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'''Francis ("Frank") Walter Nye''' (June 29, 1918<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicbackgroundchecks.com/SearchResponse.aspx?view=NM&fn=Francis&mn=W&ln=Nye&city=&state=&zip=&dob=19180629&age= |title=You searched: Francis W Nye 19180629 |publisher=Public Background Checks |date= |accessdate=2011-04-19}}</ref> – 13 January 2019) was a [[United States Air Force]] Major General who was a [[B-24 Liberator]] and [[B-29 Superfortress]] combat pilot. He was commander, Field Command, Defense Atomic Support Agency, [[Sandia Base]], New Mexico.
'''Francis ("Frank") Walter Nye''' (June 29, 1918<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publicbackgroundchecks.com/SearchResponse.aspx?view=NM&fn=Francis&mn=W&ln=Nye&city=&state=&zip=&dob=19180629&age= |title=You searched: Francis W Nye 19180629 |publisher=Public Background Checks |date= |accessdate=2011-04-19}}</ref> – 13 January 2019) was a [[United States Air Force]] Major General who was a [[B-24 Liberator]] and [[B-29 Superfortress]] combat pilot. He was commander, Field Command, Defense Atomic Support Agency, [[Sandia Base]], New Mexico.


==education and career ==
== Education and career ==
Nye graduated from [[Barton Academy (Vermont)]] (1936) and the [[University of Vermont]] ([[BSc]], 1941). He enlisted as [[United States Army Air Corps|Army Air Corps]] [[flight cadet]] after graduation.<ref name=c180620>{{Cite news | first=Maddy | last=Hayden | title=Former Barton man to turn 100 | newspaper=The Chronicle | location=Barton, Vermont | pages= 1A | date=July 18, 2018 }}</ref> In February 1942, he completed flight training and was commissioned a [[second lieutenant]]. Through April 1943, he flew 36 missions with the [[98th Bombardment Group]] from bases in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], [[Egypt]], and [[North Africa]]. Nye returned to the United States in April 1943 and, in September, entered the B-29 aircraft program, first as an acceptance test pilot at the [[Boeing]] plant in [[Wichita, Kansas]].
Nye graduated from [[Barton Academy (Vermont)]] (1936) and the [[University of Vermont]] ([[BSc]], 1941). He enlisted as [[United States Army Air Corps|Army Air Corps]] [[flight cadet]] after graduation.<ref name=c180620>{{Cite news | first=Maddy | last=Hayden | title=Former Barton man to turn 100 | newspaper=The Chronicle | location=Barton, Vermont | pages= 1A | date=July 18, 2018 }}</ref> In February 1942, he completed flight training and was commissioned a [[second lieutenant]]. Through April 1943, he flew 36 missions with the [[98th Bombardment Group]] from bases in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], [[Egypt]], and [[North Africa]]. Nye returned to the United States in April 1943 and, in September, entered the B-29 aircraft program, first as an acceptance test pilot at the [[Boeing]] plant in [[Wichita, Kansas]].


Revision as of 18:58, 25 January 2019

Francis W. Nye
Birth nameFrancis Walter Nye
Born(1918-06-29)June 29, 1918
Barton, Vermont
DiedJanuary 13, 2019(2019-01-13) (aged 100)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Buried
Santa Fe National Cemetery[1]
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service / branchUnited States Air Force
Years of service1941–1972
RankMajor General
Commands
Battles / wars
Awards

Francis ("Frank") Walter Nye (June 29, 1918[2] – 13 January 2019) was a United States Air Force Major General who was a B-24 Liberator and B-29 Superfortress combat pilot. He was commander, Field Command, Defense Atomic Support Agency, Sandia Base, New Mexico.

Education and career

Nye graduated from Barton Academy (Vermont) (1936) and the University of Vermont (BSc, 1941). He enlisted as Army Air Corps flight cadet after graduation.[3] In February 1942, he completed flight training and was commissioned a second lieutenant. Through April 1943, he flew 36 missions with the 98th Bombardment Group from bases in Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa. Nye returned to the United States in April 1943 and, in September, entered the B-29 aircraft program, first as an acceptance test pilot at the Boeing plant in Wichita, Kansas.

Nye's crew was formed at Salina, Kansas, and assigned B-29 serial # 42-6232 in April 1944. This aircraft was named "Kickapoo II." Captain Nye had finished a tour of duty previously with 36 missions in a B-24's named "Kickapoo" in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Nye was Aircraft Commander of an original crew that departed from Salina on April 4, 1944 for Kharagpur, India, and was one of the first to leave Salina, and arrive at Kharagpur, with stops in Presque Isle, Maine; Marrakech, Morocco; Cairo, Egypt; and Karachi, India. This crew flew several "operational" over-the-hump missions to Pengshan A-7 , the forward base in China. This crew flew the first mission by B-29's to Bangkok, Thailand from Kharagpur (June 5, 1944), and the first mission from Pengshan A-7 to Yawata, Japan on June 15, 1944.

On June 20, 1944, Nye was ordered to the 468th Bombardment Group as Assistant S-3 (Deputy Group Operations Officer). In August 1944, Nye flew the longest B-29 mission (over 4,000 miles) in World War II by any type of aircraft to Palembang, Sumatra, from a forward base at China Bay, Ceylon. Nye flew this mission while substituting for a pilot who had become ill. Nye flew 11 combat missions with the 468th Bombardment Group in the China-Burma-India Theater. In May 1945 he went with the 468 BG to Tinian Island and then to Roswell, New Mexico. Nye finished World War II on Tinian as Group Operations Officer.

In September 1946, he began duty as a Reserve Officers Training Corps professor of air science and tactics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Nye flew 19 Korean War combat missions with the 22d Bombardment Wing. Following an assignment to SAC Headquarters in May 1953 and attending the Air War College (July 1956-June 1957), Nye became a commander of various military organizations. He also served as chairman of the Rated Personnel Requirements and Allocations Committee at the Pentagon and was appointed deputy director for plans and policy in the Directorate of Plans in August 1968. In November 1968, he was appointed chairman of the U.S. delegation of the Inter-American Defense Board, the Joint Brazil-U.S. Defense Commission, and the U.S. section, Joint Mexican-U.S. Defense Commission. In July 1969, General Nye became deputy director of plans.[clarification needed] Nye was later assigned as commander, Field Command, Defense Atomic Support Agency, Sandia Base, New Mexico.

Personal life, family, and death

His wife, Nina, died in 2017[4] and Nye died in January 2019 at the age of 100.[5]

Awards and decorations

His military decorations included the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation Emblem with three oak leaf clusters, and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon.

References

  1. ^ "Francis Nye Obituary - Albuquerque, NM | Albuquerque Journal".
  2. ^ "You searched: Francis W Nye 19180629". Public Background Checks. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
  3. ^ Hayden, Maddy (July 18, 2018). "Former Barton man to turn 100". The Chronicle. Barton, Vermont. pp. 1A.
  4. ^ "Nina Nye's Obituary on Albuquerque Journal". Albuquerque Journal.
  5. ^ "Francis Nye Obituary - Albuquerque, NM | Albuquerque Journal".

Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: [1]

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