Profile of Calvin Willruth

Photo courtesy of Calvin Willruth

Cal entered the service in December 1942 at the age of 19. His home town is South Lancaster, Mass. He was assigned to the Southeast Training Command and flew the Stearman in primary flight training, the BT-13 in basic, the AT-6 in advanced and the P-51B in transitional

He joined the 4th FG in July of 1944 and was with the Group until October of 1945, basically until the unit was disbanded. He got his separation at Randolf Field in San Antonio, TX.

Cal finished college in 1950 with at BA Degree and then went to Ohio State University College of Dentistry where he graduated in 1954. He moved to Orlando, FL and practiced dentistry there for 40 years. He's now retired and living in Florida with his wife.

FUNNIEST THING THAT HE SAW

"Took off one day for a little practice flying. To my chagrin, on my way down the runway, I realized that the pitot tube cover was still in place. A bit embarrassing to say the least. To avoid coming back to our base to land and be seen taking it off, I landed at a RAF auxiliary field where the Brits had a good laugh. They invited me in for a spot of tea and all ended well."

SCARIEST THING THAT HE SAW

"Probably the scariest thing that comes to mind was the mission on the day before Christmas, 1944. We were escorting the bombers. We were flying at approximately 20,000 feet. I spotted a Bogie near the deck. Horseback told me to check it out. With George Green on my wing, we went into a dive at max speed. In trying to keep my eye on the plane I wasn't watching the air speed indicator. George called and said, 'Cal, you'd better slow down a bit or you'll tear the wings off'. It turned out to be a Me-109. A bit of manuevering. I opened fire. Smoke poured out. It rolled over. In the film it looked like the pilot bailed out. About this time a barrage of ground fire was coming at us. Needless to say we got the heck out of there. So after it was over, we headed back to base. The field was socked in and we diverted to an emergency landing strip (British). Stayed over night and returned to base the next day. That was probably (my) closest call also."

MOST MEMORABLE EVENT

"This was the time we were attacking Prenzlau Airdrome, a few miles out of Berlin. Flak was bursting all around us. Major McKennon, our Squadron CO called and said his plane was hit and he was going to have to bail out. He was able to bail out over a somewhat open field. George Green called and said 'fellows, I'm going to try and land and pick up Mac'. The rest of us thought he was crazy to try this but we circled to give him cover. After a rough landing in the bumpy pasture or meadow, Green tossed his chute. Mac, the taller of the two, jumped in the cockpit first and Green sat on his lap. In the meantime, a man came toward them with a large dog. One of the planes swooped down and wiped them out. They made a full flap, full throttle take off in that cramped position, flew back to England (a 2-1/2 to 3 hour trip). To have seen this event happen will always be in my memory. It is also my favorite story."

MOST MEMORABLE CHARACTER

"Colonel Don Blakeslee gets my vote. We all looked up to him as the man, the fighter pilot, that we would hope to become."