Page 17 - DFCS News Magazine Spring 2014

American Formula for Valor 2 + 22 = 6 Times a Hero
By J. Bruce Huffman
Recently, in a quiet, well-kept neighborhood in the resort com- munity of Saranac Lake, NY, a milestone celebration was held marking the 90th birthday of one of its residents. The festivities were attended by family and a few close friends of a remarkable American. Harold (Hank) Snow, Col., USAF (ret.) would find it a bit challenging now, with the passing of years, to pull a sustained 8g turn without greying out; but even now the grin is still quick and the twinkle re- mains in those eyes that belong to a warrior who has given many years of selfless, dedicated service and sacrificed dearly for our na- tion.
The year was 1942 and on October 27th, Hank would begin a journey that would take him through the pages of history and into three wars and to every corner of the globe where America was engaged. Where
there were shiny planes to be flown, guns to be fired, or ordnance need- ing a target; Harold Snow would do a yeo- man’s work. On the 1st of October, 1943, Hank earned his wings, which would later support a
star and ultimately a wreath around that star as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Full of urine and a liquid smelling suspi- ciously like vinegar, Hank packed up his B-4 bag and loaded it aboard a C-54 clutching his sealed orders in an envelope that was not to be opened until underway. Once inside and airborne the OIC would remove the seal and announce to the curious airman, over the din of four radial engines, that “Our destination is Karachi!” immediately followed by several voices speaking as one “Where the hell is that?”
Karachi, as it turned out, was then in India which was the in- processing point for those about to be sprinkled throughout the Chi- na Burma India (CBI) Theatre. 2nd Lt. Snow found himself in a group of 12 to be assigned to the 311th Fighter Group and further to the 528th Fighter Squadron, known as the ‘Dragon Flys’. Combat began for Hank following his transition to the A-36 in May, from a field known as ‘Ting Hawk Sakan’ against the Japanese enemy, supporting ‘Merrill’s Marauders’ with ‘CAS on call’ with 6 semi-reliable Browning guns and the occasional bomb delivered from a sporting height of about 20 feet. The Rockwell A-36 Apache, later P-51 A/B, had an engine cooled by water & glycol, making it highly susceptible to ground fire damage.
Hank’s charmed life began in earnest when he
had to zoom climb his badly battle-damaged
and leaking Mustang to a lofty height of about
3,000 feet above the earth, from which he
would make his first, but not last parachute
jump. Canopy back, hot glycol streaming onto
exposed flesh, stand in the seat, jump head-
first at the wing to avoid the tail (oops? For-
got to remove the oxygen mask and micro-
phone chord? Rip that right out so as not to
impede further egress!), and jump. Many pilots, bailing out, liked to keep their D-Ring as a souvenir. Hank said his landed near a ninety degree bend in the Yellow River; his chute popped open and within two swings his feet were on the ground and he was surrounded by several ferocious looking guys with guns. The guys turned out to be friendly and a ‘Marauder’ GTAC walked up and said “Glad you could drop in and welcome to the war Snowball!”
For that exercise, 1st Lt. Hank Snow was awarded the Distin- guished Flying Cross, one of two that he would receive for his 100 Missions against the Japanese forces in China. On 26 March 1946, after flying 260 hours of Combat in the CBI, the now Capt. Harold Snow left the active service of the U.S. Army Air Forces at Ft. Dix, New Jersey.
On the 25th of June 1950, war erupted on the Korean peninsula and rescued Hank from a career as a New York State Trooper with a budding vegetable delivery business on the side. He tossed the keys to his delivery truck on the dresser, once more packed his B-4 bag and was off to join the 67th FBS at a no name place labeled K46 in South Korea. This time Hank no longer had Army chow to look forward to because, on the 22nd of June, 1949, the final trans- fer orders were signed establishing the United States Air Force. The old semi-reliable A-36 Apache and the P-51 A/B were now long gone and replaced by the F (Fighter) -51D’s but the mission was pretty much the same; Close Air Support (CAS) provided to allied ground forces and deep strike missions against enemy logis- tics.
Trolling around at
about 900 feet
above the ground,
at 250 knots, with a
load of .50 caliber
API or ball ammo in
the bays and 6 High
Velocity Aerial
Rockets (HAVR)
beneath his wings, Hank left the vegetable business in his past and switched to the freight business. The North Koreans had lots of freight that moved overland in trucks or behind steam locomotives hauling rail cars and, Hank took equal pleasure in destroying both varieties. The routine mission profile called for a two aircraft sec- tion, or a four aircraft flight, to patrol above the battle area for about 2 hours in duration. They would sortie behind enemy lines until they came upon a target of opportunity or attack a pre- planned objective. Nearly every mission would involve some skill- ful jinking to avoid a less than friendly hail of fire meant to dis- suade them from accurately delivering their ordinance and harm- ing the enemy’s freight distribution system.
By November 4th, 1952 Hank had been awarded 4 Air Meals, w/V Device for heroism with citations that read like a tale of ‘How’d he ever survive that?’. On December 11th of 1952, Capt. Harold Snow would be awarded his third Distinguished Flying Cross for leading a two aircraft section near Ch’aenyong-Dong, Korea, destroying or damaging 38 trucks, getting three major secondary explosions, and further guiding a group of 32 F-84 Thunderjets in to destroy their targets.
Life presents all of us with a myriad of ever evolving opportunities to excel and Hanks’s life wasn’t a lot different in that respect. On the 25th of January, 1953, Hank and the rest of the 67th FBS were told to pack up their F-51D’s and fly them over to K55 in Osan, Korea and turn them over to the ROK Air Force. With more than the requisite 100 missions under his belt and a ticket on a C-118 out of theatre, waiting behind door A, Hank chose to roll the dice and see what was behind door B. That door led to a two hop train- ing ride in the T-33 followed by a solo flight in the F-86F Sabre with further proficiency flying to follow. “So what do I do, what do I do?” “Take door A, jump on the C-118 and say Adios? or Take door B, check out locally in the hot new jet, and take my shot at becoming an ACE?” Door B it was and with no regrets!
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