Dominic Salvatore Gentile
Major
Dominic Salvatore "Don" Gentile (
December 6,
1920 -
January 28,
1951) was a
U S Air Force officer.
His decorations include the
Distinguished Service Cross, the
Silver Star, the
Distinguished Flying Cross, the
Air Medal, the
Presidential Unit Citation (US), the World War Two Victory Medal, the
American Campaign Medal, the British
Distinguished Flying Cross, the British Star, the Eagle Squadron Crest, and other foreign medals.
Gentile originally enlisted in the RCAF and was posted to the UK in 1941, flying the
Supermarine Spitfire with
133 Squadron, one of the famed "
Eagle Squadron" during 1942, and months before the U.S. entered the war. He claimed two kills in his time with the squadron.
in September 1942, the Eagle squadrons transferred to the USAAF, becoming the
4th Fighter group. Gentile became a flight commander in September 1943, now flying the
P-47. Having been Spitfire pilots, Gentile and the other pilots of the 4th were displeased when they transitioned to the heavy P-47 Thunderbolt. By late 1943 Group Commander Col. Don Blakelee pushed for re-equipment with the lighter, more manuverable, P-51 Mustang. Conversion to the
P-51B in early 1944 allowed Gentile to build an impressive tally of 15 additional aircraft destroyed during January-April 1944. He was the top scoring 8th Air Force ace when he crashed his personal P-51, named "Shangri La", on 13 April 1944 while stunting over the 4th FG's airfield at
Debden for a group of assembled press reporters and movie cameras.
Col. Blakeslee immediately grounded Major Gentile as a result, and he was sent back to the US for a tour selling War Bonds.
His final score was 21.8 air kills, with 6 ground kills.
After the war, he stayed with the Air Force, as a test pilot at
Wright Field, as a Training Officer in the Fighter Gunnery Program, and as a student officer at the Air Tactical School. In January
1951, he was killed when he crashed in a
Lockheed T-33 trainer.
Winston Churchill called Maj. Gentile and his wingman, Capt. John T. Godfrey, Damon and Pythias, after the mythical, Greek heroes. (Information taken from "Airwar," by Edward Jablonski, Doubleday and Co., Inc., Copyright 1971)
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