Oscar Randolph Fladmark, Jr. (June 23, 1922 – July 27, 1955) was an American fighter pilot who flew 164 "no-injury" combat missions in World War II and the Korean War. Fladmark received the Distinguished Flying Cross during his military career. Just a few years after the Korean War, Major Fladmark, at 33 years of age, was in an automobile accident near Yuma, Arizona, on July 27, 1955, and died while being flown to the San Diego Naval Hospital.[1][2]
Early life and education
Fladmark was born in Moe Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota,[3] on June 23, 1922. His father, Oscar C. Fladmark, Sr. (1888–1965), came from ÅlesundNorway, located on the western coastal fjord region of the country, and had moved to South Dakota in 1907.[4] His mother, Pethryn Hanson (1896–1998), was also of Scandinavian descent and came from Hudson, South Dakota.[5] He had one younger sibling, Lorentz W. Fladmark (1926–1993).[6]
Fladmark attended school in Canton, South Dakota. He was active in sports and became captain of his high school football team. Later, the family relocated to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He attended Augustana College starting in fall 1940 but his education was interrupted by World War II when he was inducted into the Army Air Corps as an Aviator in June 1942.
Military career
World War II
During World War II, Fladmark[7] was selected as an aviation cadet and to undergo training with the United States Army Air Corps. He trained at various military bases in California, Arizona, Texas, Florida and Virginia. He was inducted in June 1942 and was commissioned a second lieutenant and received his wings in the United States Army Air Corps in April 1943.
The War Department authorized the establishment of Air National Guard units in all 48 states, with three units comprising a wing based in Sioux Falls, Sioux City and Des Moines, Iowa. The Air National Guard 132nd Wing[15] was organized by Colonel Frederick C. Gray Jr.[16][17][18][19] who was a veteran of the RAF and 8th Air Force during World War II. Colonel Gray, based in Des Moines, Iowa, acted as wing senior instructor for the three Air National Guard units which comprised the wing. Col. Gray's appointment was made by Brigadier General Charles H. Grahl, Iowa Adjutant General, on June 26, 1946. Col. Frederick C. Gray Jr. later attended the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
In 1946, Fladmark was appointed to the rank of Captain and the duty of a Flight Commander with the Air National Guard 175th Fighter Squadron[20] based in Sioux Falls. Fladmark's appointment was approved by Colonel E.A. Beckwith, South Dakota Adjutant General in Rapid City, South Dakota on September 20, 1946.
He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Augustana College in Sioux Falls in 1948. He also worked for the local newspaper the Argus Leader.
Korean War
Fladmark was recalled into the Air Force on November 14, 1950, for training in jet fighters and a tour in the Korean War. In February 1951, Fladmark[21] reunited with a flying friend when he was assigned to the 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, which was reactivated by Colonel Frederick Gray.[22] The 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing was a component of the 5th Air Force, Far East Forces. During the Korean War, he flew 100 combat missions over North Korea.[23] A report from Headquarters of the 13th Air Force at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, reads:
The Distinguished Flying Cross
"Captain Oscar Fladmark, son of Mr. & Mrs. Oscar Fladmark, Sioux Falls, South Dakota and husband of Mrs. Phyllis Fladmark, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was recently awarded The Distinguished Flying Cross. Assigned as a pilot for the 44th Fighter Squadron (Bomber), Philippines Command (Air Force) and 13th Air Force, Clark Air Force Base, Philippines, Fladmark received the award for exceptionally meritorious service performed on April 24, leading a flight of four F-51 type aircraft on a close support mission, Fladmark displayed airmanship by leading his flight to the target area near Hwachon, Korea, in below marginal weather where the flight carried out a series of devastating attacks on the enemy. With Napalm rockets and machine guns, Fladmark led the flight in pass after pass on the enemy in hazardous mountainous terrain. Only after maximum results had been achieved did Fladmark reassemble his flight and proceed to his home base. Due to the nature of the target and the type of attack it was impossible to ascertain the exact destruction wrought on the enemy by Fladmark but the flight was credited with over 100 Communist troops killed. As a result of this highly successful mission the enemy's drive in the Hwachon area was greatly impeded."[24]
A panoramic view of Kansas City, Missouri from the top of Liberty Memorial looking north to downtown. Union Station is in the foreground and the Crown Center to the right.
