FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
The U.S. Air Force’s “Veterans in Blue” program showcases
veterans who have helped shape the Air Force with their experiences.
Each year, veterans are selected thought the United States
to participate in the program and their portraits are displayed on the fifth
floor of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
For this Veterans Day, Joint Base San Antonio celebrates
retired Col. Robert Inghram.
Inghram, born May 18, 1920, became a 2nd Balloon Company
fighter pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corps in July 1941.
After graduation from pilot school, he went to Selfridge
Field in Michigan. Inghram was then assigned to the 31st Fighter Group flying
P-39 Airacobras and later flew Spitfires with the Royal Air Force during World
War II.
While flying over the English Channel during the Dieppe Raid
Aug. 19, 1942, Inghram was shot down after his fifth mission. Inghram spent 33
months at the Stalag Luft III prison camp in the German province of Lower
Silesia and was one of three Americans in 1944 to help dig the “Great Escape”
tunnels called Tom, Dick and Harry.
After the war, Inghram held a variety of duties including
legal and personnel officer and was deployed to Panama, Puerto Rico, Canada and
then to Udorn during the Vietnam War, where he organized the Airborne to
Battlefield Command and Control Center.
At McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., Inghram flew the embassy
run and was later in charge of the Boeing EC-135 Advanced Range Instrumentation
Aircraft at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.
Retiring after 28 years of military service, Inghram went to
work for Pan American Airlines as a contractor for the NASA Space Center in Houston, which provided operations and
maintenance for the shuttle program while the shuttle was on the ground.
Inghram retired after 20 years of service with Pan Am.
After retiring from Pan Am, Inghram received a master’s
degree in education and shared his World War II experiences with students of
all ages, along with civic groups and is a life member of the Order of the
Daedalians.
Despite almost losing his life during a 1941 refueling
exercise, to this day, Inghram maintains his fondest memory in the Air Force
was when “Gen. Patton’s 3rd Army brought an end to his behind-the-wire
experience as a prisoner of war.”
To see veterans’ portraits and stories, past and present,
visit http://static.dma.mil/usaf/veterans.