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 Lieutenant
Colonel (USAF Reserve Ret.)
Henry Hugh Pennington, (1920-2003) was born in
Pleasant View, (Thomasville) Tennessee on
the 04 August 1920. He was the fourth (4th) of five (5) children born to Robert Jerome and Ura Virginia Pace Pennington.
When he was eleven (11) his mother died and he was essentially raised by his
two older sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. Hugh was also very close to his Aunt
and Uncle Sophia Jeanette and Fred Pennington. He graduated from Cheatham
County High School in 1937. As a teenager he worked at a filling station but
was always creative with problem solving mechanical devices. He could fix
almost anything!
On the 15 March 1942, Hugh married his high school
sweetheart, Javena Keith of
Ashland City, Tennessee. They had four (4) children; Hugh Keith, (b.1946) Zo
Lynette, (b. 1950) Karen Aleen, (b.1956) and Mary Beth (b.1960).
When the war broke out,
like most able bodied men Hugh enlisted. He had always been interested in
flying, but when he first approached the Air Corps he was told he would be
not be allowed to fly. As a kid he had suffered a broken finger and it was
never splinted and it had healed at an awkward angle. He was told that
finger would keep him from passing the physical required for flight school.
When he asked what he could do, the respose was to not fly or amputate the
finger. Hugh replied "Cut it off" and thus the ring finger on his left hand
was gone forerver, but his flying career had begun! He applied for, and was accepted to the
seven (7) month long Aviation Cadet Program, leaving on 08 October 1942 for
basic training. He began Primary Flight
Training at the Rankin Aeronautical Academy (Rankin
Field) in Tulare, California in February 1943. Rankin Field became
one of the sixty-two (62) civilian-owned flying schools in the U.S. that
taught 1.4 million World War II Army pilots to fly. Basic flying skills were
taught in the
PT-17
"Stearman." [photo] at Rankin.
 fter completing
Primary on the 12 April 1943 it was on to Basic and Advanced Flight Training at
Marfa Army Airfield in Marfa, Texas. During Basic, Hugh learned formation
flight, instruments, and aerial navigation skills. During Advanced, the
Cadets were broken into single-engine and multi-engine categories. (Hugh was
multi-engine) Single-engine candidates would go on to fly fighters, and
multi-engine Cadets became bomber or transport pilots. Hugh flew the
Vultee
BT-13A
"Valiant" trainer. He received the silver wings of the United States Army
Air Corps in Class 43-H from Marfa and graduated on the 30 August 1943 along with several other members of the Second Emergency
Rescue Squadron. Frank Rauschkolb, Bill Holbrook, Larry Bormann, John
Denison, John Dickinson, Denzil Kathman,
Don Dixon,
Harry Remington,
Leroy Nelson,
Robert Rohlfing, and James Scott were graduates of this class.
In September 1943 Hugh
then transferred to
Selman Field
in Monroe, Louisiana to begin his Navigation
Flight Training. In early October 1943 the group was transferred to Penscacola Naval Air
Station, Florida to begin the approximate 6 week transition into the PBY-5A
"Catalina."
Upon completing the required Navy syllabus the men would also received the gold wings of a Naval Aviator. He and other
members of the 2nd ERS were transferred to
Gulfport Field, Mississippi and eventually
Keesler Field,
Biloxie, Mississippi to complete the Air Sea Rescue Training required by the
USAAF. Once complete, the newly formed Second Emergency moved to California
to begin the transition to the Pacific Theater to join the war effort. As
crews began the marathon trek from California to New Guinea in their "new"
OA-10A Catalinas, Lieutenant Pennington flew as Co-pilot on OA-10A,
44-33881. They flew from Sacramento,
California over the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to Hawaii, then continued
to
Townsville,
Australia. The rest of his crew consisted of: (Pilot) Lieutenant Robert
L. Rohlfing, (Navigator) Lieutenant Walter H. Boggs, (Engineer) Sergeant
Robert A. Pilot, (Radio Opr.) Coporal Clarence E. Friestad, (Radar Opr.)
Sergeant Christopher A. Pavone. On one memorable mission his crew captured
four (4) Japanese soldiers, but only brought
three (3) home as one tried to grab
a pistol and was shot and killed by Lieutenant Pennington before he could
carry out his deed. The rest were
closely guarded by Harry Schulman until they landed at home base.
Hugh was promoted to First Lieutenant
on th 19 October 1944; Captain on the 04 May 1945. He was discharged from
the military on the 08 February 1946 but remained in the Reserve and
eventually reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. While overseas with the
2nd Emergency he flew 685:10 combat hours and was awarded the
Air Medal (5/OLC),
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal,
American Theater Service Medal,
Philippine Liberation Medal,
and World War II Victory
Medal.
(* He
kept a detailed diary while he was deployed and it will be added to this
website later!)
After the war, Hugh worked for S.A. Camp and Company,
a cotton oil refining company in Shafter, California from 1948-1956. During
those years Hugh learned the chemistry and procedures necessary to run the
refinery. Ranchers Cotton Oil Company purchased S.A. Camp and after helping
design and install the new refinery built by DeLaval Separator Company, Hugh
left Ranchers and moved his family across the country to New York. He joined
DeLaval in Poughkeepsie, New York and worked there from 1965-1972. He
operated the pilot plant for DeLaval working on the refining of everything
from chicken feathers to chocolate. Again, after helping design and install
a new cotton seed oil plant in Monroe, Louisiana Hugh changed jobs again. He
joined Union Cotton Oil Refining Company in West Monroe, Louisiana, where he
worked from 1972-1985. He had been stationed in Monroe during his flight
school Navigation training.
He treasured the friends he made while
in the Second Emergency Rescue Squadron and enjoyed attending
annual reunions. [see
photos from the
1995 reunion] He even brought his children and grandchildren to some of
them. Hugh Pennington passed away
at his home on the 13 March 2003 in Monroe, Louisiana from complications of
a stroke at the age of 82.
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