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58-678: Erwin was the son of Henry Eugene "Red" Erwin Sr. , a U.S. Army Air Forces sergeant who earned the Medal of Honor in World War II . He was born in Birmingham, Alabama , and graduated from Ensley High School in 1967, before going on to earn degrees at Troy State University (1972), Southeastern Bible College (1974), and the Dallas Seminary (1981). Erwin broke into broadcasting in

116-550: A parasite fighter for the Convair B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber, was tested with a Boeing B-29 Superfortress and found to be utterly impossible to use operationally. The subsequent FICON project attempted a similar solution, docking jet fighters with heavy bombers via a trapeze mechanism or their wingtips. Whilst projects for dedicated escort fighters such as the XF-85 Goblin came to nothing,

174-581: A force of 22 Wellingtons lost 12 aircraft to German fighters as they attacked warships in harbour. For the rest of the war, the RAF was convinced night bombing was the only survivable strategy and this opinion was not seriously reconsidered. Both Fighter and Bomber command evolved doctrinal arguments against escorts, even after photoreconnaissance versions of the Spitfire were flying deep into Germany at ranges that would allow them to escort daytime bombing. During

232-638: A heavy emphasis on the idea of air superiority , and its importance in the ability of an air force to carry out effective operations. Air superiority is defined as a situation in which an air force dominates an airspace to such a degree as to be able to carry out any operations with no interference from enemy air combatants. Fighting an opponent with air superiority in a given battlespace is much harder, as any offensive or defensive tactics are likely to be overwhelmed. The first major strategic bombing campaigns were carried out during World War I . Initially using Zeppelins , and later by large bomber aircraft such as

290-653: A lower importance – they became just a single element of the nuclear triad in the US, and largely ignored entirely in the USSR. Furthermore, with the concept of mutually assured destruction high on the political agenda throughout the Cold War, a nuclear exchange became ever less likely, leaving existing fighter designs more than adequate for their protection in the wars being fought. In Vietnam for instance, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs and sometimes Vought F-8 Crusaders escorted

348-773: A master sergeant in October 1947. For 37 years, Erwin served as a benefits counselor at the veterans' hospital in Birmingham, Alabama . In 1951, his story was included in the movie The Wild Blue Yonder; Erwin was portrayed by Dave Sharpe . In 1997, the Air Force created the Henry E. Erwin Outstanding Enlisted Aircrew Member of the Year Award. It is presented annually to an airman, noncommissioned officer and senior noncommissioned officer in

406-740: A radio operator gunner during his time in the service. He was medically discharged from the Army Air Force on October 27, 1947, having served 5 years, 2 months, and 12 days. During World War II , he participated in the Air Raids on Japan campaign and the Western Pacific campaign. On April 12, 1945, Erwin, called "Red" by his crewmates, was serving as the radio operator aboard a Boeing B-29 Superfortress named City of Los Angeles , piloted by Captain George Simeral. The plane

464-466: A specialized bomber—were seen as a possible solution to the limited ranges of most traditional escort fighters. First experimented with in WWI , the U.S.-designed XF-85 Goblin would emerge as the last dedicated parasite fighter design and was abandoned in 1949 due to technical issues as well as the advent of practical aerial refueling . The escort role has been diminished as modern air combat doctrine places

522-551: Is known to cause extremely terrible wounds, as the burning chemical cannot be extinguished if oxygen is present, and continues to burn through flesh until it consumes itself or is extracted. It is also toxic. Although in excruciating pain, he remained conscious throughout the flight and spoke only to inquire about the safety of the crew. Once on Iwo Jima, the medical personnel who examined Erwin expected him to die. Army Air Force officials, led by Major General Curtis LeMay and Brigadier General Lauris Norstad , approved Erwin's award of

580-528: The 52d Bombardment Squadron , 29th Bombardment Group , Twentieth Air Force , in Dalhart, Texas , Erwin and his unit left for the Asia-Pacific theater in early 1945. From February 25 to April 1 of that year, they participated in a series of un escorted bombing strikes against cities in the heart of Japan. For these missions, Erwin, by then a staff sergeant , received two Air Medals . Erwin served as

