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 Major
(USAF Ret.) Frank (NMI) Rauschkolb
(1919-1993) was born in Milton-Freewater, Oregon on the 07 September 1919 to Fred
and Louise Rauschkolb. Growing up during the depression, the family often
had no food to eat. The farmers in California would bring truck loads of
oranges up to Oregon in the hopes of selling them there. There were many
that were left over and they would be dumped in the local orchards to use as
fertilizer as they rotted. Frank recalled walking to school he would eat the
oranges he would find on the way to and from and said it was the only food
he had for a week. He graduated from McLoughlin Union High School in
Milton-Freewater in 1937. After graduation Frank worked on his parent's farm
(a small Italian Plum orchard) and summer jobs to include at the local
packing plant.
When the war broke out, Frank applied for, and was accepted to the
seven (7) month long Aviation Cadet Program, leaving on 13 April 1942 for
basic training. Frank 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-22
"Recruit" at Rankin. He completed Primary on the
12
April 1943 and it was on to Basic and Advanced Flight Training at
Marfa Army Airfield in Marfa, Texas. During Basic, Frank learned formation
flight, instruments, and aerial navigation skills. During Advanced, the
Cadets were broken into single-engine and multi-engine categories. (Frank was
multi-engine) Single-engine candidates would go on to fly fighters, and
multi-engine Cadets became bomber or transport pilots. Frank 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 [see
graduation dance announcement][invitation
card][see
graduation
announcement] and graduated on the 30 August 1943 [orders] along with several other members of the Second Emergency
Rescue Squadron. Hugh Pennington, 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.
 On
the 14 September 1943 Frank
then transferred to
Selman Field
in Monroe, Louisiana to begin his navigation training. [orders]
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." [orders]
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,
Frank was assigned to the transport ship
M/S Roseville
[manifest] and
left for the Pacific on the 30 April 1944. The trip lasted almost a month,
as they arrived at Milne Bay, New Guinea on the 26 May 1944. While overseas
Frank had many
memorable missions, but one in particular earned him the
Distinguished Service Cross, (DSC) [orders] the nation's second highest commendation for
extraordinary heriosm. It took
place on the 04 March 1945 when his
crew rescued 17 members of three (3) different B-25's that crashed. (One
turned out to be R.D. Johnson, the "Professor" on Gilligan's Island!) The orders were cut in July 1945 and the formal ceremony was held on
18 September 1945. By the end of
March 1945, he had flown seventy-eight (78) combat missions totaling six
hundred nine (609) hours [certificate]
and had earned enough points to be rotated back stateside to serve as an
instructor pilot. [orders]
 fter returning stateside,
Frank married Francis Rosalee Wagner on the 26 April 1945 in Walla Walla,
Washington. They had five (5) sons, Jan, Frank Jr., Barry, Bill, and Fred each being born at a different duty
station. Remaining in the newly formed U.S. Air Force, he was stationed in many
places in the next 15 years. He flew as part of the Berlin Airlift flying
food and supplies into the beleagured and starving civilians. He mainly flew
fighters and cargo planes. While still in the Air Force, Frank went back to school
and earned his Bachelor's degree in xxxx from San Francisco State College
in 1958. During the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 he was a commander
of a B-52 Stratofortress.
His military awards and decorations
include: Distinguished Service Cross,
Air Medal, (w/6 OLC)
American Campaign Medal,
Asicatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, (w/2
bronze service stars) World War II Victory
Medal, Army of Occupation Medal with Berlin Airlift Device, Medal for
Humane Action, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Longevity Service
Award, (w/4 bronze OLC) Armed Forces Reserve Medal, (w/1 Hour Glass Device)
Philippine Liberation Medal.
After
retiring from the Air Force Frank went to flight instructor school [FAA
Certificate] at
Troutdale, Oregon. He became a flight instructor for smaller aircraft, then
moving on to larger airplanes with United Air Lines in Denver, Colorado. He
worked for United Air Lines for seventeen (17) years in the 737 program,
retiring again in 1979. He moved back to Oregon in 1982. He was co-founder
of the Oregon Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Portland, Oregon. His son Jan
was killed on 26 May 1969 in Vietnam. His son Frank Jr. was serving in
Vietnam at the time of his brother's death.
Frank enjoyed the great outdoors. He was
avid hunter and fisherman, but golf was his great passion! He passed away on
the 6 March 1993 of a stroke at age 73. Fran passed away on the 2 March
2011.
[see Frank Rauschkolb's
military records...]
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