U.S. Congress Awards Gold Medals to Connecticut Residents

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - March 23, 2015 - PRLog -- United States Senator from Connecticut Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Representative for Connecticut's 2nd congressional district, Congressman Joseph Courtney, joined Civil Air Patrol’s Connecticut Wing to honor eleven veterans from Connecticut who served in Civil Air Patrol during World War II.

During the ceremony, held at the New England Air Museum on March 21, 2015 in Windsor Locks, Conn., local Civil Air Patrol (CAP) veterans or their families were presented with replica gold medals as authorized by Congress for “civilian volunteers who flew armed and humanitarian missions” between 1941 and 1945. Congress voted to award the gold medal to honor the service of all CAP's World War II veterans in 2014.

Senator Blumenthal expressed pride in CAP's World War II volunteers. He said that flying CAP missions to defend our nation was a dangerous business, proved by the 65 members who died in the line of duty, and that their sacrifice stands as a model of public service. Two of those losses were from Connecticut: 1st Lt. Welles Bishop, whose aircraft crashed while on patrol, and Lt. Andre Maye who perished during an emergency landing. During an address to the assembly Representative Courtney noted that the Congressional Gold Medal “honors the purest form of service, volunteer service.”

Four CAP veterans being recognized attended the ceremonies:

Judith Calandrelli, from Fairfield, CT, worked at Norwalk Aircraft in 1944 as a welder when she volunteered to serve and soon became part of the home-front effort to win the war. She trained in civil defense skills and was one of three women chosen for flight training. When the war ended, Calandrelli worked for C.R. Gibson and the Westport Public Library.

Joel Fairfax is a charter member of the Danbury Composite Squadron. His assignment to the Bar Harbor patrol base was curtailed by his crucial wartime occupation as a quality control specialist in Bridgeport. He had been stationed at Danbury but was transferred to Stormville Airport in New York where he flew the Piper J-5, the Aeronca Champion, and the Bird BK. Fairfax, who resides in Madison, Connecticut, appeared in uniform at the ceremony.

Loering Johnson served as a CAP Cadet in Belfield, North Dakota. He collected scrap metals, studied aeronautics and served as an aircraft spotter. He recalls the fear of invasion which pervaded the northland. This fear was not unwarranted since the Japanese had occupied Attu and Kiska, two islands in Alaska's Aleutian archipelago. Johnson and a dozen of his classmates studied flash cards depicting Japanese aircraft and rotated through one hour shifts on the roof of their high school, scanning the northern skies towards Canada. Upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Army and served with the 88th Infantry Division in Italy. Johnson resides in Tariffville, Connecticut.

Helen Sarr-Hill worked at the Connecticut Department of Aeronautics. She joined CAP and served as Connecticut Wing Secretary, one of the few paid positions at the time. She remembers reporting to the National Guard Armory in Hartford where she drilled. When her fiancée returned from a tour as a B-17 tail gunner in Europe they were married. After the war, she continued to serve in state government as an administrative secretary. Sarr-Hill is a resident of Glastonbury, Connecticut.

Deceased veterans were represented by family members who received their citations and medals:

Thomas Allgeier Jr. accepted for his father, Sergeant Norman E. Allgeier, who joined CAP in Cincinnati, Ohio. Allgeier performed 1000 hours of service flying forest fire watches and patrolling coal, oil, and gas resources. He served with CAP member Mary Jo Fromeyer, who later became Mrs. Allgeier. Their son Thomas recalls talks with his dad who said “we did our job, and we did it well.”

First Lieutenant Welles Bishop earned his private pilot’s license in the 1920’s at Meriden Airport. When war broke out Bishop joined CAP and flew submarine patrols off of Bar Harbor, Maine. On Feb. 2, 1943 Bishop took off on routine patrol when his plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Although wearing bail out suits, he and his observer, 1st Lt. William Hites, died from exposure. Bishop’s nephew Robert Pierpont accepted the award.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lockhart, Connecticut’s first Wing Commander, was represented by Ginny Lockhart. When war broke out, Lockhart was serving as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Aeronautics. In 1944, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and participated in the Battle of Okinawa. When the war ended, he returned to his former position as Commissioner and went on to establish a career in advertising.

Major Ernest L. Markham was a U.S. Navy veteran and naval aviator at the end of World War I.  In 1928, he became the first manager of Meriden Airport, now named Meriden-Markham Airport in his honor. His service was performed at CAP's Bar Harbor base in Maine where he was temporary commander and operations officer. Markham returned to Meriden when the war ended and continued with CAP as Commanding Officer of the Meriden Squadron. Markham's medal was received by Linda Markham Scialabba.

Lieutenant Andre Maye joined Civil Air Patrol eight days following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The father of three children, he was not eligible for the draft but felt he must join the war effort. He took a leave of absence from GE and went on active duty at Bradley Field where he served as a pilot, flying courier missions for the Army Air Corps. On September 14, 1943 Maye and a passenger, mechanic George Menzel, were on a flight from Bradley Field to Grenier Field when his Taylorcraft Cub began to smoke. He attempted an emergency landing but both men were killed on impact. Maye’s medal was given to his son, Andre Maye Jr.

Hyland Tasker, a licensed pilot and Pratt & Whitney employee joined CAP at the beginning of the war and supported U.S. Army Air Corps missions. He flew until 1974 and passed away in 2008 at the age of 92. Tasker's medal was presented  to his daughter, Karen Tasker Anderson.

Benjamin Tier received a medal for his mother, Colonel Nancy Hopkins-Tier. She was a rated commercial pilot and a nationally known aviatrix with a number of aviation achievements under her belt. She joined CAP in 1944 and, in 1947, was appointed as the Connecticut Wing Commander, the first woman to hold that post. She is a member of the Pioneer Women in the Aviation Hall of Fame and a charter member of the Ninety-Nines, a women's aviation organization.

After the formal ceremonies awardees and guests adjourned to the headquarters of the 103rd Airlift Wing at Bradley International Airport. There a citation and miniature medal was presented to each awardee by Connecticut Wing Commander Kenneth Chapman, Chief of Staff James Ridley, and New Fairfield First Selectman Susan Chapman. The ceremony concluded with refreshments and the music of the 102nd Army Brass Quintet.