638-825: The Army Reserve from nearby Bessemer on July 27, 1942. Called to active duty as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Forces on February 3, 1943, he trained as a pilot in Ocala, Florida , but washed out due to "flying deficiency". He was instead transferred to technical school at Keesler Air Force Base , Mississippi, as a private first class in July of that year. He completed further radio operator and radio mechanic training in Sioux Falls, South Dakota , and Madison, Wisconsin , until his graduation in 1944. Assigned to

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696-424: The Asia-Pacific theater . During a 1945 bombing mission over Koriyama , Japan, a white phosphorus bomb prematurely ignited in his aircraft and seriously wounded him. As smoke filled the plane, he picked up the burning device and carried it through the aircraft to the cockpit where he tossed it out a window. Although he suffered severe burns, he successfully saved his plane and all crew members aboard by disposing of

754-517: The Gotha G.IV and Handley Page Type O , these raids were increasingly countered by fighter aircraft . These fighters benefitted substantially from an inherent asymmetry; the attacking aircraft had to fly long distances to reach its target and thus had to be large enough to carry the required fuel load, while the defending fighters were flying only a short distance and therefore were able to be much lighter and have higher performance. In early 1916,

812-544: The Gulf Coast . In April 2009, Erwin announced his plans to seek the position of Alabama Lieutenant Governor against then-incumbent Jim Folsom Jr. Kay Ivey announced a switch from the governor's race to the lieutenant governor's race on March 31, 2010. Ivey defeated both Erwin and Daphne schoolteacher Gene Ponder by a significant margin in the June 1, 2010 primary. Ivey went on to be elected as lieutenant governor and

870-569: The United States Army Air Force to come to the conclusion that their B-17 bombers needed to do something to reduce losses, and that escorts had an appreciable benefit in reducing the rate of losses, particularly as the intensity of German interception efforts had grown substantially, to the point where unescorted bombing missions came to be discouraged. This realisation eventually led to the development of long range escort fighters. A series of unrelated developments had left

928-608: The 1970s and served radio and TV stations in Dallas, Texas, and Birmingham, Alabama, for almost 35 years. He was elected to the Alabama Senate in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. Erwin and his wife, Shelia, have two sons, filmmakers Andrew and Jon Erwin . He received national media coverage in 2005 when he claimed that Hurricane Katrina was "the judgment of God" for "gambling, sin and wickedness" in New Orleans and along

986-838: The American bombers such as Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses , Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs and Douglas A-4 Skyhawks . In some cases the missions of F-4 were "mixed", when some F-4 were equipped with bombs, and some F-4 acted as escorts (similar cases occurred with F-8). The advent of the air superiority fighter , such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle , meant that high value assets like tankers , airborne early warning and control , command platforms, bombers and attack aircraft would be protected by air superiority fighters, sometimes flying far afield and ahead of them, engaging distant enemy air units, rather than by direct escorts staying in sight nearby. The development of

1044-604: The British War Office drew up a specification for a multi-seat escort fighter intended to protect formations of bombers from German fighters. While the specification did not require high speed, a good field of fire for its guns was essential. Prototype aircraft were built – Armstrong Whitworth F.K.6 , Sopwith L.R.T.Tr and Vickers F.B.11 – all three put gunners into nacelles to provide wide fields of fire. The development of effective synchronisation gear which meant smaller fighters could be equally effective led to

1102-453: The German fighters it faced, permitting it to be easily adapted to the escort role through the use of drop tanks . On 3 March 1944, the 55th Fighter Group flew their P-38s over Berlin. Further adaptations quickly followed. The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt mounted a powerful engine that allowed it to carry large loads. This made it suitable in the fighter-bomber role, as well as giving it

1160-534: The Medal of Honor in a matter of hours so that a presentation could be made while he still lived. A medal was expeditiously flown from Hawaii to Guam and presented to him in the hospital there. Amazingly, though, Erwin survived his burns. He was flown back to the United States, and after 30 months and 41 surgeries, his eyesight was restored and he regained use of one arm. He received a disability discharge as

1218-491: The RAF long argued against the development of escorts. A key reason was largely organizational. In 1936 the former Air Defence of Great Britain had its duties split into RAF Fighter Command and RAF Bomber Command . Fighter Command felt that using their fighters as protection for bombing raids would draw on their own numbers. On 30 November 1936, Director of Staff Duties Sholto Douglas made this position formal, stating "the bombers should be able to look after themselves without

