|
Rising
Higher - Richard Biffle's Aviation Legacy
by Andrew
Wells
JANUARY 2001
Sometimes we pass real heroes
on the street, and we're never the wiser that we were in the
presence of true dignity. Lt. Col. Richard L. Biffle Jr. wouldn't
have had it any other way.
"My dad was a very quiet,
very humble kind of individual," says son Dr. Richard L. Biffle
III of his father, a man whose career in the Air Force spanned
27 years and whose life was founded on a love of flying.
Born Oct. 11, 1920 in Pueblo,
Colorado, Richard Biffle's aviation aspirations began early.
It was in 1928, at eight years of age, when he saw an advertisement
for a 15-minute flight in a Ford Tri-Motor aircraft. The cost
was one dollar. Unbeknownst to his parents, Richard pulled the
money from his piggy bank, journeyed across Pueblo to the airport
and got his ride. While getting out of the plane, a photographer
snapped his picture, which would appear in the paper that evening.
It would become a defining moment for Richard.
While attending Centennial
High School in Pueblo, Biffle met his future wife, Louise Hill,
who went to Central High School.
"They were high school sweethearts,"
said Dr. Biffle.
While Biffle applied to
the Army-Air Corps, the racial prejudice of the nation at the
time would not allow an African-American to become a military
pilot. Instead, he applied for and nearly completed civilian
pilot training at Pueblo Junior College only to be dropped because
there was no place in active duty for black pilots. However,
by this time the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama began training
black pilots for fighter aircraft. As a member of Tuskegee Airman
Primary Class 45A, Biffle completed single engine and later
multi-engine bombardment training.
"He was part of a replacement
squadron that was getting ready to go to Europe when the war
ended," said Dr. Biffle. "The problem that happened with many
Tuskegee aviation cadet classes is that they would be held up
because of segregated policies."
It was during the war, on
March 11, 1943, when Richard Biffle and Louise Hill were married.
After the war, Biffle and
several other Tuskegee airmen tried to join the Air National
guard. "Unusual" recruitment policies remained firmly in place.
Despite these setbacks, Biffle and other area pilots formed
the Swoop Flying Club to get young people interested in flying.
After President Truman issued Executive
Order 9981, integrating the military, Biffle returned to the
service. During the Korean conflict, there was a shortage of
experienced fighter pilots and Biffle's expertise proved valuable
as a teacher. He would fly under Gen. Chuck Yeager twice, first
flying the F-100. Biffle's subsequent transfer back to Yeager's
command was the general's request. Biffle helped lead High-Flight,
a Department of Defense program that rapidly deployed fighter
squadrons to Europe in the event of war. In a career spanning
nearly three decades, Biffle would fly over 80 combat missions
over North Vietnam and serve in both the Strategic Air Command
bomber wings and Tactical Air Command.
After retiring from the
Air Force, Biffle became the first African American pilot for
the Customs Department, flying drug interdiction missions along
the US-Mexico border.
Many of Biffle's pastimes
were an extension of his love of flying. He was highly skilled
in the field of electrical engineering, avionics and HAM radio
operation.
"He was a master mechanic
with automobiles," recalled Dr. Biffle. "He'd take a half-inch
wooden dowel and put it right on the engine casing and tune
the car by listening to the dowel."
While assignments such as
SAC were notorious for the long periods of time that they took
from pilots and their families, Biffle made provisions.
"He was always home for
Christmas. He somehow finagled a way to get back," said Louise
Biffle, who worked as a secretary and schoolteacher over the
years. "I always wanted to travel. We got to visit Osaka, Japan,
and so many other places. I wouldn't have been able to travel
if he hadn't sent for me."
"I never knew what he was
thinking about, except his planes. He and his crew were always
planning their next trip," said Mrs. Biffle, speaking of a quiet,
reserved man who never lost his passion for flight.
Biffle "stepped off" on
December 7, 2000 at the age of 80.
"He was a quiet pioneer
in aviation history," said his daughter Marilyn Hosea, "and
truly fit the profile of a 'Lone Eagle'".
SEE ALSO
The Tuskegee Airmen - Victorious
in Many Battles
|
