Winton W. Marshall

Lieutenant General Winton Whittier Marshall (July 9, 1919 – September 19, 2015) was a United States Air Force general and flying ace.

Winton Whittier Marshall was born on July 6, 1919, in Detroit, Michigan.

Assigned to Las Vegas Army Air Field in Nevada, he began as a pilot with the 326th Fighter Gunnery Training Group before becoming chief of the Bell P-39 Airacobra Training Section there.

He also played a key role in the programming and installation of the 412-L Semi-automatic Air Defense System linking the 86th Air Division and the U.S. Army surface-to-air missile system.

Marshall began his military career as an aviation cadet in 1942.

He completed flight training at Yuma Army Air Base in Arizona, and received his pilot's wings and commission as a second lieutenant in April 1943.

In February 1945 he went to the Panama Canal Zone as a pilot with the 28th Fighter Squadron and as operations officer of the 32nd Fighter Squadron, later redesignated the 23rd Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group.

In July 1947, he was transferred to Dow Field, Maine, as operations officer of the 48th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, the first squadron to be assigned the F-84 Thunderjet, and participated in service testing the F-84 at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Marshall entered the Air Tactical School at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, in August 1948 and four months later became operations officer of the 84th Fighter Squadron at Hamilton Air Force Base in California.

In May 1951, Marshall was appointed as commander of the 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, during the Korean War.

Stationed at Kimpo Air Base in South Korea, he flew missions in the F-86 Sabre.

Marshall shot down his first and second MiG-15s on September 1 and 2, 1951, respectively, over Sinanju.

Marshall shot down two more MiG-15s, including a shared destruction, on November 28.

One of these fighters was flown by German Shatalov, a Soviet flying ace with five aerial victories against U.S. aircraft.

On November 30, 1951, the 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and other squadrons within the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing intercepted a People's Liberation Army Air Force aerial formation consisting of nine Tupolev Tu-2 bombers and 16 Lavochkin La-11s, that was attempting an aerial raid on the Cho'do Island.

Marshall shot down one Tu-2 and one La-11, crediting with his fourth and fifth aerial victories and thus earning the title of flying ace.

As he was attempting to shoot another La-11, which was flown by Chinese pilot Wang Tianbao, Marshall overshot as the La-11 turned hard left, resulting in the La-11 making a long deflection shot which struck the left wing of Marshall's F-86.

Wang saw the F-86 going down in a spin and claimed an F-86 kill, after he returned back to his base in Northeast China.

However, Marshall managed to regain consciousness and recovered his F-86 from the spin.

He flew his crippled aircraft to Suwon Air Base, where it was repaired and Marshall was treated for his wounds.

For his heroism during the aerial combat on November 30, he was awarded the Silver Star.

After his recovery, Marshall continued flying combat missions.

He shot down his fourth MiG-15 and sixth overall aerial victory on December 5, 1951.

Marshall became the fifth jet ace of the Korean War, credited with 6 1/2 enemy aircraft destroyed, seven probable, and six damaged, while flying 100 missions.

In January 1952, he returned to the United States to command the 93rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.

Marshall was assigned as commander of the 15th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, in July 1953.

There, Marshall was credited with saving a Strategic Air Command B-47 bomber which was on fire at the end of a runway.

Seeing no crash or fire-fighting equipment coming, and noting that the crew had escaped, he taxied his F-86 to the burning aircraft and blew out the fire with his jet exhaust.

For this action, Marshall was named to the Strategic Air Command's Heads-Up Club.

He flew in the 1953 Bendix transcontinental air race, and captained the Central Air Defense Force Team in the 1953 and 1954 Air Defense Command Weapons Meet.

In July 1954, Marshall became chief of the Central Air Defense Force Tactical Evaluation Board at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in Missouri, where he established the first tactical evaluation system in the Air Defense Command; developed the first wind-driven tow reel target system; and headed a team of military and civilian technicians that extended radar search capability (later known as the Marshall fix) of fighter-interceptor aircraft from 30 to 200 mi. In 1957, he was chief of the Central Air Defense Force Bendix Trophy Race Team flying the F-102 Delta Dagger, with his team taking first and second place.

Marshall entered the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, in 1958, and on graduation was assigned to the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing in France as deputy commander for operations.

The wing was transferred to Spangdahlem, West Germany, where he was instrumental in getting the first strobe light landing system on an operational military base in Europe.

Marshall assumed command of NATO's Allied Defense Sector in the 86th Air Division at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany, in January 1961.

There he was credited with the development of an open-loop combat air defense communications network providing an immediate reaction system to cope with the East German and Czechoslovakian MiG threat.

He went to Headquarters U.S. Air Force at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., in June 1964, to serve in the Directorate of Operations successively as deputy chief and chief of the Air Defense Division, and as deputy director for forces.

From June 1966 to July 1967, he served in the Joint Chiefs of Staff as deputy director of operations, J-3 in the National Military Command Center, and chief of the European Division, Directorate of Plans, J-5.

In May 1968, Marshall was assigned as chief of staff, Allied Air Forces Southern Europe in Naples, Italy, and in September 1969 became director of plans, J-5, U.S. European Command, at Vaihingen, West Germany.

During the Vietnam War, he was appointed as vice commander of the Seventh Air Force at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in South Vietnam, in September 1971.

He was deputy commander in chief, U.S. Readiness Command, with headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida before retiring in 1977.