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1276-488: The RAF that this would not be the case. In the early stages of the US efforts, bombing runs often took place without escort fighters. German fighter pilots were scrambled to deal with these raids, and soon learned that it was much easier for them to take out formations which were unescorted as opposed to those who were escorted. As a result, fighters would attack bomber formations that were on long-range operations, as they would not have escorts with them. They quickly determined

1334-638: The US in the position of being able to quickly address this need. Prior to their entry into the war, the USAAF fighter forces were interested in bomber destroyers and developed a series of cannon-armed aircraft, among which, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning was large enough to also have a large fuel capacity. Unlike earlier twin-engine designs like the Bf 110, the Lightning proved to be competitive with

1392-562: The ability to carry large fuel tanks. Finally, the extremely high efficiency of the laminar-flow wing on the Merlin -powered North American P-51 Mustang gave it unparalleled range even on internal fuel, and with external tanks, it could cover most of Europe. Although not designed for the escort role, the P-51 remains the canonical example of the class. The successes of the P-47N and P-51 gave

1450-536: The addition of an escort of fighters." Production allocation followed this rule, capping the number of fighters delivered to front-line use with the British Expeditionary Force and sending the rest to UK formations. At the same time, the newly formed Bomber Command developed their plans with the assumption that there would be no escorts. This was due to a combination of factors. One was the belief that improved navigational technique would allow

1508-733: The advancement of technology and the nature of warfare of the wars being fought allowed the role of fighter escort to gradually merge with fighter types, so the term fell out of use. During the Korean War , the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and later the North American F-86 Sabre escorted B-29 heavy bombers and Republic F-84 Thunderjet strike fighters . Although the North American XB-70 Valkyrie Mach 3 bomber,

1566-422: The aircraft, making it impossible for the pilot to see his instrument panel. Erwin was afraid the bomb would burn through the metal floor and make contact with the bomb bay. Completely blind, he picked it up and, feeling his way, crawled around the gun turret and headed for the copilot's window. His face and arms were covered with ignited phosphorus, and his path was blocked by the navigator's folding table, hinged to

1624-423: The bomber will always get through ". Furthermore, due to a lack of precision aiming capabilities, bombers were viewed as likely to attack urban environments in general; Baldwin noted that their primary purpose would be to "kill the enemy's women and children more rapidly than they killed yours". This state of affairs was considered distasteful and there was some consideration given to methods to allow bombing during

1682-448: The bombers. With the development of guided missiles , particularly surface-to-air missiles , plans for dedicated escort fighters designed to escort nuclear bombers gradually faded from the scene. Missile technology meant that interceptors would rarely engage bombers directly, if ever, and the escorts could do little against missiles. At the same time, the advancement of land and submarine-based ballistic missiles relegated bombers to

1740-448: The bombs when the aircraft was just off the south coast of Japan and under attack by antiaircraft fire and Japanese fighters. Erwin pulled the pin and released a bomb into the chute, but the fuse malfunctioned and ignited the phosphorus prematurely, burning at 1500°F (815°C). The canister flew back up the chute and into Erwin's face, blinding him, searing off one ear and obliterating his nose. Phosphorus pentoxide smoke immediately filled

1798-549: The day. At first, this was not seen as an issue; the Forces' Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers were the most heavily armed aircraft of the time. Close formations of them were planned, creating a crossfire of .50 caliber machine-guns that would fend off the enemy with no need for a fighter escort. Some officials claimed that escort fighters were wholly impractical. The service remained convinced of this strategy in spite of continued warnings from

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1856-431: The day. Two ideas became popular. The schnellbomber was a very fast aircraft that would simply fly right past the slower fighters due to the extra power of their twin-engine designs. This was demonstrated with great effect at multiple air races during the early 1930s, where light twins easily outperformed fighters. However, this situation only existed for a short period until more powerful aircraft engines emerged in

1914-576: The end of development of the designs. As the fighters held the upper hand, raids were almost always carried out at night. During the inter-war era, this led to the creation of dedicated night bomber designs that concentrated on solving the problem of long-range navigation at night. During 1932, in the face of increasingly capable bomber aircraft, the British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin surmised that interception efforts would inevitably not always succeed and that "

