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Kenneth Schechter, Korean War pilot who landed blind from wound, dies at 83


Kenneth A. Schechter, 83, Dies; With Help, He Flew Blind


Kenneth A. Schechter, right, reunited with Howard Thayer, the man who helped him land after being hit on March 22, 1952.


And to think, we lower our flag for politicians when they die.

That's a great story OldAirMail. Yeah,.. "And to think, we lower our flag for politicians when they die." How bout it?

I would like to know why it took them scumbags till 1995 to give him the medal he earned. My father had to wait till
around 2004 to get his well earned purple heart. and that was only cause he damanded it. He took shrapnel from an
enemy grenade in the korean war.

Considering what he expected before touchdown, I bet he was just satisfied to be alive and able to see out of one eye.

Would any real pilot expect to survive something like that?


Besides the military can be funny about medals.

My father, an Army Air Force photographer, was bayoneted in the back shortly after Guadalcanal was declared "cleared of enemy".

It wasn't, of course. But the army was under pressure to show successes. So a little fudging here and there made the folks at home feel better. Buy more War Bonds. That kind of stuff.

And that's the short story of how he didn't win the Purple Heart.



You know....

If he had been bayoneted in the butt, I would never have heard that story.