06/24/2023
🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Gene Autry: Cowboy, Entertainer and Proud World War II Veteran
"When World War II broke out, Gene Autry was determined to join the armed forces and do his part. On July 26, 1942, during a live broadcast of his radio show Melody Ranch and at the Pentagon's request, he was inducted into the Army Air Forces as a Technical Sergeant. Already a private pilot, Gene set out to earn his wings as a Flight Officer. After basic training at the Santa Ana Air Force Base, and serving at Luke Field, Thunderbird Field, and Phoenix Airport, he was eventually accepted for flight training at Love Field in Dallas."
"A week after Gene was sworn into the military, the Gene Autry Melody Ranch radio show became the Sergeant Gene Autry radio show on August 2, 1942. The program was part of Gene’s regular duties in the Army Air Forces and still had his music, comedy, and action in a dramatic story but now with a military theme. The songs were patriotic, the comedy based on military life as a soldier, and the stories were dramatization "based upon an actual incident recorded in the files of the United States Army Air Forces, and characters were portrayed by a cast of professional actors." Many shows were broadcast from Luke Field in Arizona with an audience of soldiers stationed there. The Sergeant Gene Autry radio show ended on August 1, 1943 when Gene was given new orders." (The Official Gene Autry website)
On June 21, 1944 Gene earned his service pilot wings and was promoted to Flight Officer. He was assigned to the 91st Ferrying Squadron of the 555th Army Air Base Unit, Air Transport Command at Love Field. He served with this unit from July 1942 to October 1945.
According to his biography: "During that time Gene performed duties as a pilot on cargo type aircraft including AT-6s, 7s and 11s, C-104s and C-109s. The C-109's were used to haul fuel in the China Burma India Theatre of Operations. Flight Officer Autry made one trip to the CBI theatre via the Azores, North Africa and the Middle East. Enroute to the Azores the plane he was co-piloting had to reverse course to avoid a typhoon, flying five hours back to Newfoundland, where it landed at Gander Bay with one engine out and low on fuel. Fog rolled in and the crew was grounded for two weeks. But they completed their mission."
"At the end of the war, Gene transferred to Special Services at which point he took a USO troupe to the South Pacific. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1946. During the war, Gene was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. In 1955 Gene Autry received a letter from Headquarters, Continental Air Defense Command: George F. Smith, Major General, USAF, Chief of Staff. The letter closed; "The United States Air Force is proud to have Gene Autry as a former member of this organization." No one was prouder than Gene himself." (The Official Gene Autry website)
"Autry is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and is the only person to be awarded stars in all five categories on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for film, television, music, radio, and live performance." (Los Angeles Times)
Flight Officer Gene Autry passed away on October 2, 1998 at the age of 91. He lies in rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles California. Lest We Forget.
WWII uncovered©️ original description and photo sourced by The Official Gene Autry website, The Los Angeles Times and Ancestry Database
