Arthur Bitzer Master Sergeant

My Dad, Arthur Bitzer, was born in Ingram, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh) in 1915 and lived there until 1942, when he enlisted in the Army Air Force. He went to Conley Trade School and graduated in 1935. He learned mechanics, which would serve him well as a car mechanic, airplane mechanic, gas station owner, 1950-1968, a repair shop owner, and finally working in the machine shop for H.J. Heinz for 10 years until he retired. I was lucky enough to “work” with Dad at his Mobil station and repair shop from the time I was about 5 years old on and off until he sold it in 1968. It was great being around him and seeing how he worked. He was very patient and showed me a lot about mechanics. I learned so much from him.

His military career began like most everyone else in the 87^th Fighter Group with basic training beginning at Chanute Field, Rantoul. IL on 5 Jan 1942 and ending with an Honorable Discharge on 8 Sept 1945. I heard a few stories of his adventure overseas during the 2 years and 10 months he served. He told me how they went on the Mauritania for 37 days and how 3 guys slept in the same bunk in 3 shifts. They zig-zagged every 15 minutes to avoid radar detection and had a ceremony when they crossed the equator. In the desert, they washed the grease out of their uniforms in 100 octane aviation fuel and hung them in the sun to dry. Dad said they came out beautiful, like they were dry cleaned!

I found a 3-page memory of the trip compiled by Edgar G. Babineau of the 85^th that summarized their trip.

He was able to meet his sister Elizabeth in North Africa in 1943 when he was on duty in Sicily. She was a Lt. in the Army Nurse Corps in North Africa. He tapped her on the shoulder and surprised her in the mess hall. It made the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph paper on 10 Dec 1943. He had flown from Sicily with some patients who were being sent to the hospital there. Unfortunately, he was not able to get leave from the war for his dad’s funeral, who died on 19 Jan 1945. That made him sad because he and his Dad were very close.

He attained the rank of Master Sergeant and his nickname was Abe the Whip. He was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for his heroics of rescuing one of the pilots from a burning P-47 when it crashed and overturned at Serragia Airfield in Corsica on 26 July 1944. The unnamed pilot was trapped in the cockpit. Several comrades lifted the twisted fuselage while Dad crawled under the plane and removed the injured pilot to a place of safety.

Mom had the Soldier’s Medal and some other of his Army medals framed for him as a surprise Christmas present one year. They were proudly displayed in our house when I was a kid and now I am the caretaker of them.

He stayed in contact with several of his buddies from the 87^th. One was Johnny Langhoff, who lived in New Orleans. He saw Johnny while on their honeymoon in New Orleans and again on a trip there in 1973. He also attended several reunions the 79^th Fighter Group had, one in Orlando in 1981 and one in Arlington, VA in 1983. He really enjoyed them and had a lot more stories to tell when he came home.

After being discharged, Dad returned to Pittsburgh and married my Mom in February 1947. They lived in Crafton from 1950 to 1983. In 2017, Crafton honored all military veterans by hanging their posters on telephone poles in the town. Here is his. In 1983, they moved to Memphis to be closer to me, my wife and my son. We had a good 10 years together in Memphis. Unfortunately, he died of Leukemia in October 1993. He was a great Dad and taught me how to fix cars and just about anything with his mechanic background.. I sure miss him and I have often thought I’m glad he was an airplane mechanic in the war and not on the front lines or I probably wouldn’t be here writing this.

God bless you, Dad.