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Gen. David "Tex" Hill RIP

Absinthe_1900

One Too Many
Messages
1,628
Location
The Heights in Houston TX
Losing another hero.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/specials/101207texhill/index.html

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA101107.EN.TexHillObit.15f328f9a.html

Retired Air National Guard Brig. Gen. David Lee “Tex'' Hill, a renowned leader of the Flying Tigers, a small volunteer force recruited to defend China in the early years of World War II, died Thursday afternoon at his home in Terrell Hills.

Hill, 92, died of congestive heart failure. His wife, Mazie, and his two surviving children, Shannon Schaupp and Loma Skinner, both of South Carolina, were at his bedside. Before he died, his wife told him, “You’re free to go.”

“Daddy made a safe landing at 5 o’clock,” said Shannon Schaupp, who is 58.

Services have not been set, but Hill will be buried next week at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

“We’re going to miss him a lot, and he’s definitely in a better place now,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Reagan Schaupp, Hill’s grandson. “He was a hero to us and certainly to a lot of people.”

Hill was “a giant figure in heroic aviation,” said T.R. Fehrenbach, author of “This Kind of War,” a history of the Korean conflict. “We don't have heroes in aviation anymore. We don't have people who fly by the seat of their pants in rickety airplanes. They go up in great machines that do much of the work.”

hill-tn.jpg
 
K

kpreed

Guest
Thank You for this, He was a great hero and will be missed.
 

KL15

One of the Regulars
Messages
136
Location
Northeast Arkansas
Truly sad. General Hill will be greatly missed. Sadder still to realize that we're at a time where most of the Greatest Generation will be dying.
 

The Wingnut

One Too Many
Messages
1,711
Location
.
One of the nicest guys I've ever met.

For 5 years, I attended the CAF international HQ airshow in Midland, TX. The first year I was there, Tex was there as well. I didn't get to meet him at the event, but as I was walking through the airport on my way home, I saw him at a ticket counter. I waited for him to finish at the counter, then approached him. I introduced myself, told him I'd read about him many times as a kid growing up...and produced one of my most treasured books, with his photo in it.

Tex signed the book, talked to me for a while, told me the book was one of the few he didn't have. He was friendly, warm, and humble.

Blue skies, Tex. You've been an inspiration.
 

Smithy

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,139
Location
Norway
Sad to hear one less member of the Flying Tigers with us today.

In a way though they will never die because of the legacy they have left behind, and those who will continue to remember and celebrate them.
 

KilroyCD

One Too Many
Messages
1,966
Location
Lancaster County, PA
The Wingnut said:
One of the nicest guys I've ever met.

I'm in total agreement with you. I've had the peasure of meeting "Tex" several times, and I remember one year at Oshkosh he went out of his way to make sure I got to meet of all the Flying Tigers who were there. He will be missed.
 

Mid-fogey

Practically Family
Messages
720
Location
The Virginia Peninsula
Wish I'd met him..

...but had a chance to work closely with a Flying Tiger about 20 years ago.

A true gentleman, who coincidently, was pictured in a book I already had, which he signed for me.

A great group.
 

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