Ceremony To Be Held December 1st At Maxwell AFB In Alabama
When Civil Air Patrol marks its 70th anniversary with a ceremony
at 1100 CST December 1 at its National Headquarters building at
Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, the organization will also be honoring
two of its World War II members now in the Alabama Wing, Lt. Cols.
Wendall Haas of Birmingham and Otha Vaughan of Huntsville, with the
Exceptional Service Award.
Vaughan, 82, joined CAP as a cadet in the Anderson, S.C.,
squadron as a 15-year-old in 1944. Today he remains an active
member of the Huntsville Senior Squadron, serving as the
unit’s historian and as assistant aerospace education
officer. He is also a CAP flight crew member, participating as a
mission scanner during various search and rescue exercise
missions.
During the war Haas, 88, served as an officer with what was then
known as San Fernando Valley Squadron 9184 in California after
joining in early 1942. He was an airplane and engine mechanic,
helping repair aircraft as needed – including, he recalls,
patching up planes shot up while towing kites for target practice
by military pilots. One fellow squadron member Haas remembers
particularly well was the popular film and, later, TV actor Robert
Cummings, who flew as a CAP first lieutenant before serving as a
pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force.
These volunteers were just two of the roughly 60,000 Americans
who belonged to CAP during the war years. An effort is now under
way to secure a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of Haas as
well as all other adult World War II CAP members for their
outstanding and unusual public service.
CAP was established six days before Pearl Harbor and quickly
became involved in combat operations off the Atlantic and Gulf
Coast. Within weeks of the U.S. involvement in the war, German
submarines began sinking vital shipping within sight of Americans
standing on the East Coast. Because the military lacked the
necessary ships and aircraft to respond and the attacks were so
numerous and successful, the entire early war effort was
threatened. At the insistence of the oil industry, the military
decided to use CAP’s civilian assistance as a 90-day
“experiment.”
The “experiment” was extremely successful. For 18
months, CAP members flew 24 million miles in search of the enemy.
After CAP repeatedly discovered submarines that got away,
members’ small personal aircraft were armed with bombs and
depth charges. The combat operations were often flown in weather
conditions that grounded the military. CAP was ultimately credited
with sinking two submarines, attacking 57 and reporting 173 to the
military. After the war, when asked what he considered the most
significant factor in the German forces’ defeat off the
Atlantic Coast, one former U-boat commander cited the CAP
members’ efforts: 'It was because of those damned little red
and yellow (CAP) planes!”
CAP Aircraft Bar Harbor, ME 1943
This is only part of the story of CAP’s wartime service.
It quickly established itself as a vital resource to the military
as well as communities across the nation; its missions included
search and rescue, border patrol, forest fire patrol, target
towing, courier/cargo flights and other essential tasks. These
critical missions supported the war effort and freed up military
personnel needed elsewhere. By war’s end CAP had flown more
than 750,000 hours. Sixty-four CAP members lost their lives during
the war in service to their country.
CAP established itself as a vital wartime service to
communities. Its record included 20,500 missions involving target
towing (with live ammunition) and gun and searchlight tracking. It
also involved a courier service, carrying more than 3.5 million
pounds of vital cargo and 543 passengers, and southern border
operations flying more than 30,000 hours, with 7,000 reports of
unusual sightings including a vehicle (which was apprehended) with
two enemy agents attempting to enter the country.
Since the war, CAP has become a valuable nonprofit, public
service organization chartered by Congress. It is the auxiliary of
the Air Force, charged with providing essential emergency,
operational and public services to communities, states, the federal
government and the military. (Photo courtesy Library of
Congress)