1972-484: The fighters opted to engage the BF 110s instead, a relatively high loss rate for the Bf 110s was typically incurred as a result. In one famous example, a group of seventy-two Heinkel He 111 's from Norway , escorted by Bf 110s, made an attack on Newcastle . The defending Hurricanes and Spitfires were able to pick their targets with complete impunity, eventually destroying eight He 111s and seven Bf 110s without loss. The raid

2030-400: The flight engineering, loadmaster, air surveillance and related career fields. It is only the second Air Force award named for an enlisted person. Erwin died at his home on January 16, 2002, and was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Alabama . His son, Hank Erwin , became an Alabama state senator . In addition to the Medal of Honor and two Air Medals received earlier in 1945, he

2088-479: The impression that the escort fighter was a concept worth continuing after the end of the war. The high fuel use of early jet engines made such aircraft difficult to design, and a number of experimental designs were tried that used mixed power, typically a turboprop and jet, but these failed to meet performance requirements. A new concept, the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin microfighter, planned to act as

2146-520: The incendiary/smoke-generating bomb. Erwin was born on May 8, 1921, in Adamsville, Alabama . Like many of his generation, he grew up in poverty and lost his father at an early age. However, he had a very strong religious faith, which he discussed on a History Channel documentary on Medal of Honor recipients in 1999. Erwin said, "I called on the Lord to help me and He has never let me down". Erwin joined

2204-438: The mid-1930s and once again a single-engine fighter could catch a twin-engine bomber. The other idea was the escort fighter that would attempt to break up attacks by the defense before they could reach the bombers. To have the desired range, the aircraft had to carry a large fuel load, and at the time this demanded a twin-engine aircraft. Such a design would not be able to maneuver with the single-engine day fighters , so attention

2262-603: The night bomber force to attack point targets. Another was that immediately before the war, new and much larger aircraft like the Vickers Wellington were arriving that mounted heavy defensive armament. This convinced some in Bomber Command that daylight raids would not require escorts. The concept of daytime raids quickly ended after the disastrous air battle of the Heligoland Bight , in which

2320-450: The pilot's seats. The smoke cleared enough for Simeral to pull the B-29 out of a dive at 300 feet (91 m) above the water and turn toward Iwo Jima , where Erwin could be given emergency treatment. His crew members extinguished his burning clothes and administered first aid, but whenever Erwin's burns were uncovered, phosphorus embedded in his skin would begin to smolder; white phosphorus

2378-471: The plane. Without regard for his own safety, he picked it up and feeling his way, instinctively, crawled around the gun turret and headed for the copilot's window. He found the navigator's table obstructing his passage. Grasping the burning bomb between his forearm and body, he unleashed the spring lock and raised the table. Struggling through the narrow passage he stumbled forward into the smoke-filled pilot's compartment. Groping with his burning hands, he located

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2436-482: The point at which the fighters would be forced to turn around and massed their fighters just beyond that point. USAAF bomber losses gradually increased, and experimental "gunships" like the YB-40 did nothing of significance to reduce them. This culminated in the disastrous Second Raid on Schweinfurt on 14 October 1943, in which 26% of the attacking force was either destroyed or written off due to damage. This forced

2494-466: The preparations for the Big Week offensive, the USAAF asked the RAF to consider how to carry out daytime bombing with Spitfire escorts. Fighter Command claimed this was impossible, making several highly questionable calculations to "prove" this. This led to two Spitfires being shipped to Wright-Patterson where many new fuel tanks were added without major effects on performance. Their now excellent range

2552-622: The schnellbomber designs, by the start of the conflict, its performance lead had been seriously eroded. During the Battle of Britain , the Luftwaffe used both Messerschmitt Bf 109s and Bf 110s based in France as escort fighter-bombers. Although flying from relatively close airfields in France, the Bf 109 was operating at the extreme of its range and unable to remain for long with the bombers if it

2610-450: The target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, and return. A number of twin-engined heavy fighters with high fuel capacity were designed for escort duties prior to the outbreak of World War II . Such heavy fighters largely failed in their intended escort role during the war, as they were commonly outmaneuvered by more agile single-engined fighters. As the war progressed, longer-range fighter designs and

2668-420: The use of drop tanks allowed single-engined fighters to perform escort duties. In the post-war era the introduction of jet engines and their inherent short range made escort fighters very difficult to build. The related concept of a penetration fighter emerged briefly in the 1950s and again in the 1960s, but did not result in any production aircraft. Parasite fighters —small aircraft designed to be carried by

