Posted on
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
'Lonely Eagles'
Story By JACQUE HILBURN
Feature Writer
Wilbur Dixon of Tyler spent much of his childhood listening to stories about his grandfather's wild and rugged days as a Buffalo Solider chasing Pancho Villa and fighting alongside Teddy Roosevelt.
Feature Writer
Wilbur Dixon of Tyler spent much of his childhood listening to stories about his grandfather's wild and rugged days as a Buffalo Solider chasing Pancho Villa and fighting alongside Teddy Roosevelt.
He dreamed of one day having his own career in the military, as a pilot.
Dixon would eventually follow in his grandfather's footsteps, becoming one of the elite Tuskegee airmen, occasionally referred to as "Lonely Eagles."
"We weren’t integrated at the time. All non-whites were placed in the ‘F Squadron.’ "
He retired in 1972 after 26 years of active duty that began with service at the end of World War II and continued through two tours in Vietnam. For his efforts, he received an Air Medal and a Bronze Star for service and time spent in combat.
At 80, Dixon continues to serve as a colonel in the Civil Air Patrol.
He is modest, humble, reserved and deeply loyal to the country and the idea of service.
"Aviation has always been my interest. I wanted to get into naval aviation, but it was impossible at that time."
"Kids nowadays don't sacrifice anymore," he said. "One of the reasons we have the Civil Air Patrol program is to take the kids, give them discipline, a sense of responsibility and leadership. It gives them a taste of what it could be like if everyone would cooperate."
OFF TO WAR
Dixon spent spare moments of his boyhood building model airplanes.
Dixon spent spare moments of his boyhood building model airplanes.
"The only place I could go when I graduated high school, to even get close, was Tuskegee. That was the naval academy for colored."
"Aviation has always been my interest," he said. "I wanted to get into naval aviation, but it was impossible at that time. The only place I could go when I graduated high school, to even get close, was Tuskegee. That was the naval academy for coloreds."
Tuskegee was one of two black substitutes for military academies; the other was Hampton in Virginia.
At 16, he signed up.
"I got into aviation maintenance," he said. "Sixteen is too young for active duty."
"I got into aviation maintenance," he said. "Sixteen is too young for active duty."
The atmosphere at Tuskegee was similar in nature to the military. They marched to chapel and prepped for inspections.
Dixon said he continually applied for training in aviation, but it took years to finally achieve his goal.
"The flying program closed late in 1945," he said. "I was scheduled to go in during '45 so they sent me to the infantry instead."
He attended combat engineering school and studied to become a demolitions expert.
"Basically we built bridges and then blew them up," he said with a grin. "I had a lot of OJT, on-the- job- training."
The career military man said he never seriously considered the possibility he could perish in combat, recalling with ease a "little" explosion accident in the Marianas in Guam shortly after the war ended.
"The Japanese, at night, didn't accept the fact that when the war ended, it ended," he said. "They had artillery in underground bunkers and they would bring it out at night and fire at the ships."
A plan was concocted to locate the bunkers and detonate the contents, but there were only two men available to complete the mission, and the other was too far away to be of any use, Dixon said.
"I was small," he said. "They sent me."
He sneaked into the bunker and set the ignitions, only to realize he couldn't exit out the same route without disturbing the wiring so he chose another route.
He sneaked into the bunker and set the ignitions, only to realize he couldn't exit out the same route without disturbing the wiring so he chose another route.
As Dixon's head emerged from the small opening, a comrade mistook him for a Japanese fighter.
"He pulled the plunger," Dixon said. "I remember being hit from the bottom of my feet and flying in the air. I wasn't thinking about dying. I was thinking, 'I'm going to get the son of a gun.'"
He awoke in the hospital, still smoldering over the mistaken identity.
AVIATION AT LAST
After contracting hepatitis in the hospital, he was sent to work at bases throughout the U.S. before landing in Kansas with the 301st Heavy Bombing group, maintaining B-24s.
After contracting hepatitis in the hospital, he was sent to work at bases throughout the U.S. before landing in Kansas with the 301st Heavy Bombing group, maintaining B-24s.
