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Delbert L. Mansfield
Major DELBERT L. MANSFIELD (BERT) was born in
Aberdeen, SD, on December 28,
1931. He enlisted in
the Air Force in 1950 and entered Observor Aviation
Cadat Training in 1952, graduating at
Ellington AFB,
TX, in June 1953. He was then assigned to fly as a
Bombardier on B-29’s with the 98th B.W.,
Japan and the
307th B.W. Okinawa, where he was promoted to 1st Lt.
He volunteered for pilot training April of 1955;
and
received his wings in April 1956. He flew B-47s as a
co-pilot and aircraft commander with the 340th
B.W.
Whiteman AFB, MO, where he was promoted to Capt.,
384th B.W., Little Rock AFB, AR, and the 98th B.W.
Lincoln,
NB.
In November 1965, he was assigned to the 62nd Troop
Carrier Squadron, Sewart, AFB, TN, flying the C-130
in
which he logged 20 hours of combat and 14 sorties. He
was promoted to Major.
Major Mansfield
volunteered for Southeast Asia, flying
the F-4. He trained with the 43rd TFS at MacDill AFB,
FL and was assigned
to the 8th TFW, 497 TFS, Ubon,
Thialand, Sept. 1967 until Aug. 1968. He flew 144
combat sorties,100 over North
Vietnam, several of
which were in PACK SIX; accumulating 270 combat hours.
He came to Eglin AFB, FL in Aug.
1968 and was assigned
as Quality Control Officer for the 4533 TTS (T), 33
TFW until his retirement Dec. 1970.
While at Eglin he
had the opportunity to ferry F-4s to Australia and
twice to Vietnam. On one of the trips to
Vietnam, he
had the privilege to fly a combat sortie Jan. 19, 1970
on the wing of his brother, Major Delton F. Mansfield,
(Del),
out of Udorn, Thialand.
After retirement from the Air Force, Bert flew a
Falcon 20 for Farm and Home Savings
in Nevada, MO for
eighteen and a half years.
Bert and Janice Cowherd of Missouri were married in
1960.
They have two sons. The oldest one resides in
Frisco, TX and the younger one in Nevada, MO, where
Bert and Janice
still reside. They have two
grandchildren in Texas and three in Missouri.
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