MDFrench
A-List Customer
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Hey everyone,
I had the distinct pleasure last weekend to interview WWII veteran and C-47 pilot George Freson. Freson was stationed in Burma throughout '43 to the end of the war. He had some amazing stories to tell about the "Gooney Birds" including the time Chinese soldiers he was ferrying turned their guns on him when he was forced to divert the plane to an unintended airfield and the language barrier prevented him from explaining to the high-strung soldiers.
He told stories about delivering fuel to the P-40s and P-38s on the front lines while the main airfield was under constant sniper fire. He also told a hair raising tale about passing Japanese Zeros in the sky at night and the only reason they didn't swing back and shoot him down was because he quickly turned all the lights off on the plane.
Freson was even involved in a crash in which the number one engine's prop disconnected in flight and went into the fuselage! A truly amazing history. It's a shame we're losing them so fast - but I got all of his stories on DV. Freson went on to engineer jet engines for GE. He went from flying the DC-3 to designing the engines of the DC-10! What a legacy!
I have a photo of Freson from the war, but I can't get it uploaded... Drat.
Mike
I had the distinct pleasure last weekend to interview WWII veteran and C-47 pilot George Freson. Freson was stationed in Burma throughout '43 to the end of the war. He had some amazing stories to tell about the "Gooney Birds" including the time Chinese soldiers he was ferrying turned their guns on him when he was forced to divert the plane to an unintended airfield and the language barrier prevented him from explaining to the high-strung soldiers.
He told stories about delivering fuel to the P-40s and P-38s on the front lines while the main airfield was under constant sniper fire. He also told a hair raising tale about passing Japanese Zeros in the sky at night and the only reason they didn't swing back and shoot him down was because he quickly turned all the lights off on the plane.
Freson was even involved in a crash in which the number one engine's prop disconnected in flight and went into the fuselage! A truly amazing history. It's a shame we're losing them so fast - but I got all of his stories on DV. Freson went on to engineer jet engines for GE. He went from flying the DC-3 to designing the engines of the DC-10! What a legacy!
I have a photo of Freson from the war, but I can't get it uploaded... Drat.
Mike