A VETERAN SALUTE: Col. Don Blakeslee

OK, this guy is one of my all-time heroes. From the time I first started reading accounts of the air war in Europe, the exploits and reputation of this legendary Fighter Group leader, Col. Donald J.M. Blakeslee, captured my imagination.
With the exception of 56th FG commander Hub Zemke, no other American pilot got the attention of Luftwaffe commanders than Colonel Don. When Zemke was finally captured shortly before the war’s end, Goering was quoted as saying, “Now if we can only get old Blakeslee too, we can win the war!”
Don had started flying at an early age and had been inspired by tales of the valorous pilots of World War I. “Dawn Patrol” had made a huge impression, and when the winds of war began to blow in Europe, he left home to join an RCAF squadron, many months before Americans began joining what were to become the “Eagle” Squadrons of the RAF. By the time the Eagles began engaging in their first combat, Blakeslee already had several aerial victories to his credit. Soon, he was to take command of this unit, which had now become the 4th Fighter Group, based at RAF Debden. Under his brilliant leadership and aggressive no-nonsense tactics, the “Debden Eagles” would go on to destroy more enemy aircraft (aerial and ground kills) than any other unit in the ETO. Controversial in his day, Don was no respecter of persons; Not one to always do things by the book, he often relied on his own instincts for whatever it took to get the job done against the enemy, and was occasionally reprimanded, demoted, then re-promoted.
When I first met him, he told me with a smile, “John, I’m the only guy you’ll ever meet that made Colonel three times!” Don’s 4th Fighter Group would produce some of WWII’s most colorful aces and personalities, such as Don Gentile, Johnny Godfrey, Jim Goodson, “Kid” Hofer, Mac McKennon and many others who would become household names back home during 1944. The Mustangs of the 4th also boasted some of the most innovative nose art in Europe, however Blakeslee himself never took much stock in flaunting his own personal paint schemes or “kill” markings. It was well known that he never cared much even for keeping a precise tally of his personal victories (he was officially credited with 15.5). I’d heard he’d actually gotten more than 30, and when I asked him how if the official record was accurate, he simply smiled and said, “it was a hell of a lot more than that”. Committed to defeating the enemy, he admitted to ‘cooking’ the logbooks to understate his hours of combat flying, and would ultimately accumulate more combat hours in the air than any known American fighter pilot in Europe.
After the war, Don served with distinction in Korea and continued on in an impressive Air Force career, retiring in 1965. In his later years, he quietly resided in south Florida, avoiding much attention, but staying in touch with many of the men he’d served with during those fateful months years before.
I’d have to say my favorite book of accounts of this era is the masterfully written “1000 Destroyed: The Life & Times of the 4th Fighter Group”, by the 4th’s PR officer, Grover Cleveland Hall. Rarely has a personal account captured the personalities, times and feeling of a unique fighter group’s day to day experience in such an amazing time in history, with humor, passion and gritty realism as Hall’s style portrays.
Don Blakeslee passed away in 2008 at age 91. Truly a unique man… the right man for the right time.