SamMcGowan Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 I just got off the phone with Bill Collier, who told me that there is a book out about Lt. Col. Dick Suehr, who commanded the weather squadron at Pope for a long time. When I first got to Pope Col. Suehr was a regular fixture at the Service Club, where he liked to play pinochle and shoot the bull with the young troops. My memories of him are of him in uniform. I knew him quite well but had no idea that he was an ace until something appeared about him in AIRMAN. He did tell me he had flown P-38s. The book was written by an African immigrant and is available on Amazon.com. The title is The Fighter Pilot Who Refused to Die. He had an interesting career. He went to Australia as a young fighter pilot early in World War II and flew P-39s against the Japs before transitioning into P-38s. He was shot down twice and was briefly a POW. After he returned to the US he was assigned to Selfridge Field, Michigan to work with the new 332nd Fighter Group, which was training to go overseas. The 332nd was an all-colored group that went to Italy and later flew P-51s with Fifteenth Air Force. Col. Suehr is one of my fondest memories from Pope. I'm sure a lot of other guys remember him as well. He retired at Pope in 1968 and remained there until his recent death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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