2726-419: The wall, but down and locked. The navigator had left his table to make a sighting. Erwin could not release the table's latches with one hand, so he grabbed the white-hot bomb between his bare right arm and his ribcage. In the few seconds needed to raise the table, the phosphorus burned through his flesh to the bone. His body on fire, he stumbled into the cockpit, threw the bomb out the window, and collapsed between

2784-462: The window and threw the bomb out. Completely aflame, he fell back upon the floor. The smoke cleared, the pilot, at 300 feet, pulled the plane out of its dive. S/Sgt. Erwin's gallantry and heroism above and beyond the call of duty saved the lives of his comrades. Escort fighter The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach

2842-1031: Was also awarded the Purple Heart , the World War II Victory Medal , the American Campaign Medal , three Good Conduct Medals , the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two bronze campaign stars (for participation in the Air Offensive Japan and Western Pacific campaigns), and the Distinguished Unit Citation Emblem . On April 4, 2024 the headquarters building of the Twentieth Air Force command at F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming

2900-470: Was demonstrated by flying them back across the Atlantic to England. In spite of this demonstration, Fighter Command was slow to consider such adaptations and was not until well after Pointblank was concluded that final sign-off was given, at which point they saw no need for such conversions. The U.S. Army Air Forces ' precision strategic bombing campaign against German industries was only possible during

2958-425: Was encountered. Among the phosphoresce bombs launched by S/Sgt. Erwin, 1 proved faulty, exploding in the launching chute, and shot back into the interior of the aircraft, striking him in the face. The burning phosphoresce obliterated his nose and completely blinded him. Smoke filled the plane, obscuring the vision of the pilot. S/Sgt. Erwin realized that the aircraft and crew would be lost if the burning bomb remained in

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3016-519: Was given to outright performance. Luftwaffe strategy was based mostly on daytime tactical bombing and put significant effort into the escort fighter concept before the outbreak of World War II . One of the principle outcomes of this attention was the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter, which was widely produced. At the time of its introduction, the Bf 110 had been among the fastest production aircraft ever built, but as had occurred with

3074-411: Was in formation for a low-level attack on a chemical plant at Koriyama , 120 miles (190 km) north of Tokyo , on their 11th combat mission. Along with their primary jobs, the 12 B-29 crew members had additional duties to perform. Erwin's was to drop phosphorus smoke bombs through a chute in the aircraft's floor when the lead plane reached a designated assembly area. He was given the signal to drop

3132-578: Was intended to be immune to enemy attack due to its speed, North American Aviation briefly proposed the North American XF-108 Rapier interceptor for the escort role. In this case, the term " penetration fighter " was used, as the aircraft was not expected to actually escort the bombers, and was instead intended to fly into Soviet airspace well in advance of the bombers and attack the Soviet interceptors long before they could approach

3190-461: Was renamed "Erwin Hall" in his honor. Erwin's official Medal of Honor citation reads: He was the radio operator of a B-29 airplane leading a group formation to attack Koriyama, Japan. He was charged with the additional duty of dropping phosphoresce smoke bombs to aid in assembling the group when the launching point was reached. Upon entering the assembly area, aircraft fire and enemy fighter opposition

3248-440: Was such a disaster than the Luftwaffe abandoned attacks from Norway and directed the remaining aircraft to France. From that point onwards, the Bf 110 was mostly withdrawn from the escort role, in part because so many had been lost that sufficient numbers could no longer be fielded in the short term; when it did return, it was largely used as a light bomber , and night fighter instead. In contrast to their German counterparts,

3306-490: Was sworn in as governor in 2017 after Governor Robert J. Bentley 's resignation. Henry E. Erwin Henry Eugene Erwin Sr. (May 8, 1921 – January 16, 2002) was a United States Army Air Forces airman and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor —for his actions in World War II . He earned the award as a staff sergeant and radio operator aboard a B-29 Superfortress in

3364-468: Was to have fuel to return, while the Bf 110, specifically designed for the escort role, had inferior performance and was easily outperformed by the Royal Air Force 's Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes . In those few situations where the German bombers were escorted only by Bf 110s, the RAF fighters could simply ignore them and attack the bombers almost unhindered. In engagements where

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