The
Art of Syd Edwards
e-mail: sydedwards@gmail.com • www.fightin79th.com
| For
Immediate Release |
November
8, 2005 |
Columbus Fighter Pilot Remembered On Upcoming WWII CD-ROM
PT.
PLEASANT, WV — A Columbus-born United States Army Air Force
pilot will be profiled on "The Fightin' 79th in World War II",
a soon to be released multimedia CD-ROM which focuses on one of the
squadrons he flew with. Major Richard P. Gatterdam enlisted into the
military in March, 1942 and served two tours overseas flying P-38
Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs in combat over Europe.
"Major Gatterdam's story is interesting not only
because of his time in combat but what he did afterward," said
Syd Edwards, who spent over two years compiling the CD. "After
he completed his second tour he flew to Sweden and taught the pilots
there to fly P-51 Mustangs. Next he was part of a late-war Bond drive
that featured Generals Jimmy Doolittle and George Patton as well as
several winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor. The tour made
stops in Boston, Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle."
Born on August 2, 1919, Gatterdam attended the University of Dayton
for 2 ½ years before transferring to the Lincoln Airplane and
Flying School in Nebraska, where he graduated in 1942, receiving both
a Bachelor's Degree in mechanical engineering and his pilot's license.
After graduating from flight training he was finally assigned to the
79th Fighter Squadron in October, 1942. In August, 1943 the squadron
deployed for King's Cliffe, England, their base for the duration of
the war.
He completed his first combat tour with the squadron after having
scored 1 1/5 aerial victories. After returning to the United States
for several months, he was transferred over to the 55th Fighter Squadron
on the 6th of December, 1944 as their Commanding Officer. He completed
his second tour after flying over 430 combat hours and returned home
on June 10, 1945. He was awarded the Air Medal with 12 Oak Leaf Clusters,
Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished
Service Cross and the Swedish Legion of Merit.
After the war, Gatterdam worked as Executive Vice President of Maillard
and Schmiedel, a San Francisco, California based food brokerage company.
Though he retired in 1984 from the company, he remained on in a consulting
position. Highly athletic, he was a low-handicap golfer and enjoyed
playing tennis. He died on the 17th of July, 2004 at the San Francisco
Veterans Administration Medical Center at the age of 84.
“His
is just one of over 170 profiles included on the CD-ROM,” Edwards
continued. “Since 1997 I have found some amazing instances of
ordinary men doing extraordinary feats. However, since the 79th wasn’t
a high profile 8th Air Force unit, these stories were usually only
considered newsworthy by the papers in the pilots' hometowns. I thought
someone should bring these stories together and digitally preserve
them for future generations. That was the start of what would turn
out to be a two-year project.”
Edwards, a graphic artist who resides with his family in Pt. Pleasant,
West Virginia, has had a lifelong interest in World War II aviation.
His work has been cited in a number of publications and on websites
worldwide. In order to get as close to the source as possible, he
has corresponded with numerous former pilots, crewmen and their families.
“Their
input was invaluable. Many went out of their way to make sure I got
everything they had: photographs, scans of documents, rolls of microfilm
and even movie footage taken from cameras mounted near the planes’
guns.” He said.
The CD will officially be released on Veteran’s Day, November
11th. In addition to biographies, it contains over 1,000 wartime images,
rare audio and video clips, interviews, overviews of selected missions,
rosters of all personnel and original music by Professor Laramie Roush
from the University of Rio Grande. For more information, or to order
a copy, visit the CD’s companion website at www.fightin79th.com.