Charles J. Loring Jr.

Charles Joseph Loring Jr. (October 2, 1918 – November 22, 1952) was a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, and later in the United States Air Force in the Korean War.

Charles Loring Jr. was born on October 2, 1918, in Portland, Maine to Charles J. Loring Sr. and Irene Cronin Loring.

After a stint of this duty, the 36th Fighter Group returned to the United States to Charleston Army Airfield in Charleston, South Carolina.

There, Loring and the other pilots of the unit trained with the P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft.

It briefly moved to Scribner, Nebraska as part of this flight training.

The 36th Fighter Group flew out of RAF Kingsnorth in Kent, England flying reconnaissance, fighter escort and interdiction missions.

The missions involved striking military strongpoints in northern Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord.

Following the success of Overlord, Loring continued to fly air support missions for the remainder of the conflict.

By December, he had flown 55 combat missions.

During this time he flew with the 36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron and 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, while assisting the new pilots.

He lived in the town throughout his early life, attending Cheverus High School, and graduating in 1937.

After the United States entry into World War II, Loring enlisted in the U.S. Army at Portland, at age 23.

Born in Portland, Maine, Loring joined the United States Army in 1942 and was quickly selected to undergo pilot training.

in March 1942, and as a private joined the Army Air Corps.

By May 1942, he had been selected as an aviation cadet at the USAAC pre-flight school at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

Loring completed Primary flight training at Douglas, GA, Basic at Greenville, Mississippi and Advanced at Napier Field, Alabama.

After graduating, Loring was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve with a pilot rating.

In December 1942, Loring was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, Ninth Air Force at Losey Army Airfield in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico.

The unit flew anti-submarine patrols as part of a force defending the Panama Canal and Caribbean Sea areas.

During this time, Loring primarily flew P-39 Airacobra and P-40 Warhawk fighter and ground attack aircraft.

He spent several months stationed in Puerto Rico before being transferred to duty in the United Kingdom in 1944.

There, he flew 55 combat missions in P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft before being shot down and serving six months as a Nazi German prisoner of war.

In April 1944, Loring and the group moved to England to fly missions against Nazi German targets.

He had been awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions under fire on June 12, 1944, that destroyed ten enemy armored vehicles in the area of Coutances, France while on a dive-bombing mission.

On December 24, 1944, Loring was flying a mission over Belgium when his P-47 was hit by flak artillery as he strafed ground targets.

Loring was subsequently captured and spent six months as a German prisoner of war.

Loring was liberated on May 5, 1945, three days before the end of the war on May 8, 1945 (V-E Day).

After World War II, Loring remained in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Promoted to captain, he served in a number of administrative roles in the post-war Air Corps, which became the United States Air Force in 1947.

By the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, Loring was attached to Air University and was not immediately sent to Korea for combat duty.

Loring rose to the rank of major and posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on November 22, 1952, above Kunwha, Korea during a close air support mission.

By the outset of the Korean War, Loring was working in an administrative role in the United States, but by 1952 had been transferred to combat duty in Korea.

During a patrol on November 22, 1952, Loring was leading a flight of F-80 Shooting Stars of the 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron in an attack on a Chinese artillery position.

During the run, his aircraft was struck by intense and accurate anti aircraft fire.

Rather than abort the mission, Loring continued his diving run, aiming his disabled aircraft at the position and obliterating it, killing himself in the process.

After his death, Loring was awarded the Medal of Honor and made the namesake of Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine.

On February 3, 1952, Loring was reassigned to the 2353rd Personnel Processing Squadron at Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, California.

This unit was quickly moved to South Korea, where it was assigned to the 8th Fighter-Bomber Wing, Fifth Air Force, with the assignment of supervising training for replacement pilots before they were moved into combat units.

In July 1952, Loring transferred to the 36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron full-time, where he served as operations officer.

In this role he returned to combat duty, this time as a jet aircraft fighter pilot operating the F-80 Shooting Star.