WWII veterans get chance to soar over Fresno

Harry Gillis thought it would be glamorous to be a soldier in the U.S. Army during World War II, but he was miserable serving on the ground.

The 92-year-old, who fed ammunition into .50-caliber machine guns in armored trucks, envied the pilots who flew high above.

On Thursday, Gillis got his first chance to be a pilot. He joined four other veterans from Covenant Village, a residential retirement community in Turlock, to jump in a World War II-era biplane and soar 1,000 feet above Fresno.

Chandler Downtown Airport was one of 20 stops nationwide this year for Ageless Aviation Dreams, a nonprofit based in Carson City, Nev. The organization honors seniors and veterans with rides on a 1942 Boeing Stearman – the plane used to train military pilots in the late 1930s and 1940s.

Ageless Aviation will conduct 500 rides this year, said founder and president Darryl Fisher, who flew the plane on Thursday.

After a few instructions, each passenger pulled on an aviator hat and headphones, then the plane roared to life and made its way into the sky for a 15- to 20-minute ride.

“It was very relaxing,” Gillis said after he climbed down from the plane. “I loved the view of the agricultural patterns.”

Gillis enlisted in the Army when he was 19 and served as an ammunition feeder in armored half-track battalion trucks. The vehicles had wheels in the front and tank tracks on the back, Gillis said.

His job was to balance himself on a small platform and keep two of the four guns filled. But he often imagined himself in the sky.

“I’d like to do that again,” Gillis said after his ride Thursday.

For Charles “Chuck” Walker, 93, and Roger Kling, 90, flying was a born passion. Neither had been back in a Stearman for years.

Walker, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, learned to fly in the plane, which has an open cockpit with room for a student or passenger in the front and the instructor or pilot in the back.

“I enjoyed my ride thoroughly,” said Walker, who flew a P-38 fighter plane in the war. “It brought back memories of old times.”

Walker was shot down while flying over enemy territory in Europe and was a prisoner of war in a German camp in Hungary.

Kristie Peterson, Walker’s granddaughter, was on hand Thursday to watch.

“He’s been very excited,” Peterson said. “All he talks about is planes and everything that happened from World War II.”

After Walker took off on his flight, Kling sat on the edge of his seat waiting for his turn. Kling was a U.S. Air Force captain who served in World War II.

He also trained in a Stearman but ended up flying a P-47 Thunderbolt, which became known as the heaviest fighter plane in the war. Kling served with the 27th Fighter-Bomber Group and flew 101 missions. He received six Air Medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

“I never expected to be able to do this,” said Kling, who took the plane’s controls for a few minutes. “It was an exhilarating experience, really a great flight.”

Two women also went up into the air, including Joy Rydquist, 88, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Women’s Medical Specialist Corps who worked in hospitals.

“I want to do loops,” she said while waiting for her ride.

“I want to, but I don’t suppose I can,” Rydquist said. “But I can still ask.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 9:23 PM with the headline "WWII veterans get chance to soar over Fresno."