 34th Pursuit

Squadron. The unit was redesignated as the 487th Fighter Squadron,

and was re-equipped with the P-47 Thunderbolt, and in this form,

along with the entire 352nd Fighter Group, was moved to Europe. The new home of the unit all the way to the end of the war

was RAF Bodney, USAAF Station No.141. His first aerial victory, and

also the squadron’s first, was recorded in November, 1943. John C.

Meyer was the 487th Fighter Squadron’s CO over the course of all

important time periods in the evolution of strategic operations over

Europe, during which the unit was again re-equipped, this time

from the P-47 to the P-51. John C Meyer gave up his command of

the squadron when he was named deputy CO of the 352nd FG in

November, 1944. Under his command, the squadron would see the

emergence of aces the likes of Raymond H. Littge, William T. Whisner and, perhaps most importantly, George H. Preddy, the leading

P-51 ace, Meyer’s friend and colleague who he was not able to

best even after Preddy’s tragic death over Christmas, 1944. As luck

would have it, fate would not offer much opportunity to do just

that. On December 31st, 1944, John Meyer was able to shoot down

an Arado Ar 234 jet. Immediately the next morning, the final big

show for John Meyer in the Second World War began. During Operation Bodenplatte, when one of the Luftwaffe targets was the 352nd

FG’s temporary home, Y-29 Ash in Belgium, John Meyer managed to

shoot down an Fw 190 before he could even get his gear up after taking off. He subsequently dispensed with another Fw 190 and raised

his Second World War score to the final tally of twenty-four. For this

rare feat, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Eight

days later, he was the victim of an accident, and although doctors

were able to save his life, it spelled the end of his flying days to

the end of the war. Up to that point, he took part in ca 200 combat

missions lasting some 462 hours, and besides the twenty-four kills,

he was also credited with the destruction of 13 enemy aircraft on

the ground.

After the war, he completed his studies, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Geography.

Postwar service with the US Army, later the

USAF, was made up of various staff and admin

functions up to August, 1950, when he was named Commanding Officer of the F-86 equipped

4th Fighter Wing. The unit was later moved to

Korea, where John C. Meyer added another

two kills to his total from 1943 – 1945. One was

claimed on December 22nd, 1950 and the other

on April 12th, 1951. Both victims were MiG-15s.

After returning from Korea, he was taken on

by the Air War College in Maxwell, where he

would later remain as an instructor. In 1963,

he was promoted to Major General and was

subsequently given command of the 12th USAF.

In 1967, this was followed by further promotion to Lieutenant General and function within

the Strategic Air Command. He retired in July,

1974.

Among his military awards are, first and foremost, the Distinguished Service Cross with

two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Distinguished

Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Silver Star

with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with six Oak Leaf Clusters,

Purple Heart, Air Medal with 14 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Croix de Guerre with Palm from

both France and Belgium.

John C. Meyer died on December 2nd, 1975 in

Los Angeles at the age of 56.

John C. Meyer during his stint as CO of the

4th Fighter Wing in Korea between 1950

and 1951. During the Korean War, he flew

the F-86 Sabre and downed two MiG-15s.