By 1947, the aviation program was reopened and Dixon was accepted.
"The Air Force reopened the whole program," he said. "It was integrated. I trained at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio."
He flew T-6s at first, then P-51s.
After graduation from flight school came in September 1949, he applied to different programs. He was assigned into air defense command, flying F-84 and F-86s on coastal air patrol along the cape near Massachusetts' Otis Air Force Base.
After graduation from flight school came in September 1949, he applied to different programs. He was assigned into air defense command, flying F-84 and F-86s on coastal air patrol along the cape near Massachusetts' Otis Air Force Base.
From there, it was on to Alaska.
"We flew F-94s during Korea," he said. "Instead of sending me to Korea, they sent me to Alaska. I flew recognizance missions and interceptions. We were there to keep the Russians from coming over," he said.
"We flew F-94s during Korea," he said. "Instead of sending me to Korea, they sent me to Alaska. I flew recognizance missions and interceptions. We were there to keep the Russians from coming over," he said.
"As for the number of missions we flew, that I couldn't tell you," he said. "Usually you only count missions while in combat and 50 sent you home. In air defense, they didn't care how many. It was a job, but it was more than a job. To me, it was exciting."
As an example, he recalled a 1949 mid-air collision outside Las Vegas.
"We were practicing combat formations," he said. "One got too close."
Dixon said the next few moments unfolded as if in slow motion. As portions of the plane began to peel away, Dixon calmly activated his parachute.
"When I woke up, there was somebody flying over me," he said. "I was hanging upset down in the parachute, looking up. I wasn't thinking about dying. I wanted that stupid guy flying upside down to quit clowning around."
He quickly realized the problem: he was slipping out of his chute. He struggled to return upright and watched as a distant mountain range drew closer. At touch down, he started bouncing.
Dixon was still in a daze when the base commander drove up in a Jeep to retrieve him.
"Every bump we hit on the way back took my breath away," he said. "There was a trick going around where the big guys would take the little guys' chutes. The only thing that kept me from falling out of my chute was the canteen strapped to my side."
In spite of best efforts, Dixon said he never caught up with the supposed prankster who swapped out his chute.
LONG ROAD HOME
He left the Air Force in 1955 to go back to school, but returned a couple of years later to work in the medical corps and teach.
He left the Air Force in 1955 to go back to school, but returned a couple of years later to work in the medical corps and teach.
His wife of 49 years, Pauline, was among his students who sat on the front row in a class at Lockland Air Force Base.
"We had our first date on July 4 and married on August the 20th," said Mrs. Dixon, who is white. "I never thought about our differences. It never occurred to me there was a difference."
Dixon said others weren't so open-minded.
After realizing he could receive no additional promotions past his rank of staff sergeant, he sought a discharge and entered the Army as an enlisted man, remaining there until retirement.
After realizing he could receive no additional promotions past his rank of staff sergeant, he sought a discharge and entered the Army as an enlisted man, remaining there until retirement.
"That's when it got interesting," he said. "I spent two tours in Vietnam, one as a medic in the third surgical hospital, which was a MASH hospital in Ben Hoa."
The second was with the 2/17 Cavalry with the 101st Airborne Division.
Even in camp, danger lurked around every corner.
"The Vietnamese, at night, would keep us awake by sending mortar rounds into the camp," he said. "There were also infiltrators. I guess I never thought anything would happen to me."
Even when things were quiet, Dixon said he was always looking over his shoulder, "We felt like there was more danger from the folks in our military who were drug addicts than the enemy. We had a lot of them."
Those were difficult, stressful years, he said, but joy today is found in life's simple pleasures: reading, gardening and spending time with family.
Photos of the couple's seven children, 17 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren are proudly displayed throughout their tree-shrouded home of 13 years.
A handmade sign at the edge of their driveway references the simple pleasures of eating warm cookies and reading stories at grandma and grandpa's house.
"This is the longest we've been in one place since we married," said Mrs. Dixon, examining one of her rose bushes. "We've had to move around a lot."
Dixon agreed, saying it was a good place to land: "This is home now. We like it."
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