Later, in April 1954, he was transferred to the 326th Fighter Intercepter Group at the Headquarters of Central Air Defense Force at Grandview Air Force Base, in Grandview, Missouri with Major General Jarred V. Crabb[25][26] as Commanding Officer. The Central Air Defense Force was One of Three Air Defense Force; Eastern, Central & Western which were responsible for the Defense of Continental North America. Major General Jarred V. Crabb later became the Commandant of the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, DC.
Fladmark married Phyllis Peterson (1922–2003) on November 13, 1950, at First Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They had a son and a daughter.[28] She grew up on a farm in rural South Dakota. Her family was of Danish and Norwegian national heritage.
Death
On July 27, 1955, Fladmark, two other Air Force officers and a General Electricgas turbine engineer who was driving a 1955 FordFairlane hardtop convertible were killed when the car overturned on an access road to Yuma County Airport near Yuma, Arizona.[29][30][31][32] He was survived by his wife Phyllis, son Gary, daughter Vicki, father Oscar C. Fladmark, Sr., mother Pethryn Fladmark and brother Captain Lorentz W. Fladmark. His widow sued General Electric, but lost the case in 1956.[33][34] The lawsuit which went to trial was initially investigated by JAG under the direction of Major General Jarred V. Crabb, Commanding Officer. Subsequent to the investigation a Wrongful Death action was filed through a law firm with offices in the Federal Reserve Building, Kansas City, Missouri. [35][36][37]
A memorial bronze plaque was dedicated to Fladmark at the Gilbert Science Center on the campus of Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, by his father in 1965. Oscar C. Fladmark, Sr. often dedicated his KSOO radio broadcasts to his son. Fladmark's biography is listed on the "Wall of Honor" at the Smithsonian National Air and Space MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center facility near the Washington Dulles International Airport, Fairfax, Virginia.[39]
References
^"Officer's Death Raises Accident Toll To Three". San Diego Union. July 28, 1955. A Yuma Air Force major, injured in a traffic accident at Yuma ... pronounced dead on arrival at 4:20 a.m. yesterday at Naval Medical Center San Diego. ...
^Oscar Fladmark in the World War I draft registration on June 5, 1917
^"Mrs. Oscar (Pethryn) Fladmark (b. 1896) papers". Augustana College. Retrieved July 18, 2015. Consists of personal and professional papers of Fladmark. She was the long-time recording secretary for the Sioux Falls Sons of Norway Gjoa Lodge #65. She participated in many Norwegian-American organizations, including the local and district Sons of Norway lodges in Sioux Falls and Minneapolis and the regional and national Sangerfests.
^"Munich Area Pounded Again", "Heavies Score One-Two Punch", "Heavies Pound 5 Reich Cities", "Reich Battered In Double Blow By Air Again" – The Guardian, United Kingdom Newspaper, 1944.
^"S.F. Flier Gains Air Battle Honors" – Associated Press, Argus Leader, Sioux Falls Newspaper, November 3, 1944.
^"S.F. Flier Gains Air Battle Honors" – Associated Press, Argus Leader, Sioux Falls Newspaper, November 3, 1944.
^"Home Still Beats Anything" – Sioux Valley News, Canton Newspaper, March 15, 1945.
^"Air Squadron Here Linked With Iowa's" – ArgusLeader, Sioux Falls Newspaper, Front Page, June 26, 1946.
^"2 Airmen Die in Arizona Auto Crash". Seattle Daily Times. Associated Press. July 27, 1955. Two Air Force officers and a civilian technician were killed in an automobile accident on an access road to the Yuma County Airport here last night. ...